Take care guys, and god bless Big Ben and AP on the Topps Archives Fantasy Squad. I wasn’t able to watch the games, but I caught the highlight reel earlier today.

Take care!

Atlanta Sports Cards has their list up, too.

Posted these yesterday and the day before, but forgot to throw the actual post up. Without a doubt, Torrey Smith is rookie of the week and Daniel Thomas had himself a pretty a’ight week too.

I’ve knocked part of that off the list with http://www.toppsarchives.com/

I still have to make the checklists a bit more palatable, but that’s a bit down the list.

Next on the list is getting 2010 Baseball and Football Cards up. This is at least a day or two project that could prove to be a pain in the butt and that’s why it’s been avoided. Hopefully the front page redesign is a good sign though.

I’m upset that I can’t get Giants fullback Henry Hynoski up in the rankings because dude’s a blast to watch. The rookie performances heading into week three will be determined by injury and inefficiency it seems.

Blaine Gabbert’s going to get a shot. Denarius Moore will have to deal with other wide-outs getting healthy. DeMarco Murray will *probably* have to step in as the featured back, but it’ll be a timeshare with Choice to some extent. Who knows, Felix could find himself healthy. I think the only Cowboy ruled out so far is Miles Austin. I’m not even sure what’s up with Tony Romo and his punctured lung / cracked ribs, but everyone seems to think that if he can deal with the pain, he’ll be good to go.

I think it’ll take a while for anyone to pass Cam Newton, but a big game by Andy Dalton against the 49ers could either vault him or Green above Newton if Cam has a bad game. Newton’s got those three ugly picks, but he’s got the yardage and touchdowns both on the ground and in the air to remain atop the list for a while.

Daniel Thomas had a huge game, but I’m still not sure how the Dolphins will split PT between he and Reggie Bush.

Goodtimes and definitely a fun list.

The big-money patch autographs are nice, but they’re not what I’m after. In 2008, Exquisite just had an all-around kick arse design across the board. My personal favorite in terms of looks and price are the standard card signed in paint pen and the two-pieced jersey autograph, also signed in paint pen.

Upper Deck did a terrific job in 2008 with the little things. The card design, the autograph area, and most importantly the intricate gold and silver foil borders are all just spectacular.

The thing about these cards, along with some of the blue sharpie autographs, is that they’re in basic card format. There’s not too many bells and whistles, but they’re quite substantial when you hold ‘em. If I remember correctly, they’re 120 point cards or maybe larger. These are cards first and foremost rather than just a collection of jersey swatches and autographs.

There’s not too many Dual GU – Paint Pen Autographs up: Felix Jones, Matt Ryan, Run DMC, Tomlinson, Joe Flacco, Chad Henne, Rashard Mendenhall etc.

The Basic paint pen autographs are just amazing and quite a bit more affordable than anything that includes a GU.

Item: 160651933566 – Joe Theismann

Item: 180699742018 - Kellen Winslow

Item: 140606734548 – Kellen Winslow

Item: 310290066203 – Y.A. Tittle

Item: 370517248406 – Jack Ham

Item: 310344598974 – Adrian Peterson

Item: 320737313292 – Adrian Peterson /10

Item: 280739711139 – Darren McFadden

Item: 150654730455 – Jonathan Stewart

Item: 250894774612 – Jonathan Stewart

Item: 180720946158 – Jamaal Charles (Same Guy has like 10 of ‘em)

The one thing that you’ve got to watch is the smudging of the paint pen which is truly unfortunate. The Duals aren’t quite as nice as they’re often squished, but they’re still well worth looking into. The checklist is pretty solid with a nice blend of Rookie Cards, Veteran Stars and HOFers.

The problem with these cards is that they’ve really been affected by eBay’s new(ish) start an auction at any price rules. People used to start these at 0.99 and let them ride, but very rarely will you find a steal nowadays. You’ll often find good deals, but *steals* are probably gone across most of eBay.

Some of the performances were from the usual suspects, but a lot of the key performances came from the sleepers.

Denarius Moore was the winner with Hey-Bey, Louis Murphy, Kevin Boss and Jacoby Jones all dinged up. Moore made a spectacular catch against double coverage and boy can Jason Campbell huck the deep ball.

Roy Helu went off on limited touches and Dane Sanzenbacher got himself a TD. A.J. Green topped 100 yards with a TD and Titus Young got into a brawl, ripped a jersey, and almost got to that 100 yard plateau. Boy, do those Lions look good. Normally I change the channel when things get out of hand, but I watched that entire Detroit game.

