Box Breaks: 3 Boxes of 2016 Topps Stadium Club Baseball

 

2016 Stadium Club Baseball was the exact reason I got back into collecting. I remember seeing the Previews and thinking...WOW...the photography is amazing. It drew me in. Also the price point wasn't bad at all. I decided to pre-order 3 boxes and I anxiously waiting for nearly 3 weeks before they finally went live and came in. Did it live up to the hype? Here are the results

Box 1

Gold Parallel
Mike Trout
Raul Mondesi
Brad Ziegler
Raisel Iglesias
Daniel Murphy


Black Foil Parallel
James Shields
Prince Fielder

Iso Metrics Gold
Manny Machado (1 Per Case!)

Iso Metrics
Dallas Keuchel
Nolan Arenado


Contact Sheet
Nolan Arenado
Michael Conforto


Triumvirate Luminous
Miguel Sano

Beam Team
David Wright

Stadium Club Buyback
1999 Stadium Club Darin Erstad


SP Photo Variation
Masahiro Tanaka (Batting Pose)


Autos
Chris Heston
DJ LeMahieu Gold (#5/25)

Box 2 (Verrrry Pleased with this box!!)

Gold Parallel
Cal Ripken Jr
Rick Porcello
Miguel Almonte
Felix Hernandez
Mark Melancon

Contact Sheet
Nolan Arenado (Again)
Michael Conforto (Yup...again too lol)
Kris Bryant


Isometrics
Carlos Correa
Chris Sale


Black Foil Parallel
Lou Gehrig
Devin Mesoraco

Die Cut Legends
Robin Yount


Triumvirate Luminous
Carlos Correa

Trimumvirate Illuminator (1:256 packs!!)
Carlos Correa

Autographs
Trevor May
Brian Johnson

Instavision Highlights (1:256 Packs!!)
Kris Bryant!

That was definitely a fun box, 3 Correa inserts and 2 Bryants!

Box 3

Gold Parallel

Nomar Mazara
Harold Baines
Ozzie Smith
Michael Conforto
Colby Lewis
Shin-Soo Choo


Isometrics
Carlos Correa (Again)
Chris Sale (Again)

Black Foil Parallel
T.J. House


Die Cut Legends
Brooks Robinson

Contact Sheet
Albert Pujols
Bryce Harper


Beam Team
Madison Bumgarner


Triumvirate Luminous
Andrew Miller

Triumvirate Illuminator (Another one! 1:256 Packs!)
Aroldis Chapman

1st Day Issue (1:210 Packs)
Fernando Valenzuela

Autographs
DJ LeMahieu 

Raul Mondesi

Overall Thoughts: Now THIS was fun! I'm not asking for high end cards worth hundreds or thousands to make a break enjoyable. Topps Stadium Club delivered EXACTLY what I wanted. First of the base set....absolutely STUNNING..photography is top notch. I had a blast going from card to card and just admiring the photography (while also looking for Parallels and Photo Variations). The inserts remind me of the mid to late 90's. You had your easier to find inserts like Isometrics and Contact Sheet, your mid tier inserts like Legends Die Cuts, Beam Team, and Luminous and then your harder to find inserts which include parallels of those insert sets, plus a 1 per case insert set called Instavision. That doesn't even include the two autographs per box. Admittedly, the auto's for the most part are nothing to write home about (there are star players, but apparently they are pretty short printed and the majority of the Auto checklist isn't great) but honestly, I knew that going in and unless you hit the big autos, they aren't typically intended to be the "big hit" of your box breaks. I pulled a gold # to 25 but of DJ LeMahieu, and honestly I'm not familiar with any of the other autos I pulled, but it didn't kill the break in the least. To me they are just "bonus hits". The inserts and parallels are where's its at. One gripe I did have was the Stadium Club buyback program. They are semi-tough pulls but there is absolutely nothing that distinguishes it from being a buyback. It's like you found an old stadium club card from your commons bins. I pulled a 99 Darin Erstad, and that's all it literally is, a 1999 Darin Erstad Stadium Club base card, it's literally a 2 cent card. Kinda defeats the purpose to me of buyback cards. That's the only gripe I have though. The fun thing is you get a parallel or insert in every pack so you know there's something lurking in those packs. I even got some good parallels (Ripken, Mazara, Trout Golds, Gehrig Black) and I killed the odds as far case hits. I only bought 3 boxes and I hit 4 cards considered Case Hits, another one (1st Day Issue) basically a case hit, and a photo variation (Tanaka Batting) that hit 2 per case. I'm a sucker for die cuts and love the Luminous (and parallels) and Legends design. I got great players too as case hits (Bryant, Correa, and Machado aren't too shabby!). In my short time back in collecting, this break was definitely the most fun I've had of them all! I highly recommend at the very least picking up a blaster box or 2 of this! You definitely won't regret it! Here are some pics of the cards I hit

Bryce base card..amazing photography

Showing off some base cards 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2016
#1-15-16 Gold Standard Stephen Curry/Klay Thompson Golden Pairs Dual Patch
#2-15-16 Excalibur Karl Anthony Towns Rookie Rampage Autograph Jersey
#3-15-16 Gold Standard Kristaps Porzingis Gold Strike Auto/Jersey Rookie Card
#4-15-16 Gold StandardMyles Turner On Card Patch/Auto Rookie Card
#5-(Tie)2016 Topps Stadium Club Triumvirate Illuminator Carlos Correa
#5-(Tie) 2016 Topps Stadium Club Instavision Kris Bryant