Fans of Topps products know that once the company's namesake baseball set is released, a Chrome version is never too far behind. Topps Chrome Baseball looks to satisfy those fans with shiny base cards, inserts and even autographs.
Each hobby box of 2008 Topps Chrome Baseball holds 24 four-card packs. Expect to find two cards signed by 2008 MLB rookies in every box.
Base Cards and Parallels
As in previous seasons, if you've seen what the regular 2008 Topps Baseball cards look like (here's a look if you haven't), you know the Chrome cards will look the same but with a reflective metallic twist. The number of base cards is also scaled down a bit, with 192 veterans and 28 cards with the MLB Rookie Card logo. Since this year's set features white borders, the Chrome effect doesn't quite grab the eye the way it does some years, but the technology is still cool and has passed the test of time at this point.
Refractors add a prismatic flair as the parallels, and they can be found in standard, Copper (numbered to 599), Red (numbered to 25) and Super-Fractor (1-of-1) varieties.
One random hobby box opened for this review unveiled 66 of the 220 regular base cards, along with seven regular Refractors and two Copper Refractors.
Autographed Cards
Numbered as part of the base set are 19 autographed cards from players who made their MLB debuts in 2008. Topps had originally hoped for 35, but was somewhat at the mercy of the number of rookies who debuted before Chrome was printed.
Names of interest on the checklist include Clay Buchholz, Johnny Cueto and J.R. Towles. The rookie autographs come in all of the same Refractor versions as the rest of the base cards as well as a Blue level numbered to 200.
The About.com sample box produced the expected two autographs: a standard Matt Tolbert and a Blue Refractor Chin-Lung Hu.
Insert Cards
Chrome borrows its insert sets from its sister baseball brands. Four come from Topps Series 1: Trading Card History, Topps All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary, The Mickey Mantle Story and Mickey Mantle HR History. The final one is actually a continuation of the Topps Heritage Chrome cards found in 2008 Topps Heritage Baseball, adding another 100 cards (numbered to 1959, the year that inspired the design) to that set. Refractor parallels are in effect for all of the inserts too.
If my review box was any indication, insert cards are seeded in about three out of every four packs. I pulled 19 altogether, finding six Topps Heritage Chrome (including one Refractor), six Trading Card History, three Topps All-Rookie Team, three Mickey Mantle HR History (one Refractor here too), and one Mickey Mantle Story.
The Last Word
If you've ever collected Topps Chrome Baseball before, the 2008 set is exactly what you'd expect it to be - with both the positives and negatives that implies. It offers all of the features that has made the brand a staple, but at a time when many products seem to be attempting to raise the bar from year to year, it doesn't offer many upgrades or pleasant surprises compared to the 2007 edition.
Long-time Chrome fans should still find this to their liking, and anyone who enjoys the 2008 Topps base brand may feel this one is right in their wheelhouse too.