​​10 years ago

A month ago, I was browsing amazon and found something interesting. Some blaster boxes of the 2016 Topps Series 1 were available. 2016, wow, the product was from 10 years ago. I didn’t collect many baseball cards then. After 10 years, so many things have changed. I only bought 1 or 2 hobby packs of the 2016 Topps Series 1 a few years ago. When I saw that this product was available on Amazon, I was just thinking about buying it.

 

So, I ordered a blaster box of the 2016 Topps Series 1 and let’s see what I got.

 

Notable on base cards: Michael Brantley, Eric Hosmer, Andre Ethier, Francisco Rodriguez, Andrew McCutchen, Noah Syndergaard, Zach Britton, Troy Tulowitzki, Yadier Molina, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Mark Teixeira, Huston Street, Jake Arrieta, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey, Adam Wainwright, Hanley Ramirez, Anthony Rizzo

 

Rookie card (2): Aaron Nola, Greg Bird

 

Rainbow Foil (1): Ryan Braun

 

First Pitch (2): Abby Wambach, Mo’ne Davis

 

MLB Debut (5): Hank Aaron, Ryan Braun, Yoenis Cespedes, Ryan Howard, Brooks Robinson

 

Perspectives (2): Ichiro, Craig Biggio

 

Pressed into service (2): Wade Boggs, Paul O’Neill

100 years at Wrigley (1): Babe Ruth

 

Walk-off wins (1): Luis Gonzalez

 

Back-to-Back (1): Joey Votto/Brandon Phillips

Berger’s best (3): Bob Clemente (Roberto Clemente), John Smoltz, David Price

 

MLB Debut Medallion (1): Evan Longoria

For me, the biggest surprise from this blaster box is that there’s an Andre Ethier card. He’s one of my favorite players and I’d watched him when he played for the Dodgers. I’m just glad to see his card again. This is surely a great card for me.

 

However, there are only 2 rookie cards in this blaster box. One is an Aaron Nola rookie card and the other is a Greg Bird rookie card. Aaron Nola is still playing in the majors. Nonetheless, the last time that Greg Bird played in the majors was in 2019. And that’s what I look at this set now. After 10 years, so many players aren’t playing. Moreover, some players were considered to become stars, but it didn’t happen.

 

Finally, there’s a manufactured relic card, which is an Evan Longoria MLB debut medallion. When I saw this card, so many memories came out of my mind. I used to see Longoria play for team USA in the baseball world cup. I used to see him play for the Rays. He was a top prospect and soon became a franchise player. I really like this card.

 

All in all, this blaster box helped me recall so many memories and also showed that baseball cards have become so different. Occasionally, it’s fun to rip some old baseball cards. Nonetheless, there’s one thing. You can’t find a manufactured relic card in a blaster box anymore. Perhaps, fans don’t like this kind of relic cards?