The Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro begin Friday, and Topps has put out a card set that could be golden in many ways.
Especially if you open a hot box.
Topps’ 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Hopefuls is a 74-card set with plenty of parallels and some interesting hits. A hobby box will cost in the $75 to $85 range, depending on the retailer. It will contain 24 packs, with eight cards per pack.
Whenever you have a small base set, doubles are going to be inevitable. One would expect, however, to complete the set. It didn’t happen, since every card was there except No. 34 — track and field star LaShawn Merritt. Card No. 37 also was absent, but that’s because it wasn’t included in the checklist.
Especially if you open a hot box.
Topps’ 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Hopefuls is a 74-card set with plenty of parallels and some interesting hits. A hobby box will cost in the $75 to $85 range, depending on the retailer. It will contain 24 packs, with eight cards per pack.
Whenever you have a small base set, doubles are going to be inevitable. One would expect, however, to complete the set. It didn’t happen, since every card was there except No. 34 — track and field star LaShawn Merritt. Card No. 37 also was absent, but that’s because it wasn’t included in the checklist.
Here’s where this box, provided to me by Topps, is such a hot one. Typically, Topps is promising three hits per hobby box, including one autograph relic and a commemorative relic.
This box had six hits — two autographs, an autograph relic, two patch cards and one relic card.
The autographs are on stickers, and the first one I pulled was a bronze parallel card of men’s swimming star Michael Phelps, numbered to 25.
The second one was of women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe. The autograph relic was of rugby player Madison Hughes and it was numbered to 50; there are 24 different subjects in this subset.
This box had six hits — two autographs, an autograph relic, two patch cards and one relic card.
The autographs are on stickers, and the first one I pulled was a bronze parallel card of men’s swimming star Michael Phelps, numbered to 25.
The second one was of women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe. The autograph relic was of rugby player Madison Hughes and it was numbered to 50; there are 24 different subjects in this subset.
There was one exclusive relic card, and it was of women’s basketball star Candace Parker. The last two relics were patch cards, with the first one being a U.S. Olympic Team Commemorative red parallel card of swimmer Matt Grevers, numbered to 25. The Olympic patch is simply a beautiful, colorful card. The second patch was a United States flag patch card that featured women’s basketball star Maya Moore.
The design of the base set is simple and straightforward. An action shot of the competitor is shown against a blue backdrop that features a “Team USA” banner. The competitor’s name is shown in the lower right-hand corner of the card in red block letters, with their featured event beneath their name in smaller, gray block letter type. At the bottom left is the logo for the U.S. Olympic team.
The card back features vital statistics and a mini-biography that is labeled “Olympic Pedigree.”
The card back features vital statistics and a mini-biography that is labeled “Olympic Pedigree.”
There are parallels of all base cards, with medals substituting for the team logo in the lower left-hand corner. Gold medal parallels will fall every three packs in a hobby box, silver will appear in every other back, and bronze is featured in every pack. True to the average, there were eight golds, 12 silvers and 24 bronzes in the box I opened.
I found two different types of parallels. The 25-card Olympic Disciplines appear one in every four packs and describe an athlete, their event and the rules of that particular event. There were six in the hobby box I sampled.
I found two different types of parallels. The 25-card Olympic Disciplines appear one in every four packs and describe an athlete, their event and the rules of that particular event. There were six in the hobby box I sampled.
The other parallel was called Closing Ceremony, and it recaps the Games of a particular summer with medal counts and a photo of the final ceremony. The card I pulled referenced the controversial and tragic 1972 Games in Munich, Germany. This set of 23 insert cards falls one to a hobby box.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic set offers some nice autographs and relics, and also covers a wide spectrum of athletes who are certain to make a splash in Rio beginning this week.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic set offers some nice autographs and relics, and also covers a wide spectrum of athletes who are certain to make a splash in Rio beginning this week.
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