HobbyMonitor

@Dugout_Vault @Topps Appreciate your support!

@hobbymonitor @Topps Would love to hear a follow up on this and how it turns out. Thanks for the follow! Love your content and your web tool!

@topps this is a new low! Opened a 2026 Topps Finest hobby box with two guaranteed autos and it had none. Wow! Don’t worry captured the whole rip on video if needed.

@Dugout_Vault @Topps I submitted two claims on the website. We will see what happens. They claim to send random cards but not so sure

@hobbymonitor @Topps Ouch. Is there remediation options for collectors to complain? Does Topps generally “make it right”?

@Aldo_Monti Yep, 3rd time dealing with this since December!

@hobbymonitor They send you cards from the same product.

Topps needs to do better when hits go missing, and better still at making sure they are in the box in the first place. Ripped another 2026 Topps Finest hobby box tonight. Missing not one but both autos. Finest is a guaranteed two auto product. It is a box that shipped without its advertised contents. And based on past experience, I can expect close to nothing back for it. Their own policy says missing hits get a random replacement from inventory with no value equivalency guaranteed. If any other physical product showed up missing components, the retailer would take it back. With adequate proof, a minimum value replacement should be the floor, not a random card. I understand the fraud angle, but that is not the honest collector's problem to carry. Am I off base here?

And don't get me started on how people who do breaks get even more worked over when this happens! If you find a breaker that adds a box, those are the ones to follow.

@hobbymonitor You’ll get 2 autos in 3 months. Jose Corniell /199 & base Sal Frelick

@hobbymonitor You’ll get a base auto of Justin Dean and an auto of someone else nobody wants in the mail in 2 weeks.

Opened a 2026 Topps Finest hobby box with zero of the two guaranteed autos. How do we think Topps will handle this? No wrong answers!

@RobsRips 2023 still tops but I really like this one. Hard pass on 25

2024 chrome had the best design for radiating rookies what was your favorite? this is 2026🫡

@CarlosACollazo Wow...this is the largest % reduction in the first round in the last 5+ years (since they changed the draft back in '21). A LOT of money for Atlanta to work with. If your team had a recruit go to Atlanta, it feels like you can say goodbye to them now.

One week away from 2026 Topps Chrome baseball - excited for this one! The radiating rookies look great this time around

@CardPurchaser Not too many but love what I have

Do you have any cool Star Wars cards in your collection?

@MarkusSkid68618 There’s benefits for protection long-term. And if you are buying a card, a 10 grade is likely to appreciate better. But absolutely not required hence why I put it at the bottom of the list

@hobbymonitor Don't understand grading unless your single purpose is selling. That being said, grading is an opinion...

10 rules towards building a card collection that can also grow in value over time: 10. Grade: PSA 10 over PSA 9, but grading NOT required to build a great collection 9. Playing years over legend years (some rare SP exceptions) 8. Rookies/1st over other years 🧵

Honestly, if money was no object and I was into cards this price isn’t that crazy to me…

1. Collect what you love. The rest will sort itself out! Full breakdown on each: hobbymonitor.com/insights/ten-r…

4. Go big or go home. Not spending more but fewer, higher quality cards 3. Performance does matter! Collect who you want, but the 🐐s will persist. Just balance and consider the risk of the “next big thing” 2. Condition: buy cards in great condition, but also take care of the ones you own

@Pick2C Very cool hit nice!

@hobbymonitor I got lucky and pulled this Nolan Ryan auto out of the last pack of an AS Mega but got skunked on a couple others. They seem to be bang or bust, not much in between.

2026 Topps All-Star Game Mega ⚾️ $50 at retail. 14 packs, 14 cards, 196 total. Big change this year: it’s no longer a standalone product. 2026 is a Series 2 extension with exclusive ASG parallels only. I ran the odds sheet and that puts the print run around 117,000 boxes, which gives each base ASG parallel roughly 1,500 copies. Base ASG parallels fall 1:3 packs (4-5 per box). Numbered rainbow: Green /99, Gold /50, Orange /25, Black /10, Red /5, Platinum 1/1. Both 1991 Topps insert sets get the ASG treatment too, but those fall 1:5 packs across 100-card checklists. About 3,285 copies each. Roughly double the base parallels, so don’t assume the inserts are the scarcer chase. Not a strong recommendation with the changes but still a fun rip. Just know what you’re buying: this is a parallel product with a very slim auto chance.