Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 2000 Topps Gold Label Baseball
Topps Gold Label debuted as a premium card set in 1998. The 2000 Topps Gold Label Baseball base set features 100 players (90 veterans and ten rookies), each with three base card versions. Unlike in the two years past, where Class 2 and Class 3 cards were considered parallels, all three classes have identical print runs here. The different classes bring different photos. Only two rookies (Brett Myers and Aaron Rowand) ended up having noteworthy major league careers. Even then, their hobby impact is minimal.
2000 Topps Gold Label has four insert sets and one parallel, all gold-themed. The insert sets included End of the Rainbow (1:11 packs), The Treasury (1:21), Prospector’s Dream (1:26) & Bullion (1:53).
The tough-to-find Gold parallels are numbered to 100 and were found just once in every 56 retail packs. Hobby and retail boxes featured the same number of packs, 24, but hobby packs heave five cards. Retail packs have just three. Hobby packs also have better odds of holding inserts.
Topps retired Gold Label brand after their 2002 release. It has since been resurrected, but has a very different feel. Hobby boxes now contain much fewer cards, the base cards are now on a much thinner card stock, and the chase cards are now metal framed autographs.
Fun Facts are provided by Bleacher Report National MLB Columnist Joel Reuter. You can follow Joel on Twitter (@JoelReuterBR) and check out his work at Bleacher Report.
2000 Topps Gold Label Baseball Retail Box Break
Cards per pack: 3
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $45
Shop for 2000 Topps Gold Label Baseball boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Mark Grace & Alex Rodriguez
Pack 1 fun fact: Mark Grace was a 24th-round pick in the 1985 draft. The Chicago Cubs selected Rafael Palmeiro with the No. 22 overall pick that same year.
Pack 2:
Bernie Williams & Todd Walker
Pack 2 fun fact: Bernie Williams has the second-most postseason hits in MLB history with 128. His longtime teammate Derek Jeter (200) is No. 1 on that list.
Pack 3:
Barry Bonds & Mike Mussina
Pack 3 fun fact: Barry Bonds had 8 career plate appearances against Mike Mussina during interleague play. He went 3-for-5 with three walks, though all three hits were singles and he also struck out twice.
Pack 4:
Larry Walker, Nomar Garciaparra & Nick Johnson End of the Rainbow (1:11 packs)
Pack 4 fun fact: Nick Johnson never quite lived up to his status as a top-tier prospect. However, he did help the Yankees acquire Javier Vazquez from the Montreal Expos, and he went on to post a respectable 123 OPS+ in parts of 10 MLB seasons while battling injuries.
Pack 5:
Pat Burrell, Tim Hudson & Ken Griffey, Jr.
Pack 5 fun fact: Pat Burrell ranks fourth in Philadelphia Phillies franchise history with 251 home runs, trailing only Mike Schmidt (548), Ryan Howard (382) and Del Ennis (259).
Pack 6:
Mark McGwire & Magglio Ordonez
Pack 6 fun fact: Magglio Ordonez (.363) won the 2007 AL batting title by a wide margin over Ichirio Suzuki (.351) and teammate Placido Polanco (.341).
Pack 7:
Brian Jordan & Edgardo Alfonzo
Pack 7 fun fact: Brian Jordan was the Atlanta Falcons starting strong safety during the 1990 and 1991 seasons, tallying five interceptions, four fumble recoveries, four sacks and two safeties.
Pack 8:
Kevin Brown & Shawn Green The Treasury (1:21 packs)
Pack 8 fun fact: Kevin Brown received just 2.1 percent of the vote in his only year on the Hall of Fame ballot. At his peak in the mid-90s, he was as dominant as any pitcher in baseball.
Pack 9:
Ben Grieve & Raul Mondesi
Pack 9 fun fact: Raul Mondesi (1994 NL) and Ben Grieve (1998 AL) both won Rookie of the Year honors, and they both made one All-Star appearance each.
Pack 10:
Vernon Wells & Fernando Tatis
Pack 10 fun fact: The anniversary of Fernando Tatis’ crowning achievement in the big leagues just recently passed. On April, 23, 1999, he became the only player in MLB history to hit two grand slams in the same inning.
