First and foremost, I'd like to thank our sponsors at Topps for providing us with this box.

2014tpupdateBB.jpg

36 packs per box
10 cards per pack
Current Retail Price (online): $54.99 - $64.99

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

BASE CARDS
330 cards featuring Veterans, Rookies, 2014 MLB All-Stars, Home Run Derby participants, and Rookie Debuts. There will also be five cards highlighting the top five plays from the first half of the season.


PARALLEL CARDS
- Gold Parallel sequentially numbered to 2014.
- Green Camo Parallel sequentially numbered to 99.
- Black Parallel sequentially numbered to 63.
- Pink Parallel sequentially numbered to 50.
- Platinum Parallel numbered 1/1.
- Red Hot Foil Parallel inserted 1:6.
- Clear Parallel Sequentially numbered to 10. STANDARD HOBBY BOX ONLY
- Base Card Printing Plates 1,320 printing plates from all of the base cards. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY


INSERT CARDS
- Power Players - Cards featuring the top 25 Power Player performers of the year so far. Inserted 1:6
- Fond Farewells - 15 cards saluting some of the most moving and significant retirements of all time. Inserted 1:8
- World Series Heroes - 50 cards celebrating some of the most memorable World Series moments and players of all time. Inserted 1:8
- The Future is Now - 30 cards featuring the top 10 young players and each of their three best moments in MLB so far. Inserted 1:4
- 1989 Topps Minis Die Cut - Mini cards using the 1989 Topps design and die cut around the border and ribbon design. Inserted 1:8


AUTOGRAPHED CARDS
- Trajectory Autographs -Over 30 subjects' career trajectory will be highlighted.
- Power Players Autographs -15 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 25.
- Fond Farewells Autographs - 5 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 25.
- World Series Heroes Autographs - 10 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 25.
- 1989 Topps Minis Die Cut Autographs - 10 subjects. Signed on-card! Sequentially numbered to 10.
- The Future is Now Autographs - 30 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 25.


AUTOGRAPHED RELIC CARDS
- Strata Signature Relics - It's back! 25 subjects, signed on-card! Sequentially numbered to 25. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- Strata Cut Signature - 15 subjects. Numbered 1/1.
- The Future Is Now Autographed Relics - 30 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 10.
- Power Players Autographed Relics - 15 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 10. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- Fond Farewells Autographed Relics - 5 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 10. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- World Series Strata Signature Relic Card Heroes Autographed Relics - 10 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 10. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY


RELIC CARDS
- Power Players Relics - 20 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 99.
- Fond Farewells Relics - 10 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 99.
- World Series Heroes Relics - 30 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 99.
- Own The Name - 500 cards containing letter patches from game-worn MLB jerseys. Numbered 1/1.
- The Future is Now Relics - 30 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 99.
- 1989 Mini Die Cut Relics - 15 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 99.
- Trajectory Jumbo Relics - 40 subjects showing the player's progression from his rookie season to now.


ALL-STAR RELIC AND AUTOGRAPH RELIC CARDS
Featuring relic pieces from the jerseys worn at the 2014 MLB All-Star Game Workout Day!
- All-Star Stitches Jersey relic cards from at least 60 subjects!
- All-Star Stitches Gold Parallel - Sequentially numbered to 50.
- All-Star Stitches Platinum Parallel - Numbered 1/1.
- All-Star Stitches Autographed Relics - 15 Subjects. Sequentially numbered to 25.
- All-Star Jumbo Patches - 50 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 6. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- All-Star Jumbo Patches Autographs - 10 subjects. Sequentially numbered to 6. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- All-Star Stitches Duals - 10 cards. Sequentially numbered to 25.
- All-Star Stitches Triples - 10 cards each featuring three All-Stars and a jersey relic piece from each. Sequentially numbered to 25. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY


FRAMED CARDS
1 PER HOBBY CASE
- Derek Jeter Reprints - 21 reprints of Derek Jeter's most famous Topps base cards! These will be framed in black. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- Silver Framed Derek Jeter Reprints - Sequentially numbered to 25. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- Gold Framed Derek Jeter Reprints - Sequentially numbered to 10. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY
- Gold Framed Topps Gold Label - 15 cards based on the Topps Gold Label design from 2000. These will feature current players as well as retired stars. All cards will be framed in gold. Sequentially numbered to 99. HOBBY & JUMBO BOX ONLY


MANUFACTURED RELIC CARDS
1 PER JUMBO BOX/1 PER HOBBY CASE
- World Series Championship Trophies - Featuring 25 of the greatest players of all time with a specially-designed World Series trophy on a card that celebrates the year they won it all! Sequentially numbered to 99.
- World Series Rings Silver - Featuring 25 cards of active and retired superstars from title-winning teams with an embedded manufactured World Series ring.
- World Series Rings Gold - Sequentially numbered to 99.
- World Series Rings Gold Gems - Sequentially numbered to 25.
- World Series Rings Gold Gems Autographs - Sequentially numbered to 10.