On the ground, it was nice to see Daniel Thomas bite off big chunks of yardage and top 100 yards. DeMarco Murray didn’t bust out, but he should be in for increased touches with Felix Jones suffering a separated shoulder. It looks like Blaine Gabbert‘s game for starting Week 3.

Here’s the Week Two Rookie Performances (not including tonight’s game)

Denarius Moore — He’s only had a couple catches, but he’s made the most of them by averaging 31 yards per catch and totalling 62 yards. I dropped Moore off the Top Rookies list, but the Raiders’ entire receiving corps came up gimpy in week two and Moore’s getting his shot.

Roy Helu — Washington’s Roy Helu is really making the most out of his limited opportunities. He’s went 4 / 32yds on the ground and 1 / 33yds receiving. Tim Hightower is having one hoot of a game as well.

Delone Carter — HC, Jim Caldwell, hinted that Carter would be getting Indy’s goalline carries heading forward. Addai still leads the timeshare with 8 carries to Carter’s 7 at this point, but Carter’s put up 37 yards on his 7 carries. Who knows how many points will score this year, but Carter’s definitely interesting.

Titus Young — Young’s really looking good this week after being shutout last week. Young already has 3 grabs for 54 yards.

Cam Newton — Wow. He’s thrown an INT so far, but golly. I figured with the loss of Otah, Newton would be lunch for the Packers. If he’s able to beat the pack, a feat I’m definitely cheering for, his prices should only climb further.

Dane Sanzenbacher — He’s only sitting on a handful of yards, but he’s nabbed a TD. We’re going to pretend that last night’s Miami v. Ohio State game didn’t happen while we talk about Sanzebacher.

First Up, Topps Marquee Base Set Parallel Cards:

Each minibox — there’s four mini boxes in a master box — should contain 3 base cards and a parallel. Each of the 100 Topps Marquee base cards has parallels in Blue (299,) Copper (199,) Gold (99,) and Platinum (1).

While the cards just lack something, I do enjoy full bleed (photo all the way to the edges) cards every once and a while. It takes away from a company’s ability to really distinguish the parallels from each other, but it really showcases the photos. Upper Deck was the king of full bleed and it’s nice to see Topps dipping their toes in. Speaking of the photography, it’s absolutely terrific. At first glance, I’d say that Topps has started using Getty photographs rather than paying freelancers. Using Getty photographs basically gave Upper Deck a leg up for years. My mind could be fading, but I recognize quite a few photos from 2009 Upper Deck and Sweet Spot.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Monumental Markings:

Coming in at 1 per box, Monumental Markings are signed on card with varying serial numbering (ugh) and a Gold Foil parallel numbered to five.

The only way to really describe these cards is awkward. They’re not terribly ugly, but the fade to white along the borders is horrendous. In some cases (Michael Pineda, Brandon Belt, Craig Kimbrel) it’s not that bad as the background is light to begin with, but in most cases it just looks cheap. If you’re producing a box with a MSRP of around two-hundred dollars, “cheap” probably isn’t the adjective you’d like to hear.

Furthermore, it’s probably slightly disheartening to see some of the sales. The checklist isn’t terrible, but it really hurts to see Jeff Francis, Drew Storen, Alexi Ogando, Fausto Carmona, Fernando Martinez, Jose Tabata, Brett Anderson, Tyson Ross, Brett Wallace, Colby Rasmus, Jeremy Jeffress, Chris Young, Ervin Santana, Angel Pagan, Drew Stubbs, and a handful of others showing up far too often and all under $10 in less than a week.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Monumental Markings Dual


I think this might be the highlight of the product for me. The Checklist isn’t terribly deep, but the cards really stand out with pairings that make sense. The branding logo is placed square in the middle with the players to the left and right and the signatures to the top and bottom. It’s simple. It’s nice.

The Stan Musial / Bob Gibson dual is selling very well, but this subset is unfortunately laden with redemptions. Right now, I’ll be looking for the Trevor Cahill / Brett Anderson and Jose Bautista (re-used photo from Gypsy) / Adam Lind Dual for my personal collection.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Acclaimed Impressions.

Topps Marquee Acclaimed Impresses features 2 relics and an autograph. Gold Foil parallels are numbered to five and patch parallels are one-of-one. Patch parallels feature a red foil(ish) bottom with two very nice patch pieces. Many of the standard Acclaimed Impression cards feature a patch in one of the two windows.

