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Will your eyes see the twinkle in 2011 Topps Baseball? (Updated)

By Chris Olds | Editor

The first boxes of 2011 Topps Baseball have been ripped and the first reports of oddball findings are coming in, too.

The most notable previously unannounced finds are cards that have the twinkle or sparkle of a diamond digitally placed into the photograph of the card.

Topps reps are officially mum on the issue for now — expect an announcement soon — but cards confirmed to have this variation (so far) include: Roy Halladay, Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, Chipper Jones, Aroldis Chapman, Chris Carpenter, Mariano Rivera, Miguel Cabrera, Brent Morel, Alex Rios, Kyle Drabek, Jared Weaver, Justin Upton, Victor Martinez, Brian Matusz, Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Oswalt, Jose Bautista, Justin Morneau, Brett Anderson, Desmond Jennings, Tommy Hunter and Chase Utley.

Given some of the names on the list, it might be an SP set that parallels all 330 cards in the set. However, they won’t be found easily. Brent Williams, an Arkansas-based dealer who specializes in breaking cases in bulk, has seen the cards fall one per case.

He pulled six through his first six cases and that held true for another breaker he is in contact with.

“I know of 22 other cases that each had 21 total,” he said.

The cards are also found in retail packs.

We’ll have more in 2011 Topps here soon — a Box Busters preview gallery will come later and our video will come soon (our Busters boxes are stuck somewhere in a snow drift.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Update: These cards have been confirmed.

3 Jon Lester
5 Joey Votto
15 David Wright
20 Hanley Ramirez
25 Carl Crawford
35 Shin-Soo Choo
40 Justin Upton
42 Mariano Rivera
44 Martin Prado
50 Alex Rodriguez
60 Andrew McCutchen
61 David Price
70 Kyle Drabek
75 Jered Weaver
78 Mike Stanton
80 Desmond Jennings
100 Albert Pujols
102 CC Sabathia
108 Zack Greinke
110 Aroldis Chapman
120 Mat Latos
128 Manny Ramirez
140 Brett Anderson
150 Miguel Cabrera
165 Jeremy Hellickson
166 Josh Johnson
169 Chipper Jones
174 Roy Oswalt
177 Brian Matusz
195 Nick Markakis
200 Ichiro Suzuki
208 Clay Buchholz
209 Carlos Santana
210 Brian Wilson
214 Chase Utley
216 Jose Baustita
218 Victor Martinez
236 Nelson Cruz
240 Andre Ethier
241 Wandy Rodriguez
247 Starlin Castro
250 Carlos Gonzalez
255 Torii Hunter
269 Stephen Drew
270 Ubaldo Jimenez
271 Adam Dunn
275 Clayton Kershaw
290 Ike Davis
293 Justin Morneau
294 Luke Scott
299 Chris Carpenter
300 Roy Halladay
307 Alex Rios
315 David Ortiz
320 Michael Young
322 Brent Morel
330 Derek Jeter

Box Busters Preview Gallery: 2011 Topps Baseball

By Chris Olds | Editor

Today’s the day that many had marked on their calendars — well, after Topps pushed up the release date — as it marked the arrival of the annual baseball card-collecting staple.

You know, the annual Topps Baseball set.

While our Box Busters review boxes are somewhere in an iced-over UPS truck likely stuck in a snow drift and the Beckett Media offices are closed for a second consecutive day, a little lot of snow ice wasn’t going to stop your idiot intrepid editor from journeying through the tundra to a Target store.

After a blaster box, jumbo pack and way-too-many loose packs to mention, here’s a selection of cards from this year’s set … after the jump.

Also be sure to take our poll — on whether you think 2011 Topps is a winner or a loser.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Topps ups stakes with 2011 Pro Debut MiLB cards

By Chris Olds | Editor

Topps‘ second year of producing officially licensed minor-league baseball cards will start off with a little something extra — four hits in every box of 2011 Pro Debut.

Set to arrive in late May, Pro Debut will consist of 330 cards — apparently just one series this year — but will pack two autographs and two game-used Relics in every 24-pack box along with eight parallels and 18 insert cards. (Last year’s two-series release included two autographs and one memorabilia card in every hobby-only box.)

New this year are Side-by-side Dual Autographs which pair two players together, while the rest of the lineup is pretty similar. There are Gold (/25), Red (1/1) and Blue (/199) parallels, while there are also printing plates to be found. The insert sets include Single-A All-Stars, Double-A All-Stars and Triple-A All-Stars.

The Relic lineup will include 20 players and will include MiLB logoman cards (1/1s), Red patches (/5) and Red Relics (/5) along with Gold (/50) jerseys, too.

Also back will be Debut Cuts autographs — a group headlined by Pittsburgh Pirates draft pick Jameson Taillon.

Among the names on the dual autographs are Dustin Ackley, Manny Machado and Mike Moustakas (among others), while the Solo Signatures list includes  Moustakas, Michael Choice, Josh Vitters and a few others (and some TBDs).

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.