2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15A "Wood Stock Auto" #/5

 

Card Review: 9.1

This is the "wood stock" autograph variant.  These are numbered out of five.  This is actually pretty cool.  As far as I can tell, the front of this card is actually made out of wood.  The back is like a normal card, but the front is some sort of balsa wood I would guess.  It's firm enough that I feel like it would fully snap in half if I bent it enough, though I presume its glued to the back of the card in some manner to keep it from literally breaking into two pieces.  It's not any thicker, at least not by much, than the standard base card.

If Topps is going to insist on filling products with an endless onslaught of goofy inserts, then they should do stuff like this.  I've never been one for  "relic" cards with pieces of bats or jerseys.  In large part due to how thick they are.  At some point, it stops being a "baseball card" for me and it just becomes a chunky novelty item.  But if they could shave down bats thin enough to print the base card photo on top of, like this, I could get behind that.

In any event, I can set aside my disdain for inserts to acknowledge that I actually find this one pretty cool.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15A "Vintage Stock Auto" #/10

Card Review: 9.1

This is the "vintage stock" variant of the base card, and the autographed version of the "vintage stock" variant.  Still with me?  Both are numbered to ten.  I'm not a fan of autographs on cards, other than the ones I obtained in person as a kid, but this card stays the most true to the base card of the variants I've seen, and the base card is far and away the nicest of all the variations.  If this card wasn't autographed and numbered on the back, it'd be really hard to tell the difference between this and the base card.  The "vintage stock" gimmick is not super apparent to the naked eye or even to the touch.  It's every bit as subtle as trying to identify a 1987 Fleer Glossy from a stack of ordinary 1987 Fleer, and I've missed a few of those over the years while sorting stacks of new Wallach cards.

In any event, I'm making some progress towards tracking all of these endless variations down, but I wouldn't lose any sleep if I end up missing a few.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "Topps Logo" #/35

Card Review: 9.1

This card is identical to the "Topps Logo Autograph" variant, but for the missing sticker with the autograph on it.  I prefer this one without the sticker slightly, as the only acceptable additions to cards in my book are wax and gum stains.  This one stays truer to the 1988 Topps original.  These again are numbered to 35, like the autograph variants.

Below is a close up of the "Topps Logo" laminate that covers the whole card.  It has a sort of shine to it that makes it look similar to the "rainbow" variations.  You can see the "topps" running across Wallach's forhead.  That pattern covers the whole card with various degress of success as far it's visibility.

Number of this card in my collection: 2

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "SSP" Canvas Stock

Card Review: 9.4

I gave this card a 9.4.  I gave the base card a 9.5.  This "SSP" is allegedly on canvas stock, but I can't tell a difference between the two given it's stuck inside the BCW snap case.  My eyesight has been getting a little worse every year, but I'm not blind, and I've looked pretty hard at it.  If I decide to crack this thing, maybe it will feel different to the touch.  So I dinged it a tenth of a point for the confusion it caused me.

These "SSP" whatever that's supposed to mean (Super Short Print, okay Topps) come one to a box, albeit, only to "Collector's Edition" boxes.  They're not in "Single Boxes."  There are no shortage of ridiculous gimmicks and ripoffs in the hobby today, but the different types of boxes is probably in my top three (behind the disappearance of gum and grading slabs.  The mainstream acceptance of autographs on cards still also baffles me).  The pack some kid buys in Target should be the same one Simpson's Comic Book guy buys in a shop.  If these shiny inserts and sharpie damaged cards are actually desirable and what makes modern collecting "fun," wouldn't making the more accessible packs "better" draw in more people?  Admittedly, I'm just a guy in his 40's still complaining about gum, so what do I know.

I'll probably leave this card imprisoned in this case until another one comes my way, but for now they're still being listed at north of ten bucks, and this feels like more of a "I'll give you a buck and the cost of shipping sort of card" (which is what this one cost me).  I have no problem opening PSA slabs (figuratively I have no problem, literally they're a pain in the ass to open), but that's because PSA is just some dudes in a office somewhere and nothing "official."  This case is actually made by Topps, which gives it at least a small air of legitimacy.  So it may be awhile before my desire to page this in my Wallach binder outweighs my misgivings about tampering with a Topps seal.  If it happens, I'll update on what I find inside.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "Topps Logo Autograph" #/35

  

Card Review: 8.8

This is the "Topps Logo" autograph variant.  It's numbered to 35, but there is also another 35 without the autograph sticker, so they printed 70 of these.  The gimmick here is a clear laminate over the card with with "Topps" printed throughout.  It's nearly impossible to see in the scan, and not much easier to see in person.  Below are two zoomed in screen grabs.  It shows up best in the red letting.

