Ahhhh yes. The first day of the 2016 Baseball Card Season is here. Today, Series 1 hits stores, and for many collectors out there, this is a day that they look forward to every year. Although I am not a set collector or technically a baseball collector, I definitely appreciate a fine Series 1. I still collect the high end cards of my favorite players, and this year will be no different.

Here are some of the top hits:

2016 Topps Series 1 Mike Trout Berger's Best Auto Relic

2016 Topps Series 1 Kris Bryant Team Logo Auto On Card

2016 Topps Series 1 Sandy Koufax No Hitter Pin Auto

2016 Topps Series 1 Mike Trout Laser Booklet /99

2016 Topps Series 1 MIguel Sano Black Parallel RC /65

Ill start with the base design, which we have had top of mind since before thanksgiving. It is FAR different than anything we have seen before, and that isnt a bad thing. Not only did I like it originally, but it has grown on me with each passing viewing. The fluid borderless presentation works extremely well, and the cards continue to look stunning.

Although the parallels arent as “evident” in their design as they were with the borders, the cards still look really cool. The framed and acetate parallels are back again, and I will definitely be on the lookout for my guys. They dropped the run to 16 on the framed cards, making them even more rare than they were in previous years at 20, something that should be interesting to chase.

As for the hit content, this is where things fall apart. I hate the Scouting Report autographs, and I definitely hate the post season and world series auto relics. Although the post season relic autos are really low count, man are they ugly with the big fucking white box. The scouting report autos are horrendous looking, and unfortunately those come almost 1 per box.

For the second year running, the Topps physical set has a Bunt program built in, with both pack redemptions and code card redemptions. The Titans series looks really cool, and will be some of the most valuable non-autographed cards in the set. If you hit one, consider yourself lucky, pat yourself on the back, and then shoot me an email. These can be redeemed for RARE and POWERFUL cards in the Bunt app, and should not be discarded.

Here is a Kris Bryant for example.

There are also new booklet cards that are called “Topps Laser” that look pretty cool. They are intricately die cut booklet cards with rare auto and relic parallels. Im curious to see how they look in person, because they definitely look pretty awesome in the scans.

The other inserts are nice, but not great, and the whole thing just has a feel like the inserts are kind of blah. First Pitch is back with some interesting subjects, and the photo variations with camo uniforms are cool, but I just cant get past the autographs, the dumb stamp/coin cards, or some of the other non-base. I wish more time were spent making these cards attractive.

Is 2016 worth you chasing down a box or two to rip? Of course, its a tradition! Is it going to knock your socks off? Not so much. The base design floats the set as a whole, being as nice as it is, but the rest hits a note that isnt as sharp.