2003 Topps 205 Box Break: The Conclusion
December 7th, 2009 by slangon

So the 2003 Topps 205 Hobby Box is offically broken. So what’s the scoop? How’d I do?

Out of 150 base cards I ended up with 124 of them, or 83% of the base set. Of course, personally, when I’m trying to complete a set, I don’t discriminate against mini’s or other parallels. So if I get a mini version of a card without having the true base version, I count that card as being got. I know that’s probably like nails on a chalkboard to a lot of folks, but that’s how I roll. I guess I’m really just a Franken-collector (As in this guy, not this guy.) That leaves me with 24 cards to get to complete the set. That’s not bad too bad for one hobby box. I took a quick look on Sportlots.com, and most of the cards I need can be had for $0.18 a pop. Keep in mind however that that’s just for the first series of this set. I think there’s another 150 or so cards in series 2.

The triple folder inserts were really awesome. I ended up with 18 out 50, but I did get a good amount of Mets, so that was cool. As I said before, they were some of the coolest one-per-pack inserts I can remember. Out of all the one’s I pulled, they were all Polar Bear backs, which is obviously the more common. It would’ve been nice to get at least one Brooklyn back, but I can’t say I’m terribly upset about it.

Speaking of backs, when it came to mini’s, I ended up with examples of Polar Bear, Brooklyn, Sovereign, Piedmont, Honest, Drum and Sovereign Green backs. The only one’s I missed were Bazooka (both red and blue versions), Honest Purple and Piedmont Purple. Again, it would’ve been nice to pull any one of those, but they all seem to be so rare, I’m not too bummed about not getting them.

I’m a little bit torn on the hits. For those who don’t remember, I ended up pulling a Marlon Byrd autograph and a Kaz Ishii jersey relic. They’re both really good looking cards and I’m always glad to add to my autograph / relic collection, I just wish they were of players I cared a little bit more about. Like I said, though, as far as relic and autographed cards go, this set is on par with Allen & Ginter as far as well designed cards go, so I’m not too upset about the players. It’s almost as if the card itself transcends who is depicted on it. Looking over the checklists, though, there’s quite a few relic and autos that I might’ve been even more disappointed in getting. Or maybe I’m just saying that to make myself feel better about pulling a Marlon Byrd auto and a Kaz Ishii jersey.

The mini pack box topper was just awesome, I thought. It made me wish that Topps would just put out a set of mini’s, so I could bust a whole box of those. I mean, 20 cards to a pack, and they’re all mini cards!?!? How frigging cool would that be.

Overall, this was a really fun box for me to bust. The cards themselves look really good. It seems like Topps put a lot of thought into the details of the set. Breaking a box from 2003 during the year 2009 was a sort of strange, but fun experience. All in all, I give this box an A-.

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