This retail-only product is exclusive to Target stores and can be purchased in a Mega Box format. For $19.99, a collector will receive seven packs of chromium cards, with four cards per pack.
The base set contains 100 cards, and the design mirrors Topps’ flagship Update series. If you liked the design for Series One and Two baseball and the Update series, then the chrome version will be just as pleasing.
Parallels for the base set include refractors, which fall every 22 packs and are numbered to 250; and X-Fractors, which fall once in every eight boxes (or 56 packs, if you’re counting) and are numbered to 99. Harder to find are gold refractors, numbered to 50; red refractors (25); and 1/1 SuperFractors and printing plates.
The set does include autographs, although they are sparsely seeded in boxes. Figure on finding an auto every 56 packs or so. There are 61 autograph subjects.
The main insert in the chrome set is the All-Rookie Cup, which consists of 20 cards. The chrome really makes a difference in this subset. Two of the three that I pulled — a 1968 Tom Seaver and a 1969 Johnny Bench — are really eye-popping. The third card was a Future Star card of Noah Syndergaard, and while it was nice, too, it did not measure up to the cards that have retro designs.
The final tally was 24 base cards and four inserts. It is not a bad haul for a retail product, and the price is reasonable enough. The Mega Box looks large, but there is a lot of wasted space inside. It’s not as compact as a blaster box, for example. But as a collector, packaging is not a concern as long as it is not prohibitive.
The 2017 Topps Chrome Update is another shiny product that will resonate with collectors who like cards that have a buffed appearance.