Im not a big baseball collector, as you all very well know, but when the new flagship Topps set is released for the year, you start to look forward to another season with sunshine aplenty. This year’s Topps design is another win for the brand, and I would even go so far as saying that since I have started collecting cards again, there really hasn’t been a dud for this product. Much like every other year, this design will be used in football as well, and I think it will translate perfectly.
In addition to the excitement over the new release of the Topps products, there is a lot of excitement over the Diamond anniversary of the company. As you can expect, things are centered around this milestone in many ways, including 60th anniversary autographs and jerseys, a card giveaway, and diamond sparkle SP variations. The cards are selling very well right off the bat, and I would expect to see that continue through the year. In addition, Topps is also giving away a diamond engagement ring to a lucky couple, and a world series style ring to a lucky collector. Overall, its easy to see that Topps is not taking their anniversary lightly.
Some of the bigger hits have started to pop up on eBay, and from what we are seeing, the prices are doing well. They even went with a “World Series Champions” subset with autos and jersey autos, which would be amazing if I were a Giants fan. I also love the look of the auto jersey cards centered around the 60th anniversary, but I would have loved them more if they were on card. Speaking of on card, there are some cool inscription cards that will be floating around the product line this year, and they look to be collector’s items for the many baseball player collectors out there. Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg will definitely be highlights within the set, but we will see the full effect once more of them surface.
Here are some of the more expensive cards to pop up on eBay so far, I am actually VERY impressed with some of the final prices on some of them. Who would have thought a BAT relic from freaking Edgar Renteria would have gone for as much as it did. Its like people don’t understand the true nature of these cards.
SP Variation – Carl Crawford Red Sox
Felix Hernandez 60th Anniversary Auto Patch Relic
Josh Hamilton 1/1 All Star Letter Patch
Redemption for Original Version of 60 Greatest Cards – Darryl Strawberry
Derek Jeter Diamond Sparkle SP Variation
Steven Strasburg Manu-Commemorative Patch – Expos
Tim Lincecum WS Champions Jersey Relic 55/100
Stephen Strasburg Diamond Parallel
Edgar Renteria WS Champions Bat Relic
Brian Wilson WS Champions Jersey Relic
Topps usually sells very well right out of the gate, but the non-unique stuff usually levels off after the rest of the card year gets going. Eventually its going to be the rare variations, autographs and jerseys that hold their values, and the giveaway cards are always desirable. I love the idea of giving away the original cards deterimined to be the “top 60,” and I cant wait for the 1952 Mantle to be pulled in association with that.
This looks to be a nice start to the year, but all success will hinge on the fact that many of the problems associated with the cards need to go away. This includes misrepresenting odds, and living up to collector’s wax busting expectations. If these problems are gone, and there are no Strasburg ginter mini SP situations, I think we will have a great year to look forward to.
Is the Strawberry redemption even real? Check out the spelling: they misspelled his first name and the grammar in the heading is weird, “You have won! An original” What?
What’s even more classic is the seller trying to get $100 for this. While the redemption may be rare, the card it’s for is not. You could probably get the ’84 Strawberry for $1 or two, BIN.
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