Small, Slick and Weird

 

A quick #CrackinWaxMailDay from @CrackinWax delivers a few cards from the smallest Topps online product. 

Topps Mini has been an online exclusive for years and years. I don't think it's terribly popular. Since moving to the "on-demand" format where cards are supposedly printed to order for a limited period of time, the print runs have become closer in line with the Topps Now cards. Oddly enough, I think this has led to this product becoming even less popular. I do like oddball stuff like this a lot, and recently bought into a group break at Crackin' Wax where a few boxes (well, packs basically) were opened.

Aside from the lack of foil on the Topps logo, the cards look indistinguishable from their regular base set counterparts. It's only when you have the cards in hand that you can notice the difference, aside from the slightly small size. This year's cards are extra glossy, which is again more in line with what you'd expect out of Topps Now, minus the Topps logos on the back that stand out in direct light.

I only ended up with three Cardinals (plus one dupe), so there will be plenty more of these to collect... if anyone else happens to actually open them. The set spans the entirety of Series 1, Series 2 and Update, meaning the checklist contains nearly 1000 cards.

The Mariners were my randomly assigned team, which gave me a slight chance of landing a rare card of the top rookie in the game, Julio Rodriguez. Instead, I got this trio of M's.

I did end up with this pink parallel of now-former Mariner Abraham Toro, which is numbered to just 25. All of the Mariners cards will end up in my trade boxes eventually.