 

Cool.  I'll be in no hurry to track down the other 34 of them.  From what I can tell, I'm currently the only person chasing these on eBay, but the sellers have been slow to get that memo, as I see the same ones go unsold and get re-listed repeatedly.  Guys, you can have my $5-10 or you can keep the card for yourself and pretend it's worth $30-$500, I'll be okay either way.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "Sepia Autograph" #/50

  

Card Review: 6.5

I'm not much for autographs on cards, at least, ones that aren't obtained in person.  That's actually a generous way of putting it.  I view the whole point of autograph as to serve as a memento of a celebrity encounter.  But to each their own.

And if I may get off my high horse for a moment, and put on my hypocrisy hat, I like this autograph variation of the sepia variation (lot of variations in this set) more than the standard sepia variation.  As previously stated in the original sepia post, the lack of color on an '88 Topps All-Star card is just tough on my eyes.  So the blue sharpie burst is a welcome addition in this instance, even if it is just on a sticker slapped on the middle of the card obscuring it in part.  These are also numbered to 50, which with 20+ individually numbered variations in this set, I think it becomes a little misleading as far as the implied scarcity.  But what do I know.  I'm sure in 20 years the kids will be clamoring for the blue father's day camo variation of Max Muncey and I'll end up having sounded like a fool.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 Bubble Gum Foil

 

   

Card Review: 8.2

This is the "Bubble Gum Foil" variation.  These aren't numbered individually.  Online they are described as "Single Box-exclusive."  I'm not sure what that means, but there is another insert labeled as "Collector's Box-exclusive."  Do what you will with that information, I'm going to choose to ignore it.

I like the idea of "bubble gum" themed cards.  I've long lamented the loss of gum in packs and lobbied for it's return, so this feels like a step in the right direction.  Maybe we'll get cards printed on gum down the road.  If I recall, the last packs to come with gum were Heritage packs a decade or more ago (and I could very easily be wrong about this), and that the gum came wrapped in cellophane.  I wasn't wild about that.  The crunchy staleness of Topps gum is part of what made is so "great."  I suspect it was to appease the cranks who would otherwise whine about a gum stain or two and not to keep the gum fresh, but again, I'm just guessing here.  In any event, I picked up a second copy of this card (it was actually my first copy, the one in the scan was my second) that was still inside a cellophane wrapper, the way I remember gum being at the end of it's run with Topps.  

I've opted to leave this card in it's wrapper.  That makes it hard to store, and it will likely mean it ends up in a box with other odd ball items rather than filed away with my cards, but I like the idea of preserving one as is.  Not that I think I'll be adding too many more of these.

Number of this card in my collection: 2

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "Rainbow" #/25

Card Review 8.5

This is the "Rainbow" variation.  These are individually numbered to 25.  If it wasn't labeled as such, I would have assumed it was a refractor, as the "rainbow" shine has a similar appearance.  The scan doesn't show it very well, so I've added some photos below, which also don't show it very well, but show it a little bit better than the scan.  I think it's an issue with yellow background, it just doesn't want to shine.  The center of the card is the area it shows up the best.

This "Rainbow" variation also comes with an autograph sticker on the front, so are actually 50 of them printed, despite the numbering.  Not that it makes much difference to me as it's unlikely I'll ever reach a point where I'm counting how many more I have to obtain to "collect them all."

Number of this card in my collection: 2 (#13 & #25)

 

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "Sepia" #/50

  

Card Review: 5.5

I think the 1988 Topps All-Star design is one of the all-time great card designs.  It's hard to mess it up.  But one of the things that makes it so great are its vibrant colors.  The yellow, blue, and red all pop off the card.  I loved the design from the first time I pulled one from a pack back in 1988.  So I'm not sure why anyone needs to see this card in sepia tones, other than to have another variation to stamp numbering on the back of for the modern collectors.

This card certainly understands the assignment, if the assignment was to crank out as many variations as possible.  These are numbered to 50 (though there are another 50 with autograph stickers on them).  I can't imagine the youtube case breakers getting very excited to pull one of these, at least not of the Wallach, I wasn't super excited when it arrived in the mail either.  It just fed my irrational need that is the entire basis of this blog.

