I commented earlier on the retail release of 2014 Topps Baseball, and how I wasnt impressed all that much with what was being offered. Although I liked the base design and the inclusion of some elements of Strata, I didnt feel like the look was all that impressive. Now that the cards are live from hobby, im still not a big fan.

Here are some of the big cards posted:

2014 Topps Yoenis Cespedes Post Season Auto Patch

2014 Topps Mike Trout Sparkle Variation

2014 Topps David Ortiz World Series Auto SP

2014 Topps Dustin Pedroia Strata Signature Relic /25

2014 Topps Yasiel Puig Photo Variation Playoff SP

If you have followed along from Football, its easy to see why the Strata signature relics are easily the most exciting part of this release for someone like me. I am a hit based collector, and these are some of the best cards that Topps makes. Even if you have to wait for a redemption, its worth the risk. I was hoping that Strata would eventually make the crossover to baseball, but this will have to do for now. I dont think there is anything like this that has been offered before, and I hope baseball collectors are just as excited as I am. The football cards are definitely some of my favorites, and I can only hope it eventually makes the jump.

THe World Series autos and relics continue to be hot, as they have been over recent years. I dont think many collectors know the relics ARE NOT world series used, but I doubt they would care if they did. Topps also added postseason relics to match, which only serves to capitalize further. Anytime there are relics that can sell for this much, we should be in favor.

In terms of the photo variation SPs, I realize this has been a hot topic for set collectors over the last few years, but I really like their inclusion. I have bought them all for my favorite players that have them, and I can see that Topps has become committed to the idea. I dont like when they dont feature on field stuff, but I do think its cool that they are doing playoff themes for applicable guys. To see that sparkles may be making a return as well, might set off some fireworks for people who remember what they were a few years ago.

As for everything else, im not really all that interested. I do like the throwback cards, but those are just a minor piece of this product. I only wish Topps would really put some oomph behind the autograph content like we are seeing with Strata, instead of just adding stickers to existing insert sets. For the growing number of hit based collectors, combined with dwindling interest from set collectors, its time to change a few things. That’s just my opinion, even though that might not be a change Topps is willing to make.