The Itch to Rip - Star Wars in 3D!

Around the same time that I grabbed two packs of Super '70s Baseball direct from Topps, they had another limited online offering that really appealed to me.  This one had nothing to do with sports at all, but was a newly-conceived Star Wars 3D set!

As a lifelong fan of the Star Wars saga, and a confessed lover of "lenticular" 3D trading cards, this set was right in my collecting cross-hairs so to speak.  The price point per pack was a little lower than the Super '70s Baseball release but you get fewer cards, as you receive just 8 cards per "pack" in the Star Wars product, for $19.99 (vs 20 cards for $24.99 with the Super '70s Baseball set).  Basically, you're paying $2.50 per card here.  There are an even 100 cards on the checklist, and no short prints, inserts or hits to be had, just plain base cards which is actually kind of nice.

With a little help from my childhood Ewok action figure, you can see that inside the Topps On Demand box is just a single, silver pack containing the eight cards.

As for what I was hoping to pull...I'm not the world's biggest Star Wars nerd by any means.  I have watched the 9 movies from the original saga many times, as well as the Rogue One and Han Solo movies (and the two made-for-TV Ewok movies from the '80s), and am currently plowing my way through The Mandalorian show.  

That being said though, I've never seen the Clone Wars cartoon show, or read any of the many books or comic books.  As a result, in looking at the 100-card checklist, there are certainly quite a few names that simply don't register with me at all.  I'm just hoping at a couple bucks per card that I recognize most of the characters that I pull at least...

Very pleased with the first card, as the original Star Wars trilogy that I grew up on will always be the set of movies that I'm most fond of.  These cards use the design from the 1980 Empire Strikes Back set from Topps, and are absolutely fantastic!  Everything I'd hoped they would be as a fan of lenticular cardboard.  

One card in, and I'm already kicking myself that I purchased only two packs of this stuff.  I will 100% be trying to complete this set, though I hope the cards don't end up being too expensive on the secondary market with the passage of time.  It's been many long years since I completed any non-sport set, and I'm not sure if the non-sport market has gone as berserk as the sports market in the past year, so I guess we'll see.

The backs are relatively plain, though they are at least customized with a write-up for each character.  As a collector, you're not likely buying 3D cards for the backs, anyway.

Not quite as excited about my second card, though I do recognize the character of Jannah, who had a smaller role in the most recent Episode IX film.  Since I'm going to pursue the set, it's one I'd have needed to grab at some point anyway.

Here's one that's much more up my alley!  I always thought Admiral Ackbar was one of the more amusing bit characters from the original trilogy, enough so that I've actually picked up a couple of his Topps High Tek cards on COMC over the years.  I like this one even better than the Chewbacca that led off the pack.  "It's a trap!"

Next up, Bodhi Rook, from the Rogue One film.  Not one of the major characters from that movie, but it's a film that I enjoyed quite a bit.  Definitely more of a gritty/dark/war film feel compared to the other films in the franchise.

Alas, we have a character that I'm completely unfamiliar with.  I'm guessing Grand Admiral Thrawn is from the Clone Wars show, since he seems computer-animated.  I knew I'd pull someone who was unknown to me, but thankfully this was the only card in this pack that fits that criteria.

Definitely can't complain about pulling the protagonist from the beloved original trilogy!  Luke Skywalker in pilot's uniform with blaster pistol is tied with Admiral Ackbar for my favorite card in this pack!  This is one I'm happy to have pulled on my own as I'd expect it to be one of the more sought-after singles from the release.

Here's a photograph of Luke's card, just so you can see how the cards appear in a photograph rather than a scanning bed.  I bought my nephew a big old bag full of miscellaneous Star Wars action figures for Christmas (pretty cool uncle, am I right?), and ended up purchasing two Yodas by mistake, so we have one around the house now.  

It's really hard to do these cards justice in blog format, this is one of those posts that almost makes me consider starting a hobby-related YouTube channel.  Maybe someday...

We'll close things out with a couple of ladies from the Star Wars universe.  First we have Padme Amidala, queen of the Naboo.  I will never complain about adding a new Natalie Portman card (in 3D, no less!) to my collection, hubba hubba.

