2014 Topps Premier League Gold Box Break

When I dropped into a local card shop to get a holder for a special booklet card I pulled out of a Triple Threads box, I brought along the contents of what I had pulled from our 2014 Topps Premier League Gold box. The store owner was interested in the product because while he hadn’t ordered any, he does get occasional requests for soccer boxes such as this.

Since this is the second year for this specific release and the general pattern is the same as last year’s, the answer was reasonably simple. I explained that, just as in the previous year, there are ten hits per box evenly divided between memorabilia and autograph cards. Compared to some of the recent releases the opportunity cost is far less for him to purchase one or two of these boxes then the constant losses he has been taking on most December releases.

All of this comes under the pattern of being able to ensure you try something new. Most of the customers at Triple Cards, with the exception of those who came during the World Cup and actively traded the Panini soccer stickers, are not into any sports outside of baseball, football and basketball. Most of their customers are not even into hockey.

However, one major difference in today’s hobby world compared to 20 years ago is one does not need to be an expert in any sport if they sell or trade online. Instead, on venues such as eBay they can put their cards up for sale and the collectors’ response will tell you who is popular and expensive. A check of sold items on eBay shows some pretty strong prices for some of those autograph and relic cards.

All of this has to do with why we are not going to list a “retail store” price for 2014-15 Premier Gold as my LCS may start delving into doing more special orders for clients who might like a product like this. In my mind, this is a good idea since with each pack having a hit, anyone who buys these cards should feel satisfied. Current on-line pricing is between $210-220 for the 10 pack box. Each pack contains five cards and promises one hit. At the current level that is just over $20 per hit not even counting the other minor hits we got from our packs.

2014 Topps Premier League Gold cards are full bleed photos and while the design is attractive, they are condition-sensitive.

Here’s the break:

Base Cards: 26 of 150. This means you need six boxes with perfect distribution to finish a set.

Green Parallel (#d to 60); Victor Moses

Purple Parallel (#d to 50): Leighton Baines,Yoan Gouffran

Orange Parallel (#d to 11); Jordan Henderson

Captains: Wayne Rooney, Ton Vlaar

Future Stars: Saido Berahinto, Tyler Blacklett, Jon Flanagan,,Carl Jenkinson, Matija Nastasic

New Signings: Radamel Falcao

New Signings Green Parallel (#d to 60): Mario Balotelli

Football Fibers Relics: Didier Drogba, Adam Lallana

Football Fibers Relics Purple (#d to 50) Darren Bent, Mesut Ozil

Dynamic Duos Relic Cards (#d to 25): Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao

Autograph Cards: Jack Coleback. Fabian Delph, Tom Huddlestone, Mike Jedinak. Maya Yoshida

I don’t know if I talked my local card store into buying 1-2 of these boxes for his customers but soccer products do have an audience as Mike Fruitman pointed out in his Mikey Awards. Keep in mind, too, the international fan base that exists for these on eBay. With the large number of autographs and low serial numbered relic cards, his customers are guaranteed to feel pretty good when they open these packs and in the current hobby world, that is half the battle of customer satisfaction. With an average hit price of around $20, there are not many boxes you would feel as good opening.