2019 Topps Opening Day Box Break

Just about every year I try and pick up a box of Topps Opening Day at my LCS.  I know it is a basically a slimmed down parallel set of the flagship set but there are usually a few cards with different photos and you sometimes get a sneak preview of some Series 2 cards.  However the main reason I like this set is are the inserts.  I typically find them as interesting or more interesting than the flagship inserts and much easier to complete. 

This year Opening Day features the first licensed MLB card of Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, my guess is there will be an updated picture in either Series 2 or Update. I was really hoping the Giants would have signed him but the Mariners beat them out.  Hope he has a good career, nice to see a young Japanese pitcher come to MLB.

Not only did I pull the Kikuchi in my box, I got the entire 200 card base set.  In addition to the set I only got 12 double and luckily 2 were Giants - Buster Posey and Dereck Rodriguez. 

This year there are 7 insert sets but I am only going to go after 4 of them.  The remaining 3 are tough pulls and I didn't even get 1 of any of them in my box.  The 25 card Rally Time inserts are found in 1:403 packs, the 25 card Sock it To Me inserts are found in 1:804 packs and the 20 card Dugout Peeks are found in 1:2,560 packs - wow those are long odds.  I was lucky enough to pull a card with some pretty long odds itself:

The autographs in this set are inserted at a rate of 1:971 packs so this Bieber is a pretty solid pull.  There are only 9 subjects in this set and while I would have liked to pull the Dereck Rodriguez this was still a nice surprise out of a $29 box.

I pulled 3 of the blue parallel cards, unfortunately no Giants here although I will do my best to pick up the team set:

Now here are the insert sets I will go after this year.  First up is the 150 Years of Fun set.  This is a 25 card set and I got 18 of them in my box.  This is the most common insert but probably my favorite with a great list of featured players.  Here are my 18:

Just great photo selection and perhaps my favorite insert set of the year so far.

Next up is the annual Mascot set.  This is a fun set and I scored 9 of the 25 cards in this box:

The next set I am going after is the Opening Day set where I got 6 of the 15 cards:

And finally the Team Traditions & Celebrations where I got 3 of the 10 cards. 

So the total number of inserts I am going after will be 75 cards, much better and more attainable than the 530 inserts I am seeking for the Series 1 flagship set.  If you open some of this and want to trade, you can find my want list linked here.

This was a fun break and I look forward to finishing off the insert sets and tracking down the Giants I need as well.  Not a bad way to spend $29.