My favorite cards so far are the silver signings from 2012 Inception that are being tweeted all over the place, as I absolutely love the horizontal orientation as compared to last year’s. Although some of the rookies are showing 00 on their jersey, which is disappointing to say the least, the cards are looking awesome for a second straight year. I would have liked college numbers at least, but it looks like licensing issues may have prevented that. Regardless of jersey numbers, the top guys in Luck and Griffin look to be on display in each of the first couple of sets this year, which is awesome.

Topps is also bringing back the “Tall Boys” from 1965 into a special insert set for 2012 Topps Flagship, and I think the cards definitely are a nice throwback insert to include with on card autographs. On top of that, they are also trying to get all the rookie premiere autographs shot and printed tonight, which from the design they tweeted earlier, look completely boss.

Panini combined some MAJOR let downs with some huge highs in their pictures, which I definitely expected. In addition to MORE of the lame looking field signatures that have been in Gridiron Gear and Epix for the last 28 years, they are also bringning back the pull out swatches, which are not even event worn based on the pics. I have never been a fan of cards that require some gimmick to display and appreciate, and these coming back again does not make me look forward to ANOTHER boring year of Gridiron Gear.

The rookie inscription cards from Elite look to be more awesome than previously expected, as they are either going to be on acetate (which I love) or on the regular stock (which still look amazing). Im a huge fan of the way these cards look, and I anticipate them to be a big part of the chase for 2012 Elite which should hit shelves soon.

Aside from getting mass exposure on night one, I think we are all in for a tweet fest laden treat this weekend, and I cant wait to see more from each company.

New Nike Jerseys

After years of being a Reebok exclusive, Nike has taken over all uniform and team branded merchandise for the NFL. In addition to new types of jerseys, there will be a continued focus from the card companies of how to make it work in their cards. The NFL equipment logo at the neck has FINALLY been replaced with the singular shield, and the flywire collars should give a new look to the cards.  I am looking forward to how this is going to factor into the swatches of jersey, but also how the players will wear them.

Product Previews

Saturday is the day for the rookies to get on the field in Pasadena and start signing their autographs. We will surely get a look at a lot of the cards thanks to the rise of the use of things like Twitter and Instagram. Last year, we saw some awesome stuff like Topps Inception and the Rookie Premiere autographs from flagship, as well as a good look at some newer stuff that was going to be inserted into other products yet to be titled. It was like looking at a preview for the first part of the card year without a sell sheet, and I am thoroughly excited at what we will be seeing this year. Lets just hope the companies bring their A game like Topps did last year.

Twitter Photos

If you havent already followed @toppscards, @toppsfb, @paniniamerica, @nflpa and the players themselves, make sure you do it now. Also save the search #rookiepremiere for more content. Topps has already started tweeting out pictures, and this is your chance to really get down to business in following the event. There will be a lot of pictures (both good and bad) to help the collector stay involved, and if the Mark Ingram picture was any indication of what will go down this year, there is already enough motivation to get on board.

Autograph Quality

I always loved getting first hand photo evidence of what the autographs looked like from each player. The guy could be the best prospect ever, but as long as he signs like Chris Johnson, Im not touching his cards. Cool looking signatures enhance the value of an autograph, and so far, we have only seen some good examples from Luck and RGIII. Im still interested to see the back end of the class when they are signing on card.

Giveaways

All of the people at the premiere on behalf of the hobby have already committed to crazy giveaways planned for the weekend. Through Facebook and Twitter, collectors will be able to get a chance to win all sorts of stuff from the premiere. Once everything starts, following the companies will give you the most opportunities to win. I have already seen autographed footballs and helmets being given away from the NFLPA, I can only assume this will continue.

The rookie premiere is more than just getting a place for all the rookies to wear the jerseys, its about setting the tone for the entire year. As long as Topps and Panini remain committed to helping their fans get closer to the game, this event will continue to be a huge focus for the success of the card season. This year’s draft class has as much potential as ever, and I can tell you that slate of products for 2012 should reflect that. Lucky for us, we will get a good idea of what that means starting today.

Ill post updates on Twitter and the site as they are revealed by the companies, stay tuned!

Although the set has improved a lot over last year, going from absolutely hideous to passable, isnt enough of an improvement when Topps is lighting it up left and right with great looking previews to their 2012 calendar. Most disturbing is that Panini is refusing to give up on jam packing worthless jersey card after worthless jersey card into their products, a fact that has caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the people that buy the boxes.

