2012 Topps Museum Collection Pack Break and Review

I picked up a pack from 2012 Museum Collection from my LCS earlier today. I grabbed some Tribute last month with decent, but not spectacular results, so I figured I'd try my luck here to see if I'd fare any better.

Base: Roberto Clemente, Drew Stubbs, Jaime Garcia

While there's nothing wrong with pulling a Clemente, the other two left me extremely underwhelmed. With a premium product, I don't want 2/3 of my base cards to be commons. Not a good percentage, but let's be honest, the make-it-or-break-it of a product like this is 90% the hit, and 10% the serial-numbered parallel.

Serial-Numbered Parallel: Mickey Mantle Green 45/199

Here is where my luck changes. It isn't the lowest serial-numbered variation, but the green Mantles go on Ebay for about 8 bucks, which isn't bad at all. As seen with the base cards I pulled, I could have done much worse, and I couldn't have done much better, unless I pulled a really low SN.

The Hit: Albert Pujols Quad Relic 4/75

There we go! Look, I know it's a (former) Cardinal, so as a Cubs fan, I should hate this card, but I was REALLY happy to see this. Considering the risk for lackluster hits, if you can pull a multi-swatch card of one of baseball's most marketable stars, you've done pretty good for yourself. My only complaint is on the poor placement of the bottom right swatch. There is a small bit of empty space toward the bottom. Either the piece was cut too small or it was placed a little high. Not the worst thing in the world, but it would have been nice if they would have taken that extra step. Still one of my top pulls so far this year.

Overall, this is a pretty good product. It's pretty close to Tribute, but without the shiny foil, and from what I've seen so far, it has MUCH better hits. Between the two, go for Museum Collection. At my LCS it's an extra 5 bucks, but WELL worth it for what you could get in return.