Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 2 Baseball Jumbo
Topps Stadium Club has always been known for great photography. It started back in 1991 with “Kodak Imaging Technology” and continues to this day.
In my opinion, 1996 Stadium Club Baseball wasn’t the best photography-wise but there are still some great shots to be found.
1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 2 Jumbo Box Break
Cards per pack: 20
Packs per box: 12
Price paid: $19
Shop for 1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 2 Baseball boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Curt Schilling, Will Clark, Cal Ripken, Jr., Rafael Palmeiro, Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, Tim Wakefield & Hideo Nomo
Pack 2:
Barry Bonds, Larry Walker, Raul Mondesi, Manny Ramirez, Dennis Martinez & Ray Lankford Extreme Players Gold (1 in every 18 packs). Extreme Players was a game card along the lines of Upper Deck’s You Crash the Game. If your player completed a specific goal you could send your card in to redeem for a “winner” card.
Pack 3:
Craig Biggio, Jim Abbott, Bernie Williams, Buck Showalter (great shot of him in the desert) & Mickey Mantle (1:4 packs). I have always been a fan of the inclusion of legends in modern sets. I especially enjoy when they picked a specific player to commemorate for each set as they did here with Mantle.
Pack 4:
Jim Edmonds, Dante Bichette & Darrin Fletcher Extreme Players Bronze (1:4 packs)
Pack 5:
Fred McGriff, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell & Frank Thomas
Pack 6:
Edgar Martinez (one of the great shots in the 96 set), Dennis Eckersley, Carlos Delgado, Kenny Lofton, Barry Larkin, Omar Vizquel & Raul Mondesi Extreme Players Bronze (1:4 packs)
Pack 7:
Tony Gwynn, John Smoltz, Will Clark, Mickey Mantle (1:4 packs) & Erik Hanson Extreme Players Silver (1:8 packs)
Pack 8:
Cal Ripken, Jr., Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Jose Canseco & Alex Fernandez Extreme Players Bronze (1:4 packs)
Pack 9:
Craig Biggio, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez & Glenallen Hill Bash and Burn (1:18 packs)
Pack 10:
Dante Bichette, Alan Trammell & Jim Thome
Pack 11:
Johnny Damon, Mike Piazza, Jim Thome, Eddie Murray, Andy Pettitte & Mark McGwire Power Packed (1:18 packs)
Pack 12:
Jose Canseco, Albert Belle, Curt Schilling, Shawn Green, Derek Jeter & Mickey Mantle (1:4 packs). You don’t see many cards featuring Mantle playing first base, as he played there only in his last two seasons (1967 & 1968).
Lastly, a card back. They went with the interesting “TSC Skills Matrix” rating system for this set.
Unfortunately, we missed out on pulling a “laser-etched” Metalists insert in this box. All of the inserts in this set look great.
This is a fun set! I especially appreciate the inserts and the inclusion of the Mickey Mantle retrospective. I would certainly buy this one again.
fun break for $20. that year was pretty good looking in my opinion