WHAT WE PULLED

Base - 302/330 (91.5%)

CCF10222014_00029_zps35f8f481.jpg

Red Hot (6)
Black /63 (1) - Marcus Stroman
Gold /2014 (17) - Scott Hairston, Jon Singleton, Kyle Blanks, Daniel Murphy, Ehire Adrianza, Neftali Soto, Devin Mesoraco, Oscar Tavares, Michael Brantley, Derek Norris, Cole Figueroa, Tommy La Stella, Roenis Elias, Nelson Cruz, Greg Holland, Charlie Blackmon, Sean Doolittle

CCF10222014_00030_zps16c012da.jpg

CCF10222014_00031_zps44295b54.jpg

Topps Buybacks (2) - Tom Hutton (1974), Charlie Williams (1979)
Fond Farewells (4)

CCF10222014_00032_zpsed6fb301.jpg

Future Is Now (9)
Power Players (6)

CCF10222014_00033_zps6a0ef683.jpg

Topps Mini (4)
World Series Heroes (5)

CCF10222014_00034_zpsca2b0420.jpg

Francisco Rodriguez All-Star Stitches Jersey

CCF10222014_00035_zps070bdc43.jpg

Topps Update is the final part of the trilogy (Series 1, Series 2) in the base Topps line each year. The massive 330-card base set may seem undaunting, but that it is number only. Truth is, you will get most of the set in one box. Update chronicles the 2014 MLB season with a focus on events such as rookie debut and the All-Star Game/Festivities. If trades have been made during the season, Topps tries to showcases players in updated uniforms. There are plenty of parallels for color enthusiasts or player collectors.

Base Card Parallels:
(Italics denotes numbered)
Red Hot 1:6
Gold 1:3
Green Camo 1:103
Black 1:62
Pink 1:203
Platinum 1:9,800
Clear 1:182
Printing Plate 1:970

Amazingly, there is not an overabundance of inserts. Future Is Now and Topps Minis are continuations of sets from the other trilogy releases. Power Players
should not be confused with the ones from Series 1 and 2. This set is a stand-alone release with a design reminiscent of something from the early 1990s instead of cards with codes to be entered online. Buybacks continue to proliferate Topps products as you can expect two in every box. Look for autograph and relic versions of all the insert sets (minus the Buybacks).

Buybacks 1:18
Fond Farewells 1:8, Autograph 1:22,002, Relic 1:2,777, Autograph Relic 1:26,002
Future Is Now 1:4, Autograph 1:3,667, Relic 1:2,777, Autograph Relic 1:26,002
Power Players 1:6, Autograph 1:7,334, Relic 1:2,777, Autograph Relic 1:26,002
Topps Mini 1:8, Autograph 1:27,241, Relic 1:7,334
World Series Heroes 1:8, Autograph 1:4,401, Relic 1:2,777, Autograph Relic 1:26,002

Each box of Update will yield either one autograph or one relic. There are multitude of options that may appear in a box with the most common being the All-Star Stitches set. These are relics from participants in the All-Star Game. Other relics include manufactured pieces for World Series Rings and Trophies as well as Own The Name Relics, which are actual letters from the nameplates of game-worn MLB jerseys. Autographs galore are available from the aforementioned insert sets to Trajectory and Strata series, the latter of which includes Cut Signatures.

All-Star Stitches Relic 1:52, Relic Gold 1:1,376, Relic Platinum 1:71,506, Auto Relic 1:4,146, Jumbo Patch 1:38,137, Jumbo Auto Patch 1:21,100, Dual Relic 1:11,001, Triple Relic 1:5,108
Trajectory Autograph 1:575, Jumbo Relic 1:11,001
Own The Name Relic 1:22,881
Strata Signature Autograph Relic 1:2,044, Cut Signature 1:190,681
World Series Ring Card Silver 1:756, Gold 1:2,712, Gold Gems 1:10,794, Gold Gems Autograph 1:13,001
World Series Trophy Card 1:2,712

As a final bonus and a touching farewell, Topps has included Framed Reprints of all of the base cards of Derek Jeter during his career. There are four versions and they appear once per hobby case.

Black 1:1,211
Silver 1:2,848
Gold 1:7,067
Gold-Framed Gold Label 1:1,005

FINAL THOUGHTS

Base - 4.75/5
Design - 4/5
Fun - 4/5
Value - 4/5
Rebuy - 3.5/5

Overall - 20.25/25 (81%)

NPN INFORMATION

NPN 2014 Topps BB Update Series
PO Box 2220
Duryea, PA 18642

Limit 1 Request Per Household

Postmarked By: 1/14/15
Received By: 1/21/15

Canada Skills: 9 x 8 + 3 - 7 = ?

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sposnors at Topps for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. For more information on all of their products, visit them today at www.topps.com.

Base and inserts are available for request. Please PM me with the card or cards of interest, along with numbers for base cards. Cards will remain available for 30 days from the time this review is posted. As always, only VIP members may make a request for the first 48 hours.