Tag Archives: 2014

Diving Deeper Into 2014 Topps Museum Collection Football

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Museum Collection has been live for a few days now, and now that we have had a few days to digest the product, I have grown more and more intrigued by the content in the set. Not only do the cards look REALLY nice, but there are some major hits in this product that add to its overall allure. Here is a break down of my favorite parts.

Framed Autographs

Since their initial release in Baseball, these cards are easily some of my favorites that Topps does all year. As a subset in a product called “Museum,” it makes sense that an autograph set is done with build in frames. It adds a high end look to a very high end style card, and the black background with Silver/Gold pens looks awesome.

More importantly, the checklist is nothing short of the best of the best, with some of the best players a company can get for a set. When you see guys like Topps managed to get into this subset, its clear that they were swinging for the fences. Sometimes, when you take a big hack, you come up short. From what we are seeing, they knocked it out of the park.

Check these out:

2014 Topps Museum Collection Tom Brady Framed Auto

2014 Topps Museum Collection Emmitt Smith Framed Auto

2014 Topps Museum Collection Barry Sanders Framed Auto

2014 Topps Museum Collection Brett Favre Framed Auto

Signature Series Dual Autographs

Its rare to see dual autographs with hard signed signatures these days. There is just a lot of logistics in play that are required to make a set like this work, and Topps is really banking on some big names to make these cards as awesome as possible.

The set includes the first dual autograph (that I can see) of Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson, a card that may be one of the better combo autographs of the last few years. Even though it is a redemption, the chance that the card could get done shortly is enough to make the combo worth talking about.

Here are some of the better ones:

2014 Topps Museum Collection Russell Wilson Marshawn Lynch Dual Auto

2014 Topps Museum Collection Teddy Bridgewater / Johnny Manziel Dual Auto

Jumbo Rookie Patch Autographs

Last year, these cards were a really nice example of a high end type of example in a set that people werent feeling as much due to a poor rookie class. Even though 2013 really was a low point, these jumbo patch cards were pretty impressive and nice looking.

This year, the cards look just as good, and there are even 1/1 versions that have logo patches. On card autographs pop on the simple design and the players stand out. Its a very nice case hit that plays in addition to the case hit framed autos. Its really too bad that Beckham is a redemption.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Sammy Watkins Jumbo Patch Auto 1/1

2014 Topps Museum Collection Kelvin Benjamin Jumbo Patch Auto Logo 1/1

1/1 Sketch Originals On Card Autographs

The canvas collection cards are always fun to see, as Museum has had a high quality of results when commissioning the sketches. The originals, which are all 1/1s are highly coveted, and some of them are even autographed. To have the originals as hard signed pieces of sports art is so cool, and I am excited to see more of them as they turn up. These cards are really hard to find, and can go for quite a bit more than a typical 1/1.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Johnny Manziel Sketch Original Auto 1/1

2014 Topps Museum Collection Russell Wilson 1/1 Original Sketch

Overall, I have been really impressed with Museum as a surprising success for a second straight year. After seeing what Panini did with Immaculate, Museum isnt as big of an explosion, but it also focuses more on the autographs than the patches. As someone who couldnt care any less about event used material, Museum is a satisfying foray into the later part of the year.

SCU Go Live Report: 2014 Panini Spectra Football

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Usually, when Panini releases a shitty set, there is some redeeming factor that makes it worth cracking a pack or two. This year, there have been a lot of those, and some that are even worse. Hot Rookies, Totally Certified, and others were so bad, its not even worth opening a single pack. Spectra is so far beyond that because unlike the previously mentioned products, its one pack for 275 dollars. Let me say that again – 275 dollars. Good fucking god.

Check out how much of a disaster this shit is:

2014 Panini Spectra Blake Bortles Gold Auto Patch

2014 Panini Spectra Peyton Manning Auto Relic /5

2014 Panini Spectra Kelvin Benjamin Auto Relic

2014 Panini Spectra Derek Carr / Jimmy Garoppolo Dual Laundry Tag 1/1

It would be one thing if the cards looked good. They look awful. It would be another thing if you can buy a pack and walk away if you need to. Nope, just one pack. It would give it some value if the on card veterans were back and looked good. Nope, all stickers. This product is a fucking dog, and Panini should be ashamed of themselves.

