2015 Topps Throwback Kris Bryant #616

With big power numbers, Bryant has established himself as a national star and I wanted to see if I could find a 'low end' Bryant rookie card - when I saw this, I grabbed it even though I didn't know what the card was and despite the MLB RC logo, it's not a true rookie card either.

Apparently this card is a retail exclusive parallel available in 2015 Topps Update - maybe it’s a little peculiar [though nothing new] how Topps makes up these parallels in their update series that include selected cards from Series I and Series II as opposed to strictly update series cards.

I do think this card uses a better image with some throwback flair compared to Bryant's actual 2015 Topps rookie card - so it's a nice 'under the radar' add to my collection.

Topps [1978-present] card run

I finally went through the cards I had for all 30 MLB teams and listed them in a Google Sheets file - this projects seems to be a little tedious because I have to try and make a wantlist for cards I may not be interested in chasing after at the moment, though I do want a showcase of Topps cards for each of the current MLB teams.

The goal is to find a player's card for each team, for each of the years - anything highlighted in red means I need the particular card, anything listed in black is the card I already for the team/year and any blank spaces are spots I still have to figure out with regards to selecting a card.

For whatever reason, I chose 1978 as the starting year for this project since I figure that is already at least 37 years worth of cardboard to pore over - even if I'm not going all the way back through the old-school/vintage Topps years.

While 1978 is the starting point, the plan is find cards for the present year going forward - for as long as I have this itch for this particular project.

One rule for this project is not having a player represented more than three times - as much as I'd like certain players from particular teams represented as much as possible, I want a variety of different players.

Another rule [I may actually about to break starting from 2015] is only using cards from flagship Topps sets - I actually found some 'stragglers' that were part of update sets that I removed.

However, I'm missing a 2015 Houston Astros card and while I can fill it with a random Astros card - I think a 2015 Topps Update Carlos Correa would fit in perfectly.

2015 Topps Update hanger box break

Even though it's just a bunch of cards to me at this point - though there maybe an eclectic mix of players past and present found here.

#US-38 Michael Lorenzen
#US-30 David Phelps
#US-325 Matt Kemp
#US-205 Andres Blanco
#US-157 Noah Syndergaard
#US-122 Marlon Byrd
#US-263 Pedro Strop
#US-296 J.B. Shuck
#US-179 Adam Liberatore
#US-352 Jose Reyes
#US-112 Conor Gillaspie
#US-200 Adam Jones
#US-132 Gerardo Parra
#US-12 Travis Ishikawa

#FHR-1 Ernie Banks - 1st Home Run insert / gold foil
#FHR-26 Kennys Vargas - 1st Home Run insert / gold foil
#US-318 Phillippe Aumont
#US-13 Tommy Pham
#US-223 Kevin Jepsen
#US-81 Pat Venditte
#US-326 Jonathan Herrera
#US-256 Danny Dorn / Darrell Ceciliani
#US-28 Miguel Cabrera
#US-121 Alexi Ogando
#US-377 Taijuan Walker
#US-40 Sam Dyson
#US-149 Thomas Field
#US-201 Jose Altuve
#US-314 Rafael Betancourt
#US-290 Zach Britton
#US-49 Mark Canha
#US-27 Nathan Eovaldi
#US-5 Ryan Vogelsong
#US-379 Cameron Maybin
#US-32 Blake Swihart
#US-382 Dan Uggla
#US-35 Justin Bour
#US-390 Donovan Solano
#US-334 Clint Barmes
#US-354 Brandon Finnegan
#US-63 Kelvin Herrera
#US-88 Marc Rzepczynski
#US-391 Clayton Richards
#US-209 Prince Fielder
#US-3 Tyler Wilson
#US-70 Vance Worley
#US-140 Mark Melancon
#US-322 Mat Latos
#H-68 Bob Lemon - Highlight of the Year insert

#US-290 Zach Britton - Rainbow Foil

#RS-18 Derek Jeter - Rookie Sensations insert

#US-64 David Price - Pink parallel serial #'d 19/50

#TMB-1 Jose Canseco - Tape Measure Blasts insert
#PP-2 Curtis Pride - Pride and Perseverance insert

