2010 Topps Finest Baseball
Master Box: $71-$79Mini Box: $35 - $41
Good: Lots of guaranteed hits, refractors, and rookie cards per box.
Bad: Base card design is pretty bleak and uninspiring.
Summary: 2010 Topps Finest Baseball is the best Finest set to hit store shelves since the early 2000's. While it pales a bit in comparison to the red hot 2010 Bowman Baseball set, it has enough going for it to justify buying a box or two of it.
Enjoyability: I haven't been a big fan of Finest baseball in recent years but this years set was a pleasant surprise. I didn't win the Heyward auto redemption sweepstakes but did come away with an Ike Davis Blue Refractor Redemption, a Joe Mauer Manufactered MLB Logo Patch and a Buster Posey Refractor Lettermen Autograph, as well as a number of other nice cards. All and all it was a consistently fun break all the way to the last pack.
Value
This set has tons of value packed into it. Each hobby box yields 2 Autographed Rookie Lettermen Patches, 1 MLB Logo Manufactured Patch, 1 Finest Rookie Redemption, and a wide variety of refractors, rookie cards, and base cards - all for just over $100.
The secondary market demand for the Finest Rookie Redemptions and MLB Logo cards are so strong that it is possible to recoup a large portion (possibly all) of the box price by selling these two inserts on ebay and keeping all your other pulls. Such was the case for me. My Redemption and Logo pulls were by no means exceptional, yet still managed to offset the majority of the box's cost by generating a combined $75 on the eBay auction block. That left me with only $35 out of pocket expense for all the remaining cards in the box, which is a really phenomenal deal.
Design
The biggest issue I have with 2010 Topps Finest Baseball is the base card design. I can kind of see where they were trying to go with it but they definitely fell short. The base cards have an almost gothic look to them. Thankfully the colored refractors and Lettermen Patch cards look infinitely better.
Checklist
The 2010 set stays true to the Topps Finest formula of being an early season rookie card packed upper mid end product. All of the the big name (and not so big name) 2010 MLB rookies are present along with the regular cast of stars and veterans. Rookies who missed qualifying for inclusion in the set (a list that so far includes Jason Heyward and Ike Davis) make cameo appearances via the popular Finest Rookie Redemption program.
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 2010 Topps Finest Baseball Hobby Mini Box $98.00 |
 2010 Topps Finest Baseball Factory Sealed Hobby Box $124.99 |
 2010 TOPPS FINEST BASEBALL HOBBY BOX $156.00 |
 2010 TOPPS FINEST BASEBALL HOBBY BOX FACTORY SEALED $159.99 |
 2010 Topps Finest Baseball Hobby box $159.95 |
 2010 Topps Finest Baseball Factory Sealed Hobby Box $159.99 |
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Ben Barron | Jul 14, 2010 | Reply
This years Topps Finest Baseball is better than it has been in a few years in my opinion. I pulled some nice hits out of my box and the refractors look cool. As stated above, "Base card design is pretty bleak and uninspiring." I tend to agree with this. If I didn't have the money to buy a box of Bowman I would go with this product. It gives you a good bang for your buck. It has the potential to yield a good return on your investment too. I give it a 3.5 out of 5 also.