Baseball Card Pack Choices

I recently went to a local shopping center with the goal of buying one of each type of 2017 Topps packs that I could find. I was curious about the varying baseball card delivery systems that Topps has devised, what each one cost, what types of cards they contained and what was the best deal. Here’s what I found:

Topps Baseball 2017 Series 1: This is the standard pack of the Topps flashship issue, each containing twelve cards, although packs that contain a special insert card may contain fewer. The cost is $1.99, or about 17 cents a card. My twelve included a Philadelphia Phillies team card, a Baltimore Orioles B’MORE BOPPERS checklist, a Dustin Pedroia League Leader card, eight player cards and a Noah Syndergaard 1987 30th Anniversary insert set card. There was an unexpected bonus, a scratch-off Topps Now card, and we’ll get to that one in a future post. But for now, if I include it as a card, that’s about 15 cents a card.

Toys R Us Topps Baseball 2017 Series 1: Quietly, almost innocently waiting behind the sales counter was a rack with about a dozen packs, each of which boldly proclaimed: 2 EXCLUSIVE CARDS INSIDE! You would think that all those capital letters would warrant a more prominent place in the store, but baseball card collectors don’t care, and I strode boldly up to the counter, looked at the rack and said, one please! Three dollars and ninety-nine cents later I walked out of the store clutching my treasure. What was inside? A strange roll of the dice that proved that beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder. Thirteen cards awaited me, but before I got to them, the 2 EXCLUSIVE CARDS revealed themselves. They were wedged between the pack and the packaging and were in addition to the thirteen, so if I do the math, that’s about 27 cents per card. Out came two League Leader cards, one of Kris Bryant and one of Rick Porcello. That was fine, and they’re terrific performers, but these two cards looked suspiciously like the Dustin Pedroia League Leader card I found in my flagship pack, and I found myself wondering, just HOW exclusive are these Toys R Us EXCLUSIVE CARDS? So far, I figure, not very.

The thirteen? This was a pack meant for a Dodgers fan. Cards of the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and veteran outfielder Andre Ethier were inside, all Dodgers. There was a rookie card, Seth Lugo, who is currently injured (of course… he’s a Mets pitcher!), a Madison Bumgarner 1987 30th Anniversary insert set card, six player cards, a Miguel Cabrera THEN & NOW and a Bobby Witt REDISCOVER TOPPS card. If I can find Mrs. Witt, this last one is all hers. I’m not going to buy another pack from Toys R Us, as this one didn’t work out too well for me.

Topps Baseball 2017 Series 1 Rack Pack: This is a jumbo pack containing thirty six cards including ONE AWARD CARD! I opened the pack and sifted through my new cards, which broke down like this:

• Twenty-four player cards, no star players.
• Three rookie cards.
• One World Series Recap card – Game 6.
• One League Leader card – Khris Davis.
• One Mother’s Day Card – Brandon Phillips.
• One THEN & NOW card – Stephen Strasburg.
• One Bryce Harper #/2017 cards – 0213/2017.
• One New Blake Street Bombers (Colorado Rockies) card.
• Two team cards – Twins, Angels.
• One AWARD card – Kris Bryant

This was a nice roll of the dice, especially for its $5.95 price tag. This was the best deal of the lot, at just over 16 cents a card. I can trade several of the cards in this pack for guys I’m looking for. The Bryce Harper #/2017 card is a sweet find, and its staying with me as part of my Bryce Harper card collection. The Kris Bryant Award and the World Series Game 6 cards are gold; I won’t have any trouble moving them along as the Cubs are finally World Champions and the demand among their collector base for these cards is huge. If I was a pack guy, I would buy more of these rack packs.

But I’m not a pack guy. What kind of a card buyer am I? Stay tuned.