I think there was a big reaction to Michael Sam’s coming out, mainly because for some stupid reason, being gay is still something worth talking about. He is likely going to see time on the NFL field, making him the first of his generation, but that’s not all. Let’s be honest people, regardless of how you feel about it, homosexuality isn’t a big deal in 2014, which is exactly the way it should be. No one should care about the way individuals live their personal life in this fashion, especially when it comes to sports. Gay people should be able to participate fully, and not only that, they should face the same ups and downs that every other athlete endures.

All opinions aside, its likely Michael Sam will be a big deal regardless of my feelings about the notoriety of the story. Autograph hounds have already started posting their wares, and they are getting GOOD money for their stuff:

Michael Sam Signed Mini Helmet

Michael Sam Signed 8×10

Michael Sam Signed Poster

Michael Sam Signed Chrome Full Sized Helmet

As if on cue, the cards companies are scrambling early to get him signed, and so far both Topps and Press Pass have talked about him being a part of their 2014 sets. That’s good, because he should be. Im guessing he ends up being a 3rd round pick, and that makes him autograph worthy in many of the sets that focus on content from late round picks.

Being that he will be the first openly gay NFL draft pick, it does create a bit of fame that some would equate to someone like Jackie Robinson. I know its hard to put both players on the same level, as the world is FAAAR more accepting of Sam than they were of Robinson, but homosexuality in sports is still a barrier worth breaking. As many will talk about, being gay isn’t visible on the outside, unlike Robinson’s skin ALWAYS being dark. There are no doubt gay players in the NFL already, but they have decided against being public for the time being. There were NO black players in MLB when Robinson came through.

Here is the bottom line. Collectors will want Michael Sam cards as long as he is a player in the NFL. He may not even be that good, and his cards will still be valuable. Fame does that, and bible thumpers will have to deal with it. Im glad about that, because he deserves every chance he will get. Be prepared for him to be possibly invited to the rookie premiere, among other focuses in the card industry, and that isn’t a bad thing. The bad part is, his sexual orientation is the only reason for that to happen, and that seems forced. Either way, I shouldn’t be complaining because he will bring extra value to packs.

Eventually Michael Sam’s career will not be a big deal, because being gay isn’t a big deal anymore. Its part of our culture now (as it should be), and that’s okay with me. Lets just hope that he doesn’t become the next Tim Tebow, who is pretty much the same type of walking circus, but at the other end of the spectrum. We all know how that worked out.

Contest giveaways or freebie giveaways have always been a cool program as long as they are done correctly. Topps has done quite a few of these types of things over the years, including some pretty popular contest giveaways in football and baseball pertaining to games online. Today, we are seeing some of the collectors who took the Bowman Prospect Challenge seriously are getting their due, in spades.

Check these out:

2014 Bowman Victory Byron Buxton Auto /10

2014 Bowman Victory Miguel Sano Auto /10

2014 Bowman Victory Austin Meadows Auto /10

2014 Bowman Victory Jose Fernandez Auto /10

This set of cards has been pretty impressive, looking identical to the Bowman Black set, but with a gold background. Now that Topps has fulfilled the winners with their haul, some of them have been pretty impressive. One guy on blowout won over 100 different autographs, which has to be a big deal to any collector out there.

No doubt about it, there are some big names in the set, with some top notch on card autos across the board. That is pretty fucking awesome. Considering that the challenge was relatively easy to participate in, I think it’s a great idea to see how they actually are coming through with so many autos. There are only 10 complete sets from what it looks like, so these cards are EXCEEDINGLY rare.

Im a fan of these, as the ones we got in football were stickers – but still quite cool. This takes that prize level to another world. I love it.

Let me start this off as saying I am all for on card autos in every single product, and National Treasures is really looking good in that respect. It was already a stellar product last year, which speaks to the product’s improvement. With the exception of the ridiculous “Hats Off” set, every card they have previewed looks pretty awesome. Now that we are getting some of the completed cards as part of the previews, I think everyone is going to be quite excited at the final product.

Notable Nickname Autos

I love this idea. LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea. Its been around for a while, but not in football as much. Im not crazy about the fact that these cards are vertical instead of horizontal, because you see what happens when someone really writes out a cool inscription. However, when you see that Russell Wilson didn’t sign any inscription, Im curious to see what the rest of the cards will look like.

When it comes to inscriptions, I don’t think its going to touch what we have seen out of Five Star, but these are still REALLY cool.

Check out some of the other nickname inscriptions in sets past:

2007 National Treasures Notable Nicknames – Mark “Super” Duper

2012 National Treasures Notable Nicknames – Kyrie “Uncle Drew” Irving

2012 National Treasures Notable Nicknames – Pete “Hit King” Rose

Here are some of the new ones:

Colossal Patch Autos

The Earl Campbell in this preview is awesome. Its clean, its simple, and it is really well put together. I cannot wait for the rest of the cards in this set, as it is clear that it will be a major focus of NT this year. As I have mentioned before, they are modeled after last year’s edition:

2012 National Treasures Colossal Doug Martin Auto Relic

2012 National Treasures Colossal Robert Griffin III Auto Relic

I hope that there are not a significant amount of redemptions, as that would kill the appeal of many of these cards. However, if they get all the big names to sign, its likely going to ignite a feeding frenzy for all the player collectors looking to get their guy.

National Treasures Auto Jumbo Patch Booklets

Man, these cards were some of the best of the product last year, and I am glad to see them back for another go around. They are really some clean and pretty cards for everyone that likes the booklet style.