#518 Rajai Davis - Target Throwbacks parallel
#US-156 Colby Rasmus / Jake Marisnick / George Springer - Amazing Astros
#US-242 Kris Bryant

#US-251 Carlos Correa - Rookie Debut subset
#US-253 Trevor Rosenthal 
#US-79 Kris Bryant / Addison Russell - Rookies Rising
#US-109 Anthony Ranaudo
#US-143 Tommy Hunter
#US-241 David Ortiz / Pablo Sandoval / Hanley Ramirez - Sluggers Supreme
#US-50 Alex Guerrero
#US-85 Justin Nicolino
#US-43 Randall Delgado
#US-11 Evan Gattis
#US-55 Hank Conger
#US-174 Carlos Correa
#US-327 Ryan Webb
#US-123 Felix Hernandez
#US-168 George Kontos

2015 Topps Chrome Update box recap #2 of 2

Box two

Topps Chrome Update packs 

Pack one
#US-286 Francisco Lindor
#US-324 Carlos Rodon
#US-362 Rick Porcello
#RSC-18 Derek Jeter - Rookie Sensations insert

Pack two
#US-16 John Axford
#US-280 Mike Bolsinger
#US-388 Kevin Pillar
#US-46 David Price

Regular Topps Update

Pack one
#US-10 Bobby Parnell
#US-183 Justin Turner
#US-3 Tyler Wilson
#US-70 Vance Worley
#R-7 Anibal Sanchez - Rarities insert
#US-253 Trevor Rosenthal
#US-79 Kris Bryant / Addison Russell - Rookies Rising
#US-184 Sean Rodriguez

Pack two
#US-36 Roberto Perez
#US-161 Jeff Samardzija
#US-140 Mark Melancon
#US-322 Mat Latos
#H-67 Red Schoendienst - Highlight of the Year insert
#US-109 Anthony Ranaudo
#US-170 Mike Foltynewicz
#US-388 Kevin Pillar

Pack three
#US-328 Brandon Morrow
#US-285 Josh Rutledge
#US-87 Zack Greinke
#WW-13 David Ortiz - Whatever Works insert
#US-169 Max Scherzer
#US-108 Adonis Garcia / Jeffry Marte - Rookie Combos
#US-207 Chris Young
#US-103 Joey Gallo

Pack four
#US-331 Orlando Calixte
#US-309 Howie Kendrick
#US-218 Pedro Ciriaco
#US-305 Ryan Tepera
#US-125 Ben Revere - Gold parallel serial #'d 0133/2015
#PP-3 George Springer - Pride and Perseverance insert
#US-234 Noah Syndergaard
#US-141 Glen Perkins

Pack five
#US-387 Jonny Gomes
#US-31 Gordon Beckham
#US-366 Kelly Johnson
#US-273 Justin Upton
#MLB-7 Joe Panik - MLB All-Star Game Access insert
#US-213 Mike Trout / Albert Pujols - Home Run Halos
#US-378 Devon Travis
#US-392 Odrisamer Despaigne

2015 Topps Chrome Update box recap #1 of 2

I picked a couple up for $14.99 each even though, the way the Chrome Update cards are distributed seems stingy on Topps' part - at least a couple more Topps Chrome Update packs would make these boxes less of a feast or famine purchase.

Box one

Topps Chrome Update packs - apparently a 'Bubble/Pulsar Refractor' finish to these cards is the standard and I sort of like it.

Pack one
#US-238 A.J. Cole
#US-392 Odrisamer Despaigne
#US-319 Will Harris
#RSC-4 Mike Piazza - Rookie Sensations insert

Pack two
#US-319 Will Harris - nice collation Topps
#US-398 J.T. Realmuto
#US-257 Josh Hamilton
#RSC-14 Jose Abreu - Rookie Sensations insert

Regular Topps Update - eight card packs

Pack one 
#US-84 Sean O'Sullivan
#US-78 Kris Bryant
#US-250 Danny Valencia - Rainbow Foil parallel
#RSC-5 Carlton Fisk - Rookie Sensations insert
#US-307 Hector Santiago
#US-193 Angel Castro / Arnold Leon 
#US-50 Alex Guerrero
#US-85 Justin Nicolino

