ast year Topps proved with Topps 206 that they don’t have to rely on their own past to create a popular nostalgia-based set. All three series of Topps 206 were wildly successful in updating the old tobacco concept thought of some 80 years previous. As a follow-up, Topps now introduces the “Gold Border” 205 set, a set that in many ways is better than its 2002 counterpart.
It’s a matter of personal taste but I love the elegant look of these cards. Although not a traditional fan of gold rings, gold jewelry and the like, the gold look really adds a little flair to these cards.
I don’t know enough about the original 205 set to comment on whether or not Topps’ take stays true to the mix, but it sure does look retro-new to me.
The chase is sure to come with the mini parallels. Inserted one per pack, there’s several different types of backs – each with their own level of rarity.
Autograph, game-used and buy backs are inserted at two “hits” per box.
Topps has followed suit with many of their current releases and included lots of variations of base cards making a set that much harder to complete.
Overall, the look is a big turn on for me, as is the lack of shortprints in the base set. Quite frankly, the “hits” are somewhat irrelevant to me, although the framed design is nice.
2003 Topps 205 Series 1 Baseball Box Breakdown:
Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in tobacco mini box topper: 20
Total cards: 187
Cards in set: 165
Singles: 120
Doubles: 7
Triples+: 0
Inserts: 60
- Triple Folders: 18
- Brooklyn Back Triple Folders (1:72): 0
- Bat Relics (overall relics 1:12): 1 (TR-BG. Brian Giles)
- Uniform Relics (overall relics 1:12): 1 (TR-JB. Jeff Bagwell)
- Autographs (1:74): 0
- Buybacks (1:336): 0
Mini Tobacco Parallels: 40
- Polar Bear (Common): 20 (1, 10, 12, 15, 40, 42, 58, 61, 71, 110, 125, 133, 135, 136, 138, 140, 142, 148, 149, 150)
- Brooklyn (Varies): 9 (17, 26, 29, 41, 47, 49, 50, 56, 120)
- Sovereign (Uncommon): 4
- Sovereign Green (25% of Sovereign print run): 1 (127)
- Brand Combo (Uncommon): 5 (18, 40, 45, 88, 113)(13, 18, 111, 143)
- Brand Combo Purple (10% of Brand Combo print run): 0
- Drum (Rare): 2 (85, 131)
- Bazooka (#/5) 0
