2016 Topps High Tek Baseball Cards

Product Review

2016 Topps High Tek Baseball Product Review

Reviewed by Trey Treutel

Good: Cards look great, the different designs really pop, inserts are distinct, on-card signatures.

Bad: Still pricey for eight cards per box, inserts are tough to pull so normally just base and patterns in each box, can be confusing to make sense of what you pulled.

The Bottom Line: A nice reminder of the over-the-top nature of the 1990s, to me, 2016 Topps High Tek Baseball walks the line of too much of a good thing. While the unique look and quality design is refreshing in a hobby filled with mostly rehashed designs and concepts, the set asks a lot for what it delivers and the ambiguity as far as pattern rarity can be frustrating.

Card Design: 4.25/5.0

Compared to 2015, the 2016 design puts more emphasis on the background pattern with the removal of the CGI explosion found directly behind the player on all the previous year’s cards. While this more simple take might be too plain for some, I personally liked it better. There is something abstract in the top-left corner this year but it is very subtle.

I admit that the patterns don’t do much for me from a collecting perspective but they do make for a nice variety of choices, especially for player collectors. It’s still the same card and image but the background changes with varying rarity. Given they are essentially just parallels, I don’t see the need for all the games with which player falls into what group and resulting confusion.

Obviously the on-card autograph aspect is huge and expected. Tek with stickers would be a massive letdown.

While they aren’t all winners for me, the inserts are each very unique while still sticking to the acetate stock. My favorite is easily the Bright Horizons. The only downside is that they are all very tough to pull with 1:19 average box odds just to find one.

Checklist: 3.75/5.0

Mixing current and former players, the base checklist is fairly comprehensive and likely appeals greatly to the various collectors who see their PC player covered. As far as set collectors, this is a much more difficult task given the format of just eight cards per box.

Another big element for 2016 Topps High Tek Baseball is the autograph checklist that delivers one card per box. These too feature old and new players but the group is not as strong from top to bottom and prices reflect this for many of the options.

Value: 3.0/5.0

Falling in the $55-65 box range at the time of this review, the value at this price is tougher for one autograph and seven other cards that are going to be mostly base and parallels. Of course, a rare pattern or parallel can help value just like a big-name autograph can boost a box. From a collecting value standpoint, I would like more cards per box, even if they are just the main base. As far as monetary value, the autograph checklist could be tighter and the price is still higher than it should be.

I find the High Tek cards to be very impressive in-hand but I still think the price or format needs a tweak. A multi-pack format that still offers a guaranteed autograph at a slightly higher price or cutting down the cost for the current format would be ideal.

The Fun Factor: 3.75/5.0

2016 Topps High Tek Baseball is a fun product. It really does stand out in a market that can feel very bland at times. However, I did find myself looking at the pack contents and feeling disappointment that there wasn’t more to it.

Again, this is just me, but the confusion/mystery around the cards is more annoying than exciting. Numbering the cards would be nice even if it is just to note the pattern number on the back so the rarity is easily determined. So Pattern 2 would have a 2 on the back and so on. Putting firm print runs would be even better but I get that much of the hype is built around the unknown short print element.

2016 Topps High Tek Baseball Hit Gallery

The box used for this review was provided by Topps.

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Nolan Arenado 2016 Topps High Tek Auto Autograph Printing Proof #1/1 BGS 9.5 10

$400.00

2016 Topps High Tek Auto Trea Turner Rookie Autograph Holofoil #HT-TTU RC Mint

$125.00

2016 Topps High Tek Auto Gold Rainbow /50 Rookie Trevor Story Autograph RC PSA 9

$299.99

2016 Topps High Tek Trea Turner Rookie Autograph RC HT-TTU MBA AUTHENTIC AUTO!

$79.00

Star Wars High Tek 2016 ~ JOHN BOYEGA Auto/Autograph SW-87 Green #09/10 Finn

$229.95

2016 Star Wars High Tek AMY ALLEN Aayla Secura Signed Auto Card BAS Witness Slab

$110.94

MIKE TROUT 2016 TOPPS HIGH TEK GOLD RAINBOW AUTOGRAPH AUTO /50 BGS 9.5 10 GEM+

$1,200.00

2016 Topps High Tek Nolan Arenado Blue Auto RC Ser#2/20 SSP On-Card Auto!

$129.99

2016 Topps High Tek Kyle Schwarber Autographs Card #HT-KS Cubs BGS 10 Auto 10

$149.95

2016 Topps High Tek Kris Bryant Highlights Auto 01/25 PSA 9 CUBS 1/1

$199.95

2016 Topps High Tek Kyle Schwarber Autographs Card #HT-KS Cubs BGS 10 Auto 10

$149.96

2017 TOPPS HIGH TEK FRANCISCO LINDOR AUTO AUTOGRAPH HT-FL **CASE INCLUDED**

$50.00

2016 Flawless Luis Severino Diamond Rookie RC #/20 + 2016 Bowman High Tek Auto🔥

$85.00

2016 Topps High Tek Star Wars Mark Hamill Green Cube Diffractor AUTO 6/10 BGS 10

$50,000.00

2016 Star Wars High Tek SCOTT CAPURRO "2016 Star Wa Signed Auto Card BAS Slabbed

$67.94

2016 Star Wars High Tek JEROME BLAKE "Oppo Ranccisis" Signed Auto Card BAS Slab

$67.94

2016 Topps High Tek Max Kepler Autograph Rc

$69.00

2016 Topps High Tek Jose Canseco High Tek Autograph Sky Rainbow 20 /20

$119.00

2016 Star Wars High Tek MARC SILK "Aks Moe" Signed Auto Card BAS Slabbed

$67.94

2016 Star Wars High Tek JETT LUCAS "Zett Jukassa" Signed Auto Card BAS Slabbed

$67.94