Finally, General Leia Organa.  Certain characters have multiple cards, most notably Luke, Leia and Han Solo, since they appeared in both the original trilogy and the most recent one.

That's a wrap on this first pack of Star Wars 3D.  These cards certainly aren't for everyone, but if you're a fan of the franchise and you enjoy either 3D cards or cards with a retro design, you really can't go wrong.  These were only sold direct by Topps for one week back in December, so you'll have to hit eBay if you want to grab a pack or some singles at this point.  I'm hoping that in a couple of months when folks have moved onto the latest and greatest thing, singles will be available on COMC for a buck or two.  If so, I'll be waiting to pluck them!

Had you seen or heard of this set before?  If you're a Star Wars fan, what's your opinion of this effort by Topps?  If anyone out there is collecting these I'd love an opportunity to trade for any dupes, so hit me up!

I'll be back to sports-related content tomorrow, but in the meantime thanks as always for stopping by!

The Itch to Rip - Topps Super '70s Baseball!

Like many collectors, I have been almost completely shutout from buying any unopened product at retail locations in 2020.  Between the pandemic reducing my trips to these locations drastically, and the flipping vultures who purchase every bit of product the second it hits the shelves, it's been hopeless.  In order to satisfy my itch to rip, I've had to modify my tactics a bit.

It was for these reasons that I recently succumbed to an offer in my daily email digest from Topps.  Most of the time I scroll quickly through the available items, click Delete, and move on with my day.  A few weeks ago though I saw a product that looked intriguing, and that was the Super '70s box (read: pack) you see above.

Each box features a single pack of 20 cards, at a price point of $24.99.  Yes, you're paying $5 more than a retail blaster would set you back, but shipping is free, and as I said above good luck finding a retail blaster these days even if you wanted one.  

Though I was born in the early '80s, and thus missed the '70s entirely, I still have an admiration for the decade and its baseball cards.  I mean, just look at the awesome logo that Topps used on this box:

Sorta looks a little like Reggie Jackson meets Mr. Met to me.  Long hair, a great mustache, tequila sunrise jersey, some cool shades, and blowing a nice bubble too.  I'm no expert, but this is just about a perfect 1970s mascot if you ask me!  This is the first time in a long time that I was impressed enough with the packaging that I couldn't bring myself to toss the box away.  It's small enough anyway, and kind of a fun display piece in my home office/card room.

Opening up the box, you can see that there's an air-gap on the two sides, with the single "deck" of cards in the center.  The cards come in a clear acrylic holder, and there's some black Styrofoam padding there to keep things fitting snugly.

It would have been nice to see Topps design a wax wrapper for these as an excuse to use that fantastic logo once more, but instead it's just some tamper-proof tape around the clear holder.

As you could plainly see in the above photo, the first card out for me was the great speedster Rickey Henderson.  A satisfying first pull.  I really just picked this up for the pure enjoyment of opening something.  I don't plan to complete the set at this point, even though it is somewhat enticing at just 90 cards deep.  Mostly I'm just hoping to get a few favorite players, and Rickey certainly qualifies.  A cool opening card too, given that Henderson debuted in 1979 with Oakland.

It's obvious to me that Topps used the 1977 through 1979 flagship baseball sets as inspiration for the design here.  The little position flag in the lower left is lifted right from '77 Topps, the cursive team name from '78, and the banner with the player name from '79 (though the colored banner contained the team name in that set, rather than the player name).  As expected, this amalgamation results in a very '70s feel for these cards.

If a little over a dollar a card sounds pricey to you (and I agree that it is), I will at least say that Topps took it upon themselves to actually create card backs for these, which I have not always found to be the case with their online-only releases.  They're very well done too, including cartoons (a must-have for a set paying tribute to the '70s), and they managed to fit that awesome Super '70s icon on there too!  I have zero complaints about the design here, bravo Topps!

