As a pre-teen collector in the late-80’s, early-90’s my all-time favorite brand was Fleer Trading Cards. By the time I hit my teens it was all about Pinnacle Brands and their ‘Dufex’ that brought me to my knees. A decade later upon my return, it was Topps Finest. I’ll be honest with you, I never thought I’d find something to replace Finest, a brand I have idolized since the mid-90’s.
My addiction is Chrome & Refractor technology. It has been ever since I busted a couple of packs of a brand new product called Topps Chrome in 1996 and pulled my first ever Refractor, Mark Grace. Since then I have obsessed about everything Refractors and before someone stole my vehicle in early 2008, was slated to buy an entire case of 2008 Finest. Man, talk about dodging a bullet. Thank you, Mr. Burglar. (P.S – please die)
Over the last month I have become obsessed with a brand that only lasted three years for some reason. Topps Retired was what you’d call a “high-end” product which featured just five packs per box, each with an on-card autograph of a retired player. What makes this product amazing is that you can pull a Stan Musial in one pack and then find Darren Daulton’s sloppy signature in the next.
I have a lot of crazy goals that I set throughout the year and this one is no different. By the end of the year I want to bust not one or two or maybe even three boxes of Topps Retired… I want to crack open seven boxes. That’s 35 autographs. Given that there are boxes of 2005 Topps Retired on eBay for as low as $130 and as high as $150, I would say I would end up paying close to $1,000 dollars if not more.
That price may seem like a lot but in 2007 I was spending that much and more. I just need for the heavens to open up a nice career opportunity and for the lagging economy to right itself. This and only this will be Wax Heaven’s goal in 2009. I am not spending another penny on a Jose Canseco or Andrew Miller until these seven boxes are in my hand and ready to bust.
Stay tuned for future updates on my mission!
The Baseball Card Blog 
Hey Mario,
That sounds like a great idea. There are some solid hits in those products. Please remember that there may be a Redemption card in some of the products and I am not sure of the expiration date. It would suck if you pulled an exchange card for a Willie Mays Auto only to read that it expired in Dec 2008. I have thought about busting some older wax too, but I think that was the one thing that made me a bit uneasy.
Later,
Submarine Shane “The Man on the Street”
i love these sets – archives, fan favorites, etc. great idea.
I loved these sets too, the reason they don’t make them anymore is because right around the time Topps and UD became exclusive, MLB or the MLBPA put in the contracts that they were only allowed to put in a certain amount of retired players in each set. Don’t know why, but it cost me my fan favorites.
They look very nice. First time I’ve seen them.
Do I smell a 3 box average break coming on? Wait, I think that’s the subway sandwhich I had for lunch.