It looks as though Topps has rebounded nicely. Its 2016 set, using a new Chromax printing technology and thick stock, looks like a winner.
A hobby box is running in the $250 range, depending on the retailer. There are six packs, with three cards per pack on average. Topps is promising three on-card autographs and three memorabilia cards per hobby box. There are 90 cards in the base set, with green, purple and red parallels. There also is a black 1/1 version.
This is a three-color patch with a hologram stamp affixed to the relic. The card stock is thick, too.
The Archer card was one of two Stamp of Approval cards I pulled. The second was of Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, numbered to 199. This relic was one color (a white uniform swatch) with a hologram attached, and the card stock was thinner than the Archer card.
The final memorabilia card was a Certified Tribute relic of Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, numbered to 199. The chrome background has a soft focus (similar to the design of the base set), with McCutchen shown in an action pose. The photo of McCutchen is in sharp detail, with a gray swatch near the bottom of the card.
The other two signatures came from the Tribute Autographs subset. These cards show an action shot of the player on the left-hand side of the card, with a large, generous space on the right side for the signature. The first autograph was of Giants third baseman Joe Panik, numbered to 199. The second was a blue parallel of Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood, numbered to 150.
There was one parallel in the box I opened: a green Goose Gossage card, numbered to 99.
Overall, a nice recovery for Topps. The cards are attractive and the autographs are clear. I only pulled 17 cards out of the pack, but that was due to the thickness of the Archer card (there were only two cards in that pack). The design is nice, and even though I am not a fan of chrome, I have to admit that the shiny stuff looks good in this set.