2011 Topps Value Box

I was in Target today and decided to try out one of these 2011 Topps "Value Boxes". I've seen Night Owl open a couple, and they seemed interesting enough. It's been forever since I purchased anything even somewhat new, and I had an urge to rip a couple of packs. In case you haven't seen these, for $14.99 you get 5 packs of 2011 Topps, 2 hobby packs of 2011 Heritage, 2 Diamond Giveaway redemption cards and a Chrome Refractor. Since I have next to no 2011 Heritage or base I thought this would be a cool way to get a small stack of cards from each set for less than the cost of a blaster.

Also included in the box is a "collector's guide":

Basically this contains a little blurb for each year between 1952 and 2011 with a photo of the design used on the base set that year:

The second half of the booklet contains team schedules for the 2011 season. It's a nice throw-in I guess, but I don't think I'll ever have a reason to consult this thing. I'd say it will end up in my Recycle Bin within a week or two. On to the cards...

#MBC1 - Mickey Mantle - Chrome Refractor

I believe there are 3 different Chrome Refractors, I pulled the Mantle. If anyone wants this card just let me know, I have no interest in keeping it. I scanned in every single card in the box, let's take a look at the base Topps packs first:


Pack 1:

#188 - Pablo Sandoval

It looks like Pablo might be blowing a bubble in this photo, but I'm not quite sure.

#33 - Max Scherzer

#221 - Scott Hairston

I wish the Padres would always wear these retro jerseys...

#287 - Scott Cousins - Rookie

Most of my baseball viewing consists of AL action, and I have to admit I've never heard of Scott.

#268 - Jake McGee - Rookie

#61 - David Price

#110 - Aroldis Chapman - Rookie

#KC-17 - Chris Carpenter - Kimball Champions

Not a big fan of these inserts.

#CMGR-21 - Lou Gehrig - 1933 DeLong Reprint

Now that's an insert I appreciate, very cool looking reprint of a 1933 DeLong Lou Gehrig. I can pretty confidently say that I will never own the real thing, so this one's nice to have in the collection.

#TT-45 - Hanley Ramirez - Ticket to Toppstown

These are an absolute waste of space as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather have an extra base card.

#128 - Manny Ramirez

What a pathetic end Ramirez's career came to. I'm glad the testing policy in MLB is more stringent now and is occasionally catching losers like Manny.

#104 - Ian Stewart

Pack 2:

#31 - Erick Aybar

#302 - Adrian Beltre

Anyone who's seen Beltre play a fair number of games is familiar with this unorthodox knee-to-the-ground swing. He had a hell of a season in Boston but I think management was right not to sign him.

#152 - Baltimore Orioles Team Checklist

The O's in this photo seem pretty happy, but they'll inevitably fall 23 1/2 games back in the division by August.

#15 - David Wright

Pretty good horizontal photo.

#293 - Justin Morneau

#KC-30 - David Wright - Kimball Champions

#60YOT-30 - Andre Dawson - 60 Years of Topps (1981 Topps)

#TT-11 - Chris Young - Ticket to Toppstown

#149 - David Aardsma

#76 - Tom Gorzelanny

#32 - Chris Johnson

#105 - Jonathan Lucroy

I like this shot of Jonathan in gear.

Pack 3:

#106 - Felix Pie

#281 - Kevin Slowey

#289 - Yuniesky Betancourt

#153 - A.J. Pierzynski

#203 - Dillon Gee - Rookie

#61 - David Price

I pulled David in pack 1 as well, I believe this was my only double in the box.

#125 - Evan Meek - Diamond Anniversary Parallel

Along with seemingly every other collector, I like these parallels. I'm only keeping the Red Sox though, so I'll gladly trade away Evan here.

#CMGR-29 - Ty Cobb - T205 Reprint

#TT-35 - David Price - Ticket to Toppstown

#113 - Arthur Rhodes

I can't believe this guy is still around!

