2018-19 Topps Chrome UEFA Champions League Review

2018-19 Topps Chrome UEFA Champions League is a nice straightforward product, whether you’re a diehard soccer fan or a baseball fan branching out.

Topps sent me a box to review. The base cards follow the design of 2019 Topps baseball, which I found odd because the last 2018-19 Topps Chrome soccer product I reviewed, Bundesliga, used the 2018 Topps baseball design. Even more interesting is that this set uses 2018 Topps baseball designs for the insert sets, despite the 2019 base design.

Beyond this, though, the first thing I noticed was that this design uses the players first name in large letters on the top line, with the last name in small letters on the line below. This is a reversal from the baseball design. The large last name on top was one of my issues with the baseball design this year, so I was happy to see this mildly rectified. It makes sense for soccer, since so many players are known by their first names. However, now that I see it in practice, I’m fully aware that it would not work well for baseball, and I’m glad that Topps decided to go with the large last name, even if the last name appearing first irks me a little.

I received 54 base cards from the 100 card set. I got a few stars like Christian Pulisic and Cristiano Ronaldo, which was nice. Since Topps Chrome baseball hasn’t been released yet, this is my first opportunity to see this card design in the chrome format. It works really well in my opinion.

The aforementioned insert sets that follow the 2018 baseball design are Future Stars and Superstar Sensations. My best pull here was a beautiful Lionel Messi from the latter set.

I received 6 regular refractors in my box, meeting the odds exactly. The real star, however, were the colored refractors I pulled. I got one purple refractor /250, two blue refractors /150, and a blue wave refractor /75. When I pulled my first blue refractor I thought for sure it couldn’t get any better than that; then I pulled the purple refractor and was blown away. My blue wave refractor came last and I think I ended up liking that one best of all. That could have been partially because it was of Thomas Muller, one of the best players in the world and the recipient of the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot and the 2014 World Cup Silver Boot. Regardless, the colored refractors are all phenomenal.

Each hobby box promises one autograph. I received a refractor autograph of Steven Bergwijn, a young Dutch footballer for PSV Eindhoven. Just 21, he has a long career ahead of him. One thing to note is that unlike the baseball version of Topps Chrome, these autographs are not on card.

2018-19 Topps Chrome UEFA Champions League is really fun to open. I got cards of some of the biggest footballers in the world, beautiful color refractors, and an autograph. And whether you’re a fan of the 2018 or 2019 Topps designs, there’s something in this product for you!