Breaking it Down 36: Two Spots in a 2017 Topps WWE Undisputed Pack Draft

Topps recently released their high-end WWE Undisputed product for 2017. It is a hit-centric product with 8 autographs and two relics promised in each 10-pack box. There are 5 cards to a pack, with various inserts and parallels available.

I didn't really want to shell out for a box, but I bought two slots in a pack draft. There were 80 packs opened in the break, and the randomizer gave me slots 15 and 19 out of 20 in the snake draft format. That meant I would probably be locked out of the top picks in the draft, but it also meant that I wouldn't be getting the worst picks. A pack draft works pretty much how you'd expect. Participants pick in turn after all of the cards are opened, getting the entire contents of the selected pack. Once all 20 spots are picked, the draft order reverses for the next round. That meant I got picks 15, 19, 22, 26, 55, 59, 62, and 66 out of 80. I don't have all of the base cards in order, but I put hits and parallels into the proper spots.

Pack 1 - Pick 15

There wasn't much of excitement as far as base cards in this particular scan, but this is a look at the base cards. You can see that the Women's Division has their own checklist, designated by a W- prefix.

The Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs Edge card is part of the Dream Matches insert set. There are parallels for that set, but I didn't get any of those in my selections. With the 15th pick I got my 4th-ranked pack of the break, with a Brie Bella Autograph Relic Green parallel numbered # 21 / 25. Some of the stuff I really wanted but missed out on at the top were Bayley and Asuka autographs, as well as a "Macho Man" Randy Savage Gold parallel numbered # / 10.

Pack 2 - Pick 19

With the 19th pick I got my 5th-ranked pack of the break. I guess I had some different ranking criteria than some of the other participants, but that probably worked out in my favor. In the base cards I got a decent Triple H card and a Bronze parallel of Rowdy Roddy Piper, numbered # 55 / 99.

The hit in the pack was this Autograph Relic card of JoJo, the Raw brand ring announcer. I was probably swayed in my rankings by the face that I saw her announcing live at a Raw show in Cincinnati earlier this year. You see a lot of similar fabric colors and textures across the relics in the set, leading me to wonder if there was a specific event where all of the talent wore t-shirts that were used for these cards.

Pack 3 - Pick 22

With the 22nd pick I got my 15th-rated pack, so I was still feeling pretty good about this break. The highlight of these base cards for me is probably Big E.

The pack's hit was this Silver autograph of Chris Jericho, another wrestler I saw live at the Cincinnati show. He's a long-time favorite and great on the mic. This one is numbered # 17 / 50, and the only real knock is that the pen skipped off the foil at the start of his name, and you can see where he picked it up and started again.

Pack 4 - Pick 26

The scans for this pack came out a mess, with scans of all different sizes. I don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, this was my 17th-ranked pack, and I got it with pick 26. It featured a base autograph of Becky Lynch, numbered # 120 / 199, and a Gold parallel of Jason Jordan, numbered # 10 / 10. Jordan was recently revealed to be Kurt Angle's son in the WWE storyline. This was one of those packs that got ranked higher for me because of the parallel included alongside the hit.

The insert in the pack was this Dream Matches card of The Rock and Shawn Michaels.

Up there are the scans of the card backs from that pack, which I got all jacked up because the Becky Lynch autograph has a vertical front and a horizontal back, and I couldn't make the scans match up in even numbers.

Pack 5 - Pick 55

All of my picks were clustered into two groups of four, so it was a long time between my fourth and fifth picks. This was another pack that got a small bump in my mind because of the parallel. In this case, the parallel was a Rich Swann Green card, numbered # 01 / 25.

I also scanned this Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Goldberg Dream Matches insert alongside the hit of the pack, A Bronze Natalya Autograph Relic numbered # 48 / 99. It was my 28th-ranked pack, and I got it with pick 55.

Pack 6 - Pick 59

There's not much excitement among the base cards here. I guess Daniel Bryan has a pretty big following, but I missed out on his time in the spotlight.

There is another Dream Matches card here, featuring Undertaker and Sting. The hit is an Autograph Relic of Alicia Fox. It's a Bronze parallel, numbered # 48 / 99. I had this rated as the 31st-best pack in the break, and I got it with pick 59.

Pack 7 - Pick 62

Pickings were getting pretty slim here in the last quarter of the break, but since I was out before the last 14 picks there was still some value to be found. This pack held a Bronze parallel of Dash Wilder, numbered # 22 / 99.

The hit in this pack was a Silver Autograph Relic of Simon Gotch, numbered # 42 / 50. He is no longer with WWE, having been released from the company in April. That's probably why a Silver Autograph Relic fell so far in the draft. Still, I had this pack listed barely inside the top half of packs at 39th, and I got it with pick 62.

