Finally getting around to opening the 2026 Topps Jumbo Hobby box that I bought last week. I've been waiting until now before doing my sorting to determine if between the random Target packs plus this Hobby box will get me to a complete set. Based on what I've seen so far, I am not confident.
First things first though. What are we getting in these bonus packs? Obviously, they will be Chrome 1991 Topps cards. But of whom? And will there be parallels? An autograph? With my luck? Doubt it. But, these will be the start of the trade bait. So let's see what I get.
Pack 1:
- #91C-20 Otto Kemp, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies
- #91C-32 Ozzie Smith, SS, St. Louis Cardinals
- #91C-74 Colby Thomas, OF, Athletics
- #91C-36 C. J. Kayfus, 1B/OF Cleveland Guardians
Thoughts: Three rookies and a Hall of Famer. The best card in the pack? Smith should be it. But nothing against the Wizard, but I think that Topps 75 Promo card looks awesome.
Pack 2:
- #91-C45 Nathan Church, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
- #91-C33 Trea Turner, SS, Philadelphia Phillies
- #91-C55 Fernando Tatis Jr., OF, San Diego Padres
- #91-C41 Pedro Martinez, P, Boston Red Sox Purple #184/250
Thoughts: Wow. I did get a parallel. It's numbered, and it's of a Hall of Famer. I've just added the Pedro card to the TCDB. So...win?
Before I continue, again, I'm sorry. These aren't the best pictures. My phone's camera is cracked.
Okay, now for the important part of the program. The 10 packs of 40 cards. Let's see how this goes.
(At this time, I'll be posting highlights of each pack. Inserts for sure, but any key cards will be mentioned as well).
Pack 1: Another Nick Kurtz 2025 All Topps Team card, a Cam Schlitter 1991, and this
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| 2026 Topps 1991 Topps Pete Alonso Bat #91R-PA |
Pack 2: Inserts include 1991 Topps Didier Fuentes and 2025 Greatest Hits Manny Machado. The last card in this pack was former Cub Willson Contreras. The last card in pack 1? Brother William Contreras.
Pack 3: Got the 1991 Topps Paul Skenes and 2025 Greatest Hits Jac Caglianone.
Pack 4: Now we're talking. Inserts include a 1991 Dylan Beavers and 2025 Greatest Hits Matt Chapman. But it's the parallel cards that make this pack the winner.
First, we have a Topps Gold Gunnar Henderson:
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| 2026 Topps Gold Gunnar Henderson #46, #1797/2026 |
Then a 1991 Topps Blue Border Ronald Acuña Jr #'d to 150
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| 2026 Topps 1991 Blue Border Ronald Acuña Jr. #T91-84, #132/150 |
Then the Big one...the Big Dumper...in a Team Border:
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| 2026 Topps Team Border Cal Raleigh #140 |
Pack 5: Inserts include a 1991 Topps Corbin Carroll and a Big Ticket Julio Rodriguez
Pack 6: Along with the Big Ticket Player Juan Soto card, included in this pack is a card of a player that I thought I'd never own a Topps card of. But thanks to Commissioner Manfred's decree that once a player passes away, the lifetime ban is lifted.
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| 2026 Topps 1991 Shoeless Joe Jackson #T91-27 |
Pack 7: Inserts include a 1991 Vladimir Guerrero (not Jr), and a Topps ProFiles Elly De La Cruz (which I would be excited about, but I already have this one...so this is going into the trade pile).
Pack 8: Inserts include a 1991 Mookie Betts and a Big Ticket Players Samuel Basallo. Okay, did Adley fall so far that this guy, who is an Orioles catcher, become the better catcher on the team? Did I hold on to that 2024 Auto/Relic card (patch) of Rutschman too long?
Pack 9: Four of the seven All-Star Rookie Team players who are in S1 were in this pack (Jacob Wilson, Roman Anthony, Augustín Ramírez, and Isaac Collins). Inserts included the 1991 Frank Thomas, an Alysha Newman First Pitch card (Alysha Newman is a Canadian Pole Vaulter who earned the Bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics), and an autograph card of Nathan Church
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| 2026 Topps Real One Autograph Nathan Church #24 |
Pack 10: Inserts included a 1991 Jose Altuve and ProFiles Bobby Witt Jr.
Overall, a pretty average box. I did get the guaranteed auto and relic card. Nothing screaming massive hit, but that's what normally happens with boxes I open.
So today, we learned that the basic insert sets that will count for the S1 Master set will be:
- 1991 Topps
- 2025 All-Topps Team
- 2025 Greatest Hits
- Big Ticket Players
- First Pitch
- Titans of the Game
- Topps Profiles
- Stars of MLB
The Cover Athletes insert set, which I would have hoped would be a regular insert set, appears to be in the Homefield Advantage, Heavy Lumber, All Kings, and All Aces set. That's disappointing. It's looked to be a unique and quirky insert set that should have been easy to find. But this box had none. Oh well...
Now comes the sorting and figuring out what base cards I am going to need to complete the base set. I'm hoping the damage is minimal. I'll post an update once I get the cards sorted.
The 2026 edition of Topps Rip Night is this Saturday, February 21. I am hoping to get to one of the card shops in the area (most likely in Buffalo Grove) to see if I can find people to trade with (that's supposedly one of the things that happens at these events) before making plans for the Chicago Sports Spectacular in March.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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