2011 Topps Baseball Update Series Box Break Recap and Review

2011 Topps Baseball Update Series is the final piece of the master release of Topps Baseball Cards for this year.  Update does just that, putting players in their traded team’s jerseys, providing a record of the All-Star game and covering Rookies who got mid season call ups.  The design is identical to Series 1 and 2 with two significant additions, Cognac and Blue Hope Diamond cards, which bridge all 3 releases.

Like Series 1 and 2, Update Series falls under our classification of trading cards because of its reasonable price point and base/insert card foundation.  While hits can be found even in single retail packs, those who’s primary purpose is pulling hits from this product will most likely be looking to increase their odds with purchases that are hobby exclusives, some with multiple box orders or even by the case.  The hobby box, like the one we opened for this review, contains 36 packs with 10 cards per pack and each box yields one autograph or relic card.

Here is a look at some of the cards we found in our box.

 Update cards - Cliff Lee, who was in his Rangers Uniform in Series 1 and Carlos Beltran who was traded from the Mets to the Giants mid-season.

 Rookie Cards -  Here is Blake Beavan in his Rookie Card noted with the RC MLB Symbol and his Rookie Debut card which lists his first appearance, July 3, 2011

 Here is two more Rookie cards, Eric Hosmer and Paul Goldschmidt

 All-Star Game cards - Scott Rolen from the game and Robinson Cano from the Home Run Derby

Season Moments - Derek Jeter joins the 3000 hit club

Base Card Parallels

Diamond Anniversary - Sam LeCure, Armando Calarraca, Aaron Harang

Daniel Moskos, Victor Martinez, Jose Morales

Ryan Adams,  Javy Guerra, Prince Fielder

Cognac

Xavier Paul, Tom Wilhelmsen, Michael Pineda

Mark Kotsay, Drew Butera, Nathan Adcock

Yorvit Torrealea, Charlie Morton, Austin Jackson

Jeff Karstens, Ivan DeJesus, Johnny Damon

Michael Wuertz, LeTroy Hawkins, Chris Capuano

Joaquin Benoit, Rich Harden, Barry Enright

Zach Britton, Michael Martinez, Mark Melancon

Tyson Ross, Eric Sogard, Chris Getz

Chris Gimenez, Erik Bedard, Michael Crotta

Matt Downs, Nick Masset

Eric Chavez, Brandon Kintzler

Scott Baker, B.J. Upton, Kris Medlen

Matt Holliday, Matt Kemp, Casey McGehee

Ryan Spilborghs, Raul Ibanez, Curtis Granderson

Mike Minor, Livan Hernandez, Rajai Davis

Gold #/2011

 Elliot Johnson, Brendan Ryan, Brad Hand

Tom Gorzelanny, Bill Hall, Alexi Ogando

Greg Dobbs, Takashi Saito, Mitchell Boggs

Lyle Overbay, Matt Downs, Aaron Heilman

Ryan Vogelsong, Kevin Jepsen

Blue Hope Diamond #/60

 John Buck, Erik Bedard

Phil Rizzuto

Black Border #/60

Sean Burroughs

Diamond Giveaway Codes

Carl Crawford. Prince Fielder

Mickey Mantle, Jose Bautista

Adrian Gonzalez, Cal Ripken Jr.

 Toppstown Codes

Michael Pineda, Jaime Garcia

Eric Hosmer, James Shields, Mandy Rodriguez

 Diamond Duos

Albert Pujols & Lance Berkman, Zack Greinke & Shaun Marcum

Grady Sizemore & Shin-Soo Choo, Adrian Gonzalez & Jose Bautista

 Topps 60

Nolan Ryan, Roberto Alomar, Sandy Koufax

Jimmy Foxx, Frank Thomas, Joe DiMaggio

Reggie Jackson, Fergie Jenkins, Cy Young

 Kimball Champions

 Matt Holliday, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, Danny Duffy

Zach Britton, Paul Molitor, Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Miguel Cabrera

The Hit

Jose Reyes All-Star Workout Jersey

Overall Look

Like in series past, we love the design and the photography. Kimball Champions are still the best looking cards in the entire set, but the Cognac and Blue Hope Diamond cards are really nice too. 

Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.

Since Series 1 and 2 covers most of the players, Update is a very specific checklist and serves that function well.  Thinking in terms of new Rookies and All-Stars will give you what you can expect from this release.

Do the hits hold up?

No big changes here.   The hits work for this release.

Will you want to collect them all?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Topps Baseball Cards are THE cards to collect for the widest variety of collectors.   If you have been collecting Series 1 and 2, Update is a must to finish a master set for the year.

Rating

 4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Topps Baseball Update Series completes the 2011 Baseball Master Set, a series of cards that works well for both beginning and seasoned collectors.  Your Baseball collection is incomplete without them.


Review box provided by Topps