These are very Topps Sterling-ish back when Sterling was still a sticker-only product. Stickers absolutely kill products like this for me. Every once and a while, a design will be strong enough to outweigh the sticker but this isn’t one of those products.

As with most of the subsets in this product, the cards have varied numbering. In layman’s terms, Andrew Cashner, Daniel Delasco, Marlon Byrd, Danny Valencia, Jeremy Jeffries, and Jeff Niemann -type players are all numbered over 400 while anyone worth their salt (Brandon Belt excluded #/400) is numbered to a pretty low number.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Acclaimed Impressions Triple.


They’re just like the duals, but with an extra piece of jersey, bat, or patch. Again, you’re left with players like Drew Stubbs, Jose Tabata, Brett Anderson, Martin Prado and Chris Coghlan numbered to over 200 while Tony Gwynn and Felix Hernandez are numbered to one-tenth of that.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Museum Collection.


These are on-card autographs numbered out of 10 and appear one-per-case. Again, we’re dealing with a redemption filled subset which detracts from the overall enjoyability of a pretty decent subset.

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about Topps Marquee Museum collection. The cards are on foil board a la Topps Tribute. The branding up top is basically pitiful and woefully unoriginal; it’s really just TOPPS MARQUEE.

I do like the paint-pen on the black background, but it’s sad when that’s the only redeeming feature of a case hit. The checklist for this subset is gigantic which should lead to some rather disappointing case hits, but so far even the lacklustre names have approached the $50 mark on eBay.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Titanic Threads Relic.

The Topps Marquee Titan Threads Relic and Patch Relics will drive quite a bit of the 2011 Topps Marquee sales. The basic jersey versions are numbered out of 99 (or less) and feature gold parallels out of 10.

Most of the modern players are numbered out of 99, with a handful numbered to 66 and 75 instead. The sheer breadth of this subset will make it very collectible and prices should definitely drop to a point where it’s attainable. Plenty of Titanic Threads Relics have already dropped below $10 and even $5 in some cases. With over 100 advertised subjects (130ish,) this set will be a beast, but even grabbing 15-20 different cards at around five bucks per card will make a nice little showcase.

Thankfully, players like Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax ARE numbered out of 99 and should fetch a pretty penny if you’re lucky enough to snag a big name out of this massive checklist.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Titanic Threads Patch Relic.


These feature the same format as the base Titanic Threads, but are only numbered to five and feature a reduced checklist (~50 players).

In almost every case, the Patch is worthy of the numbering. In some cases, you’ll get a patch cut from the number, but more often than not you’ll score a patch from the front or sleeve logo.

As a Jays fan, I’m somewhat disappointed with Roberto Alomar’s jumbo patch that’s cut from a Cleveland jersey but features him in a Mets uniform while his museum collection autograph is a Blue Jays card. Nolan Ryan, one of the bigger hits, also features a photograph from Texas with a patch from an Astros Jersey. The patches are stunning, though.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Titanic Threads Autograph Relic.


These feature the Titanic Jersey with a piece of cardboard adorned with a sticker that covers the lower part of the jersey.

The sticker is brutal and really detracts from a pretty nice card. There’s 120 different players on the checklist and this are unfortunately a case hit and numbered to /10.

Again, we’re dealing with plenty of cards that are selling under twenty bucks because of the bloated checklist. With everything considered, these may be my least favorite cards in the set.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Gametime Mementos: Quad Relic Autograph Book.


Numbered to 10 and in book format, these cards aren’t awful. Again we’re dealing with a card that could seamlessly fit into Topps Sterling and even feature a sticker.

The Topps Marquee Quad Relic Autograph Books are one of the better uses of stickers in the product, but the shiny stickers still really detract from the card.

Depending on how you display these cards, the awful front of the booklet may be visible. The inside of the card looks pretty decent, but the front of the book just looks cheap. They almost look like those Flagship inserts Toppstown.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Gametime Mementos: Quad Relic.

These are serial numbered to /199 with gold parallels to /25. They’re nicer looking cards with a little bit of Sterling and a little bit of UD Ultimate kind of feel.

They generally only feature one nice piece with three base jerseys. Topps does a nice job mixing and match jerseys, patches and bats, though. Again, unfortunately, these cards just aren’t selling anywhere near where you’d expect.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Gametime Mementos: Quad Patch.

