Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 2020 Topps Update Series Baseball
2020 Topps Update Series Baseball was quite a bit different from the typical Update set. Typically, Update is an annual late-season release that catalogs that season’s All-Star Game, and showcases some of the newest rookies. That is where the trouble begins for 2020. First off, there was no All-Star Game because of the pandemic. Second, there weren’t nearly as many rookies to showcase because of the shortened MLB season.
Instead of highlighting the non-existent 2020 All-Star Game, Topps chose some players to focus on All-Star Games and Home Run Derbies from the past.
While the rookie crop was limited, there are still a handful of good names on the RC checklist. Sean Murphy, Nestor Cortes, Randy Arozarena, and Devin Williams RCs all show up in 2020 Update.
The odd format probably had something to do with this box being so cheap.
2020 Topps Update Series Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 14
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $50
Shop for 2020 Topps Update Series Baseball boxes on eBay.
Box topper pack:
Bo Bichette RC, Yonathan Diaz RC, Brock Burke RC & Fernando Tatis, Jr. Purple Parallel (55/75)
Pack 1 highlights:
Lindor/Ramirez, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Giancarlo Stanton, David Ortiz & David Price 1985 Topps (1:4 packs)
Right away you see all of the Active Leaders and ASG subset cards.
Pack 2:
Felix Hernandez, Bo Bichette RC, Alex Bregman & Giancarlo Stanton
Pack 3:
Miguel Cabrera, Zack Greinke, Jeff Bagwell A Numbers Game (1:20 packs), Hunter Pence & Kyle Lewis RC
Pack 4:
Ronald Acuna, Jr., Jacob deGrom, Devin Williams RC, Jo Adell Prospects (1:6 packs), Jacob deGrom & Aaron Judge
Thrower of airbenders, Devin Williams continues to mystify hitters. He has a career ERA of 1.91.
Pack 5:
Trout/Upton, Edwin Encarnacion, Willie Stargell 1985 Topps (1:4 packs), Cal Ripken, Jr., Kyle Wright & Max Scherzer
Pack 6:
David Price, Mike Trout, Joey Votto, Taijuan Walker, Anthony Rizzo & Clayton Kershaw Gold (0983/2020) (1:16 packs)
Pack 7:
Trout/Upton, Clayton Kershaw, Eric Davis, Stan Musial A Numbers Game (1:20 packs), Kyle Wright & Max Scherzer
Three of the same cards from Pack 5. That is not great.
Pack 8:
David Price, Mike Trout, Trout again, Cal Ripken, Jr., Anthony Rizzo, Albert Pujols & Zack Wheeler
Pack 9:
Cody Bellinger, Pedro Martinez, Ken Griffey, Jr., Christian Yelich 1985 Topps (1:4 packs), Bregman/Yordan, Andrew McCutchen & Albert Pujols
Pack 10:
Chris Sale, Albert Pujols, Justin Verlander, Nick Allen Prospects (1:6 packs), Joey Votto & David Ortiz
Loaded with subset cards. Luckily, as a player collector, I will take them.
Pack 11:
Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout & Early Wynn Decade’s Best (1:7 packs)
Pack 12:
Miguel Cabrera, Alex Blandino Rainbow Foil (1:10 packs), Pete Alonso & Kris Bryant
Pack 13:
Mariano Rivera, Yadier Molina, Andre Dawson 1985 Topps (1:4 packs) & Mike Trout
There are five different Mike Trout base cards on the checklist.
Pack 14:
Chris Sale, Justin Verlander, Giancarlo Stanton, Tino Martinez & Harper/Segura Gold (0109/2020) (1:16 packs)
Pack 15:
Miguel Cabrera, Ken Griffey, Jr., Tom Deaver Decade’s Best (1:7 packs) & Bryce Harper
Pack 16:
Max Scherzer, Gleyber Torres, Mookie Betts, Alex Verdugo & Dylan Carlson Prospects (1:6 packs)
As a Red Sox fan, this Verdugo card looks pretty cool!
Pack 17:
Bogaerts/Devers, Robinson Cano, Justin Verlander, Nestor Cortes RC & Mike Trout 1985 Topps (1:4 packs)
Pack 18:
Brendan McKay RC & Albert Pujols
Pack 19:
Christian Yelich, Nolan Arenado & Derek Jeter 20 Years of the Captain (1:25 packs)
There are, you guessed it, 20 Jeter cards in this insert set. There are also autographed versions to find.
Pack 20:
Mark McGwire, McGwire again, Zack Greinke, Yordan Alvarez RC & Justin Turner All-Star Stitches (1:62 packs)
Pack 21:
Randy Arozarena RC, Bartolo Colon, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Jose Altuve & Gavin Lux 1985 Topps (1:4 packs)
Pack 22:
Torres/Betts, Craig Kimbrel, Pete Alonso, Brady Singer Prospects (1:6 packs) & Jorge Lopez Advanced Stats Back (094/300) (1:157 packs)
The Jorge Lopez Advanced Stat back card features stats like fastball usage percentage, spin rate, and ground ball percentage in place of the traditional pitcher stats.
Pack 23:
Ryan Howard, Miguel Cabrera, Derek Jeter, Anthony “No habla ingles today” Rendon & Red Sox Decade’s Best (1:7 packs)
Pack 24:
Starling Marte, Miguel Cabrera, Wilmer Flores Rainbow Foil (1:10 packs), Edwin Encarnacion, Ichiro Suzuki, Francisco Lindor & Ken Griffey, Jr.
Lastly, the Marte card back. This was the only normal base card highlight from the last pack. All others were subset cards.
Honestly, even though the checklist was full of star names because of the adjusted format, it got kind of boring. Was it just me? It was extremely repetitive. Luckily, I did find a couple of Gold parallels. Odds say it is certainly possible to find just one in a box. Not only that, both featured star players. Bryce Harper makes an appearance on a multi-player card, plus the solo Clayton Kershaw. The best card of the box, though? Probably the Tatis Purple parallel found in the boxtopper pack!
Shop for 2020 Topps Update Series Baseball cards on:
Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
