I Want You To Open My Box Of 2012 Topps Tier One Baseball Cards

2012 Topps Tier One Baseball cards are booming with Bat Knob cards going for $1,000 and more.  We realize not everyone will have the chance to open a box so I'm giving you the opportunity to open mine... virtually.

To do this box break, click on the box which will open it.  I've already taken off the celo wrapping for you because we all know how difficult it can be.  You're welcome.  Continue to click on the images to get through the entire break.

Rising Rookies Set To Rock Major League Baseball And Autograph Topps Rookie Cards

Rookies Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish have been making waves, both in the MLB and with collectors, but there are some other notable rookies that could be the next sensation.  They also happen to be signing autographs for future Topps Baseball Card releases.

Trevor Bauer, Diamondbacks, P

Just featured in our 2012 Topps Pro Debut box break recap and review, Bauer has been making a big impression on minor league fans, not only with his 11 – 1 record this year, but for his pregame warm-up routine that includes foul pole to foul pole tosses.  He got “called up” and will join the Diamondbacks tonight in Atlanta for his MLB Debut.  

Bauer’s first Autographed Rookie Cards will be in Topps Finest. Future signings include Topps Chrome, Triple Threads, Bowman Chrome, Topps Updates, Five Star and Bowman Sterling.

Will Middlebrooks, Red Sox, 3B

Middlebrooks was just named the AL player of the Week after hitting 2 HRs and 9 RBIs with a .348 batting average for the week.  add to that the recent departure of Kevin Youkilis and it looks like Middlebrooks will own the hot corner at Fenway for some time to come.

Middlebrooks has been announced as the 2012 Bowman Lucky Redemption # 3 that will be redeemed for the on-card auto pictured above. His autograph will also be in the upcoming Topps Finest, Bowman Chrome, Topps Updates, the all-new Five Star and Bowman Sterling.

Anthony Rizzo, Cubs, 1B

Rizzo went 2 for 4 and drove in the go-ahead run in his first game with the Chicago Cubs, who rallied for a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. 

You can find his autographs in the recently-released Tier One and the upcoming Triple Threads, Topps Updates and Five Star.

2012 Topps Pro Debut Baseball Box Break Recap And Review

If you are a fan of Baseball and you live within driving distance, you owe it to yourself to get to a Minor League game.  Even though the Dodgers and Angels are closer to where I live, I still make the effort to get out to the various MiLB stadiums of the teams playing in the California League. 

Recently I went to see the Lancaster Jet Hawks.  For twelve dollars, I sat five rows up off the field, right behind home plate.  Just behind me was Ron Brand, longtime scout for the New York Yankees.  He couldn’t have been more kind, talking baseball with me when he wasn’t busy using his radar gun or taking notes on players.  He even let me have a close look at his 1998 Yankees World Series Ring, very impressive for this life long pinstripe fan.  But the main reason I was at the game was to watch the players.  Young, raw talent, some of whom I have been tracking for a while and some who are destined to get the call up to “The Show.”

Topps captures the essence of the MiLB experience with 2012 Pro Debut Baseball cards.  For a reasonable price you get a great representation of the some of the best the minors has to offer in a streamlined set with the possibility of pulling a really nice hit, of which the full impact will be determined further down the road.

This set falls under our classification of trading cards. Hobby Boxes contain 24 – 8 card packs with two autographs and two relic cards per box.

Here are some of the cards I pulled from a hobby box of Pro Debut.

Base Set

 Bryce Harper, front and back

 Billy Hamilton, Gary Brown, Michael Choice

 Trevor Bauer, Joe Panik, Shelby Miller

 Manny Machado, Sean Gilmartin, Cory Spangenberg

 Jameson Taillon, Bubba Starling, C.J. Cron

 Jurickson Profar, Javier Baez, Matt Harvey

Base Set Parallels

James Allen - Gold #/50,  Cory Spangenberg Photo Variation SP

All Stars Inserts

 Manny Machado, Scooter Gennett

 Andrelton Simmons, Julio Rodriguez, Mike McDade

 Rymer Liriano, Trevor May, Will Middlebrooks

The Hits

 Manny Machado Game Used Relic, Cory Spangenberg Manufactured Cap Logo Patch

 Kyle Waldrop Autograph, Allen Webster Autograph

Overall Look

The design of the cards is based on 2012 Topps MLB cards which I happen to like this year. The bonus is you get all the players in their Minor League uniforms. The gold border cards work well and the All Stars inserts look really good.  The Autograph cards are smartly designed with slight fading for the signature area.  The cap logo cards look great. 

Quality and Variety of Players

220 base cards make this a streamlined checklist that includes the top prospects and some players who are showing some early potential. 

Do the hits hold up?

In short, yes.  The best of the bunch are the dual autos or Jumbo Patch cards.  But here is one instance where I wish Topps had numbered certain cards, just to show off their rarity.  After looking at the odds, if my math is correct, the cap logo patch card would have been numbered to 49 and the photo variation SP would have been number to just 26.  If you pull one of these and your player breaks into the Majors, you could have a huge hit on your hands.  So, clearly, I'm pulling for Cory Spangenberg to get called up by the San Diego Padres and have a major impact in the MLB.

Will you want to collect them all?

This is a set you will want to complete.  It appears there are under 10,000 boxes of Pro Debut, a very limited print run compared to other releases, like Topps Baseball, so there are probably only about 7,500 sets that can be put together, about 1,500 sets if you include the All Stars inserts.  So if pulling together a set of Pro Debut is of interest to you, I would go for it sooner than later.

Rating

5 out of 5

If you appreciate Minor League Baseball, 2012 Topps Pro Debut should be a part of your collection.


Review box provided by Topps