Additionally, I have no clue why the rookie cards are on a completely different background than the base cards, which look pretty good with the white dominated design. Because all the rookie cards should have signature parallels, putting them on the dark background will either force the horrid big white box to highlight the sticker, or create a new set of problems with indistinguishable autographs on the cards.

I am a big fan of the rookie inscription cards this year, which look to be simple in design and created specifically for on card autographs at the rookie premiere. These will be the gems of this product and I think they look good from the mock ups. Overall, I assume these should take the place of the worst looking cards of Elite last year, which I hope wont be making a comeback.

Outside of the usual crappy looking inserts design to fill out a product with unneeded bulk, there is a throwback to the Passing the Torch autos that were done in back in 1999. This set is not only a beloved and valuable set for collectors, but it is one of those that could have been done to perfection if the autographs were on card. Of course, Panini went with stickers, which will hurt these cards signficantly, especially when considering how many people will have a connection to them. If I couldnt get on card autos, I would never touch a set like this.

In the grand scheme of things, its pretty obvious that this will be another throw-away set at the beginning of the year for a company that is quickly losing their grip on how to produce a well thought out set. Elite will sell because of its history, but this one COULD have been a lot better. Instead its a forgettable addition to a calendar that features the best draft class in recent memory.

Today on Twitter, Topps released the first images of their recently signed Willie Mays cards from Gypsy Queen and Museum Collection. What many people dont know is that Willie has had vision problems over the last few years, and is no longer able to see clearly enough to sign the way he used to. The fact that Topps got these done is remarkable, considering that Mays has a limited window in which these will be possible. Not only do the cards look incredible, but they capture something that I dont think Panini can. Ill get to that in a second. The redemptions cards have been selling for crazy prices on eBay and after seeing them on Twitter, I might need to buy a few myself:

2012 Gypsy Queen Willie Mays Auto Redemption

2012 Museum Collection Willie Mays Auto Redemption

Mays is not the only one getting the HOF treatment this year from Topps, as guys like Aaron, Koufax, Musial and others are all featured on similarly stunning cards.

Check it out:

Sandy Koufax Gypsy Queen Auto

Hank Aaron Gypsy Queen Auto

When you see what Panini has to offer in their products, its very easy to see that they arent playing with the same deck, and even if they were, it would be ridiculously tough to create on the level that Topps already has. Panini’s focus is all wrong, relying more on the words and background of the cards than the players themselves. Unlike the NBA and NFL, where jerseys and autographs dominate the market, baseball is a ridiculously different set of collectors who demand certain things. One part of that is nostalgia, and I feel as though Panini has almost completely ignored the reason that many collectors buy baseball cards, and I have a distinct feeling that it is why they are struggling so much without a license.

As we saw with 2008 Prime Cuts, a solid baseball product can be created without a license, but I have yet to see Panini make the right calls in both design or product structure / box configuration. Where Topps fell on their face last year, they have picked it up this year with amazing looking card after amazing looking card. This is even before Triple Threads and the eventual release of Five Star, which should be their two most popular high end products. Panini has already released Prime Cuts, which has traditionally been their highest end box, and from what the feedback I have gotten from people said, is that they agree it was a complete bomb. Again, it was just as much a disregard for the things that make baseball collectors salivate as anything, and with the upcoming release of Cooperstown, it doesnt look to be getting any better.

As with the NFL, Topps seems to be stepping up their game to meet competition head on, while Panini is just doing enough to cater to their loyal base of collectors. Without expansion, the splash they are hoping to make wont be getting any larger. Additionally, if they keep creating cards like the Yaz, pictured above, without a player on the front of the card, they might as well give up now. Put the Topps cards and the Panini cards side by side and it is easy to tell who has the better approach. In fact, I dont even think they would be in the same league if both had the ability to use logos. Topps shoots for majestic presentation and a player focus, while Panini seems more boxy, raw and scaled down. When a company is trying to make a good first impression, I dont believe this is the way to go. This is just laughable..

Again, with so few people really paying attention to what the cards look like, maybe people like me are the endangered species. People always accuse me of a bias towards Topps, but its always about the quality of design work over everything for me. When you compare Cooperstown with the sets released this year from Topps, I question anyone who doesnt develop a similar bias. This may come as a shock, but I would buy a CASE of Triple Threads over even the best Panini product so far. That’s how strongly I feel about this.

The first two contracts for the drawing have been pulled, and one is up on eBay as we speak. The price is already climbing by the hour, and should reach ridiculous heights.

