Let the Festivities Begin

Well, it's finally here. After months of anticipating the release of 2019 Topps Series 1, I finally made my first purchase of 2019 Baseball cards in the form of a standard hobby box earlier today at my LCS. 

Included with the box was a silver pack, the promotion that Topps has been rolling out for the last few years with the purchase of a Series 1, 2, or Update hobby or jumbo box. 

Since Series 1 jumbo has been a letdown so far in terms of what its produced and the pack odds, I went for a regular hobby box instead, where I'm guaranteed 1 autograph or relic. Plus, I still receive 1 of the silver pack cards with my purchase compared to 2 for a jumbo box.

Truth be told, I haven't even busted the seal on my hobby box yet so today's post will be solely for the silver pack cards. I'll probably take this weekend to open, recap, and sort the cards I pull in a couple blog posts before getting settled for the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Since this is the first time I've ever opened a hobby box of Topps Flagship, the silver pack I received is also the first of the hobby-exclusive packs that I've ever opened. However, I've watched enough YouTube videos to know what to expect. I'll be getting 4 cards with chances of a colored parallel or even an autograph with the 4th card in the pack.

This year, Topps is paying tribute to the 1984 Topps design, so in addition to the '84 insert set, the silver pack cards are also in the 1984 design, though they feature a particular chrome refractor that I believe is called a mojo refractor, but don't hold me to it.

Without further adieu, let's see what I get out of my first ever 4-card silver pack.

#T84-30 Darryl Strawberry

Just because I've never opened a silver pack before doesn't mean that I haven't found past promotional cards in the dime or quarter bins. With that being said, it's a completely different story to actually pull these cards from packs. 

Not to mention, the cards actually scan surprisingly well, and they look awesome in-person. Darryl Strawberry isn't a guy I collect, but that doesn't make this picture or the refractor any less stunning.

#T84-14 Bo Jackson

Nice! 2 cards in and we have a player I collect, featuring an exceptional photo as well. Bo Jackson is often represented in these type of products like Archives and other throwback sets, but it's weird to see him in the 1984 Topps product considering that his first Topps card was technically in 1986. 

The powder blue uniform looks absolutely awesome and is undoubtedly the proper choice for this card. Moreover, the pink background behind the headshot of Bo is another specific detail that I'm quite fond of.

#T84-7 Corey Kluber

All the card backs say the same thing, a quick blurb about the '84 set and how 2019 is the 35th anniversary of the product, so I opted not to include photos of the card backs in favor of the awesome refractor photos on the front. Kluber is another guy who I collect, so I'm 2-3 as far as that goes. His card, like the first 2, is truly well-done, and you can tell that Topps put in an exceptional amount of effort to perfect these promotional cards.

#T84-50 Cal Ripken Jr.

While I was unable to land any serial numbered refractors or autographs, I landed cards of 3 players I collect from my first ever silver pack opening, so I'm incredibly pleased about that. For one reason or another, the Cal Ripken Jr. card might be my favorite despite the awesome uniform that Bo Jackson is wearing on his card. Something about Ripken and 1984 Topps causes the 2 to work so well together, and the result is an awesome way to end the pack.

I realize that today's post was short, but I only recently got the box in-hand and I really want to take my time with both the box break and the post I write on it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to open my first ever box of cards from 2019. Wish me luck.