Wow! A 2017 Topps Chrome Value Pack!

2017 Topps Chrome created quite a fuss upon it's release in the hobby, a couple of months ago. Fresh off winning the Home Run Derby, Aaron Judge was the current gotta-have-it card of all the rage...

And you could get his autographs in packs of Chrome! 

While I don't know that it was strictly the Judge craze that shrunk the normal retail pool of cards, the fact is they were very hard to find in 2017.


It's 2017... Does retail know where these are?

Nothing should be taken away from the season that Judge put in. Breaking Mark McGwire's rookie season home run record (49 in 1987), with 52, was very impressive. Hitting them as far as he did was beyond impressive...

Now the only impression I want to get out of Aaron Judge on Tuesday, is an 0-4 with 4 strikeouts... Throw in a few throwing errors too while you're at it...

This morning marked the final day of the 2017 regular season, and I wanted to at least get one pack of baseball cards. While out on a highly successful photo tour of downtown Denver and other areas of current interest, I stopped at a WalMarts in a different area of town. They had only one baseball related item...

A lone value pack of 2017 Topps Chrome. 


This is my first encounter with any of this brand, so I was sold immediately.

At this location of WalMarts, all cards are kept behind the sales counter, alongside the cigarettes and lighters. The cashier told me that a few months earlier, hundreds of Pokemon packs were never entered into the system, and just disappeared from the store. Hearing that made me sad... Then I realized those are just cards of stupid fighting Japanese cartoons instead of baseball cards. Which would have been far worse...

Leaving the WalMarts with only the cards purchased, I continued taking more pictures before going home to write this, as I opened some Chrome...

The Chrome line being what it is, you get only 4 cards in a pack. Three base and one of any number of different insert and parallel sets. I'm once again going to cite my favorite and least favorite card in each pack. But in the case of this set, the insert card always won the favorite. So that will be it's own category...

You'll see....

I know, it's crappy of me to re-write my long established rules for writing up pack breaks on Four Baggers. (Link) But I've never been much of a follow the rules guy...

Pack 1

Jake Thompson RC - Phillies
Aaron Judge - Yankees - Kinda 87 Toppsy Refractory Thingy
A.J. Pollock - Diamondbacks
Gerrit Cole - Pirates

Well, I'm sure people who aren't me, really would like that Judge. It's a nice card, and I'll gladly keep it... The rest of the pack was very underwhelming... I really don't like any of these teams....


Most Shiniest - Aaron Judge - Yankees - Kinda 87 Toppsy Refractory Thingy

My complaint here would be that 1987 Topps had the woodgrain border. But this just has the refractory design for a border. So it seems like it's missing something... I do like the subtle irony in that Topps is honoring the 30th Anniversary of the set that ushered in the overproduced Junk Wax Era, but are now shorting retailers of inventory.

Well played, Topps...


Most Favorite - Gerrit Cole - Pirates

Of the other three teams represented, I dislike the Pirates the least. And that's a cool shot of the Pirates retro 1970's throwback uniform...


Least Favorite - A.J. Pollock - Diamondbacks

The least favorite came as a toss-up between Thompson and Pollock. Thompson is a rookie card and a nicer picture. Pollock is a Diamondback... Advantage Phillies...

Pack 2

Albert Pujols - Angels
Andrew McCutchen - Pirates
Billy Hamilton - Reds - Refractor
Roman Quinn RC - Phillies


Most Shiniest - Billy Hamilton - Reds - Refractor

This was my favorite card of the whole value pack. Great picture with that adds to the refractoryness of the gimmick. Plus I have a soft spot for speedy center fielders.

I wish this was a Byron Buxton refractor...


Most Favorite - Andrew McCutchen - Pirates

Speaking of speedy centerfielders, McCutchen is a long time favorite. Card isn't anything special, but Roman Quinn didn't do much for me...


Least Favorite - Albert Pujols - Angels

My level of admiration for Pujols as a player was once so high, that I overlooked his years as a Cardinal. I don't fault him for following the money, but I always felt he was one of those guys that should play their whole career for one franchise. Seeing cards of him in Angel red and not Cardinals red is something I still haven't gotten used to in five years...

Way too many teams that I don't like so far in these packs...

Pack 3

Lorenzo Cain - Royals
Jacoby Jones - Tigers
Alex Bregman - Astros - Freshman Flash
Nelson Cruz - Mariners


Most Shiniest - Alex Bregman - Freshman Flash

The scanner didn't do this card justice. It looks a lot nicer in person. 


Most Favorite - Lorenzo Cain - Royals

Topps Chrome isn't a set that gets accolades for photography. The shots that are really nice (like this one) are so distorted by the Chrome gimmick, the photo loses it's effectiveness.


Least Favorite - Jacoby Jones - Tigers

No, he's a Tiger...

Maybe the problem is that I don't like enough teams? 


Retail Exclusive Bonus pack of 5 Pink Refractors

Yu Darvish - Rangers
Michael Brantley - Indians
Carlos Correa - Astros
David Dahl - Rockies
DJ LeMahieu - Rockies


Most Favorite - Carlos Correa - Astros

Not an Astros fan either, but Correa is going to be a top level shortstop for years to come. 


Least Favorite - Michael Brantley - Indians

Come on, he plays for Cleveland...


Most Rockiesest - DJ LeMahieu - Rockies

After not drawing a single Expo (or Twin or Rockie) from the three packs, I was happy to see Colorado so well represented in pink. Pink is a color that actually works well for Rockies parallel card sets. LeMahieu is one of the most underrated second basemen in the league, and has been a favorite of mine since Colorado basically stole him from the Chicago Cubs in a December, 2011, trade for nothing.


Least Rockiesiest - David Dahl - Rockies

Dahl debut for the Rockies in July, 2016, and looked to be an impact bat in left filed for the next decade in Denver. An injury to his ribs cost him the entire 2017 season. I hope Dahl recovers, as he could be a valuable piece to the Rockies 2018 outfield.

Now go beat Arizona!

******

Overall impressions...

For the second year in a row, I like Chrome a great deal more than the Topps flagship set. I think the busy design lends itself to a smaller set, like Chrome, better than it does for a massive 1000 plus card set, spread over the three series.

Other than the three inserts, I really didn't like what I got here. The cards were fine, but nothing I collect. A few I'll keep, but none of the base cards really filled team or player collections.

That's more representative of my being picky, than anything on Topps part. I liked these, and may buy a little bit more.

If I ever found them on sale.

******

I really wanted to get a new Buxton card from this Value Pack. Or any Twins. I didn't... 

So here's an old 2015 Buxton from my meager player collection that I really like...


Go Twins...

(and Rockies)

(Oh... Nationals too... Remember your roots!)

2017 was a really fun season for watching baseball... 

Now It's going to be a really interesting postseason...

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