I am a huge fan of everything Strata. From its inception in football back in 2012, to the eventual transition to Baseball as a high end hit in Topps Series 1 and 2, it has consistently been a concept that works extremely well. Now that it is becoming its own standalone product for baseball, there are a few things at play that make this set even more interesting than it was in its previous incarnations.

Strata’s cards have always been great looking, including a huge improvement on shadowbox technology that has permeated all sorts of facets of the hobby after its creation in 2009 SPX. Although Baseball wont have all the elements from its sister NFL product, its worth checking out some of these awesome examples:

2012 Strata Andrew Luck Clear Cut Auto Patch BGS 9.5

2014 Strata Odell Beckham Strata Signature /50

2014 Strata Sammy Watkins Strata Signature Patch Auto

Funny enough, despite all the hobby circle jerk around acetate lately, the main draw for this product is actually not the designs or the cards themselves. Instead, the big news is around provenance associated with the relics that this set utilizes to create the cards. For a long time, collector questions over swatch authenticity have contributed to a decrease in confidence and value. To combat this sentiment, for the first time ever, all swatches in Strata Baseball will be MLB authenticated. This includes a label on every swatch that can be tracked through the MLB authentication database. According to the sell sheet, in addition to tagging each relic, each swatch will be able to be tracked to a specific game. This is huge for a few reasons, even though game dated swatches have been available in prior products with little added value.

MLB authentication offers a third party confirmation that many collectors will consider to be absolute in its authenticity. Even though there are individuals who have more questions that are created by the inclusion of tagged relics, 99% of the people who open Strata will not hesitate to assign certainty. Previously, all game matched swatches have not had this third party involvement, relegating collectors to trust the company's guarantee. Obviously, this still presents more trust that needs to be applied, and trust is always in short supply. As a whole, collectors will be more likely to trust a “disinterested” third party, even more so if that party is the league’s program. Im very curious to see if Strata’s popularity will be influenced solely by this tagging.

I am pretty disappointed that the clear cut auto relics are not included in this set, and also that the Strata signatures dont all seem to have relics in them. This takes away two elements of the set that have made it so attractive to me in Football, and I was really hoping that they would make the trip across the sports. The cards that replaced them are cool, dont get me wrong, but its just not the same. If they are trying to build a separate brand identity in baseball, I dont think that is a bad idea. However, I would have liked to see more of the traditional elements ported over with the set. Its not the same Museum collection without the framed autos, and its not the same Strata without Clear Cuts. At least the rivet cards are included, and as we learned in football, the Rivet cards are bad ass.

The biggest victory of the product has to be the price, which looks to be very low in cost compared to what is being offered in the new elements. This should end up being below the 80 dollar mark in MSRP if the sell sheet cost holds up – something that means you can buy boxes without breaking the bank. All the autographs are on card, and the new relic authentication adds some great intrigue to an already popular product.

With Football on its way out for Topps in 2016, this might be the only way the Strata format carries on. Really unfortunate that is the case, but im glad this is looking like a great addition to the baseball calendar.