Mysterious Silver Topps Pack-Jo!!!

Card-ola: 2010 Bowman Chrome

A special shout-out to Topps for giving me this box to review, and to the Plank Road Brewery for making Icehouse Beer.

Post-NLCS Box Break: 2010 Topps Chrome

I'm just too upset, and too drunk, to comment any further.

A Couple of Topps Football Video Breaks

2009 Finest Football



2009 Bowman Chrome

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Topps Chrome Football

One box of 2009 Topps Chrome Football (provided by Topps)
24 packs per box, four cards per pack

The Video


The Pulls

Base Set: 74 of 220 (33.64%)

short set: 62 of 110 (56.36%)
Rookies (1:2): 12 of 110 (10.91%)

Parallels
8 Refractors (1:3): E. Reed, H. Ward, P. Willis, P. Manning, A. Smith, Jr., C. Barwin, M. Johnson, B. Pettigrew
2 Copper Refractors (1:12, numbered to 649): C. Coffman, M. Stafford

Inserts
1 Santonio Holmes Ring of Honor (one card, 1:24)
3 Cheerleaders (15 cards, 1:8)
1 Cheerleader Refractor (15 cards, 1:207, numbered to 199)
6 Chicle (25 cards, 1:4) S. Jackson, L. Tomlinson, P. Manning, L. White, J. Cotchery, J. Porter

Autogamers
1 Autographed Base Card Rookie Variations (47 cards, 1:24): S. Greene

The Review

I can now understand why football collectors go ga-ga for Topps Chrome. ToppChro gives the football card collector what he/she wants: Refractors, stars, short-printed rookies, and autographs. While a similarly structured set wouldn't work in baseball; for football, Topps has the formula down.

Product Rating: 3 1/2 Gumsticks (out of 5)

... and another thing

Another design element that has been missing from Topps' chrome-stock baseball releases the last few years, but has remained in football, are the "etched" outlines. Take a look at a Topps chrome-stock baseball card from this year and compare it with a card from Topps Chrome Football, and you'll see what I mean.

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Bowman Chrome

One box of 2009 Bowman Chrome (supplied by Topps)
18 packs per box, four cards per pack

The Video



The Pulls

Base Set: 28 of 220 (12.73%)

Parallels

4 Refractors (1:4) The World's Fattest Vegetarian, M. Aviles, J. Mauer, N. Swisher
1 X-Fractor (1:10, numbered to 250) K. Matsui
1 Blue Refractor (1:17, numbered to 150) J. Posada
1 Gold Refractor (1:50, numbered to 50) C. Davis
1 Prospect Refractor (1:15, numbered to 500) J. Beresford
1 Prospect X-Fractor (1:10, numbered to 250) R. Perez

Inserts
Prospects: 23 of 70 (32.86%)
World Baseball Classic: 11 of 60 (18.33%)

Autogamers
1 Autographed Prospect (24 cards, 1:34) R. Singh

The Review

Sorry, I but I still don't get Bowman Chrome. It's a set you can't collect, and frankly, I really don't think Topps cares if you actually do. How else can you explain the fact that the "Autographed Prospects" in Bowman Chrome are numbered from #BCP91-114, while the "Autographed Bowman Chrome Prospects" from 2009 Bowman are numbered from #BCP111-127?

That's right. The Beamer Weems Orange Refractor I pulled on the grave of Jefferson Burdick (#BCP111) back in May HAS THE SAME CARD NUMBER as Tim Federowicz's Autographed Prospect card in BowChro!

EPIC FAIL

Then again, I give Topps credit for knowing their target audience. This is Bowman Chrome, after all, and BowChro is all about Refractors and Big Mojo Hits. If you're a "collector" who gets distracted by bright, shiny objects, then BowChro is right up your alley.

For the rest of us...

Product Rating: 1 Gumstick (out of 5)

...and another thing.

If you need another reason why Topps should move Bowman Baseball from May to September and merge it with Bowman Chrome, here are three.

In 2009 Bowman Baseball, card #59 is of Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, #128 is of Nationals second baseman Ronnie Belliard, and #203 is the Rays' John Jaso . However in BowChro, Galarraga, Belliard, and Jaso were replaced by green-bordered rookies of Phillies pitcher Sergio Escalona, Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold, and Oakland pitcher (and 2009 AL All-Star) Andrew Bailey, respectively.

On-Location Box Break: 2009 Topps Chrome

One Hobby Box (supplied to me for free by Topps) of 2009 Topps Chrome Baseball
24 packs per box, four cards per pack

Part One

Part Two


The Pulls

Base Set: 76 of 243 (31.28%)

short set: 76 of 220 (34.55%)
Autographed "Rookie" Cards (1:20 packs): 0 of 23

Parallels:
8 Refractors (1:3) S. Drew, D. Wright, C. Lee, J. Santana, B. Zito, Y. Gallardo, J. Bay, That J.D. Guy
2 Autographed "Rookie" Refractors (23 cards, 1:47, numbered to 499) R. Romero, G. Kottaras
2 Blue Refractors (1:13, numbered to 199) Pat the Bat, J. Mauer
1 Gold Refractor (1:50, numbered to 50) H. Matsui

Inserts
6 World Baseball Classic Stars (100 cards, 1:4) Chipper, some Dutch guy, some Italian guy, some Italian guy, and a couple of guys from Chinese Taipei
1 World Baseball Classic Stars Refractor (100 cards, 1:16, numbered to 500) some Dutch guy

I'm sorry, but still don't get the concept behind Chrome. I already bought these cards before, why do I need them again?

The 23 gimmicked rookies are not true Rookies, as all 23 appear in the 220-card short set. For example, I pulled an Autographed Refractor of Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero, which is card #234 in the set. However, card #193 in the base set is also of Ricky Romero. It's the same exact card as #234, only without the autograph; therefore, making this card (#193) the true RC. Epic Fail.

Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of 5)

For the final time...

This is a legit error card.



This is a gimmick card.



And this... The jury is still out on.



Got it? Good.

I Get Letters: 2007 Bowman Chrome

Let me state for the 534th time, I don't "get" Bowman Chrome. (For all the "Chromies" out there, spare me your hate mail.) I've never opened a pack of the stuff, and I have no intention of ever doing so.

With that said, long time Stale Gum reader Dane Muramoto alerted me to a quality control issue with this year's BowChro. I reprint his warning as a public service to collectors everywhere.

I started opening 3 boxes of Bowman Chrome and noticed the following pattern emerge. The "chase" cards seem to appear most often in the 3rd from top pack position. Out of three boxes, one pack didn't have a chase, and that box, the card was in the 4th from top (2nd from bottom) position.

Also, the autographs were in all three cases in the bottom half (the side with 4 packs per stack) of the box. At first I thought the emergent pattern was lower left corner, but one of the boxes (the one with the non-blue auto) was lower right corner.

So this leads me to two theories on this release.

#1 If your box has a blue auto, it will be lower left corner.
#2 It is impossible to finish a set with 4 boxes.

I think #2 is a MAJOR pet peeve for me. With the boxes ranging $75-$120 (eBay to local), I cannot see paying $500 to complete a set.

This is getting ridiculously out of hand.

Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up on it. Also a warning to readers to not buy single packs.