#191 - Jay Bruce

#217 - Yunel Escobar

Pack 4:

#260 - Freddy Sanchez

#197 - Aaron Hill

#36 - Ted Lilly

#8 - Julio Borbon

#70 - Kyle Drabek - Rookie

#109 - Josh Hamilton/Miguel Cabrera/Joe Mauer - AL Batting Average Leaders

Sweet, a third Diamond Giveaway card. Hopefully this will net me something pre-1980 that I don't have...

#T60-21 - Tommy Hanson - Topps 60

#TT-50 - Albert Pujols - Ticket to Toppstown

#44 - Martin Prado

#290 - Ike Davis

#176 - Daniel Hudson

Pack 5:

#55 - Matt Joyce

#30 - Gio Gonzalez

#330 - Derek Jeter

Despite opening just 2 total packs of 2011 Topps prior to this value box, I already had the first 3 cards in this pack.

#157 - New York Mets Team Checklist

#24 - Neil Walker

#114 - Russell Martin

This is probably my favorite of all the base cards in this box, awesome photo.

#14 - Randy Wolf

#60YOTLC-2 - Duke Snider - 60 Years of Topps: The Lost Cards

#TT-17 - Aroldis Chapman - Ticket to Toppstown

#242 - Brad Lidge

#194 - Andres Torres

I only got 11 cards in my final pack, but oh well. That does it for the Series 1 Topps cards. Lets check out the two hobby packs of Heritage.


Pack 1:

#400 - Mark Teixeira

#136 - Babe Joins Yanks - Babe Ruth Special

The Mantle refractor, a Jeter base card, the Gehrig insert and now two straight Bronx Bombers to start off the first Heritage pack...this would've been a great box for a Yankees fan!

#38 - Coco Crisp

#276 - Darwin Barney - Rookie

I haven't seen this guy play, but I've heard plenty about him over at Can't Have Too Many Cards.

#131 - Brett Sinkbeil - Rookie

Is this really the best picture they had on file of Brett?

#119 - Scott Cousins - Rookie

I went from having never heard of this guy to owning his base Topps and Heritage rookies thanks to this box. Maybe I could become a Scott Cousins super-collector.

#380 - Tim Hudson

I can't stand the hatless cards. I didn't like them in 1962 Topps and I don't like them in Heritage.

#254 - Chris Carter

#179 - Mat Latos

Pack 2:

#256 - Ruben Tejada

#217 - Don Mattingly

Nice! I've always liked Mattingly, this is my first card of him as a manager.

#201 - Josh Beckett

Josh is enjoying a good year so far, with a 2.65 ERA and 32 strikeouts to just 9 walks.

#72 - Philly's Men Up the Middle

Am I the only one who thinks of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia every time I pull a Chase Utley card?

#320 - Jason Heyward

My first Jason Heyward card...

#175 - Adam Dunn

#425 - Kevin Youkilis

Awesome, this made the box for me! This is the only Heritage card I've seen that I really wanted to track down. I think it's the background I like.

#275 - Billy Butler

#4 - Ben Zobrist

Checklist 2 of 6

Here are the 3 cards I got using my redemption codes on the Diamond Giveaway site:


As you can see, luck wasn't really on my side. I have no interest in the 2005 Durham, and I'm pretty sure I have the Matt Williams around somewhere. I also have the '74 Clyde Wright. If I got one in the condition pictured it would be an upgrade, but there's a chance I could pay to ship it and get one that looks worse than my current copy. I doubt I'll end up shipping any of these.

Despite my bad luck on the Diamond Giveaway site, this was actually a lot of fun for $15. I don't really care about the Chrome Refractor, but ripping 7 packs and entering a few codes for $5 less than a blaster is pretty good value as far as I'm concerned. Pretty much all the inserts I pulled are available for trade, although I think I'll hang on to the Gehrig reprint. Both my Heritage packs were pretty decent and I'm glad I pulled the Youkilis. I could see myself buying another one of these at some point.