2008 Topps Sterling #217

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Sterling

Card Number 217

Player card number: RY1

Card Type: Base

Card Attributes: Serial numbered

Serial number: 024/250

As a Yount collector I consider Topps' 2008 Sterling set to be the Cadillac of sets for him.  We can argue the point that there are other sets that have just as many autographs, relics and relic autographs as Topps Sterling, but in my mind this is a set Topps did just right.  Not only in design, but also in conception, construction, and layout of the set. 

 For those that haven't delved into the awesomeness that is the 2008 Topps Sterling set let me give you a brief summary of what the set consisted of.  2008's set was focused on Hall of Famers.  Each box contained 3 base cards, all numbered to 250, one mystery card numbered to 50 or less, and one autograph relic or relic card numbered to 10 or less.  You can see what the boxes looked like here.

Topps got around the scarcity problem of each card by making a ton of different cards numbered to 10.  I'm lucky enough to have a few in the collection and they weren't cheap.  

Robin also has 11 base cards in this set, #217 to 227.  Topps also did something I love and that's they added a player number to the cards.  Denoted by Robin's initials RY, each card in the set gets a unique numbering. Now this doesn't include all the different parallels, but it is nice to try and keep track though all the different relics and autographs in the set.  

I've already showcased a few of the nicer cards I own, but it's time to start working into the blue collar cards of this white collar set.  So we're going to start with Robin's first card in the set #217 or RY1.  These base cards also come with a few parallels.  The Frame White Suede, numbered to 50, the Burgandy Framed, numbered to 10, the Gold Framed, numbered to 5, the Framed Cherry Woods and Sterling Silver, both numbered to 1.  Some of these are so rare I've never even seen an example come up for auction.  And I'm sure there are a few cases of this squirreled away somewhere, and since each box is player specific it's entirely possible some cards will never see the light of day.

Most of these base cards numbered to 250 are still easy to find though and most probably won't set you back much.  As I'm sure you could find most for under a $5 or less. Not bad considering they are very low numbered.

Robin's first card in the set celebrates his drafting back in 1973, oddly enough my birth year.