Pack 8 - Pick 66

This pack was a pretty good pull at 66, even though it held my first non-autographed hit of the break. Part of the reason was the Bronze Alexa Bliss parallel shown here, numbered # 98 / 99. Apparently she is one of the big draws in this product, and a couple of her hits went inside the top few picks in the draft, alongside a Goldberg autograph and a Charlotte Flair Autograph Relic.

The hit in the pack was a base Relic of Asuka, numbered # 023 / 199. I missed out on an Autograph Relic and an Autograph of Asuka earlier in the break, but at least I got a relic. Because of the parallel and the relic of Asuka, I had this pack ranked 48th, and I got it with my last pick at position 66.

This draft went pretty well for me. My position in the break meant that I missed out on a few of the top cards, but it also kept me from getting most of the real duds in the break. I really would have liked to get one of the Bayley or Asuka autographed cards that came out of the case, but they went too quickly. I still wound up with some of my top picks, and I think I did better than I would have just buying a box of my own. Obviously I could have bought my own box and hit it big, but I also could have opened a dud. This format kind of averaged those odds out.

Some of My Favorite Cards from 2017 Topps Stadium Club

I can't stomach the current box prices on most new baseball products, so I've been buying retail and singles. I do really like the Stadium Club offerings that Topps has been putting out, so I picked up a complete set on eBay. I shuffled through it and pulled some of my favorite photos to scan for a post. I sometimes let negativity take over my posts, so I thought with this post I'd focus on something positive. I like the card stock and glossiness of the Stadium Club cards, and the photos are awesome.

Here's the front and back of Paul Goldschmidt's card. I like that a poster with his likeness on it appears in the foreground, with the actual player as more of a background element. There are a ton of pictures in this set that could be used for various mini-collections around the blogs, like players signing autographs, turning two, players blowing gum bubbles, and awards on cards.

I tried not to pay attention to player names when selecting cards for this post, just focusing on photos that jumped out at me. Plenty of big names from the past and present still managed to find their way in, but that's mostly because there were a lot of big names in the checklist. That Tim Raines card has already been featured on a few blogs, and I think Night Owl highlighted the Rod Carew card a while back (actually, he complained about which version of the card he pulled).

I love that Denard Span photo. I don't know what that grimace is all about, but it's a good photo. I like the picture of Aaron Judge standing for the anthem. There are some other good pictures here, including a bubble gum photo, Bryce Harper holding Katie Ledecky's medals, Mark Trumbo signing autographs, and a couple of uniform variations.

There's some good stuff here, including Evan Longoria with a football, some comedy from David Ortiz and A.J. Ramos, and a really nice photo on the Jonathan Lucroy card in the upper right.

I'm closing out this post with a few more vertically-oriented cards that caught my eye. Highlights here include a couple of bubble gum pictures, another interview about to be interrupted by pies, a catcher's mask close-up, and a dramatic shot of Joey Votto getting ready to do some damage to a baseball.

That's my quick round-up of the photographs that jumped out at me from this year's Stadium Club set. There are plenty of gems that I left out, and probably some I just plain missed as I flipped through the stack. I really like what Topps has done with this particular product line, and I am looking forward to seeing which pictures get chosen for 2018. It would also be pretty cool to see a Stadium Club product release for the UFC, although that may be a pipe dream.

Pack of the Day 170: A Box of 2016 Topps Star Wars High-Tek

This box was part of a Dave & Adam's purchase I made back in May. I never really got around to posting most of the stuff I busted from that order, mostly because there are usually more interesting or easier things to post about. I have around 60 posts in my draft queue currently, and about half of those have been languishing at the bottom of the list for a couple of months as newer, shinier things move past them in the line.

Each box of 2016 Topps Star Wars High Tek contains 8 acetate cards, with one guaranteed autograph per box. The base cards feature a variety of different backgrounds with differing levels of rarity. Cardboard Connection usually has a decent guide for determining what you've got.

In addition to the various pattern differences, there are also a bunch of colorful parallels of varying scarcity. There are also short prints and inserts, as well as autograph parallels.

Darth Vader and Chewbacca both have the most common card backgrounds. Each tier of rarity has 2 designs, and there are 5 tiers, so there are 10 possible backgrounds. Each character in the set is limited to one grouping or the other, so if you're collecting a favorite you only have to worry about gathering 5 cards. Beed and the First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper both feature patterns from the second tier.

All of the colored parallels share a background with the most common base cards. I got a Gold Rainbow parallel of Captain Panaka and a Blue Rainbow parallel of Rey. The Rey is a pretty decent character to get, but the Blue cards are the most common colored parallel. Mine is # 49 / 99. The Gold is the second-most common parallel. The Panaka is # 24 / 50. The promised autograph is a base version of David Bowers as Mas Amedda from Episodes II and III. The final card in the break is a Supreme Leader Snoke with a background from the third tier of rarity.

