• Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on Ebay
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • 50 Hottest Baseball Hobby Boxes
      • Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs
      • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Most Watched Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Nolan Ryan Cards
      • T206 Cards
      • Goudey Cards
      • 1952 Topps Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2020-21 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2019-20 NBA Rookie Cards
        • Zion Williamson Rookie Cards
        • Ja Morant Rookie Cards
      • Top Prizm Basketball Auctions
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • National Treasures Cards (all sports)
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
      • Most Watched 2020 NFL Rookie Card Auctions
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched Rookie Cards
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
  • Lelands

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, we may receive a commission.  It helps keep us afloat!

  • Sports Memorabilia News
    • Barnebys Sports Auction Highlights
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
    • Hobby Shops Selling, Breaking Online During COVID-19
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Hobby Shop Talk / Mikey Awards, 2015 Edition

Mikey Awards, 2015 Edition

January 5, 2016 By Mike Fruitman

It’s time for the annual Mikey Awards where the best and brightest get ignored as I choose what I liked in 2015.

Well, more specifically what my collectors liked.   It’s my list of the sports card releases (and some other things) that, in one way or another, had folks in my shop talking.Mikey Awards

I do not expect you all to agree, but please enjoy what I found interesting in the hobby for the past 12 months and may 2016 be an even better year for collecting.

Mike Trout 2015 Topps Strata Clearly Authentic auto relicRookie Of The Year  (AKA, please have a better career than Pat Listach award):  2015 Topps Strata MLB – There’s something about a baseball release in December that sells out, the restock sells out and then collectors are still waiting for more that puts Strata in contention for the ROY Award.  Throw in how each relic card offers an MLB hologram so you can see what game it came from and it’s trophy time.

Young Guns rookie Connor McDavidSay Wha… Moment Of The Year (The “Is My Kid Going To Be Able To Go To College?” award) – So there I was reading to my son before bedtime on November 3 when the phone rang.  It was my distributor sharing that Edmonton Oilers’ teen idol Connor McDavid had gone hard into the boards and was going to be out for a while.

The timing could not have been worse since 2015-16 Upper Deck Series 1 was due to hit less than 48 hours later.  My son realized something was up when my jaw dropped further than when my wife shared she was pregnant the second time.  Fortunately, Upper Deck 1 had the staying power of the word “cool” and we went through our 29 cases in a more than reasonable amount of time.

Kris Bryant 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects autoMVP – 2014 Bowman Chrome MLB –   Sure I live in Colorado, but I’m not smoking anything.  Yes, I know I’m talking about the year 2015 in this piece, but thanks to a certain Chicago Cubs rookie, we went through 100+ cases (yes, you read that right) of 2014 Bowman Chrome and Bowman Chrome Jumbo MLB last year.

One crazy night involved three Kris Bryant signed cards being pulled and sold with one phone call each.  One happened to be the Orange Refractor and sold for enough money to cover a weekend in Las Vegas that would be movie worthy.

Most Improved Product Award – 2015/16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey – UD took one of their longest running, most successful annual hockey releases, sent it to a heck of an off-season workout program, allowed it to come back bigger and better than ever before and puckheads responded better than I ever could have hoped.

So far we have gone through 50+ boxes in spite of shelf price jumping by about $150 each.  It did not hurt that they added a single card pack of Exquisite as a chaser.

2014-15 Flawless Kobe Bryant auto patchHigh-End Product Of The Year – 2014/15 Flawless NBA – While I did not go through nearly as many cases of this that I did with 15/16 Upper Deck 1 NHL, collectors embraced the rookie cards of Andrew Wiggins, an actual briefcase, Team USA cards, diamond cards and enough stars to make everyone forget that MJ isn’t in there.

Total Recall Award – 2015 Topps Tribute MLB – Topps literally wrote the book on how to handle a product with a flaw like so many of the autographed cards having issues.  They offered Mariano Rivera auto 2015 Topps Tribute to the Victorsto replace damaged singles from packs AND they allowed shops and distributors to send back as much as they brought in.

As a shop owner, it was great to see them standing behind their products and instilling confidence within ordering future releases.  I’ve been at this for a couple of decades and I have never seen such a strong and effective response to a product with minimal issues.  In case you were wondering, we not only sold out of all that we brought in, but went deeper and sold that as well.

The Larry Bird Isn’t Walking Through That Door Award (at least for a few years) – The NFL and NFLPA decision to go with a single license for the foreseeable future.

While I understand that in recent years Panini has made tremendous strides with their releases, the NFL is the one sport that needs more than one manufacturer.  It is the only true year round sport and when we see a strong rookie class like we have this year, my collectors have shown there simply can’t be too many releases.   Topps NFL releases usually go over better than new songs from Taylor Swift and as a shop owner, I have concerns as we head into this new frontier in a few months.