Pack 11:
Eric Chavez & Scott Rolen
Pack 11 fun fact: Scott Rolen and Eric Chavez won Gold Glove Awards at third base in the same season five different times.
Pack 12:
Rafael Palmeiro
Pack 12 fun fact: Rafael Palmeiro had at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI for nine straight seasons from 1995 through 2003. He also did it in 1993 and likely would have reached those totals in 1994 had it not been for the strike.
Pack 13:
Carlos Delgado & Adam Piatt Prospector’s Dream (1:26 packs)
Pack 13 fun fact: Adam Piatt hit .340/.450/.688 with 49 doubles, 39 home runs and 138 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A in 1999 to soar up prospect rankings heading into 2000.
Pack 14:
Kevin Millwood, Matt Williams & Cal Ripken, Jr.
Pack 14 fun fact: Kevin Millwood won the AL ERA title (2.86) in his only season with the Cleveland Indians in 2005. He parlayed that performance into a five-year, $60 million contract from the Texas Rangers.
Pack 15:
Troy Glaus & A.J. Burnett End of the Rainbow (1:11 packs)
Pack 15 fun fact: Troy Glaus hit 118 home runs during the three-year span from 2000 through 2002. That was good for ninth in the majors at a time when offensive production was up around the majors.
Pack 16:
Josh Hamilton & Andruw Jones
Pack 16 fun fact: Josh Hamilton was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 draft. He hit .312/.340/.510 with 23 doubles, 10 home runs and 18 steals in 72 games after signing and began the 2000 season as the No. 13 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America.
Pack 17:
Jose Canseco & Shannon Stewart
Pack 17 fun fact: Shannon Stewart had a 20/20 season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000 with 21 home runs and 20 steals. He’s one of just 10 players in team history to accomplish that feat.
Pack 18:
Nick Johnson & Alfonso Soriano
Pack 18 fun fact: Alfonso Soriano hit 238 home runs as a left fielder, 157 as a second baseman, 12 as a designated hitter, two as a third baseman, two as a right fielder, and one as a pinch-hitter.
Pack 19:
Frank Thomas & Roger Clemens
Pack 19 fun fact: Frank Thomas had more walks (1,667) than strikeouts (1,397) over the course of his 19-year career.
Pack 20:
Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez & Todd Helton
Pack 20 fun fact: Between the three of them, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez and Todd Helton hit 1,533 home runs and earned 24 All-Star selections. They also received just 71.3 percent of the vote combined on the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot.
Pack 21:
Albert Belle
Pack 21 fun fact: Albert Belle became the first player in MLB history to earn more than $10 million in a season when he signed a five-year, $55 million deal with the Chicago White Sox.
Pack 22:
Ivan Rodriguez, Craig Biggio & Rondell White
Pack 22 fun fact: Ivan Rodriguez was on his way to a career year in 2000, hitting .347/.375/.667 with 27 home runs and 83 RBI in 91 games, when a fractured thumb brought his season to an abrupt halt.
Pack 23:
Mo Vaughn & Jack Cust. Remember Jack Cust??
Pack 23 fun fact: Jack Cust hit .334/.450/.651 with 42 doubles, 32 home runs and 112 RBI at High-A in 1999. That made him the No. 31 prospect in baseball at the start of 2000, according to Baseball America.
Pack 24:
Nomar Garciaparra, Mark Mulder & Derek Jeter
Pack 24 fun fact: Mark Mulder was the No. 2 overall pick and the first pitcher chosen in the 1998 draft. That was a weak class for pitchers, with only CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle putting together clearly superior careers.
Lastly, the Nomar card back:
I really like this old version of Gold Label. The cards certainly do have a premium feel, with the thick stock and chrome surface. With these three-card retail packs costing $2.99 back in 2000, the cards better at least feel valuable, right? I like the dual picture design of the base cards and think the inserts are attractive as well. Unfortunately, in this box I didn’t hit the big names with the inserts. I also missed out on a Bullion insert and a Gold parallel, both tough hits, especially in retail boxes.
Bullion (1:53 packs)
Die-cut Gold Parallel /100 (1:56 packs)
Looking ahead to next week’s Cheap Wax Wednesday post, we will kick off Minor League May! Every featured product during the month of May will be a minor league release.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