The rookie patch autograph cards are easily some of the worst rookie cards Panini has done this year, and that is saying something. They must have modeled the design after 2010 Topps Finest, because they look almost identical. Even worse than that, 2010 Finest was a joke all by itself! To start, the relic covers up a lot of the player, and the rest of the card is covered up by a separated signature area and nameplate. Even moving the swatch to either side would be an improvement, but to have both the centered relic and the opaque signature area covers up over 60% of the surface area.

As if that wasnt bad enough, they took it to another level with the horizontal version. Instead of the player being covered up vertically with the signature area and the swatch, they did the exact same thing in horizontal fashion. So much of the card is obscured, that the player is jammed into a tiny box at the top. Someone needs to be fired, its that bad.

The other autos in the set are just as poorly designed, including a veteran set named "Leading Men." No, this isnt a way to describe the male lead in a chick flick, its for football cards. I just dont get how these things make it past the conference room where they are suggested.

I hope you guys all love this set, because your shops will be forced to order cases of it to get Black Friday packs and Fathers Day packs. Its going to rot on dealer shelves until someone gives up on it or it drops to under 100 per box. Thats where this is headed.

At least in 2013, they had hard signed autos of a number of different veteran big named players. They also had a design that wasnt great, but it also wasnt terrible. People could buy a 50 dollar pack and get something reasonably worth getting. This year that is all gone. Even the veteran autographs that are stickers induce vomiting on many levels.

Awful product. Just fucking awful.

SCU Go-Live Report: 2014 Museum Collection Football

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Other than the Chrome style products that Topps has made a staple of all sports and non-sports they own, its rare that an established brand from one sport crosses over to another. Topps is very determined to build equity in brands separately in each sport, and that is why they really only choose the best to make that jump. We saw it when Inception and Five Star were brought to baseball from Football, and also in Museum Collection coming back the other way. Now that Museum is back for another year, I am really interested to see how it has improved.

Here are some of the bigger hits up so far:

2014 Topps Museum Collection Teddy Bridgewater Framed Auto /25

2014 Topps Museum Collection Kelvin Benjamin Auto RC On Card

2014 Topps Museum Collection Frank Gore Dual Patch Auto

2014 Topps Museum Collection Brandin Cooks Jumbo Patch Auto On Card

There is a big reason why I think Museum stands out for me, and it has to do with the autograph content and the way it is set up. Unlike many of the other Topps products, not only are there a lot of veteran autographs in the product, but there are a lot of on card ones. Even better, there are dual autographs and other fun things as well, all based around non-rookies.

Additionally, the metal framed rookie and vet auto cards remain some of my favorites from the year, and I love that they are almost presentation pieces all on their own. Though they are easily searched out due to their weight, the cards themselves are exactly as promised – Museum style pieces. I already have a few from last year on display, and I am eager to get this year’s to do the same thing. They just look awesome. My only complaint is the thick silver/gold pens, which can ruin one of these cards very easily. The pens have a tendency to streak, so they can look very faint in some cases.

Another rock star from this set is in the presence of some serious chops in the art department, as the Canvas Collection is always a treat. They have commissioned artists to put together some sketches and pieces, and man do they look amazing. They have 1/1 works included in packs, so you can actually pull the card that inspired the subject in the set.

Overall, I think the design improved year over year for this set, and many of the cards look pretty fucking cool. I think that as we start to close out the license in 2015, sets like this will either go out with a bang, or fall by the wayside. I hope we get more of the wow factor, personally.

