I opened up a Hobby Box of 2013 Topps Series 1. I guess I will let the pictures and statistics do most of the talking.
Base Cards - 301/330 - 91.21%
Doubles - 1 - Travis Ishikawa
Total Base Cards - 302
The box had one extra card in it, and I think that second Ishikawa card was the culprit. When I opened the pack containing it I thought maybe it contained a big hit because I noticed that the Ishikawa card was facing in the wrong direction when I opened the pack, based on cards in that same spot in other packs. Turns out it was just an extra card in the pack.
Emerald Parallels - 7 - Dee Gordon, Anthony Rizzo, Ryan Cook, Buster Posey, Ben Zobrist, Mike Minor, Jayson Werth
Nothing too exciting here. I like the Rizzo card. That Ben Zobrist picture makes me laugh every time I see it. I hope he's not in the midst of being injured or something. It would be bad if I were laughing at a picture of someone about to go on the DL. But why would Topps use such a picture on a card?
Gold Parallels - 4 - Mark Reynolds, L.J. Hoes, Starling Marte, Cabrera/Trout/Beltre AL BA Leaders
The Mark Reynolds and Starling Marte cards are my favorites here.
1972 Topps Minis - 9 - Mike Trout, Ian Kennedy, Joey Votto, Andre Ethier, Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Reyes, Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, Lou Gehrig
The Minis are pretty cool, but I am working on too many sets to feel much like chasing them all down. It bothers me that I can't stack them with the rest of the cards from the set because they make the piles unstable. You have to have separate stacks for minis.
I already had the R.A. Dickey card, and none of the other ones really do anything for me. The little phrases (the Calling Cards) attached to the players are kind of weird to me.
Chasing the Dream - 6 - Bryce Harper, Anthony Rizzo, Jesus Montero, Josh Reddick, Drew Pomeranz, Tommy Milone
It's pretty cool to get Harper, Rizzo, and Reddick in this box. The big logos in the background look pretty good. This insert reminds me of the 90s for some reason. There do seem to be an awful lot of inserts in this set. Do people break enough of this stuff to actually put all of the inserts together? You get 90% of the base set in one box, and there don't seem to be enough big hits to warrant busting case after case of it.
I have to admit that I kind of like these cards. They are a little sparkly, thicker than a regular card, and die-cut all the way around. I can't say I really like the group of players I pulled from this box, though. I think the Babe Ruth must have been double-printed or something because I keep pulling it.
The Greats - 2- Ted Williams, John Smoltz
These cards replace several cards in the packs they appear in. I guess they are all right, but they don't do much for me, especially since they displace so many base cards.
Chasing History - 9 - Carlos Santana, Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock, Lance Berkman, Adam Dunn, Hank Aaron, Mark Buehrle, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax
This insert set is another big space-filler that allows Topps to put some kind of insert into most packs. I do wish they would have made these all horizontal or all vertical instead of a mix of the two. The design is attractive enough with decent color coordination based on a player's team. Some of the 'history' being chased is a bit dubious, but it does allow lesser-known players to be included in the set based on their one or two signature career moments.
Chasing History Autograph - 1 - Gary Sheffield
Here is the promised hit from the box, a Gary Sheffield Chasing History autograph. I guess it's all right. I didn't expect anything super-crazy to come out of this box. I don't know much about Sheffield, but I think I vaguely remember seeing him on some of the cards of my youth.
The Million Dollar Chase Code Cards - 6
Total Cards - 353
Missing Cards - 117, 163
I don't have any real complaints about this box. I got most of the base cards I was looking for and a few things to add to various player collections. A Hobby box will get you just over 90% of a base set, with good collation meaning you don't waste a lot of box space on doubles. I don't have much opinion either way on the insert sets. I would have liked to pull one of the low-numbered parallels, like Pink or Camo, but those aren't a guarantee. I am still missing two cards from the set, so I will have to track those down at some point.
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