All my gripping aside, I'm always happy to add another new Wallach to my collection, and this qualifies.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15 "Treasures Stamp" #/99

Card Review: 6.8

This card is identical to the base card but for the "Shoebox Treasures" logo on the upper front left of the card.  It also has the foil numbering on the back to show that there were only 99 of these produced (sort of, more on that below).  You may question the large drop off in the score for this card from the 9.5 that I gave the base card.  I think it's deserved.  The "Treasures" stamp adds nothing to the card for me aesthetically and in my view is just a blemish, or worse, almost like an advertisement stuck on the likeness of a classic card.  So I dinged it down.

Also, there weren't 99 of these produced.  There were 198 of these cards made.  Topps just took half of them and stuck a sticker with Tim Wallach's autograph on it to the front of the card.  You can peel the sticker off, and it's the same card.  I know I'm currently in the minority with my position on this, but I don't care, I'm right.  You see it a lot with the buybacks.  An autographed buyback, or a regular card with a "buyback" stamp is not a "new" or unique card.  It's a 1987 Topps (or whatever) with a stamp on it.  How cool that may be is for the collector to decide, but don't tell me it's not a 1987 Topps.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

 

 

2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures #15

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Card Review: 9.5

When I was around 8 or 9 years old, probably in about 1989, my mother drew me a detailed replica of the 1988 Topps All-Star card using colored pencils.  It was probably about 11'' x 17'' in size, though I remember it to be bigger, and I believe drawn on a heavy stock water color paper.  My mother had been a design major at Syracuse and was (is) very talented when it comes to these things.  At the time, all the neighborhood kids had discovered a store at Metro Center Mall in Phoenix that sold large posters of MLB stars.  Everyone on the block was getting a poster of their favorite player.  Even my younger brother got in on the act, proudly pinning a large Mark McGwire poster to our shared bedroom wall.

So while the likes of Don Mattingly, Darryl Strawberry, Will Clark, Eric Davis, and Ryne Sandberg were being displayed across the rooms of kids all over Moon Valley, I was left out in the cold as Tim Wallach was not among the players offered for sale.  My mother, taking pity on me, took it upon herself to do the best she could with a homemade effort.  Initially, I didn't care for it.  I thought it was embarrassing.  Reluctantly I hung it on my wall.  To my surprise, not only was I not mocked for it, the other kids liked it when they saw it.  Liked it so much in fact that my mother received multiple calls from the parents offering to pay her to draw similar ones.  She declined, but the homemade poster became a source of pride.

I don't know what happened to that drawing.  Its been lost to time, along with my brothers Mark McGwire poster and every other item to ever adorn our bedroom walls in the 1980's.  I hadn't thought about it in years, and very well may have never thought of it again, if this Andy Friedman Shoebox Treasures card hadn't appeared on eBay.  When I saw it for the first time, the memory of that home drawn "poster" immediately came back to me.

I had no prior knowledge about this set, or Tim Wallach's inclusion in it.  When the first one of these popped up on eBay, I impulsively bought it (at an inexcusably high price, as I've gone from paying $6 to $1 for them).  I should have done a quick google search, as I sort of assumed it must be an insert, but instead I just said "take my money now." Turns out it's just a normal base card in a set.

The set is comprised of 100 cards, pulled from between 1952 and present, reimagined in water colors by an artist named Andy Friedman.  I am extremely pleased that Wallach was included in the checklist, and with the choice of card to recreate.  Andy Friedman clearly has good taste.

There also appears to be about 20-30 variations of this card of different individually numbered scarcity and sparkles.  I've added a few, but haven't looked into the exact number of variations that are out there.  Given the prices I've seen on some of them, I don't think tracking them all down will be a huge priority, unless something changes.  I did a search online and saw boxes of this product going for $80, with 7 cards per pack and only 4 packs for box.  I'm a stranger to "high end" releases, and I would call those prices high end.  

My understanding is that the collector's who like that kind of product also like lots of numbered variations, so it makes sense there would be a lot of variations.  Given how much I like the base card, there could be 200 variations and I wouldn't mind.  It's cards like this one that remind me why I collect in the first place and why I'm still collecting cards now, nearly 45 years after opening my first packs.

Number of this card in my collection: 6

Williamsburg, VA

This extremely eclectic mix of 12 Wallach cards was sent by David of Williamsburg, Virginia.  This is by my count (which is admittidly prone to be wrong) the 3rd year in a row David as sent me cards.  David runs the excellent CardBoredem blog, which you should click the link below (or this text here) to check out.  David sends out his cards in the very nice cardboard mailers pictured above with the bash brothers on them.  One of these years I'm going to get around to having something similar done for this blog, but until then I'll just continue to be impressed by his.

