SCU Go Live Report: 2015 Bowman Baseball

Posted on 04/28/2015 by gellman

As mentioned previously, this is easily one of the biggest baseball releases of the year. Its always a fun mix of the first big prospect cards and autographs, and a bunch of other rookie themed cards, and it drives people to rip packs like no other. Bowman continues to be one of the more polarizing themed brands in the hobby, only because of how people feel about prospects and their place in sets. That doesnt stop people from diving very deep on this product every single year.

Check out some of the bigger hits so far:

2015 Bowman Chrome Yasmany Tomas Auto RC

2015 Bowman Chrome Rusney Castillo Green Refractor Auto

2015 Bowman Chrome Nick Gordon Purple Refractor Auto /250

2015 Bowman Chrome Joc Pederson Refractor Auto /499

2015 Bowman Chrome Kris Bryant Purple Refractor

2015 Bowman Chrome Alex Jackson / DJ Peterson Dual Auto /99

Although many find it tough to invest in a player who has yet to take a swing or throw a pitch in the bigs, it is always responsible for the biggest chase cards of the year. In fact, its not even close. The aura of the rare refractor has even permeated to other brands, other sports, even other companies. People love them some Bowman, and the Chrome makes it king.

This year's draft class has its share of bigger names, but there isnt a rookie that has national attention like we have had in the past. Sure, guys like Bryant, Pederson and others still have a huge draw, but this isnt their first rodeo. For Bryant, its his third, making these cards desirable, but not as desirable as last year. Others like Yasmany Tomas and company are looking to pick up the slack.

As for the look of the product, there is a very 2014 Finest vibe to the cards, with more of a retro looking border than the typical white frame. Although I wasnt a fan of Finest’s look, this toned down version is much better. Adding in cards like retro rookie flashback cards with hard signed autos are easily some of the cooler cards I have seen in a prospect product in a while. No joke there.

Bowman has a rep, and that rep is one that really speaks to its place among the kings of cardboard. You cannot argue that the set has one of the largest followings in Sports Cards, and its longevity is a testament to that fact. This year, Topps is going a bit outside their normal confines, and Im okay with that. It works, and works well. Im not a breaker, so I cant speak to box value, but the cards are definitely worth taking at least one shot.

2015 Bowman Release: Prospecting’s Biggest Day of the Year

Posted on 04/27/2015 by gellman

Coming Wednesday, one of the bigger releases of the year will hit shelves, maybe only below Topps Series one and a handful of other products. For prospectors, the day has arrived to start their 2015 stash, including some big names and a few under the radar guys who could turn into impact players in the bigs.

People love Bowman because its the first crack at the top rookies, many of whom are still years away from their big league debut. Its also a big chase for the top hits, as many of the most valuable baseball cards of the last 10 years have come from this or similar products over the year:

2008 Bowman Chrome Mike Trout Auto BGS 9.5

2010 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper USA Buyback Auto BGS 9.5

2014 Bowman Chrome Jose Abreu Superfractor Auto 1/1

2013 Bowman Chrome Kris Bryant Orange Refractor Auto /25

2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols Auto RC

Prospecting doesnt come without its baggage, though, as there is a large group of collectors that dont like that a player will have cards in circulation so early in their career. For those of us that grew up collecting through the 1990s, the rookie cards from Topps were always ones to chase once the players hit the show. By the time they hit the bigs now, they have already had TONS of cards, making the regular rookies less important.

Personally, im not invested one way or the other, but I love the buzz that usually comes with each Bowman’s release. Its just a fun time of year, even though I have never considered myself a prospector. When each big name comes to Bowman, it can create some major attention, including national storylines, especially for the giant sales of the rare hits in the product.

In terms of the design this year, I really like the full bleed type of approach that is being used for the autographs and the main design. There is a large area for the player and other elements to take center stage, something that has always been a big benefit to the product. Of course, it could be pieces of colored paper instead of colored refractors and the set would still sell. That’s the iconic stature this set has in the Hobby.

