Review: Apex Offers Solid Bang for the Buck

There are certain terms which are among the most overused in the hobby. One of them is the word “value”. That can mean different things to different collectors, but once in a while, we can pretty much guarantee a new product has value without even opening up the packs. Such is the case of 2015 Topps Apex Soccer, which features players from MLS teams.

There are two mini boxes (packs) of 32 cards in each master box. You can open up the full checklist below.

When I dropped into my local card shop )Triple Cards, Plano TX) to talk about the latest releases I had a conversation with the person manning the store while the owner was taking a long weekend. During our chat, he laughed and said: “How can you say anything bad about two guaranteed autographs for about $40 a box (with tax included)?”

Indeed. While a lower overall cost of obtaining those autographs is partly responsible and soccer may not sell well in some areas, Topps is doing what collectors ask: produce low cost products with a nice return.

2015 Topps Apex Soccer contains more than 50 autographs from MLS standouts and Apex has no redemptions. All the autographs in the product, including David Villa, Kaká and Clint Dempsey.

The base set, which consists of 100 cards, features full-color photos set against a mostly black background with other colors at the bottom. The player’s name, position (as an initial on the side) and team identification are at the bottom. The card back has some career highlights. As mentioned, my local card shop is at $37.95 for a master box while leading on-line retailers are at $40-45 before shipping.

Here’s what we pulled:

Base Cards: 53 of 100. All different.

Orange Parallel (#d to 25): Aurelien Collin

Alliances: Steve Gerrard/Robbie Keane

Captains: Patrice Bernier, Will Johnson

Crest Relics Orange (#d to 25): Graham Zusi

Autograph: Darren Mattocks

Autograph Gold (#d to 50): Tesho Akindele

Autograph Orange (#d to 25): Christian Roldan

Yes, if you were paying attention, you noticed we received an extra autograph card and I’m sure we weren’t alone. Getting two other orange parallels numbered to 25 is also nice and really brings our ‘cost per hit’ down to rock bottom.

I’m sure the economics don’t allow this type of return on football and baseball products, but if I’m even a casual soccer fan—or sell boxes for a living—I’m giving Apex high marks for design and that elusive term called ‘value’.

See 2015 Topps Apex on eBay here.

2015 Topps Apex Checklist