Ever since 1998, the Topps Opening Day brand has released near the start of the MLB season. It returns again for 2020 in both hobby and retail outlets. The kid centric release once again contains 200 base cards and a slew of inserts that focus on the “fun side” of the game. Also, Luis Robert has an SP RC card in the set which actually brings the checklist to 201. Breakers are reporting that the Robert card is falling about 1:360 packs or about 2 per case.
Set Review
The Opening Day design mirrors the Topps Flagship design with the addition of a special red, white, and blue Opening Day logo. A handful of parallels provide an additional chase for player collectors. Opening Day Edition parallels are limited to 2020 copies, and Opening Day 1 of 1 parallels are limited to, well, 1 copy, and finally printing plates are also 1/1.
Here are some Opening Day inserts. Must have been a Bryce Harper hotbox.
Photo variations return this year and are one of the toughest gems to uncover in Opening Day. They are more like a traditional SSP which is becoming a staple of many Topps releases. This year, the 30 variations fall 1:615 packs which roughly equates to 1 per case. About half of the variations have an autographed version. The autographs are limited to 10 copies and fall one in every 30,391 packs!
There are also Canada parallels/variations, but those are not specifically listed on the pack odds. Many of the variation photos seem to show the player in an off the field setting or celebrating in some way, but sometimes it’s hard to tell just by looking at the picture. However, if you check the code on the back of the card, you can remove any doubt. The base cards have a code that ends with 579, and the variations end in 601.
Inserts typically fall one per pack, but vary in scarcity. The Mascots, Opening Day, Spring Has Sprung, Lighter Side of Baseball, and Team Traditions sets are the most common. The Dugout Peeks set is the most rare and falls 1:2,310 packs and the “Walk This Way” set falls 1:369 packs. There is also a 2020 Topps Sticker Collection preview set that can be pulled as an insert.
There are 62 different autographed cards found in packs containing both players and mascots. An additional 73 relic cards join the hard to find hits within the product which is an increase over last year. One of my favorites continues to be the Diamond Relics set which embeds a pouch of actual dirt from the players home stadium!
I am a fan of interesting and unique inserts, and Opening Day delivers on that front. I am also a fan of the low price point. Last year, my only complaint about this product was the use of the flagship design. Well, that same critique continues this year. If the base set wasn’t basically a mirror image of Flagship, I’d be all over this set. In its current form, it too similar to flagship for me to put much attention to. I don’t go out of my way to collect this set.
Box Break
I do enjoy getting a blaster to open which provides some fun, and allows me to create both content for the blog and inventory for Sportlots!
Here’s what this years blaster looked like.
For $10, this was a great value. I pulled two of the three big rookies(Alvarez & Aquino), and the Vlad Jr. and Tatis Jr. are fantastic second year cards. I’ll be adding those to my PC binder, and most of the rest will get listing on Sportlots. The inserts are fun and provide a nice mix of content.
Here is a link to the Checklist on Topps.com
Did you open any Opening Day? What do you think?
Also, if you haven’t heard, I started a new Podcast called the WaxPackHero Sports Card Minute! It’s available here directly on the site at the Podcast link at the top of the page, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and TuneIn! Check it out, let me know what you think, and tell your friends!