Here is the gist. You sign and redeem the contract to be entered into the drawing. By entering the collectors are guaranteed a Yu Darvish autographed baseball, and at least a 1 in 10 chance to win. For the winner, there is a 500 dollar prize and their very own card in 2013 Bowman. I gotta say, money can buy lots of things, but there are not many chances to be immortalized in the hobby you love. For a lot of the people who will be buying boxes of this product, Bowman is the flagship set of the year. Im not sure I would give up that chance so easily.

The chances are that not all of the contracts will be pulled, and that after the initial run, maybe 5-6 contracts make it into the drawing. To have a 1 in 6 chance of getting picked, I have to believe I would like those odds. I would also like the five to ten grand one could get for a contract on eBay, but as stated above, there are a few things that money cant buy.

When considering how much cards like the Darvish superfractor will bring right now, maybe this contract is right in that range. The first Yu Darvish red refractor has already been posted, and the contract might get to a price like that. Regardless, this is a GREAT promo from Topps, who have really no need to add futher things to a product like Bowman. There are already offers in each year’s Ginter Code to be included in a set, but its rare to have the ability in codebreaking to achieve what is necessary.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime for those lucky enough to pull the contract, and I have to give it to Topps for thinking of ways to create huge buzz outside of the normal national attention that the expensive cards in Bowman already receive.

Bowman Black is one of my favorite parts of the new set, as it uses the design that has been mastered by 2011 Inception and 2011 Topps Precision in football over the last year. The black background with the silver signature continues to be stunning contrast in color, and when the eye popping photograph is coupled with an on card signature, its tough to beat in my eyes.

Here are some examples:

2012 Bowman Black Gerrit Cole Auto /25

2012 Bowman Black Bubba Starling Auto /25

2012 Bowman Black Danny Hultzen Auto /25

There are drawbacks, dont get me wrong. Condition sensitivity is always going to be a problem, as the white from chipping is going to show more prominently on these cards. From what I have been told, this is a calculated risk, as obviously the cards look amazing enough to sacrifice the condition that shouldnt be as much of a factor on rare auto cards. Think of this from the model of Five Star, where the cards are collected for prestige instead of for condition.

What Topps may not have considered is that Bowman’s popularity almost entirely depends on its grade-ability, as this has to be BGS’s busiest time of year. I cannot stand the presence of card grading in our hobby, as its subjective nature and track record of loose standards for certain situations, have proven it to be a scam and then some. Despite my feelings, Bowman and prospect cards are almost 100% co-dependent on the prospect’s potential AND the card’s grade, which can make a 100 dollar card into a 1000 dollar card.

Without the ability to grade these cards on the same standard, it will do two things. Bowman Black might lose some potential to be as popular as it could have been, and bump up multipliers on high graded versions.

Secondarily to condition, the pens used to sign these cards have proven to be inconsistent at best. Although the design is top notch, the player’s use of the pen can make or break the card. As we saw in Inception, the players were mostly on target with the signatures, but not since that point. My charge to Topps is to find out what was done for those cards and re-create it.

Either way, Im a big fan of these cards, and Topps has already told me that they will continue to be a weapon in their arsenal for this year. Color me intrigued.

The reveal of the attendees is waited on for weeks after the draft, and with the event starting a week from today, here is the list!

I think there are a lot of position players that were included despite late round draft spots, and zero defensive guys, which is great. In fact, every player who will be going should be able to be productive which is great.

Bottom line, this premiere is shaping up to be one of the best in years, and I cannot wait to see the pictures start to come.

Joe Adams WR Panthers
Dwayne Allen TE Colts
Justin Blackmon WR Jaguars
Ryan Broyles WR Lions
Michael Egnew TE Dolphins
Coby Fleener TE Colts
Michael Floyd WR Cardinals
Nick Foles QB Eagles
Chris Givens WR Rams
T.J. Graham WR Bills
Robert Griffin QB Redskins
Stephen Hill WR Jets
Ronnie Hillman RB Broncos
T.Y. Hilton WR Colts
LaMichael James RB 49ers
A.J. Jenkins WR 49ers
Andrew Luck QB Colts
Doug Martin RB Buccaneers
Lamar Miller RB Dolphins
Brock Osweiler QB Broncos
Isaiah Pead RB Rams
Bernard Pierce RB Ravens
DeVier Posey WR Texans
Brian Quick WR Rams
Rueben Randle WR Giants
Trent Richardson RB Browns
Mohamed Sanu WR Bengals
Ryan Tannehill QB Dolphins
Nick Toon WR Saints
Robert Turbin RB Seahawks
Brandon Weeden QB Browns
David Wilson RB Giants
Russell Wilson QB Seahawks
Jarius Wright WR Vikings
Kendall Wright WR Titans

Here are some of the first to be posted:

2012 Bowman Yu Darvish Blue Refractor Auto /250

2012 Bowman Yu Darvish Blue Refractor Auto

2012 Bowman Yu Darvish Base Auto SP

What remains to be seen is whether he will end up like Daisuke Matsuzaka, and flame out in epic fashion on a huge stage, or continue to be a solid player. Ichiro is obviously the benchmark of popularity for all Japanese born baseball players, and its doubtful that Darvish will ever reach that level.

