2008 Topps Series One

2008's edition of the best brand ever.

The Base Set Breakdown

330 cards, of which

255 veterans
15 managers
30 rookies
10 league leaders
8 postseason highlights
2 CYA
2 MVP
2 ROY's
5 Classic Combos
1 Barry Bonds

in other words, A-Rod has no less than three cards in this set, possibly four if you count the postseason.

Inserts/Parallels

Year in Review - So that Topps can tell us what we already know. There will be one for every day of the season. June 14, 2007 - Vladimir Guerrero has sacrifice fly, 2 RBI vs. Cincinnati.

Own the Game - This has been running for 234782347928374 years now. Isn't it time Topps did a different format for league leaders?

Barry Bonds Home Run History - This time, its only cards 757-762. This means that the odds are only 1:10 of pulling one of these "player-collector" dream cards.

Replica "Mini-Jersey" Red Sox/All Stars - #'d to 499, these cards feature a MINI JERSEY seeded one per pack in a worthless UD Hokkey product. Note, this is not game-used

Gold - Standard worthless player collector parallel. this year #'d/2008 (for the year, isn't that clever)

Black - Standard worthless player collector rare parallel. this year #'d/57. And they took the Blacks away from HTA.

Platinum - Expensive card with a strange triangular sticker, that despite being not a rookie, a relic, or an autograph, and all together a shitty looking card, commands a high premium.

AU/GU Corner

2007 Highlights - Year in Review, featuring such stars as Dallas McPherson, Carlos Villanueva, and Eulogio De La Cruz, along with scrubs like Jake Peavy and Albert Pujols.

Projected odds : 1 in 120 packs (1 in every 3-4 boxes)

World Champion Autograph Relics - Featuring swatches from June, and featuring stickers signed in July. Only 500 of these were made, so it might be more appropriate to put these cards in the "chase" section.

Projected odds : 1 in 6080 packs (1 in every 4 cases or so)

Barry Bonds Home Run Triple Relic Cards - Showing that we are enticed by "keywords", such as "home run", "triple", "relic", "heritage", and "chrome". Odd. #'d/250.

Projected odds : 1 in 12160 packs (1 in every 8 cases or so)

World Champion Relics - Featuring swatches from June. Despite this, and the relatively high serial numbering, a JD Drew World Champion Relic went for $75.

2007 Highlights - 13 base set relic cards, white swatch, grey swatch, black swatch, you know the picture by now.

All-Rookie Team Autographs/Relics - #'d to 50 cards of Dwight Gooden and other phenomenal rookies. If you are super lucky, you can pull Dwight Gooden game-used cocaine residue.

MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE
MICKEY MANTLE

Okay, so now we're over that fetish. There are more Mickey Mantle inserts.

WHAT TOPPS THINKS

"YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAY!" - random kid after pulling Mickey Mantle.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS

"Fuck. All I got was a shitty Mantle Home Run history." - real kid, after pulling Mickey Mantle.

Let's face it. All these Mantle cards have been devalued more than the Zimbabwean currency.

now, for the ever-popular

CHASE CHASE CHASE CHASE CHASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

In the Name - cut-off, nasty looking game used all-star lettermen. 1/1's.
Campaign 2008 Cut Signatures - autos of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, John Edwards, and... Fred Thompson? WTF? No Mitt or Mike Huckabee? Mitt even would have gone in with the baseball theme.