gettin' hobby with it

2023 topps archives is out, so here is another post about update.

i mentioned that i picked up a couple of hobby boxes when i was out in california. i figured i would show some of what i found. both boxes yielded 218 unique base cards. no doubles in either box, although i fell short of a complete set by a couple cards. the inserts were plentiful and varied. here's a look.

the first box gave me, obviously, my first look at the all-star game inserts.

topps continues to make these cards of guys who were selected to the all-star team but didn't show up, and feature them in their regular jerseys. not sure if that is better or worse than being shown in these softball uniforms.

the time spanning tandems inserts

are the latest insert set to get two guys on one card. it's been done before and called "historic throughlines" or "mirror image" or "diamond duos" and so on and so forth.

topps again has black gold inserts

which makes three years in a row. the original black gold inserts only ran for two years.

i am only going to show one of the parallels i found in the first box, and it's an orange foil parallel of eddie rosario

i liked rosario when he was on the twins. i've lost track of him since he's been in atlanta.

the 1988 inserts continue, of course, and i lucked out with two dodgers in this box

not too much variety between gavin stone and bobby miller cards there, but with pitchers not hitting anymore, the photo ops are pretty limited.

the silver pack in this box was pretty boring - craig biggio, ryan howard, shane bieber, and luis ortiz. not bothering to show any of 'em.

the guaranteed auto or relic in this box was a bat card of autin riley

this wasn't too bad of a box for a braves fan. 

the second hobby box i picked up was a bonanza for this dodger fan.

the one action stars insert that i found in this box was none other than mookie betts

who was also the subject of the lone laid out! insert

and, bobby miller was the one all aces card in the box!

tremendous dodger mojo!

here's a counter to all that dodger goodness

nl west nemesis corbin carroll. we will see what his sophomore slump looks like next year.

the rainbow foils are the same, and here's one that was in this box

i don't know much about jason delay, but i don't think he is the pirates' catcher of the future. or maybe he is. i thought henry davis was that guy, but it looks like he is headed towards more outfield play.

the silver pack in this box was pretty good. i got a nolan ryan

and a julio rodriguez

nice photo of nolan with the eye black. 

the foil insert in the box just happened to be a jason heyward orange foil

welcome to the show!

however, the guaranteed auto/relic was a plain gray swatch of kyle schwarber material

when i returned home, the jumbo box i had ordered a couple of weeks prior was waiting for me. yes, i went a bit overboard this year.

the boxtopper was this topps big joey votto card

there were two silver packs in this box, and one was identical to the silver pack from the first box. the regular 1988 inserts were a bit more interesting as one was this julio rodriguez card

odd that topps didn't treat the rookie cup background the same as the silver pack card shown above.

there were a couple more time spanning tandems in the box, including a black parallel of roberto clemente and andrew mccutchen

i didn't realize it was the black version until i went and sought out a different black parallel and learned that the clock is what changes color for the parallels.

the hobby jumbos include the gold foil parallels, and one of the cards i received was pablo lopez'

i got to see him pitch in person twice this year, and hope to see him pitch again next year. twins fans are a-ok losing out on a batting champ to have this guy on the bump.

i struck out on other non-gold parallels in the first two boxes, but this one yielded a black parallel #/72 of this card

and a father's day blue parallel #/50 of this one:

jarred kelenic has fallen pretty far if he is an afterthough to series 1 and 2. he's only 23, though, so don't forget about him.

the foil parallel in this box was a green foil andrew benintendi

i don't expect to see benintendi in next year's update (he's played on four different teams over the past four seasons) but you never know when the white sox will decide to dump salary.

finally, a box yielded an auto as one of the guaranteed hits, and it's not a bad one

that's a gold parallel autograph from twin (and cousin of lin-manuel miranda) jose miranda. unfortunately, the other guaranteed hit is another jersey swatch.

at least there is a pinstripe, but it would have been better if it had been a piece of the city connect jersey that ezequiel tovar is wearing in the photo.

there was one last "hit" in the box, and it made this dodger fan happy.

always a treat to get a clayton kershaw card, even if it is a manufactured medallion thingy. the commissioner's trophy is slightly askew, but i'll take it.