This box didn't really knock my socks off. I guess it could have been worse, but it also could have been better. That's the gamble, though, when you buy this kind of stuff.

2017 Topps UFC Knockout Randa Markos Autograph

I made it back from my work trip to San Diego, so now it's back to the grindstone. I got home late Friday night, and I had to work the weekend, so I haven't had much time to settle in yet. I have the day off on Monday, but I will have to use at least part of the day to take my car to the body shop after the little crash I had in California. It should be pretty fun.

This is a card that I chased for a while, since it is Randa Markos' first autograph from a Topps product and fighters' first autographs always carry a premium. This comes from the 2017 Topps UFC Knockout set. This is the base version, and my copy is numbered # 28 / 99. I had to get at least one version of this card, as Markos is one of the fighters I collect.

Markos fought last night in Mexico City, losing a split decision to Alexa Grasso. It was a close fight that could have been scored either way, but the crowd was overwhelmingly behind Grasso and Markos faded at the end. Markos is only 3-4 in the UFC, but I don't think they will cut her from the roster as long as she can get another win soon.

Wally Moon and Some Other Archives Autos

After our whirlwind day on Saturday, things calmed down a little for my wife and I on Sunday. We planned to go to church and then to the San Diego Zoo, but those plans changed a little bit. I've mentioned a few times that I served as a missionary in San Diego for a couple of years (2001-2002). We decided to attend church in the first area I was assigned to when I was here. I was worried that it would be weird or that no one would remember me, and we planned on just staying for the first hour.

But one family who I'd spent a lot of time with as a missionary remembered who I was, and they invited us over for lunch. We actually had to turn down a lunch invitation from another family in the congregation. We stayed for the full three-hour block of church, and then spent most of the afternoon at this family's house, eating and talking. A couple of their kids live in the area, so they came over with their families. It was an awesome visit, and they treated us just like family. It was a lot better than going to the Zoo, even the famous San Diego Zoo. It's good to be remembered.

After that, we rushed across town to the Sunset Cliffs to see what we could see before the sun went down. The cloud cover was such that there wasn't much sunset to see, but there were still some beautiful sights. There were also a lot of couples under blankets. We thought it was much too warm to be doing anything under a blanket, but I guess hormones can motivate you to do some crazy stuff. Once the sun was well and truly down, we went and got dinner, which was decent but not remarkable. My wife was supposed to leave on Monday morning, but she was able to obtain babysitting for an additional day and stayed through Tuesday morning.

She went and saw some tide pools while I was in class, and when I got out of class we visited a comic book shop. Then the insurance company called about the car wreck we had on Saturday and I spent some time talking with them. We closed out the mini-vacation by eating at a hole-in-the-wall joint called California Burritos. My wife wasn't crazy about the fish tacos, but the carne asada burritos were amazing. I would definitely hit them up if you are in the area.

On Tuesday evening I got a ticket to the Twins - Padres game, and headed to the ballpark for my third and final baseball game of this trip. The Padres won the game 3-0, with the offensive highlight being a 2-run homer by Austin Hedges. With the win, the Padres are an unbeaten 3-0 when I am visiting Petco Park. They should sponsor me as a mascot of some kind. I probably won't do much tourism stuff over the next couple of days before I head home, although I may get a wild hair and think of something if we get out of class early tomorrow. I only need 25 out of the remaining 80 points in the class, so I am having a hard time staying focused during the training.

And now I'll get to some cards. I showed off a Wally Moon parallel Fan Favorites autograph from 2017 Topps Archives a while back, but I also picked up the base version. I couldn't resist it, as I got a lot of four Archives autographs for just a little more than I would have paid for the Wally Moon on its own. You can't argue with that math.

First up among the 'bonus' autographs is this Dave Stieb signature on the polarizing 1990 Topps card design. This was one of the first sets I remember collecting cards from, so it has a special place in my heart. The blue color scheme on this one is pretty nice, a little less garish than some of the others I've seen.

The second autograph in this lot was Bill "Spaceman" Lee, who is famous as much for his antics as his pitching. I thought this was a cool addition to my collection, and his signature is pretty neat as well. His autograph card is based on the 1971 Topps design.

The final autograph in the lot was a Roy Oswalt signature on the 2001 Topps design. This is one of those card designs that released while I was out of collecting, so I don't recognize it without looking it up. Pretty much anything from 1996-2006 in Topps baseball is unfamiliar to me. I was collecting cards up through 1999 or 2000, but I was primarily gathering basketball cards, and there were a lot of other brands competing for attention at that time. Still, this is another really nice card from a former Astro and a Hall of Pretty Good player.