I checked one mock draft and sadly only one quarterback made it onto the top 10 prospect list (spot 10 to be specific) but the idea of no Topps base brand, Chrome, Inception, Finest, Five Star and others makes me wonder where my rent money next fall will be coming from.

Brad is interviewed by KDVR-TV.
Brad is interviewed by KDVR-TV.

The Man It’s Cool To Own A Card Store Award – This summer, one of my collectors asked if he could sell his cards in front of my store one day.  Now that’s not a request I get that often and it did not come from just anyone.  This one happened to be an Iraq veteran who was battling cancer.

Needless to say, my answer was yes.

Not only did my collectors step up and support him by buying loads of singles, but our local Fox affiliate got word of what was happening and led their newscast with the story.  That brought even more customers to the shop.

Much of the year, Mike’s was just a place to hang out, buy, sell or trade but the days I hosted Brad at my store were my favorite by far.

Frank Thomas auto 2015 Panini ImmaculateThe A Man Has Got To Know His Limitations Award – 2015 Panini Immaculate MLB – So you take a popular product with a history in both MLB and NFL, add some of the sweetest swatches and biggest names from the past and present and charge about half of what the NFL release goes for and apparently that’s all it takes for breakers to not even care that your products do not have team logos or names.

We went through case after case of Immaculate this year and many of those same collectors are chomping at the bit to get into cases of 2015 National Treasures MLB due this week.

Comeback Product Of The Year – 2015 Bowman’s Best MLB – The last time we saw Bowman’s 2015 Bowmans Best Hi Def Heritage Bryce Harper autoBest baseball made, Tim Lincecum was a rookie, Troy Tulowitzki was a (RC) and Dice K was a good investment.  I have to admit I got a bit nostalgic when I got the email sharing that Bowman’s Best was back.  Now we don’t have the same nine autos per box we saw in 2007, nor do we have the same $300 out of the gate box price.

Granted, just about any baseball release this year benefitted from autographs of Mr. Bryant, Carlos Correa, Joc Pederson, Kyle Schwarber, Byron Buxton, Joey Gallo and enough rookies to make us think it was a football crop, not a baseball crop.  Just like another December MLB release Topps Strata, we have gone through case after case of it and it doesn’t look like that will be stopping anytime soon.

Black Friday 2015 Panini packsPromotion Of The Year Award – Panini Black Friday – I think it is finally time to retire this award for good or at least rename it the BF Award.  For the umpteenth year, no other promotion has driven in box shredders like BF has.  I like opening my store on Thanksgiving about as much as DeAndre Jordan likes standing at the free throw line, but since I was not able to give out my Black Friday packs before 10PM MST on turkey day, I was not going to let my collectors down.  In a couple of hours, we went through dozens of boxes and even saw a Jameis Winston autograph /10 emerge.  The next few days my customers plowed through many, many more boxes and many more BF packs.

So there you have it.  I can only speak for my own card store in my own little neck of the woods.  I hope you got a chuckle out of this and my other efforts from the past year and feel free to share your own thoughts on Facebook or Twitter after you gave it a read.

Mike Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, CO. Normally, his column focuses on what products are selling best in hobby shops. He’s got thousands of cards for sale on COMC.com under the ID cardmn5150.  Enjoy new arrivals and big hits from Mike’s on Twitter.  Mike’s is always looking for more friends on Facebook  and you can email him at  [email protected]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

Topps Tribute hobby box 2015What’s Hot in the Shop: Would You Believe, Topps Tribute? Bowman 2015 Hobby boxWhat’s Hot: Bowman More Like Wow, Man 2015 Topps Tier One Don Mattingly bat knobWhat’s Hot in the Shop: Tier One Is Really Tier Wonderful Fruitman: ‘Tis the Season for Cardboard Promos What’s Hot: Top Sellers Range From Old Reliables to New Surprises What’s Hot: National Baseball Card Day Packs ‘Em in…and The Top 5 List 2018 Mikey Awards: Highs, Lows and Oh No’s What’s Hot: Top 5 Sellers Heading Into National Hockey Card Day What’s Hot: Better Question, What Isn’t?

Filed Under: Hobby Shop Talk Tagged With: 2015 baseball cards, 2015 football cards, Mikey Awards, What's Hot in the Shop

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click one and make a purchase, we receive a commission.  The revenue is what helps keep SC Daily afloat!