Pack two
#US-204 Jeff Francoeur
#US-196 Paulo Orlando
#US-271 Mike Leake
#US-310 Clayton Kershaw
#MLB-4 Yadier Molina - MLB All-Star Game Access insert
#US-100 Andrew McCutchen
#US-59 Rafael Martin / Matt Grace
#US-43 Randall Delgado

Pack three
#US-381 Sergio Romo
#US-120 Brandon Cunniff
#US-97 Josh Ravin
#H-68 Bob Lemon - Highlight of the Year insert
#PP-5 Jason Johnson - Pride and Perseverance insert
#US-114 Jason Garcia / Scott Copeland
#US-380 Buster Posey
#US-398 J.T. Realmuto

Pack four
#US-395 Dexter Fowler
#US-131 Jordan Pacheco
#US-29 Ben Paulsen
#WW-15 Alex Gordon - Whatever Works insert
#US-154 Paul Goldschmidt
#US-159 Darren O' Day
#US-138 Dellin Betances
#US-117 Enrique Hernandez

Pack five
#US-38 Michael Lorenzen
#US-30 David Phelps
#US-360 Joc Pederson
#US-192 Albert Pujols
#US-8 Alex Claudio - Gold parallel serial #'d 1853/2015
#US-52 Cody Anderson / Phil Klein
#US-134 Steven Matz
#US-25 Byron Buxton

2015 Topps Update jumbo pack recap

#US-379 Cameron Maybin
#US-32 Blake Swihart
#US-382 Dan Uggla
#US-35 Justin Bour
#US-390 Donovan Solano
#US-334 Clint Barmes
#US-150 Eric Sogard
#US-225 Keone Kela
#US-182 Scott Van Slyke
#US-137 Andrew Romine
#US-66 Neftali Feliz
#US-346 Brandon Crawford
#US-47 Jeremy Jeffress

#US-261 R.J. Alvarez - a draft pick of the Angels in 2012, maybe because he never made it as a Halo and has had no MLB success otherwise, the sight of his cards haunt me.
#US-165 Seth Maness
#US-252 Francisco Rodriguez
#US-372 Alex Wood
#US-72 Brett Gardner
#US-344 Aramis Ramirez
#US-368 Aroldis Chapman

#US-361 LaTroy Hawkins - gotta give a professional ballplayer his due when he is 42 and still pitching in the big leagues.
#H-72 Tom Seaver - Highlight of the Year insert
#US-132 Geraldo Parra - Rainbow Foil
#RS-25 Mark McGwire - Rookie Sensations insert
#US-177 Matt Holliday - Gold parallel serial #'d 1228/2015

#R-3 Daniel Nava - Rarities insert

#WW-8 Roger Clemens - Whatever Works insert; I'm not sure whether or not I really like this or the Nava, but I like cards featuring quirky player trivia.

#CHA-WP Wily Peralta - Career High autograph; though I'm not guaranteed a hit out of a lone pack, this was kind of a 'meh' pull that I feel I could have found in Series I or Series II; maybe I was hoping for an All-Star and/or rookie themed card.
#US-62 Brian Dozier

#US-286 Francisco Lindor
#US-318 Philippe Aumont

#US-13 Tommy Pham
#US-223 Kevin Jepsen

#US-81 Pat Venditte
#US-326 Jonathan Herrera

#US-256 Danny Dorn / Darrell Ceciliani - though he has to share it with another player, it must be neat for a 10-year pro like Dorn to finally show up on an MLB rookie card.
#US-28 Miguel Cabrera

#US-156 Colby Rasmus / Jake Marisnick / George Springer - Amazing Astros; it might not mean much, though on the back of the card, it's nice Topps identified the obscured Marisnick [C] besides Rasmus [L] and Springer [R].

#US-242 Kris Bryant
#US-141 Glen Perkins
#US-392 Odrisamer Despaigne
#US-121 Alexi Ogando
#US-377 Taijuan Walker
#US-40 Sam Dyson
#US-149 Thomas Field
#US-201 Jose Altuve
#US-314 Rafael Betancourt
#US-290 Zach Britton

#US-50 Alex Guerrero
#US-85 Justin Nicolino