I have been a big fan of the Inception line for a long time over on the football side, as the way it was done highlighted artful and well composed cards of the NFL rookie class. For the first time, Topps has decided to try it out over in Baseball, and the results are pretty impressive so far.
2013 Bowman Inception Yasiel Puig Orange Auto
2013 Bowman Inception Oscar Taveras Auto RC
2013 Bowman Inception Mike Zunino Auto RC /99
2013 Bowman Inception Nick Castellanos Auto Jersey RC
Like football, the painted presentation of the rookies, as well as the sharp signatures on a really beautiful design continue to be a calling card for this product. I also think that the addition of Yasiel Puig’s first real available licensed autos will spike this product, as his meteoric rise to stardom will carry this set extremely far. Even the sticker autos for this product are really nice looking, picking up right where football left off.
Considering there is also a strong checklist that includes players like Yu Darvish, Manny Machado and Byron Buxton, this is going to be awfully fun to see how things turn out. Prospect products tend to fare extremely well in baseball, even more so than football, and this product has already had two strong years in the latter. With a third year of production coming this year for the 2013 NFL Rookies, I am glad baseball is getting a piece of the action.
I would guess that Puig’s autos should easily crack 1K across the board, especially if he continues his torrid pace. Even though they are redemptions, you better believe that Topps has to be scrambling to get the cards signed. This was a similar situation with Yu Darvish last year, and for the most part, collectors havent had too many issues.
Now that I see the results in person, I might have to go check out a box or two of my own. Should say something considering I am not really a baseball collector.