These are numbered to five in a 35 player checklist and just aren’t showing up in the product. A couple have surfaced, and I’m not sure if the Mike Schmidt numbered to five is actually a “Quad Patch” seeing as how it’s all bat.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Gametime Mementos: Quad Patch Legends.


Great checklist, all numbered to /25 with gold parallels to five. Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Roy Campanella, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Jimmy Foxx, and Mickey Mantle compose the checklist and this could end up being a hugely collectible set. It’s small, and it’s stacked.

Next Up, Topps Marquee Gametime Mementos: Ty Cobb Jersey 1/1.

The product hit. Does one card out probably 5 or 6 million really deserve a review? If you pull the redemption, I’m sure you’ll be happy.

Next Up, A Simple Conclusion:

If you’re a player collector, you’ve got to be loving this set. By shopping on eBay, you can bypass all of the junk names on this massively bloated checklist. There are some really nice cards in the set and if you like gambling, maybe Topps Marquee is for you. However, if you’re going to hunt for 1:500,000 odds, why not just grab a lottery ticket where the payout is infinitely higher?

Chunks of this set should be pretty collectible, especially considering the rather affordable secondary prices.

Manny Pacquiao is featured in the Monumental Markings, and it’s far and away the best looking card. The full bleed photograph, the nice autograph frame and the lack of the horrendous fade really make for a great looking card. Why the entire set wasn’t done like this, who knows…

To this point, I haven’t even bothered looking for the NFL Rookie Shields from Platinum. The die-cut perfectly fits them, but I’ve been too busy tracking the supers from Platinum, Finest and Chrome.

Alas, the Platinum Shields are an on-card autograph (and a non-event used shield) away from being one of the best cards ever.

I love me some Blaine Gabbert but in terms of long term value, Jacksonville is a pretty awful market. But, Quarterbacks are king…

I received a couple boxes of Topps Chrome today and put an end to my ripping and shredding drought. Honestly, it’s been a while since I got this excited for just a couple boxes worth of cards.

Topps Chrome has always been one of my favorite rips and often comes close to Bowman Chrome in terms of sheer enjoyability. If I weren’t a prospect junkie, Topps Chrome would probably be my favorite rip of the year. Unfortunately, Topps Chrome has always had it’s share of issues that completely detract from it’s awesomeness.

In 2009, Topps Chrome switched to on-card autographs which gained it major points but the autographed checklist was pretty weak but more importantly, it contained ridiculous amounts of the WBC-plague that infected almost every chrome and high-end product. Despite only one guaranteed autograph per box, 2009 Topps Chrome had better odds for colored refractors than most years, but all of the autographs were encircled by that ridiculously stupid sticker box. In 2010, Chrome cards suffered from absolutely atrocious curving and bending problems and the checklist was absolutely bloated with junk.

This brings us to this year’s offering, 2011 Topps Chrome Baseball. It looked like a breakthrough year before we found out that Hosmer and Nishi were super shortprinted and the USA Sets weren’t actually sets, but rather packs. What frustrates me isn’t that Topps did these things, but rather that Topps failed to mention that they did these things until after the product was live.

2011 Topps Chrome Baseball Card Design

From the moment that Topps showed us preview images for 2011 Topps Flagship, I was excited. When the preview images for 2011 Topps Chrome came out, I got really excited. The most important aspect of a Chrome product is simplicity and 2011 Topps Chrome Baseball delivers. A simple canvas allows the refractors to absolutely pop off the card and makes spotting a base refractor infinitely easier.

A few more things that I like:

• The Rookie Card Logo isn’t too gaudy which I love because it’s ugly as sin.
• The Team Logo is fairly clear and fits into the design
• The player’s name is legible and particularly well framed.

The autograph area for 2011 Topps Chrome is absolutely amazing. It’s arguably my favorite autograph window…ever. I love the curved edges and rather substantial size.  The best part about the autograph area is that it suits each and ever type of signature. The big signatures pop, and the small signatures don’t look too awkward. It’s got a great little fade to it and really makes this year’s offering one of the best designed cards in a while.

Condition Talk

The cards lay flat, so A+ on that. The cards come with VERY sharp edges, so A+ on that. The corners are also all sharp. Unfortunately, it seems like there’s a good amount of mis-cuts, particularly with the refractors and autographs (D-). Some people like this though as it adds quite a bit of value when you start submitting cards to Beckett or PSA for grading.