Love it or hate it, you have to respect its place among the top sets, even if you are just planning to sit back and watch what happens. More to come as the week progresses.

2014 National Treasures Update: New Cards Start to Show Up

Posted on 04/24/2015 by gellman

Since the beginning of this train wreck, Panini has been very quiet on the enormous mistake that was made in the collation of 2014 National Treasures. As predicted, they have used the eventual surfacing of the cards to wash their hands of the issue, despite the fact that its very clear that they are painfully aware of how much damage it did to the original boxes in circulation. Now that a “second wave” of cases has hit, the cards have started to hit ebay in a slow trickle, as more of the boxes that were unsold from Panini eventually make their way into collectors’ hands.

Here are the Odell cards up so far (still not many even to this day):

2014 National Treasures Odell Beckham Rookie Auto Patch /99

2014 National Treasures Odell Beckham Rookie Auto Patch /99 #2

2014 National Treasures Odell Beckham Booklet Jumbo Patch Auto

Here are the Teddy cards:

2014 National Treasures Teddy Bridgewater Auto Vertical Booklet /99

2014 National Treasures Teddy Bridgewater Rookie Auto Patch Gold /10

2014 National Treasures Teddy Bridgewater Rookie Auto Patch Silver /25

As expected, many collectors have already moved past their frustration over the cards not showing up. They just want the hits and they want them now. In fact, a collector from New Jersey already posted a live redeemed Teddy Bridgewater rookie patch auto /99, a card that literally took a day or two from redemption to being in the mailbox. That type of fast is what we call “GET THIS SHIT OUT THE DOOR TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE FUCKING SEE IT!” fast. Panini wants visibility, and they will milk every last connection they can to make sure collectors see that the cards do exist.

That being said, there has been no addressing this debacle in a public manner, at least in a way that addresses how long it took for the cards to finally show up. All Panini is willing to offer is that the cards are “rare to find!” and “are in the product.” Fucking perfect right there. It doesnt help that every last distributor is calling their clients and offering “BRAND NEW cases from Panini’s floor”, including a few that have tacked on a few more dollars for the service of getting “wave 2.” I talked to a west coast shop that received no less than 3 calls in one day from different distributors trying to unload their brand new cases.

All things considered – it should be mentioned that not every “wave 2” case will have these missing cards in them. After talking through it on some of the message boards, its likely that one in every three or four cases will have one of the Bridgewater or Beckham cards. Because collation is already a huge issue, its possible that concentrated pockets of the cards will show up, so people may get lucky.

I talked to a collector that purchased two cases from the new wave, and ended up with nothing worth mentioning. He actually said he did much better on the first boxes he opened, and that the two cases were far less loaded with better quality hits. Eric Ebron, he said, is all over these boxes, which isnt necessarily the best thing to have.

By this point, I dont expect Panini to address the issue, and I do not expect them to take responsibility for the problems. That would actually be doing the right thing, and we know how that works around here. Collectors will be left to search out the cards on the secondary market, especially if their shop has refused to order more until they can move the first batch. Panini has a huge black eye already from the “misprinted” Flawless cards, and this just makes it worse. However, until the collectors actually start to speak with their wallets, and stop buying boxes and stop buying into group breaks, Panini has no reason to say anything.

On the Radar: 2015 Topps Dynasty Baseball

Posted on 04/22/2015 by gellman

Last year, Topps put a lot of eggs in the high end basket with the first edition of Dynasty baseball. It was a huge risk due to the enormous price tag on the boxes, which only contained one card. However, once people actually saw the ridiculous cards that were coming out of the product with high frequency, the cards caught a bit of hobby fire.

