2014 Topps Finest Baseball Hobby Box

So yeah, when I bought the Topps Chrome box I posted yesterday, I also bought a box of Finest.  I'm weak. Again, I sold some of the stuff to offset some of the cost.

All base sold

The design is much closer to 90's Finest than 2000's Finest.  I think that was the point, so job well done.

I feel like the idea of Finest is losing ground with the amount of high end products out there.  It says Finest, but we know it's not the Finest.  I think one good step would be to get rid of regular refractors.  Ok, maybe not get rid of them, but make them the base set.  No more Finest non-refractory base cards.

Then, the X-Fractors would really be something special.

Don't get me wrong, the XFractors are pretty spectacular, but they would be extra special if they were the first level of refractorhood.

Colored refractors are the pseudo-hits in Finest.  The lack of defined borders makes the color tough to decipher, though.  Beltre is Green #/199.  Jeter is Black #/99.  I sold the Jeter, which turned out to be the highest-dollar card in the box. Good timing on that one, too.

Inserts:

Bravo to Topps for not making all of the 1994 Finest cards refractory.  Truth.  I also got a Justin Upton 1994 card, but apparently forgot to scan it.  The Aaron is kinda weird.  Most folks associate "Vintage" in the hobby with old cards, not old players on new cards.  The Sterling doesn't do much for me.  The picture they chose for Jones is awful.  It looks like someone accidentally clicked-and-dragged the image while trying to do something else.  The Warriors die cut is fantastic in every way.  Daddy like.

That leaves the hits:

Yikes.  These were definitely a weak pair of autos.  The Martin is a black refractor #/99, but he's a blah reliever who hasn't cut it in the bigs.  At least the autos are on-card.  That got me pumped for Finest Football, until I saw the flood of stickers.

Well, that Black Jeter saved this box from being a complete loss.