Included in this mix, were 4 nicely miscut 1982 Fleers.  I've said it a hundred times before and I'll say it again now, I love miscut cards.  That may sound insane to today's slabbers, but I think they're insane and have a lot of other less diplomatic ways to describe.

There was also an '83 O-Pee-Chee (one of my all-time favorites), an '88 Topps All-Star Tiffany (a design you'll be seeing a lot of here in the coming weeks), and the biggest surprise, a 2003 Donruss.  I first obtained a copy of this card in 2013.  tweleve years later my collection can now claim 3 copies of this card.  It was part of a Stadium Giveaway 59 card set in Montreal and there just don't seem to be many of them floating around.

Thanks for the cards David!

Updated Totals:

1982 Fleer x4: 505
1982 Topps: 1,792

1983 O-Pee-Chee: 58

1984 Donruss: 239

1988 Topps All-Star Tiffany: 20

1991 Topps: 417

1993 Score Select Rookies/Traded x2: 16

2003 Donruss: 3

Tim Wallach Golf Tournament Vest

This item showed up on eBay a few weeks ago. I went ahead and placed a bid and ended up being the only bidder.  So now there is one more piece of clothing that I'll likely never wear in my house.  I don't mind, it's sort of cool, and I may pass it along to my father who golfs daily.

I had never heard of the "Tim Wallach Golf Tournament" affiliated with Cal St.-Fullerton, and the auction details weren't of much help either.  A google search though resulted in this article discussing the 2010 edition of the "annual event" (I'm not sure if it's still a thing).

Here's the description of the event from the article: 

Golfers looking for a tournament that offers a day of contest excitement and benefits a worthy cause can consider the May 17 Tim Wallach Golf Tournament and Auction sponsored by the Titan Athletics Club. The annual event is a fundraiser for the athletics program and student athletes.

I'm somewhat surprised I'd never seen one of these pop up on eBay before.  Then again, maybe this was the only year they gave away branded merch.  In any event, this one can be added to the archives.

Oceanside, NY

 

These 10 cards were sent by one of this blogs original contributors, Bo, of Oceanside, New York.  Bo has been sending me cards going all the way back to 2015.  Included in this batch was a 1983 O-Pee-Chee, a card that I don't see many of in the mail and is one of my favorite Wallach cards.

Thanks for the cards Bo!

Updated Totals:

1983 O-Pee-Chee: 57
1988 Topps All-Star: 1,025

1988 Topps Super Star x2: 48

1989 Donruss: 622

1989 Topps: 1,041

1990 Donruss: 637

1994 Donruss x2: 66

1994 Studio: 35

St. Louis Park, MN

These 8 cards (and a Fleer Expos Sticker) were sent by Dan of Minnesota.  This is the third city in Minnesota Dan has sent cards from.  As fan of stamps (albeit, not a collector, I have enough problems, er, hobbies), I very much appreciate the stamps on this envelope.

Thanks for the cards Dan, and thanks for your patience in seeing them posted (Dan sent these back in July).

Updated Totals:

1986 Fleer Mini: 45
1988 Score: 383

1988 Topps All-Star: 1,024

1988 Topps Sticker: 31

1988 Topps Super Star x2: 46

1991 Donruss MVP: 443

1995 Topps D3: 31

Chappell Hill, TX

I've been absent from posting all summer, and am trying to catch up on cards that have been sent.  Sean from Chappell Hill actually sent me cards twice.  Hopefully he hasn't been hitting refresh for three months wondering if they arrived.  Because they did, and here they are, belatedly.

As always, thanks for the cards!

Here are the updated totals:

1992 Donruss: 361
1992 Score: 158

Chappell Hill, TX

These 51 cards were sent by Sean from Cappell Hill, Texas.  Sean had previously sent cards from Salem, Oregon.  Like, a lot cards, to the tune of nearly 700 at once back in 2022.

So thanks for these new ones Sean, and hope the move went well.  

