Update: 2017 Topps Fire

Well, I've busted all the packs I picked up on my first run to Target. Since then, I went back and was saddened to see they had sold out of Topps Fire in less than thirty hours time.

 This morning I made the trek across the river and picked up the last four hanger Fat Packs from the other Target in the area. Now the only two retail locations in a thirty mile radius are both sold out. I wish I knew who bought all the blasters and boxes... would sure like to meet up an help each other build a set.

I'm still working on sorting the cards. I've actually had quite a bit of fun trying to figure out what I have. Some are shiny cards which I think are parallels and aren't numbered while others are

I absolutely love the checklist. I haven't taken the time to dissect it online, but I think there may be upwards of 40 or 50 retired players in the set. Some have big names like Aaron, Ruth and Gehrig, but others are players like Omar Vizquel and Aaron Boone.

Check out the top left card in the picture above. Naturally, I'd prefer to see Andre Dawson in a Cub uniform, but I think the Expos colors with the design is just tremendous.

How about some parallels before we move on to the insert sets?

 This Benintendi is the orange parallel numbered to /299. All the parallels have a shiny finish to them. They're not chrome, but they do glisten beautifully in the sun light. This card is one of my better pulls from two blasters, one retail box, and four Fat Packs. Sorry, folks... it's already up on Ebay. I need some cash to chase all The VOGELMONSTER parallels and autos!

 More numbered parallels. The DeGrom, numbered to 199, is the green and will be headed to Zippy Zappy for one of his friends. The Altuve is purple and numbered to 99. I may keep this one, it looks fantastic in hand. A.J. Pollock hot break! The one on the left is the lone magenta I pulled and it's numbered to /25. The card on the right is one of the Gold Minted parallels. You get four to every blaster and Pollock is the best name I pulled from my eight cards. Sigh.

Un-numbered parallels?  They are shiny and look like parallels, but they aren't numbered. I'm guessing these are the "Fire" parallels mentioned on Cardboard Connection.

 The Yaz is another beautiful card in hand. The Stanton is nice and shiny, but it's no where near as eye catching as the Yastrzemski.

The Blue Chip parallel cards fall one to every Fat Pack. "Blue chippers" are prospects, so I thought they were going to be limited to the rookies, as I pulled a Jacoby Jones rookie card in my first pack. Um, no. Babe Ruth is retired and Miguel Cabrera would have been worthy of the blue chip moniker about fifteen years ago.

Speaking of monikers, let's see some inserts!

 These cards are crazy. It looks like some expert graffiti artist got a hold of them. I do like the placement of the player's name at the top.

I'm guessing there are parallels of all the inserts, too.

The Millville Meteor gets the gold minted treatment and Big Papi is done up like the blue chip parallels. In my opinion, I think the parallels are unnecessary here... plus, all the color on the base insert really makes the card.

Walk Offs is another insert, but this one I have mixed emotions about. Topps Now is very biased about which teams it chooses to make cards of when there is a walk off win.  Again, I haven't looked at the checklist, but I'm hoping it's not 75% big market teams.

I believe the Harper card is the base and below we have the parallels.

 Dozier and Naquin are nice pulls for a guy who likes to root for the smaller market teams. I love that Tyler Naquin got a card for his inside-the-park walk off homer. Great selection, Topps!

Man, those Nationals are going to be difficult for the Cubs to dispose of. These are the Flame Throwers inserts and I realized the parallel of Scherzer is more rare and probably more valuable, but it pales in comparison to the aesthetics of the Strasburg card. If the name of the insert set is Flame Throwers, then why mute the colors of the flames with a parallel?

Golden Grabs... the base insert cards are sweeeeet! Each one has those green swooshes around the player and they are quite visually appealing.

 I don't mind the gold parallel as much when the name of the insert set references gold.

I pulled a Rizzo, which shows him in the middle of one of his famous tarp catches...  I am bummed it is the blue chip-esque parallel. Again, I much rather would have had the base insert here. Regardless, outside of a lone Vogelbach base card, this was my best pull for my collection.

Fired Up is the smallest insert set at just ten cards, and I think they must be the most difficult to pull. Honestly, I think they are also the best looking cards.  My camera doesn't do the card justice, as it appears much darker than it actually is. From what I can tell, these are the only cards which have two player pictures on the front, and design is toned down a bit.

And now the hits!  Neither of my blaster had anyhits, which I thought would be the case, but I held out hope until the last pack. I did get two autos from my retail box, which was a surprise because you're only guaranteed one. I was certain I was going to get a relic of Henry Owens or something.

 Again, the relic and auto checklists overall are pretty stout in my opinion. Matt Olson, especially after the September he had, is a nice pull. It's numbered out of 500 and is a sticker auto. Actually, I think all of the autos are sticker autos. It is what it is.

Roberto Osuna is not the first guy I would have chosen for my second hit in the box, but is another autograph! This is the magenta auto parallel and it is numbered to /25.

I placed both the autos up on Ebay already... hopefully they'll earn me enough so I can purchase a few Vogelbachs. Vogelbach doesn't have the name recognition that either of these players have (yet), so maybe I can turn Matt Olsno and Roberto Osuna into three or four Vogelbach autos? A guy can dream!

I'm headed to the suburbs later today and hopefully I can sneak off and check another Target's stock for Topps Fire. I'd like to snag another blaster or two. I haven't sorted my base cards yet, but I know I'm probably short fifty cards or so... too many duplicates during my break. SMH.

A want list and trade bait post will be coming soon. Stay tuned!