Grade the Break - 2018 Topps Fire - Target Exclusive

One of my favorite products from last year was actually the first release of Topps Fire. It is a set exclusive to Target at first and will trickle through the channel down the road. This was based of the insert set from the flagship Topps product. This was a fun open last year. It features rookies, legends, stars, parallels with numbering, autos, and relics. The box only features one auto and one relic but it's affordable with lots of cards to open. This year nothing really changed as far as the layout of the set. There are different inserts added to this years set but really everything is very similar.

PROS

* Colorful and fun card design (some may not like the design)

* Top Rookies: Soto, Acuna, Albies, Hoskins, and Ohtani

* Really nice parallels that featured a lot of numbered cards

* Sharp inserts (that also have parallels). Insert sets include:Cannons, Flamethrowers, Fired Up, Hot Starts, Power Producers, and Speed Demons

* The relics that come in Fire can be really nice looking cards

CONS

* Target Exclusive

* One more hit per box would make this product perfect, even if a relic

This years Topps Fire felt very similar to last year, which isn't a bad thing. It's a very complete set that offers a little bit of everything! This was the first break were we opened the same auto in each box. The A's fan definitely made out in this one - HA! Here is some of the highlights of our first 2018 Topps Fire break. There is another Fire break that will be a random team break.

Our Best Card(s)

Matt Olson Base Autos x 2

Our Other Hits

Nicky Delmonic Green Parallel RC Relic /99

Noah Syndergaard Relic w/ Pinstripe NN

Some of the parallels and numbered highlights

This was exactly what we expected for the most part. Lots of color, numbered cards, and rookies. Only slight disappointment for most of the breakers was lack of variety with our two autos. Everything else delivered as expected. The inserts and Parallels are really fun to check out. The parallels can all look similar, so make sure to check for numbering the back. I think it was smart to add the new inserts but still thought they might make some more changes to the set. This was a fun, quick, and inexpensive break, we will definitely consider breaking more of this down the road, especially when it hits the distribution levels. As for a grade, this was a fun and entertaining break, but nothing that made the grade feel better than a C. No Ohtani base rookies, duplicate auto, and no high numbered rookies, I think a C is fair in this case.

GRADE THE BREAK!

C

There is another break tonight for more Topps Fire (this one is random teams) and there is Heritage High Number scheduled for Monday. Teams going fast!

Thanks for reading! - Aaron B