What\
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan Cards Under $5
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $100
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $75
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $5 and Less
  • Pre-1985 Graded Football Cards $5 and Less
  • Pre-1980 Graded Basketball Cards Under $10
  • Pre-1990 Graded Hockey Cards $5 and Less
  • Complete Sets Under $10 with Free Shipping
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1

RSS Auction Report

  • Steve Novella Offers PSA Graded Football and Basketball Ending January 26, 2021
  • CertifiedLink: Bid on Rookie Cards: Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Jordan, Gretzky, Mahomes & More! Ends Feb. 8th
  • Kobe Bryant Custom-Built Car on Goldin Auctions Block


Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forum
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cards
  • Game Used Jerseys
  • 1952 Topps Baseball
  • Championship Rings For Sale
  • Vintage Basketball Cards
  • NBA Signed Items
  • Signed Sports Memorabilia
  • UFC Memorabilia
  • Autographed Baseballs
  • NASCAR Autographs
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cards
  • Player Pictures
  • Vintage Football Cards
  • Sports Card Boxes
  • Sports Collectors Store

Pages

  • 100 Hottest 2019-20 NBA Rookie Cards
  • 100 Hottest UFC Trading Cards
  • 100 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 20 Hottest Barry Sanders Football Cards
  • 2016 Cubs Replica Championship Rings Don’t Cost a Fortune
  • 2017 Topps Definitive Collection Box Breaks, Most Watched
  • 2019 Toronto Raptors NBA Championship Memorabilia Guide
  • 2019 US Women’s World Cup Apparel, Merchandise, Memorabilia Guide
  • 50 Hottest Baseball Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Kareem Hunt Rookie Cards
  • 50 Most Watched Kevin Durant Auctions on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • 8 Types of Kobe Bryant Collectibles to Remember Him By
  • Aaron Judge Game Used Memorabilia Inventory Growing
  • About Us/Contact/Advertise
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Affordable Vintage Sports Cards and Collectibles
  • Barnebys Sports Memorabilia Auctions
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Best Derek Jeter Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Best Display Cabinets for Sports Memorabilia
  • Best Joey Votto Rookie Cards
  • Best Pascal Siakam Rookie Cards
  • Chiefs Super Bowl Champs Memorabilia Hits the Market
  • Current Most Watched Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Dale Murphy Rookie Card Remains Popular, Affordable
  • Eagles Super Bowl Champions Memorabilia Guide
  • Fanatics Under Wraps 2017 Next Level Edition Autographed Baseballs
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Frank Gore Rookie Cards Get No Respect
  • Gardner Minshew Rookie Cards Heat Up as Fun-Loving Rookie Shows His Ability
  • Great Gifts for Cubs Fans
  • Guide to 2018-19 Clemson Tigers National Championship Memorabilia
  • Guide to Houston Astros Championship Memorabilia
  • Guide to LSU National Championship Merchandise, Memorabilia
  • Guide to Nationals World Series Champs Memorabilia, Merchandise
  • Guide to St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup Champions Merchandise, Memorabilia
  • Guide to Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup Memorabilia
  • Hank Aaron Cards on eBay
  • Henrik Lundqvist Rookie Cards a Strong Long-Term Play
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Hottest 2019 Baseball Rookie Cards
  • Hottest 2019 NFL Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Chicago Bulls Memorabilia Auctions on eBay
  • Hottest Devin Booker Rookie Cards as Suns Star Piles Up Points
  • Hottest Kyle Lewis Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Lonzo Ball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Panini World Cup Stickers on eBay
  • Hottest Pokémon Card Auctions on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Hottest Topps Living Set Auctions on eBay
  • Hottest Topps NOW Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Xander Bogaerts Rookie Cards
  • LeBron James Lakers Jerseys Already Available
  • Links
  • Mickey Mantle Cards on eBay
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Popular Mark McGwire Rookie Card Auctions on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Kobe Bryant Basketball Card Auctions on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Topps Project 2020 Auctions on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Nick Bosa Rookie Cards Getting Collectors’ Attention
  • Patriots Super Bowl 51 Champions Merchandise
  • Ryne Sandberg Rookie Cards, Minor League Issues Still Collector Favorites
  • Selling Sports Cards on eBay for Cash
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Test
  • The 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Kris Bryant Auto Saga: A Timeline
  • Tony Gwynn Rookie Cards Recall “The Best Hitter Since Ted”
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Top Selling Patriots Super Bowl Championship Items
  • Upper Deck Authenticated Autographs Remain Popular, Accessible
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
  • Wade Boggs Rookie Cards Still a Collector Favorite
  • What’s Hot on eBay
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Where to Buy the Anthony Fauci Topps Baseball Card
  • Write About Your Sports Collection
  • Write for Sports Collectors Daily

Copyright © 2021 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Genesis Web Design by Wickam Group