10/30/18

2018 TOPPS HIGH TEK ($119.95 per box) ARRIVES WEDNESDAY WITH MORE SHOHEI OHTANI ON-CARD AUTOGRAPHS AND ROOKIE CARD PARALLELS & VARIATIONS THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT



2018 Topp High Tek Baseball Rookie TekPatterns (eight of them), Parallels (each pattern has parallels), Variations, Autographs ( you guested it, autographs  are ON-CARD and have parallels), Buy-Back Autographs of old Topps Tek cards, and Inserts.  If you're looking for a collecting challenge, Topps Tek gives you that.  If you're looking for a whole slew of Shohei Ohtani RCs or a team or star card collector, Topps Tek gives you that.


2018 Topp High Tek Baseball SpecTEKular Diffractor2018 Topps High Tek Baseball ($119.95 after applying our $5 Off Sale) per 40-card box, provides plenty of patterns at every turn for the line that continues to combine clear acetate, foil and big designs.
It also means a pair of autographs in every pack/box/however you like to look at it.

2018 Topps High Tek Baseball Base Set

2018 Topp High Tek Baseball Base Pattern 1The jumbo pack format was first introduced in 2017. While it didn’t necessarily mean a drastic change in content, it did alter how things broke down. Overall, the approach similar to 2018.
Base cards come in several different designs, each differing by their background pattern. Patterns are distributed in different numbers, making some common and other much more scarce. And if that weren’t enough, some of these patterns come with traditional parallels as well. Reading about it can be a little confusing. But when you get a bunch of cards of your favorite player lined up in a binder, it’s a lot more clear.
One thing that Topps is doing more of for 2018 High Tek Baseball is mixing up the way the patterns are made. Pattern 1, the most common (base) version is done with rainbow foil. These look almost silver. Each box has ten Pattern 1 cards.
Further down the pattern line is a Magma Diffractor pattern that has a flow effect. These are three per box. Other materials used to make patterns include Orbit Diffractors (two per box), Galactic Diffractors (one per box) and Gold SpecTEKular Diffractors (1/1).
Select cards also have Black and White Image Variations. These shouldn’t be hard to spot, though. For starters, they’re numbered to 50. There’s also the fact that the pictures have no color, which makes them pop out fast. Variations have Gold SpecTEKular (1/1) parallels. Select variations have autographs as well.

Parallels

With a rough idea of the pattern styles available in 2018 Topps High Tek Baseball, here’s how the parallels play out. Pattern 1 has the most with Blue (/150), Green (/99), Black (/50), Orange (/25), Red (/10), and Gold (1/1).
Magma Diffractor parallels are the same except there are no Blue cards.
Orbit Diffractors have Black (/50), Orange (/25), Red (/10) and Gold (1/1).
Finally, Galactic Diffractors come in just three styles: Orange (/25), Red (/10) and Gold (1/1).

Autographs

As has been the case since Topps brought back Tek in 2014, autographs come on-card.
The majority of signatures in the product are High Tek Autographs. Parallels come in a handful of colors and styles: Green (/99), Blue (/75), Black Orbit Diffractor (/50), Orange Orbit Diffractor (/25), Red Orbit Diffractor (/10), and Gold SpecTEKular Diffractor (1/1).
Buyback Autographs are also randomly inserted. These are original Topps Tek cards from the past that have an added signature. These are numbered to 10.

Inserts

All inserts in 2018 Topps High Tek Baseball have no more than 99 copies. They combine with the numbered parallels to fall four per hobby box.
Rookie Tek (/99) returns with a new crop of first-year players as well as a fresh design.
PyroTEKnics (/50) are inspired by fireworks. These center on veteran players.
2018 Topp High Tek Baseball PyroTEKnics AutographFinally, there’s new PortraiTEK (/50). These may be die-cut, but the idea is to convey a traditional framed portrait in the process.
All three of these inserts have Orange (/25) and Gold SpecTEKular (1/1) parallels. They also have autographed versions for select cards.