When High Tek came out last year, there was buzz around the set, as people really liked the throwback product type that reminded people of the late 90s and early 2000s. After a number of weeks, buzz died down, and many of the main autograph hits started to really dip in value. The same thing has seemed to happen in 2015, as you can get some amazing deals on autographs of top players that would normally be significantly more expensive in other sets. The cards also look really nice on the acetate with on card signatures.

Check out how some of these cards look:

2015 Topps High Tek Carlos Correa Auto RC

2015 Topps High Tek Joc Pederson Bright Horizons Auto – LOVE this design

2015 Topps High Tek Mike Trout Drama Tek Auto /25

2015 Topps High Tek Cal Ripken Jr Gold Waves Auto /50

2015 Topps High Tek Mark McGwire Cloud Auto /25

Lets start with the positives. Tek is all on card, acetate focused and is a celebration of gaudy shiny designs, which the hobby usually loves. The autograph checklist has big names on it, and a lot of very low numbered paralells. All a recipe that the base of collectors usually like very much. Im kind of shocked that you can pick up a Kershaw, Trout, Bryant or Correa for some of the prices here, especially for a set that is less than a week old.

The hobby really confuses me sometimes, as its clear that for as much as we complain about stickers, the use of on card doesnt necessarily guarantee a premium. As we are starting to see in football, relic content is almost as important as the autograph, which really seems to be a diversion from the past. I didnt expect to like Topps High Tek all that much, but the cheaper box price and fun chases seems to add a level to this product I wasnt expecting to be enjoyable.

Im curious to see how Topps processes this, as it might be that their focus on doing more with on card autographs has desensitized people more than they would like. The crazy thing is that stickers havent been devalued to the point that would make this theory plausible. Overall I am not sure what

I find it very interesting the way Baseball cards differ from other sports, especially collecting tendencies in comparison to Basketball and Football. Topps Update is the third set to use the 2015 Base Design, which I dont think would ever be tolerated anywhere else. However, because Topps Flagship still reigns supreme in Baseball, its not only tolerated, its celebrated.

Here are some of the bigger hits up so far:

2015 Topps Update Ken Griffey Jr Highlight of the Year Auto /25

2015 Topps Update Carlos Correa Black RC /64

2015 Topps Update Rod Carew Rarities Auto /25

2015 Topps Update Noah Syndergaard Auto RC

Personally, I dont identify with set collectors, and honestly, most of the anal retentive characteristics of the individuals are completely foreign to me as a whole. I get that releasing another Topps set plays to the completeness necessity that many collectors experience, and though there is new content outside the base set, its not the main focus.

The extra content is really what I identify with, extra autographs, All Star game cards, and other programs do interest me, especially if they look as cool as some of the designs have in years past. The All Star game cards are especially interesting, as they havent been available in any of the other products. The Baseball ASG is the only one that still is interesting to watch, and cards commemorating participation still resonate as a result.

Additionally, we get the first true flagship rookie for guys like Correa and other members of the enormously productive rookie class. The parallels will sell very well, especially the rarer ones and variations.

My favorite part of the set is the crossover program with Topps Bunt, in the form of rare inserts. I posted a write up here:

http://digitalcardcentral.com/2015/10/21/crossover-set-from-topps-bunt-takes-center-stage-in-update-baseball/

Being that these cards are rare and valuable, I will definitely be following along as they surface. These will turn out especially nice for digital cards, and I cannot wait to see what happens. As you can see, they sell for quite a bit, which is crazy for unsigned non-relic cards:

2015 Topps Update Buster Posey Universe Bunt Redemption Code Card /25

As a whole, Update may not be something I am super excited about, but I know there are a lot of people out there who love the rookie aspect of the set. Of course, the standard photo variations and other inserts will always be popular, but maybe this just isnt my set.

I dont get it. I really dont.

When Panini came out with Playbook Football in 2011, it didnt sell very well. When they brought it back in 2012, it sold a little better, only because of Luck, Wilson and Griffin. Even then they are still very cheap examples of their rookie autographs. In 2013, they couldnt give it away. In 2014, they changed the format and it arguably did worse than 2013 – despite the horrible 2013 draft class. For some reason it is back in 2015, and this time it looks worse than ever.

I will say that I like the Playbook box hit cards from 2011-13, despite the horrifically bad box price. I own some of these singles and they are really nice in person:

2012 Playbook Andrew Luck Auto Rookie Patch Booklet

2013 Playbook Adrian Peterson Auto Patch Booklet /5

2013 Playbook Cam Newton Auto Patch Booklet /10

2014 Playbook Calvin Johnson Nicknames Booklet Jumbo Patch

I think the silhouetted style player picture approach with the acetate looked really good, up until going to a black border and headshot in 2014. At that point, things went awry. Of course, outside of a few SPECIFIC cards, the entire set was fucking diarrhea. Turd worthy designs that showcase everything that is wrong with the hobby. Just looking back through some of the sets, I am getting nauseous just from the horrid looking cards.

There were two saving graces outside of the white bordered rookie and vet auto booklets – Down and Dirty and Game of Inches. Despite the porn friendly set names, these cards are crazy awesome. Die cuts, dirty patches, and really nice uses of the booklet technology.

Check them out from previous years:

2014 Playbook Russell Wilson Game of Inches Patch Booklet

2014 Playbook Marshawn Lynch Down and Dirty Jumbo Patch Booklet

When it comes to other autographs and relics, the set ranges from terrible, to an absolute hot mess. Each year showcases some of the worst ideas Panini comes up with in their Dallas collector torture chamber, and 2015 is no different.