Updated Totals:

1985 Donruss: 165

1985 Topps: 536

1986 Leaf: 40

1986 Topps: 594

1987 Fleer x2: 290

1988 Donrus x2: 1,224

1988 Topps x3: 981

1989 Bowman: 244

1989 Fleer x3: 574

1989 Score: 316

1990 Bowman: 180

1990 Fleer: 712

1990 Leaf: 156

1990 Score x2: 435

1990 Upper Deck x2: 444

1991 Fleer Ultra: 141

1991 Leaf x2: 236

1992 Triple Play x4: 149

1993 Bowman x2: 35

1993 Donruss: 189

1993 Fleer: 112

1993 Leaf x2: 167

1993 Pinnacle: 65

1993 Score Select x2: 90

1993 Stadium Card x4: 103

1993 Topps x2: 364

1993 Triple Play: 71

1994 Fleer: 54

1995 Score x2: 83

1995 Upper Deck x2: 61

Watertown, NY

These 27 cards were sent by the Nightowl.  A large portion of my mid-90's Wallach cards, as in, cards featuring Wallach as a Dodger, have been sent to me from Watertown.  Included in this bunch was an '82 Donruss, an Expos card, and rookie card at that.  Must have been sent to Greg's Upstate Dodger Depot by mistake.  There was also an LAPD DARE card.  These DARE subset cards are ones I've found it to be somewhat elusive over the years.

Thanks for the cards Greg!

Updated Totals:

1982 Donruss: 265
1993 Flair: 55
1993 Leaf x2: 165
1993 Studio: 79
1993 Upper Deck x2: 185

1994 Donruss: 64

1994 LAPD DARE: 8

1994 Leaf: 59

1994 Pinnacle: 57

1994 Score: 99

1994 Studio: 34

1994 Triple Play: 43

1995 Bazooka: 37

1995 Collector's Choice: 52

1995 Collector's Choice SE: 73

1995 Donruss: 65

1995 Flair: 26

1995 Fleer: 30

1995 Fleer Ultra x2: 59

1995 Leaf: 39

1995 Pinnacle: 45

1995 Topps D3: 30

1996 Pinnacle x2: 74

Complete Color Run 2024 Topps Archives Fan Favorites

The above assortment represents the complete run of 2024 Topps Archives Wallach variations.  The complete "rainbow."  By my count, this is the fourth time Topps has produced a "rainbow" of variations for a Wallach card, and the first time I have completed the run.  Left to right these cards are numbered as follows: Base, Green #/99, Gold #/50, Blue #/25, Red #/25, Gold Superfractor #/1

As for it being the 4th time there has been a "color run" of Wallach cards produced by Topps, that number is up for debate, or at least, open to interpretation.  Here's a run down of what Topps has put out over the years.

2005 Topps Rookie Cup

Wallach was included in this set, and not just as an insert subset.  The base card was gray and then there were a variety of color combos, the ones I have in hand are shown here photographed together.  For my money, this is the run that most resembles a "rainbow" as they are numbered in the order of the color spectrum with only a "purple" (or violet) being absent.  It's also my favorite of the Wallach color runs. Left to right above, the base wasn't numbered with the colors have the following print runs: Red #/499, Orange #/399, Yellow #/299, Green #/199, Blue #/50

There were also a Silver (#/5) and a Gold (#/1) that I don't have, as well as printing plates.

Also included in the set as inserts was a "Rookie Reprint" run, that included a reprint of Wallach's '82 rookie, and variations of it in the form of a Topps Chrome reprint, a refractor reprint, and a "Rookie Relic."  I've managed to pick up at least one of each of those.

2017 Topps Archives

Wallach was previously included in the "Fan Favorites" subset of this product in 2017.  The variations I've added are shown above.  The white wasn't numbered, while the "Peach" was #/150, the Blue #/50, and Red #/25.

I'm missing the Gold #/1 and am not holding my breath at the prospect of ever landing one.

2019 Topps Archives

This product had a subset in tribute to the Montreal Expos that included Wallach.  All of the cards and variations were available as both autographs and unsigned, with the same colors in each and also being numbered the same.  It's the most difficult "color run" to see, as only the foil stamping changed colors on each variation.  I wouldn't argue too hard with anyone that says this isn't a "color run."  Even in hand it's very hard to see the different shades of some of the foil stamping.

Unsigned in Hand

Silver, Blue #/150, Green #/99, Red #/10

Unsigned Missing

Gold #/50, Black #/1

Signed in Hand

Silver, Green #/99, Gold #/50

Signed Missing Missing:

Red #/10, Black #/1

2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites

This isn't what I would call a color run, but as I was digging out the cards to photograph them, these were staring right at me, and I figured I may as well include them.  It's the first time I remember Topps did an on card Wallach auto or refractor.