Flagship Hobby Box, Part 3

Here we are, rounding the third nine packs of this break, and Brett Lawrie is here to cheer us on.

Once again, we'll start with my favorite base cards of this section.  Here we have a little of everything: pitching, hitting, baserunning, catching, fielding, and throwing.  I think that Topps has done a good job with photography the last few years.

I got some more of these cards, though.  I have about 5 that printed this way that came out of this box thus far.  I'm not too thrilled about that.

Here are two more Bowman Then & Now cards.  Eric Hosmer is a PC keeper, while Strasburg is kind of a personal favorite of mine.  Remember when that Bowman Chrome Auto of his was THE card to chase?

 Here is my second Rainbow Foil, and it's a pretty good one.  Thor is about to lay down some thunder on the batter.  Or maybe Mr. Met.  Could be either.

Three more Topps Salute cards, in three different styles.  These cards are really all over the place.  And what exactly is Topps saluting?  Rookies?  Throwback unis?  The more I see of these, the more I think they are just an excuse for creating some inserts.

Here is the first Gold I've seen.  These are Short Printed to 2017.  Once again, I was forced to look up a rookie that I had never heard of.  Hernandez appeared in 41 games last season, and has but one appearance this year.  His hitting stats don't look like much, so I can only assume he makes his living with the glove, but I have to admit, I really don't know anything beyond the numbers I saw on baseball-reference.com.

This is my favorite 1987 insert so far.  I never got on the Bo Jackson train back when he was active.  I think I was just too young to understand exactly how impressive he was.  I have since gained a great appreciation for his athleticism.  He has made his way into my baseball and football collections.

Another 5-Tool card.  Hanley is nearing the end of his career, and has been slowing down for a while now.  It has been years since he was a standout player.  Yet, he seems to be in everything still.  And I still collect him, because he was once a Rookie of the Year.  Although, this is one case where I prefer cards of the player in only one uniform: the Marlins.  Nevertheless, this one will have a spot in my binder.

And we'll end things with a great 1989 buyback.  I've gotten to wondering--Where exactly is Topps getting these?  Who is selling these "buybacks" to Topps?  Is it possible that one of us once owned this card, only to have to make its way back to Topps and cycle back into our own collections with a fancy stamp on it?

I'll leave this post on that thought.  One more post should wrap up this box.  We still have the guaranteed hit, and I really want to see how close I can get to completing Series 1.