Second card in, and one of my top five favorite players from childhood.  This one's a keeper for me.  It does introduce one of my first gripes though about this release; I wish Topps would've stuck with subjects who appeared in at least one Major League game between 1970 and 1979.  I get that they have to keep modern fans of the game interested, and that they'd never dare to release a set without a Mike Trout in it these days.  Oh well, is what it is.

This Frank Thomas is just not an attractive card.  A little surprised, and a little disappointed, that more effort wasn't made to find a better photograph of Big Hurt than this one.

I'm sure a more seasoned Dodgers collector might look at this card and say otherwise, but this doesn't seem like an image of Sandy Koufax that I recall seeing used very often on modern cards.  Not bad, though I wish it was cropped out a bit wider so we could see more of that interesting ballpark backdrop.

 

Al Oliver has the distinction of being the first card on the checklist, and the one used in some of the promotional material for the set.  Something a little different at least, not to mention someone who played throughout the entire decade that is this set's inspiration.

 

I was going to complain that this Brooks Robinson card looks a little grainy, but then I remembered that photography wasn't perfect in the '70s either.  Besides, we've got a Walt Disney advertisement on the fence back there.  Yep, I like this one after all.

A decent cartoon on this card too, referencing Brooks' great nickname.

Alan Trammell's card is nice enough, but the best part is actually the back...

...because it references the iconic Paul Molitor/Alan Trammell RC from 1978 Topps!

With Robin Yount's card, we've now settled into a nice little streak of players who actually played in Major League Baseball during the '70s.  As I said with the Koufax above, I don't feel like this image has been over-used by Topps or other card companies over the years.  Nice Yount card, for sure.

Very happy to land a Montreal Expos card in this first pack.  The Hawk's looking pretty mean and muscular here, ready to crush a ball outta the park.

I thought his cartoon was kinda cool as well, with Andre playing up his fans at Wrigley.  A little odd in that he's depicted with the Expos on the front, but I won't be too harsh on Topps for that I suppose.

I am always thrilled to pull a new Clemente card, one of my favorite players from before my birth for sure.  Easily one of my favorite cards in this pack.

Roberto got a pretty good cartoon, too!

Since I don't have much to say about Eric Davis, I'll just point out that these are on a very appropriate Topps Heritage-like card stock.

My least favorite card in the pack.  I'm not even an Astros hater or anything like that, have just never been a big Bregman guy.  It's somewhat jarring to see an active player on the design after all of those retired greats also.

One of the game's all-time great contact hitters, the late Tony Gwynn!  Love the stylin' wrist-bands and that Starter-branded zipper!

Yeah, the active players just don't do much for me.  Guerrero Jr. and Bregman will probably head out the door in trade packages at some future date.

As current players go though, I do like Nolan Arenado.  Don't know if others will agree with me, but I feel he has a shot at Cooperstown if he can patch together another few good years here.

Awesome!  Not only did I get a new Red Sox card for my collection out of the box, but it's also a very appropriate subject for the set.  Fisk had some great baseball cards in the '70s, and this one will certainly have a home in my collection.

Great shot on this card of The Kid, smiling as usual.  Not one, but two Expos cards in this pack!  

That does it for the 18 base cards I pulled, but there were also two inserts to be had...

First up, a Magnificent Mustaches Wade Boggs.  Great idea for an insert set for this release in concept, but a bit short of great in execution, I'd say.  There are only five cards in this insert set.  Think back to all the fantastic facial hair of the '70s, yet this fuzzed-out photograph of Wade Boggs with the Devil Rays (and with a pretty standard, boring mustache, to boot) made the cut?  You can do better than that, Topps!

In addition to the 1970s designs mentioned above, 1975 Topps inspiration comes into play with the inserts for this release, with different colored upper and lower borders on each card.

If I was a little bitter over my first insert, the second one made up for it.  Nolan Ryan was my absolute favorite player growing up, and I was happy to see this Ultimate Uniforms insert in my pack!  I believe this is the same photograph used on Nolan's 1981 Topps flagship card, but I could be mistaken.  Either way, a great end to the pack for me personally.

