Product Review: 2014 Topps Series 1 Jumbo Pack

Being that Spring Training has arrived, you can't go wrong with busting open a new baseball product. Now this isn't release date new but new in the sense of 2014 products. 2014 Topps Series 1 is a typical solid seller each year as it kicks off the new campaigns of MLB teams hunting down that elusive World Series Championship. Now you've seen us review Hobby Boxes in the past but being this is a different outlook for 2014 for The Pack Gambler, we've decided to start 2014 with 1 Jumbo pack for our review.

We've always stated Jumbo boxes are the way to go for value and amount of product you receive for the money. Jumbo packs are also the better way to go from the hobby box single packs. Looking at it from a 1 Pack perspective you have to take into account a few things; your only buying 1 from the 10 packs from the Jumbo box, your odds change of finding a relic or autograph and your price point is different. Taking these into the review makes this an interesting way to start our 2014 product reviews.

For those on a budget, buying packs, rack packs or blasters is the only way to go. This might also happen if you don't have a hobby store close to you. In any case, Jumbo packs are certainly the best bang for your buck. You will receive 50 cards per pack which will include a couple inserts and maybe a relic or autograph. Packs wise your odds are best in Jumbos with a 1:10 of finding an autograph and 1:5 of finding a relic. Of course these are based on a freshly opened jumbo box, but you still will receive more value.

The cost of a Jumbo pack will vary. I've seen them for as low as $11.99 up to $14.99 per pack. Averaging it out you are spending about .27 cents per card in a jumbo pack. The difference between a hobby pack and Jumbo is around .02 to .03 cents per card which isn't much. The difference is the odds of parallels, relics and autographs that make the Jumbo a better buy. Now don't get me wrong, I've seen some "duds" of jumbo packs opened but the majority are pretty good and have seen packed with value.

We went to our local hobby shop and picked up the first pack (on the top left) from a freshly opened box. Lets see how we did;

Base Cards: 39
Base Card Red Sparkle: 1 - Luis Valbuena

The Future is Now: 1 - Jean Segura
Upper Class: 1 - Roberto Clemente
Relic: 1 - Stan Musial Rookie Class of 1942 Ring

This was a pretty decent pack breakdown overall. First with the design of 2014. I like the white bordered design that has continued from last year. Nice subtle changes to the layout and back of the cards. The one cool addition is the Future Stars tag on some of the younger players. We pulled a Nick Franklin with this stamp. 

We received 1 Parallel and two subsets in our pack. The Red Sparkle is a continuation from the Green Sparkle from last year. Nothing too impressive except a different flashier color this year. The Future is Now Segura is a very plain card. Not too impressed with this subset. Topps could have added some foil on the front to maybe attract collectors. The Clemente Upper Class isn't bad. Nice foil and classic design to go along with the photo.     

The big hit was of course the Musial Class Ring Relic. Its a neat relic concept to have and Topps continues to create these manufactured Relics for us to collect. The design of the metal ring piece is very intricate with all of the lines, lettering and number. It's not as thick as first thought compared to the award winners of last years relics.

So overall we did well with pulling a relic in 1 Jumbo pack. BV was over the $12.80 we paid for the pack, which is always nice to see in any break of a pack or box. Because of the Relic we didn't receive 50 cards and were short 7 cards. Would have liked to seen a couple more subsets in the pack but really can't complain with pulling a relic. Not impressed with the subsets overall or the parallel. Wish that Topps came up with a better way on these that we pulled. I'm sure that the other parallels look better with this 2014 design.
Would recommend buying a jumbo pack to any collector still. It could be just to see if you like the product before purchasing a box, or could substitute for buying hobby packs or rack packs with less value in them.

Most cards/hits pulled in our breaks end up on our site storefront www.packgambler.com, or our COMC account ThePackGambler. If you are interested in any of the cards we have mentioned please send us an e-mail at packgamblersales@gmail.com

Gambler Overall Rating: 3.8 out of 5
Cost: 4.5/5
Base Design: 4/5
Parallels: 3.5/5
Inserts: 3/5
Relic: 4/5
Fun Aspect: 4/5