Here are last year’s:

2012 National Treasures Andrew Luck Booklet Auto Patch

2012 National Treasures Brock Osweiler NFL Logo Auto Booklet 1/1

Here are some of the new previews:

Crown Royale Silhouettes

I cant say enough good things about this set, and from what we have seen, the cards are looking really nice. They are so vastly improved over 2012, that it might as well be night and day for these. Check out how bad they were last year:

2012 Crown Royale Andrew Luck Auto Patch Silhouette

2012 Crown Royale Ryan Tannehill Auto Patch Silhouette

The super neon foil embellishments really add a nice touch, haha.

I will be chasing all my targets here, and I am hoping and praying they wont be redemptions. To see that there may also be a veteran contingent of hard signed examples, im impressed.

More previews:

Hats Off Auto Cap Patches

I cant even put into words how much I hate these cards. They are poorly laid out with the swatch window being set so high on the card surface, thus making the auto look out of place.

Ugh.

Over the last decade, cards have tried to expand outwards to get more attention. In 1996, Upper Deck released the first game used jersey cards, and shortly before that, they also explored putting signed cards into their products as well. Since that time, we have pretty much gotten the same stuff over and over again with different designs. Every once in a while something brings a fresh new take to the party, but its rarely anything that completely changes the game. I have long ago come to terms with the fact that there is likely not going to be a “next big thing”, at least until 3D printing becomes more affordable on a large scale.

The question is, will collectors even embrace this new thing when it comes along. We are a very fickle group, and it takes A LOT for us to get on board with something. A great example is full sized or oversized items as redemptions in products:

2012 Triple Threads Robert Griffin III Oversized Hand Stamp Auto

2013 Topps Museum Collection Cordarrelle Patterson Full Sized Helmet Auto

2013 Allen and Ginter Rip Card Reserve Full Game Used Item 1/1

2006 Topps Full Sized Helmet Signed By All Attendees of Rookie Premiere

2013 Topps Platinum Uncut Black Refractor Sheet

As an autograph collector over a card collector, these types of things REALLY get me excited. You can have an authentic piece of autographed memorabilia that you know is real, or on an extreme scale, a full sized game used piece of memorabilia. That is insanely cool for me. For those of us that are entrenched in the jersey era of card collecting, why collect the tiny swatch when you can have the full sized piece?

For whatever reason, collectors arent buying in, and that sucks. Although I understand the redemption piece is a turn off, the idea is one that should be explored more frequently. Topps has weaved this element into Five Star since 2011, and I think the results have been pretty fucking amazing. Because the items given in the redemptions are all pre-signed early in the year, there is no doubt that the redemption will be eventually fulfilled. Of course, not many people understand this, but it does play into our hands when buying these up. The fear of a player not signing is a turn off on redemptions for a lot of people, but when there is no need to be worried, what’s waiting a few months for a beautiful centerpiece to your collection?

This is what worries me. You can only do SO much with a normal card surface, even if it is connected to 3-20 other normal card surfaces. You can build up (like we have seen with the shadowbox cards), but you cant build out without increasing everyone’s pack size. Booklets still limit the elements to a very specific dimension, and without really going nuts, its very difficult to change.

Leaf, Tristar and other companies have started packing out photos, baseballs, helmets and other items into one pack format products, and have been successful. But there is not much that can be done when including cards in any element. What else can be offered if the standard surface is so tiny? Both Upper Deck and Panini tried video cards, which for lack of a better term, were outdated 5 years before they were put in packs. Even those needed to be packed out as box toppers or as redemptions.

All the companies have realized that the pack format is suffocating, and box toppers do have a way of getting outside the normal wrapper. However, they arent as fun as pulling something from a standard wrapped group of cards, and can sometimes cost a lot of money to complete.

Other ideas have centered around specially commissioned sketch cards and other pieces of 1/1 artwork to be added to packs, but they have only had limited success when not signed by the players.

Similarly, contracts and contests to get your own trading card have been tossed around as well, but the actual releases are so rare, that it doesnt apply to anyone but a select minuscule part of the people who open the product.

Companies could always create programs that run throughout their products that cater to a higher end crowd, but I dont see a highly digestible element coming in the next few years that will change the game. Its just not coming. We could always have a design your own card contest or a create an inscription redemption, but those arent long term solutions. Without an injection of something similar to 1995, can things continue down this path? Definitely possible, but we should easily consider what may happen if the next jersey card never comes through.

I will continue to stand by the fact that the hobby will never die, so we should take that off the table. However, it could become more and more difficult to conduct business without a fresh element to sell. Thats just sales 101.

It takes a lot for me to report on a redemption signing, but this is pretty fucking big. After close to a year waiting, it looks as if Panini has managed to get Russell Wilson to put ink to his outstanding cards, which only adds to the allure his big hits have had over the last few weeks.

Since the announcement, the redemptions have become even hotter than they were prior:

2012 National Treasures Russell Wilson Auto Patch RC

2012 National Treasures Russell Wilson Auto Dual NFL GEAR Relic

2012 Playbook Russell Wilson Booklet Auto Patch RC

I am personally waiting on two Russell Wilson autos from NT and Playbook of last year, and I am desperately hoping that I will get them with this first batch of completed cards. From what it looks like, there are almost 3-4 products that all need signatures, and one can only hope that everyone gets what they are looking for.

Panini should thank their lucky stars they were able to get this done, because there are a lot of collectors out there waiting. Considering they just had another semi-win with Nick Foles Contenders getting fulfilled, this is significantly larger news.

Here is the article from Panini’s Blog.