Here are some of the cards which made last year’s product so incredible:

2014 Topps Dynasty Yasiel Puig Jumbo Dirty Patch Auto

2014 Topps Dynasty Clayton Kershaw Jumbo Patch Auto

2014 Topps Dynasty Hank Aaron Dual Relic Auto

2014 Topps Dynasty Mike Trout Jumbo Patch Auto

2014 Topps Dynasty Mariano Rivera Jumbo Patch Auto

2014 Topps Dynasty Miguel Cabrera Jumbo Patch Auto

Topps previewed the first image from this year’s 2nd edition of the product, which looks to be formatted in a similar to what we saw last year. I would guess that the upcoming port to football may use a similar format for that release as well. 2014 Dynasty was mostly about high end autograph subjects with some pretty incredible patches, which looks to be part of the meat of this product again. We are still waiting on more of an extensive preview to see if a bit more variety is added to the set.

Dynasty was easily one of my favorite baseball sets of the year last year, despite the simplicity of the product configuration. Each card was more beautiful than the next, and the on card autos with crazy patches finally created a format that brought ultra high end into a compatible medium for baseball. It has been a long time since someone has found a way to really produce a product in this tier that has served well for a long period of time.

If Topps wants to continue the success and keep the product fresh for 2015, they will definitely need to make some changes, outside of just adding or subtracting players from the checklist. As a few of us were discussing on twitter, chase elements like knobs, barrels and logomen could inspire a lot of different people to jump on board, and adding more top tier guys could also do a lot of good. That being said, a concise checklist is still the flavor du jour with a product like this, as diluted subjects detracts from the box break.

With Kris Bryant TEARING it up in the hobby, it should come as no surprise that Topps wants to capitalize on his hotness, especially for a set like this. Hopefully other fun additions will be coming too, as other young players have also had quite the hot start to the season. I will definitely check out some singles of the guys I collect, and I cannot wait to see the rest of the preview.

UPDATE – MORE IMAGES ADDED:

On the Radar: Panini Prizm Draft Picks Football

Posted on 04/20/2015 by gellman

Starting in 2015, Panini’s plan for Hobby world domination takes another step, with them taking over the exclusive license for all NCAA logo trading cards. From 2010 through the beginning of this year, Upper Deck has owned the exclusive, and done well carving out a niche over the last five years. After releasing a few GREAT football products already this year, Upper Deck has left NCAA, and Panini is ramping up.

Panini just released some extensive previews from one of their new collegiate brands to be released before the NFL rookie premiere in May. Although I HATE that they have managed to lock down another exclusive, there is merit to what it can do for their products, picturing players in college jerseys. This space is where its definitely the most valuable.

Too bad Prizm remains the dog it always has been, and this preview really didnt do much for what I affectionately call “Chrome Zero.” I would call it Diet Chrome, but I dont think it even deserves that.

In a market where almost EVERY SINGLE product has on card autographs, Prizm is launching their new brand with stickers, something that I just cannot understand. Because every set that serves as their competition will feature hard signed autographs, Prizm wont be able to measure up in the least. Although the design is better than any other Prizm set to date (I know, not saying much), the usage of stickers could kill any potential it has to be successful.

Remember, this is NOT a part of the year that is devoid of great looking products, including a few we have yet to see. If Panini thinks they can waltz in and win the battle, they will fall flat on their stupid faces. College collectors are few and far between, but its different this time of year. Because so few sets have been released, many pro collectors will take a gamble out of boredom. Panini has almost ensured that the crossover collectors will choose an alternate route.

Even though this is only 60 bucks a box, come the first pro-release, these wont be worth the cardboard they are printed on. Unless something is special, most pre-draft type releases dont continue to hold their value, and Panini is playing with fire there. This goes double if things dont measure up. Of course, they dont really know their ass from a hole in the ground, so I cant blame them for being dumb about this.

Prizm is already a joke and a half, and this will further devalue an inferior brand. Regardless if the design is nicer than it normally is for this dumpster fire product, they have guaranteed that collectors will continue to give them the stink eye with each new thing they decide to try. Hey, at least this set gets some work, as they could not be bothered with Contenders to even come up with a new design. Ill give them that, but with everything else? Who cares. Cant wait to see how many packs are being offered for buying this junk at the National?