2014 Topps Chrome Mini: What Regular Chrome Should Have Been

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After writing this blog for what seems like a lifetime, there are a few things that are always a constant with me. One of those things is that a Chrome branded set will always been worth breaking a few boxes, a situation that was called into question this year. 2014 Topps Chrome was plagued by overproduction and terrible box breaks, and as a result collectors have become apathetic over any new Chrome style product, including the recent releases of Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome Mini. After a few days since the release, Im starting to think that if Chrome was structured the way the Mini set is structured, we would be singing a very different tune.

We also get to see how the biggest card in the product is going to perform against the biggest card in regular Chrome, as the Odell Beckham Superfractor Auto Mini 1/1 was listed recently:

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Odell Beckham Auto Superfractor 1/1

The superfractors are not the only cards that people are chasing in this product, as there are quite a few nice pulls that are generating prices reminiscent of the regular set:

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Odell Beckham Pulsar Refractor Auto /15

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Sammy Watkins Auto Red Refractor /5

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Blake Bortles Gold Refractor Auto /10

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Teddy Bridgewater Pulsar Refractor Auto /15

Personally, I am pretty excited that a product like this is performing the way it is on the secondary market. There were a lot of individuals who thought this product would tank, and they had every reason to believe that was going to be the case. However, we are seeing that there are quite a few examples that are showing a 60 dollar investment in a box is not only going to be a fun time, but maybe a pretty good likelihood of a solid return.

Chrome is one of the only products on the market, where the hit in the box isnt necessarily the end all and be all of what your experience is going to be. Rare parallels can bring enormous prices, and even pulling a low numbered refractor of a veteran can make up almost 50% of the box cost. That is something to be missed come 2016 when Chrome goes away with the pending Panini exclusive.

Bottom line, I remain in line with the statement that Chrome mini is what regular Chrome should have been. If that was the case, Topps might have saved some of the criticism of one of their biggest products of the year.

SCU Go-Live Report: 2014 Topps Chrome Mini Football

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When Topps first announced 2014 Chrome Mini, I was skeptical but intrigued. For me, as long as we get more on card Chrome autographs, im on board. However after we saw box after box of 2014 Regular Chrome fall flat due to vast over production, things have gotten dicey with collectors. People were so turned off by what Chrome delivered on a box and case level, that it will surely impact how Mini sells. Being that it was already a relative niche product, im not sure what is going to happen.

Here are some of the bigger hits so far:

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Teddy Bridgewater Red Refractor Auto

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Johnny Manziel Die Cut Auto /15

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Odell Beckham Red Refractor Auto /5

2014 Topps Chrome Mini Derek Carr Black Refractor Auto /25

I will say this. From the breaks I have watched, Chrome mini looks to be the set we were all hoping for in terms of regular Chrome. It has a reduced autograph checklist and lower print run, and is look to run 3-5 lower number color autos per case from what I have seen. That is what we needed to see before. The number of autographs from top tier rookies is still yet to be determined, but even that should be easier considering the run is shorter.

If you liked the main Chrome design, it transfers almost 100% to Mini. There may be fewer parallels available, which is expected due to lower production run, but you should get more of them per box. Additionally, for boxes that dont have color autographs, I saw those boxes are more likely to produce color from the base side. The base parallels have a much better numbering scheme too, a lot lower than normal Chrome.

Overall, Chrome Mini is not going to get much love because of what happened earlier in the year, but I think it deserves some credit. The cards look as good as ever, and the box break improvement should be a huge improvement overall. Because fewer boxes will be broken, the rare hits are really going to sell higher than I would guess people are going to expect. I have already seen some collectors trolling the boards trying to get a head start on rainbows and sets. That is a good thing on a short run product.

My complaint is that they didnt update the pics on the cards with new pictures, which is so fucking disappointing I cant even put it into words. If we could get game shots on these cards for the whole set, and release it later, I would break cases of this product. Because its the same pics we got in mid 2014 with base Topps, Im not as excited. This was a missed opportunity, even though this product was an afterthought. Chrome takes forever to print and sign, but the wait would be worth it to me. The combine pics in February are inexcusable, regardless of the original release date.

I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.