Another problem that I noticed were the dreaded X-fractor lines! No one likes xfractor lines, especially when they’re not on xfractors! The Atomic Refractors are terrific, but unfortunately their greatness is subdued by those damn lines…

Other than that, there’s no real problems with the refractors. Back in 2009, I received about 1 in 10 refractors with what looked like someone spilled the magic refractor syrup across the card. It was almost a watermark made out of refractor juice and it completely detracted from the card.

2011 Topps Chrome Refractors pick-up your finger prints like no one’s business, so if you’re into grading, definitely be careful and have your microfiber rag that comes with your eye-glasses ready to go.

Insert Talk

First, the inserts aren’t overwhelming, and that’s a good thing. I absolutely hate when each box contains 1% of 15 different insert sets.

First up is Topps Heritage and they look like Topps Heritage Chrome. If for some strange reason you’ve never seen a Chrome Version of Topps Heritage, they look pretty nice, but it’s sort of like stepping into a restored ’57 Chevy and seeing a GPS and Sirius Radio mounted on the dash.

Next up are the 1996 Topps Chrome cards. Personally, I love everything that’s 90′s retro. A lot of people that collected during the late-80s through 90s will also appreciate the design. Unfortunately, the cards really don’t pop quite as much as I’d like. A little bit of extra contrast in certain areas of the cards would help.

My Break

I originally ordered two boxes and that’s what I’ll review here. You obviously get 24 packs per Topps Chrome Hobby Box and thankfully, there’s a whole lot of shiny. I enjoy what Topps has done lately with Topps Chrome Refractors. In Topps Chrome, there should be quite a few refractors because there really isn’t a whole lot of value to diminish. In Bowman Chrome, prospect base refractors can still fetch a pretty penny, so it makes sense to limit their availability. In Topps Chrome though, I think sacrificing a bit of value to ensure a fun break for collectors is acceptable.

Base Refractors:

I received 16 base refractors which is spot on the 1:3 pack odds. They look great and in total, I received: Mickey Mantle, Jon Lester, Jason Heyward, Julio Teheran (RC), Hector Noesi (RC), Logan Morrison, Pedro Strop (RC), Danny Valencia, Neftali Feliz, Franklin Gutierrez, Cole Hamels, Mark Reynolds, Brett Anderson, Jose Reyes, James Shields, and Kevin Youkilis. All of the cards look great and I’m incredibly happy with the selection of Rookies and Stars. I was looking for a Freeman or Kimbrel Rookie Refractor, but I’ll just have to settle for Teheran.

Atomic Refractors:

These things are absolutely amazing and I can’t express just how much I love the in your face shiny that they bring to the table. Unfortunately as I mentioned, the dreaded Xfractor lines are back which sucks on a card numbered to 225 and 1:19 pack insertion rates. Per the advertised rates, I should’ve received 2.5 Atomic Refractors and that’s exactly what I got if you consider my Joey Votto Atomic with the xfractor line to be 0.5 cards. The other two cards were Jason Bartlett and Jake Peavy. Being basically a Torontonian, it had to be Votto that had the line, right? What a kick in the nuts. These cards, like the refractors, really hold fingerprints, so take note.

Blue Refractors:

Not much to say here, but I did get one blue refractor (Francisco Liriano) in 48 packs with 1-to-57 pack odds. It’s numbered to /99 which seems rather weird considering that they basically have 3 refractor levels numbered within 1 card of each other.

Black Refractors:

These are numbered to 100, but your odds of pulling them are actually 1-in-84 or 1 in four boxes because they only did the black refractors for 110 subjects. I was pretty happy to pull a Mike Stanton Black Refractor, numbered 85/100. The cards look pretty amazing and must use the black refractor technology from Topps Heritage. The black doesn’t reflect light so much as it appears glossy in an iPod fashion, but they’re still really nice cards and probably a set that I’ll look into collecting.

Sepia Refractors:

Sepia refractors are numbered to 99 again, but have 1-to-43 odds rather than 1-to-57 odds. I have absolutely no damn clue why. I’m sure it revolves around the rookies, but who knows with Topps.

I pulled a Neftali Feliz Sepia Refractor and I’m still on the fence about whether or not it’s something that I could get into. I like the idea enough to think it’s neat, but I would like it quite a bit more if it were simply a desaturated black and white photograph so that the refractor could really pop. Tinting it brown or sepia doesn’t do much for me. I’m sure they were attempting to inspire nostalgia through old-timey photography, but it just doesn’t work.