Looking at this year’s trash, the changes to the main booklet hits make no sense. Not only is there stark and infuriating asymmetry in the design, it is further highlighted by the fact that Panini decided to put them on a vertical axis instead of a horizontal one. The recessed window and the player picture inside it is beyond weird and perfunctory, as it serves literally no purpose in the design. These look uneven and unbalanced, and I dont get why they would screw up something that actually looked good way back when.

Additionally, the vertical booklets with horizontal pictures just dont work for me at all. They are literally giant relics with simple black borders that compose the cards. Panini has literally taken NFL jersey relics and made them the design of the card. Slap a border on them and off to the printer! This is amateur bush league bullshit, which uninformed collectors seem to love because OMG SIZCKS MOJOS PATCHEZZZZ!!!

As a whole, Playbook is aimed at the part of the hobby who seem to care only about the content of a swatch instead of the design around it. This crap is made for group breakers with catch phrases, who need an animated gif to further accentuate their over exaggerated feelings. I hate it. I hate even more that people dont care about how little design is actually going to be a part of the card. They can waste their money all they want.

When you see a set like playbook, it becomes more obvious why Panini has been unable to create any lasting brands in their football shop. All their successful brands come from prior to the takeover, or are from Basketball. When you actually look at what the football team has built on your own, its hard not to laugh at how hard they have fallen on their face.

Im most scared to think what 2016 is going to be like, when Panini is forced to produce any number of new sets that have to be built to satisfy the enormous minimum guarantees that they have promised to their new bosom buddy in the NFLPA.

For now, we can only pray that Topps finds a way to stick around. Otherwise 2015 might be the last time I buy new football cards.

Im very happy that we are already starting to see some action on previewing upcoming 2016 sets. Museum Collection has been a collector favorite over the last few years, mainly because of how nice many of the cards have looked. It has been a product that has made the jump to football as well, and I am a fan of both versions for sure.

That being said, this is one of those sets that has a good side and a bad side in a VERY definitive fashion. Here is the good side:

2015 Museum Collection Clayton Kershaw Framed Auto

2014 Museum Collection Sandy Koufax Gold Framed Auto

2014 Museum Collection Bryce Harper / Mike Trout Dual Auto

2014 Museum Collection Jason Heyward Bat Nameplate 1/1

Here is the bad side:

2015 Museum Collection Ken Griffey Jr Jumbo Relic Auto

2014 Museum Collection Bryce Harper Triple Relic Auto

2014 Museum Collection Freddie Freeman Jumbo Logo Patch 1/1

Because a box costs as much as it does, the content needs to be premium. Premium in a way that presents an opportunity for the collector to walk away feeling like they have something awesome looking, even if they get skunked. Obviously, there will be 11 boxes that DONT have a framed card in it, and that means Topps has to deliver. This is where Museum has had some success, but also some major failure as well.

As we see with 2016, the Framed cards again look really nice, even though they look a bit different with the white embellishments to the design. The on card autographs with the black and white photos and silver signatures look nice too. They did really well with these last year, thanks to some big names on the checklist. My main issue is that the rest of the set looks relatively awful. So bad that I would avoid buying this product out of fear that I end up with one of the sticker autos as my main hit. You usually end up with 1 on card per box, but that doesnt always mean that its going to be something good. That leaves the relic auto for you to have as your box hit, and they are not good looking cards at all.

So many of the cards in this preview look crowded. The entire preview is claustrophobic in a lot of ways, especially when you see some of the way they incorporated relics into the design. That McCutchen Logo makes me hyperventilate its so packed in there.

Similarly, the boxy look on the autograph relics gets incredibly crowded, especially when the third relic is added in. In past years, this has also been the case, and I HATE HATE HATE that 'L' shaped presentation that looks like a tetris piece. The saving grace in previous years has been that the rest of the design is super clean, where this is far from it. Borders bring in the usable space to close to nothing, made even more apparent by the close up pic of the player.

Here is the thing. I love the look of the on card autos, but those depend on checklists more than ever. Now that Topps has made a commitment to getting more and more on card autos in their products, people are looking for better player quality, and unique content to match. This means that just having on card autos isnt enough to maintain value, regardless of how nice the cards look.

People will go nuts for the framed autos, as they always do. I think that Museum has become a premium product where where people only chase one rare set. That is not a recipe most would like to see. I hope we see that there are some surprises that give us a bit more to chase.

I love Bowman. I love it because it signifies the beginning of the prospecting year, and offers the first shot at some of the biggest rookies of the upcoming season. This is the product that has generated some of the most iconic cards in the hobby, and remains a place where you can open a box or case and walk away with the most valuable chase cards of the year.

Here is the power of this product and its subsequent releases based on this design:

2014 Bowman Chrome Mike Trout Auto RC

2014 Bowman Chrome Kris Bryant Black Refractor Auto BGS 9.5

2014 Bowman Chrome Carlos Correa Gold Refractor Auto BGS 9.5

2014 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper Auto BGS 9.5

This year’s design follows a tried and true formula of a bordered card with space to adjust the color for different parallels. It looks a bit like a play on a few different years, and that isnt a bad thing. Like Topps flagship, Bowman has had a very consistently top notch design, and I dont think this year is any different. Its nothing groundbreaking like 2016 Topps, but its definitely not ugly in any way.

Some of the inserts leave a little to be desired, but unlike many of the other baseball sets, they rarely play a part in facilitating the wow factor of any given year. At its core, Bowman represents the young crop of players that are chased by all sorts of different collectors. It holds its value because it has earned the legacy over years of consistency.

When this product hits, the new season will be about to start, and I cannot wait to see how this shapes up. I can already see that there are going to be some nice autograph content that could be available, but its up to Topps to execute. The waiting game begins now!