Topps really loved alliteration when it came to naming the inserts in this set, as aside from the Magnificent Mustaches and Ultimate Uniforms inserts that I pulled, there are also Happening Hairdos, Memorable Managers, and Spectacular Spectacles insert cards that you can pull from these packs.

All in all, that was a fun break for $25.  Are there things I'd change about the release?  Sure, it's not perfect, but it was an entertaining rip and made for a good blog post.  At just $25, it's a lot cheaper than many of the products that Topps is peddling online these days, and brought me more satisfaction than many blasters I've opened in my day.  I actually picked up a second pack of the stuff, but am keeping it unopened for now.  Maybe I'll tear into it on a rainy day in the future, or maybe I'll sell it if prices keep going up over time.  Not sure yet...

What's your take on Topps' Super '70s release?  Interesting?  Over-priced?  Have you purchased any of these packs, or any other online products from Topps in recent months?  Do you think they're a viable solution at a time like this when it's fairly impossible to find packs in stores?  I actually found the price point and free delivery to my door in the COVID age pretty attractive, enough so that I purchased two packs of another online-only product that I'll be showing as soon as it arrives.  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments though.

In case I'm not back tomorrow with a post, I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone who stops by here, and to all collectors out there!  Enjoy the holiday, and be safe as well as merry!

The Itch to Rip - Another Blaster of 2019 Stadium Club

Yep, it's time to tear into another one of these 2019 Topps Stadium Club blasters I landed during the early days of COVID.  It's been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for long enough now, and since I'm motivated to get my want lists up to date for all modern Stadium Club baseball releases, I'm ready to rip!

Going into this blaster, I'm sitting at 118 cards out of the 301-card base set, good for just over 39% complete.  I'm not hoping for any big hits or autos, or anything fancy at all really, would just love to land some singles that I'm missing and improve that set completion number some.  After all, with Stadium Club it's all about the great photographs on the base cards.

Rather than breaking down every single card from the blaster, I'll just show some of the highlights of the blaster for me, pack by pack...

The first pack yielded this Justin Verlander for my set build.  I'm hoping he returns to full health and has enough gas left in the tank for another dominating season or two.  Even if he hung up the spikes today though, I'm confident he'll end up with a plaque in Cooperstown.

Pack one also had this great shot of Jackie Bradley Jr. leaping out of the dugout.  Doubles as a need for my set and a new Red Sox card, score!

Pack two had a pair of set needs for me in it as well, with the highlight of the pair being this great celebration shot of the late Roy Halladay.

The third pack continued the emerging trend, with two new base cards for my set.  They weren't the most exciting cards in the world, so I selected Wil Myers here for blogging purposes.

Pack four brings us to the halfway point of the blaster.  It yielded three new cards for my set, my favorite of which was by far this great Eddie Murray.

Pack five provided just a single new card for my budding set.  Here it is.

Same with pack six.  Cool card of the newest AL MVP, at least.

The seventh pack made up for it though, as it contained three base cards that I needed, the best of which was this Shohei Ohtani.  My favorite card in the pack wasn't one of those base cards though, it was this one...

I don't usually hang onto my inserts or parallels from Stadium Club, most of those go out in trade packages to other collectors.  I just had to hang onto this Rogers Hornsby Red Foil parallel though, just perfect for a Cardinals card.  That is one sweet uniform, the team should bring those back for Retro Night in 2021.

Sure, Ty Cobb isn't the most popular baseball player among fans a century later, but regardless of your personal feelings about the man, I think we can agree this is a nice-looking card for a turn-of-the-century subject anyway.

Cobb came in the final pack of the blaster, along with two other base cards I needed.

Also pulled this cool Bo Jackson in the final pack, looking much the way I did after I finished scanning and sorting these into my set.

That was a fun blaster all in all.  I'm up to 135 cards from the 2019 set now, closing in on the 50% mark, plus I got a cool keeper parallel, which is rare for me in modern stuff.  I've got a couple more blasters of this still on my pack shelf, so I'll be creeping closer to set completion whenever I next get the urge to rip.  I sure am glad to have the pack stash to help get me through the long, cold, dark winter ahead.

Until next time, thanks as always for stopping by!