2004 Topps Finest Box Break - The Stars

Specifically base cards of the stars. It's like one of those Hollywood tour maps. '04 Finest Base Cards of The Stars. I'm going to give you this one for free, but next time it'll cost you. These are fancy base cards, and I really dig the design. This is only the second Finest product I've ever opened, the first being this year's release. I've checked plenty of Finest breaks on the ol' innernets, and honestly, I was a little disappointed when I posted my first box break ever (which just happened to be '09 Finest). It's not that this year's release isn't very nice, because it certainly is, and I loved it at the time, but something about it just didn't live up to what I had imagined Finest would feel like. This is what I thought Finest would feel like, and my friends, it is a beautiful thing.

That having been said, there were some things about this box that I definitely didn't like. None of them have to do with aesthetics.

I've already used the word Finest way too many times in this post. A concerted effort will be made to not use it again, but I make no promises.

On with the show!

Does it get much FINER than Junior Griffey?

Can't believe this guy is only 26. It feels like he's been around forever already.

Can you believe a guy that little has an arm that strong? This is a nice card, and one of the few Ichiros in my collection. Like the others that came before it, I'm sure this one will be traded away shortly as well.

That is one mighty FINE Pujols card right there. Like Ichiro, Albert has a way of coming and going as well. I shall cherish this one while I've still got it.

One of the things I enjoyed most about opening this box was seeing lots of familiar faces. Even though I recognized the player, something wasn't quite right about the whole situation. I didn't follow baseball from 1997-postseason 2007 (yeah, I rooted for the Sox, and it was the best postseason I've ever witnessed. Traitorous indeed), so there was either limited or no recollection of the following:

Manny with short hair.........

Vlad with no facial hair (too bad he's not an Expo)......

Does the font used for the player names remind anyone else of Topps Unique?

There were NO Orioles base cards to be had in this entire box. Not one! There's only like 3 or so on the checklist to begin with, so the odds stacked against me from the start.

There's more to come from this box break, so stay tuned. It might be tonight, it might be tomorrow. Depends on how much sleep I want to get before work tomorrow morning. Think I just made it through the rest of this post without using the word Finest again.

Dammit. Totally schruted that one, didn't I?