Florida Native Rips Cases to Build Series 1 Sets
Justin Wasserman has been a baseball fan for a long time, so collecting cards of his favorite team and players became almost second nature. When he started set collecting 10 years ago, he knew the importance of Topps Baseball Flagship products. They’re his go-to every year; he’s ripping Series 1, 2, and Update.
“Those are the ones I first started collecting and kind of the ones I’ve kept through the years,” said Wasserman, a doctor in Sarasota, Florida. “Sometimes I’ll play around with different [products], but the Flagship is the constant.”
Wasserman is excited about 2025 Topps Baseball Series 1’s release day on February 12. He’ll pick up a case from Jonathan Stone, owner of Blue Breaks in Sarasota and Venice. Once most collectors have a case of cards, they go home and rip every pack—but not Wasserman.
“I like to pace it out,” he said. “I don’t like to do it all in one day because, A, it’s a lot. And B, what’s the fun in that? I limit myself to one box per evening. I like to enjoy the experience.
“I know I’m going to get there. I know that the next day’s going to be fun, too, as opposed to it’s over. Nothing to look forward to.”
Building Sets
Wasserman purchases a case of every Flagship product—Series 1, Series 2, and Update—to build a set. He wants to guarantee he’ll get at least one of every card. For most products, Wasserman can piece together three to four complete sets.
“The extras I’ll send off to either my nephew or [Blue Breaks owner] Jonathan,” Wasserman said. “But I want to get at least one of every card and whatever fun stuff I can get with the inserts, autographs, parallels, etc.”
Wasserman hand-collates each set, placing the cards in binders; he has rows and rows of thick binders occupying a bookshelf. The 44-year-old receives a sense of fulfillment placing the final cards into sleeves to complete a set.
“It feels good,” he said. “It’s also a mark of the time of the year. I know that I can go back to a specific set and remember who my favorite players were on my team and other teams. I like to go through them periodically and just remember. Oh, he’s retired, and it was a big deal then, but now he’s not.”
Wasserman has built Topps Flagship sets from 2016 to the present. His favorite set during those years is the 2022 version.
“It felt clean and not overly dense to the eye,” Wasserman said. “I really like 2020 to ’23 a lot. They were kind of similar to each other but not the same.”
Pulling Nice Cards
In addition to collecting the Flagship line, Wasserman enjoys buying Topps Tribute, Museum Collection, and Allen & Ginter.
Some of his favorite pulls over the years include a Ken Griffey Jr. Museum Collection auto relic numbered to 18, a Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki dual auto from Pristine, a Nolan Ryan Gilded 1-of-1, and a Greg Maddux Definitive Collection 1-of-1 auto.
For Wasserman, collecting has never been about trying to make money. He has an old-school mentality. He does it all for fun.
“I just love collecting. Opening it up is a thrill,” Wasserman said. “When I get something valuable—don’t get me wrong, I like it—but I just like the idea. I like the idea that there’s a community out there that still likes to collect for the sake of collecting, which helps keep these shops going.
“I love baseball. It’s a beautiful game. I like having little pieces of history I can look at whenever I want.”
