We’re almost a week away from release day for the highly anticipated 2023-2024 Topps Chrome Basketball set. Expected to drop on August 28, hobby boxes quickly sold out through Topps, crashing their website. With this being the first release of this set in over a decade, what exactly can collectors expect when purchasing a hobby box? Let’s dive into it.
2023-2024 Topps Chrome Hobby Box Details
According to Topps Chrome Basketball preorder webpage, we’re expected to receive the following in a hobby box:
- 8 cards per pack – 12 packs per box
- 2 autographs per box
- 24 refractors
- 12 inserts
I do like the variety these boxes are expected to come with. With a total of 96 cards, it’s looking as if we’re receiving two refractors and an insert per pack. Of course, the law of averages will dictate that in the end, but every pack should come with some shine. These boxes were priced at $269.99 from Topps, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find that price as of now. Aftermarket prices on eBay are seeing these sell for over $400 on average.
The 190-card base set is, of course, headlined by rookie Victor Wembanyama. His rookie autograph will be one of the biggest selling points of this product. While Panini had the first Wemby rookie cards, they did not carry his auto. Even with these cards being unlicensed, his auto is expected to do monster numbers on the aftermarket.
If you aren’t able to hit a Wemby auto, there will also be a bevy of SSP case hits and inserts to chase. Topps has announced these will include Superfly, LETS GO!, Rock Stars, Expose, Radiating Rookies, and Helix. To help identify these cards, we can look at some of the past Topps products to see what others in other sets have looked like.
Parallel colors and odds
One of the best parts about ripping cards is the color that’s included. As you’d expect, this set will include a TON of different parallels that you can pull. Below are the hobby parallels and odds per pack. Retail will have its own parallels and odds as well but this will only include the hobby odds.
Please note, that these have not been officially confirmed by Topps. These numbers and parallels are subject to change.
-Refractor (1:2 hobby)
-Negative Refractor (1:4 hobby)
-Magenta Refractor /399 (1:7 hobby)
-Purple Refractor /250 (1:10 hobby)
-Speckle Refractor (1:11 hobby)
-Aqua Refractor /199 (1:17 hobby)
-Blue Lava Refractor /149 (1:22 hobby)
-Green Refractor /99 (1:33 hobby)
-Blue Refractor /150 (1:43 hobby)
-Green Wave Refractor /99 (1:50 hobby)
-Gold Refractor /50 (1:65 hobby)
-Orange Refractor /25 (1:128 hobby)
-Black Refractor /10 (1:321 hobby)
-Red Refractor /5 (1:639 hobby)
-Superfractor 1/1 (1:8,998 hobby)
LeBron James Special Insert Autographs
As you’d imagine, Topps is going all out with their exclusive deal with James. In this set, you can pull special inserts with James’ autograph on them These will be extremely tough to pull but will be worth a TON when they are. Here are some of those inserts along with their pack odds.
2003-04 LeBron James Time Machine Autograph Red Checklist
Pack Odds: 1:116,242 (Hobby)
Parallel: Superfractor 1/1:
Pack Odds: 1:581,208 (Hobby)
LeBron James Autograph Gold Checklist
Pack Odds: 1:29,061 (Hobby), 1:280,560 (Hobby Blaster), 1:560,065 (Blaster EA), 1:382,896 (Blaster SE)
Parallels:
–Black Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:58,121 (Hobby)
–Red Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:116,242 (Hobby)
–Red Geometric Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:2,405 (Breaker)
–Superfractor 1/1
Pack Odds: 1:581,208 (Hobby)
2003-2024 LeBron James Time Machine Gold Checklist
Pack Odds: 1:11,862 (Hobby)
Parallels:
–Orange Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:23,249 (Hobby)
-Red Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:116,242 (Hobby)
-Superfractor 1/1
Pack Odds: 1:581,208 (Hobby)
