Topps Community Break Box #3: 1999 Topps Stars

If yesterday was bread and water, then today is the salad?

Okay, I could probably force my way through this analogy over the next 9 boxes but no one wants to see that and I don’t want to write it.

Instead, I’ll just say that next up is a product line that lasted much longer than most people may realize.  I don’t hear the clamoring for its return the same way people beg for Stadium Club, Gallery and Total.  Still, it must have been successful.

Time to look to the stars.

Like Sylvester post-sledgehammer: Seeing stars

It’s worth mentioning each and every time, all of these boxes are courtesy of our good friends and Community Break Sponsor: BASEBALL CARD EXCHANGE

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The video comes in two parts, because I had some battery life issues.  I suppose I need to invest in a usb extender cable, but I couldn’t plug it in to my computer to charge it while I was recording.  I found myself charging after every box.  Fun stuff.

I really liked opening this stuff.  Sometime in the future, I’ll have to pick up a box from a different year.  Once again, here are the highlights.  I don’t know if the subset cards would be considered short printed or not.  Either way, I didn’t scan any of those.  Only the ones with odds on the pack wrapper.

3-stars

Here are the Three star variations.  They come 1:5 packs, so we technically got an extra one.  Of these, only the Giants was claimed.

4-Star dining

Each star level zooms into the picture more and the backs are all different.  These come 1:10 packs but could only be one of ten different players. The Braves hit their second big insert of the break already.

serial numbered indentations

We did really well with the inserts and parallels, odds-wise.  All of these have very hard to read serial numbering on the back.  It’s stamped with no foil meaning you have to hold it up to the light just so.  It’s really easy to miss it.  Banks is /2500 (1:65); Clemens is /1999 (1:41); Matt Belisle foil base /299 (1:15); Chavez one star foil /249 (1:33); Albert Belle 2 star foil /199 (1:82).  Not too bad, right? Only 1 of those was virtually guaranteed to be found in the box.  Great pick-up for the Orioles, Yankees and Braves (again).

This was the first opportunity for the Diamondbacks to get on the board and they had a better showing than the Devil Rays.  Oddly, there were no Reds in the box at all.  The unclaimed Angels & Expos each had 9 base and 1 insert, so obviously the player selection in the checklist isn’t too balanced.

In the count below, 1 & 2 star versions don’t count as parallels since they’re in every pack.  The 3 & 4 stars are in the insert/parallel count.  I didn’t notice any straight-up doubles, either, which was great to (not) see.

Team breakdown so far:
Anaheim Angels – Base:  24 –Inserts/Parallels: 1  –Hits: 0
Arizona Diamondbacks – Alec– Base:  4 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Atlanta Braves – Colbey– Base:  27 –Inserts/Parallels:  3 –Hits:  0
Baltimore Orioles – Hobb’s Knights– Base:  13 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
Boston Red Sox – Summa Cum Lousy– Base:  8 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Chicago Cubs – Base:  8 –Inserts/Parallels:  2 –Hits:  0
Chicago White Sox – Base:  11 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
Cincinnati Reds – Jason C– Base:  5 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Cleveland Indians – Baseball Dad– Base:  18 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Colorado Rockies – Cards From the Quarry– Base:  12 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Detroit Tigers – Grand Cards– Base:  7 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Florida Marlins – Base:  12 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Houston Astros – Base:  8 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Kansas City Royals – Base:  5 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Los Angeles Dodgers – Stealing Home– Base:  11 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Milwaukee Brewers – Base:  3 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Minnesota Twins – Base:  8 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Montreal Expos – Base:  13 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
New York Mets – The Sandlot– Base:  11 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
New York Yankees – Baseball Card Hall of Fame-Base:  23 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
Oakland Athletics – Base:  6 –Inserts/Parallels:  2 –Hits:  0
Philadelphia Phillies – Daddyoho– Base:  10 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Pittsburgh Pirates – Base:  6 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
San Diego Padres – Base:  13 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
San Francisco Giants – Cheap Card Collecting– Base:  8 –Inserts/Parallels:  1 –Hits:  0
Seattle Mariners – Baseball Card Hall of Fame– Base:  10 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
St. Louis Cardinals – Cards on Cards– Base:  13 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Tampa Bay Devil Rays – Base:  1 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Texas Rangers – Play at the Plate– Base: 12  –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0
Toronto Blue Jays – Dave– Base:  10 –Inserts/Parallels:  0 –Hits:  0

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