However, he is hot NOW, which means these cards in Bowman are a huge deal to pull. The autographs follow the normal spectrum and numbering, so there will be a significant number of them to buy. The rarer refractors will sell for thousands, so be prepared. Either way, I dont think these cards could have turned out any better, as the photo and design of the card are completely awesome looking.

Even with the release of previous sets, UD has tried to get creative in using aspects of the college game as add ons to the sets they produce. Some of them have been successful, others have not, especially in the way they are received by collectors. This year, to piggy back off of the manufactured patch cards of the popular Animal Kingdom set from Goodwyn Champions, they have release a set of College Mascots sewn onto patches in the cards. Considering how little value is assigned to jersey cards these days, I actually think this is a pretty good idea.

Regardless of my feelings, collectors have been trying to complete the set, which has led to some crazy prices for the SSP cards in the set.

2012 Upper Deck Mascot – USC Trojans Traveler

2012 Upper Deck Mascot – Army Black Jack SSP

2012 Upper Deck Mascot – UT Longhorns Bevo

I still believe that more of the people who buy these types of products will give up later in the year to buy the higher end products from both UD and the NFL licensed companies, which will make the readily available cards less expensive, and the SSP cards that much more expensive. Although its going to take much more of a new direction to reduce dependency on memorabilia cards, this is an interesting way to start the ball rolling. Outside of the fact that collectors have found the mascot cards interesting enough to want to chase the set, I believe it will take a continued dedication to the next steps in the process to add value to any product without piling thousands of dollars into acquiring more jerseys to cut up.

For clarification, I do not believe these cards were a replacement for jersey cards in the set, but I do believe its an attempt to add a hit that isnt player touched. When you consider how little value is assigned to player connected material these days, with some logo cards barely breaking the cost of a box, maybe there is a lot of wiggle room for cards like this to be successful. Why not?

UPDATE 2: The first Harper auto is up and its a sticker, there should be others on card.

Each year, there are usually two sets that end up driving enormous amounts of collectability for the entire baseball hobby. The first one, usually released before any other set is Topps Series one, and the second is the flagship Bowman set. Because Bowman is the first MLB futures focused set of the year, the ever-growing contingent of prospectors out there go crazy for it.

This year, with a strong 2011 draft behind it, Bowman is poised to continue being as important as ever. With Yu Darvish making his long awaited appearance in the brand, there is even more reason that the set will generate a tremendous buzz this wednesday.

Retail hit stores this past weekend, and I was fortunate enough to grab a few packs at my local Target. The design is not only great looking, but for the first time in a few years, seems to be well formatted for the coveted autograph parallels. Many times, the base prospect cards dont look as nice without signatures as they should, and this year, I absolutely love the way the border looks on these cards. With the addition of the awesome looking Bowman Black autograph cards, this year’s sets function more like a football product than a baseball one. That may make the fundamentalists a little unhappy, but I can tell you that it will add a lot more reasons for casual baseball collectors to jump in. When the casual collectors join in, everything escalates in value, as the demand increases.

Harper’s recent call up, as well as Yu Darvish’s performance in his first few games have already done wonders for the pre-sell price, and as it did last year, there is a good chance that the price could jump even more. I would expect that as the top picks start to perform in the minors, cards from Gerrit Cole and others should drive continued value in the packs.

Here are some initial offerings, its only a matter of time before the first Harper (Mystery Auto 2) and Yoenis Cespedes (Mystery Auto 1) will surface.

2012 Bowman Gerrit Cole Blue Refractor Auto /150

2012 Bowman Yu Darvish Base GOLD RC

2012 Bowman Jesus Montero Gold Refractor Auto

2012 Bowman Anthony Rendon Gold Refractor /50

2012 Bowman Matt Adams Base RC Auto

2012 Bowman Danny Hultzen Base RC Auto

2012 Bowman Tyler Scaggs Bowman’s Best XFractor Die Cut /25

UPDATE: Someone has posted the first Orange Refractor auto of Yu Darvish on Twitter. Pic here.