Thanks, in large part, to an average of five certified autographs per sealed hobby box, Finest clearly sets itself apart from most other 2005 baseball brands. And, that’s without even mentioning that practically every pack in a sealed 18-pack box contains at least one serial-numbered refractor parallel.
In addition to the autographs and the refractors, look for “1 of 1” press plates and press plate parallels such as x-fractors, which are also serial-numbered to just one copy.
Kudos to Topps for including some top-flight prospects in its autographed rookie card subset, including Yankees phenom Melky Cabrera, Twins fireballer Glen Perkins, Blue Jays powerhouse Chip Cannon and Kansas City Royals super-prospect Billy Butler, just to name a few. There are also a number of autograph parallels to go along with the base autograph rookie cards which are hand-numbered to either 970 or 375.
As for current superstar autographs, Topps took it upon themselves to include some real top-flight autographs including Barry Bonds, David Ortiz, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Millar, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling and David Wright, just to name a few. There are also x-fractor parallels serial-numbered to 25 and press plates serial-numbered to just one.
Oh, and did I mention that Topps randomly inserted 600+ Alex Rodriguez autographs on average of one per case?
What I like the most, however, is that a full box of Finest is comprised of three-mini boxes. This deters pack-searchers from pulling all the “hits” out of one box.
The price point for Finest is quite reasonable as you can pick up sealed hobby boxes for approximately $80-85 on eBay and at trade shows. Based on the sheer value you get for your money, this product could be the best release yet this year.
In our box, we pulled autographs of Melky Cabrera, Glen Perkins, Chip Cannon, Wes Swackhammer and Jake Stevens, plus a host of refractors.
Whether you are a rookie collector or a refractor freak, or you just enjoy Topps Finest in general, take a serious look at 2005 Topps Finest baseball, which has earned my vote as the best baseball product released to date.