Gold, Red, Super, Canary Base Refractors

I didn’t pull any of these, but they’re all what you’d expect. I’m curious to see how the Canary technology that debuted in Topps Flagship actually looks chromed-up, but I can’t see myself purchasing one. I still hate how Red Refractors are numbered out of 25 in one product, but five in another product.

Topps Heritage Chrome and Refractors

Topps Heritage Chromes are 1-to-7 packs, but I received 8 total chrome cards. I love the looks of these things and received an Austin Jackson Rookie Cup, Roy Halladay, Danny Valencia Rookie Cup, Kevin Youkilis, Buster Posey Rookie Cup, Dan Uggla, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley. Chase Utley stands out, as the ball on the back that houses the card number doesn’t say Topps and it’s smaller. The font on the card back is also smaller than the rest. I’m sure this is unimportant, but I figured I’d share it.

As for refractors, I received two which is right around the 1-to-22 stated odds. I was elated to pull a Jose Bautista Blasts 50th (C107) which is modelled after 1962′s card 313 “Roger Marris Blasts 61st.” The refractor technology doesn’t pop on this card, but it shines on the Jered Weaver that I pulled. The portrait shots from Topps Heritage really work well with refractor technology in this year’s set.

1996 Topps Chrome Flashback

These fall 1-to-6 and I nailed the odds with 8 different cards. Brian McCann, Buster Posey, Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria, Aroldis Chapman, David Wright, Felix Hernandez, and Freddie Freeman were pulled. I can’t say too much about these cards, other than in some cases better photo selection would’ve been appreciated. Aroldis Chapman doesn’t get a face in the miniature box at the bottom.

Rookie Cards

I know a lot of you don’t give a damn about rookie cards, but they’re still a big deal to me. I want lots of them, and I don’t want to see a duplicate until my third box. While they may not sell for a lot of money, they definitely add enjoyability to the break, especially for a collector rather than a rip-and-flipper.

I netted 39 out of a possible 52 rookie cards without a single duplicate. This makes me damn happy. There’s absolutely no reason for some of these players to have rookie cards as many of ‘em had rookie logo cards last year, but I won’t nitpick.

The Autographs

I love the way these things look. Great design and the athletes were given the perfect pen to fit the design.

Furthermore, Topps finally considered design with their “Topps Certified Autograph Issue” and placed the wording not in a stamp, but instead around the area that circles the baseball and team logo. Topps Certified Autograph Issue replaces the team name and just looks amazing.

Each box contained a base autograph and a refractor autograph. The first box started with an Alexi Ogando base autograph. It’s only a $4-$8 card, but I’m more than happy to keep it in my collection. The next card was a Ben Revere Autographed Refractor which is again a rather inexpensive card that I’m more than happy to keep.

In the next box, I started with a Zach Britton autograph in the first pack and had to wait until the last pack to pull a Danny Espinosa Gold Refractor Autograph. Danny’s had a great year, although he’ll probably be overshadowed by one of the Braves when it comes to rookie of the year. Espinosa’s actually posted a WAR very similar to Kimbrel’s 3.5. Espinosa had the lead for much of Kimbrel’s record breaking season, but faded badly. Espinosa still possesses a 3.2 WAR, though. He hasn’t excelled in a single aspect, but he’s stolen bases (14 SB,) hit homers (19HR,) and played pretty good defence (3.1 Ultimate Zone Rating). His .231 batting average and .318 OBP are his only real faults at this point.

Conclusion

Topps Chrome is always a fun break and this year is no different. The experience is always enjoyable especially for the price point. You still get your shot at high value cards if gambling’s something your into, but you also shouldn’t walk away utterly pissed off at Topps if you’re only concerned with re-sale value. If you’re only concerned with resale value, you should be buying singles rather than boxes anyways. With two boxes, you should get plenty of rookies, lots of inserts, and at least some color.

Unfortunately, Topps has repeatedly ruined products with their inability to get changes out to the public in a timely fashion. The day after the odds are printed on the wrappers is when Topps should be releasing information. They pay someone to blog for them and pay another person to send out promotional emails. Distributing the information isn’t the problem as the channels are already there. I’ve actually become somewhat disgusted with Topps pleading incompetence because at this point, it’s genuinely starting to look like deceit.

But when you know what you’re getting, this sure is a kick-ass product.

2011 Topps Chrome Baseball Pack Odds