For the third straight season, Topps has trotted out their Museum Collection baseball set to the delight of high-end collectors. The past two years of this release have delivered some of the most incredible swatches and bat cards out there and the 2014 version seems to be as good if not better than the first two (read about Museum and see the checklist here).
The 4 pack configuration seems to be embraced by shredders who want to pull some monsters without having to drop $300 or more on a box. Each box offers an autographed card, a multi-relic, a jumbo relic and an autographed relic card. It’s these guarantees that have made it easy for my shop to blow through our first case and be well into our second case of in a relatively short amount of time.
How about if we start off with the best of the best? Museum has 20 different 1/1 cut signatures possible with players like Babe Ruth, Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, Mel Ott, Willie Stargell and more. There’s a Pie Trayor on eBay right now. While less than two dozen of you out there will snag one of these
gems, it is sure nice to dream about, isn’t it?
Not cool enough for you? Fine, be that way. Museum also offers 1/1 MLB Logo cards with an entire logo swatch on them. The player selection is a bit more recent, but there are plenty of stars that should still be worth your attention. A checklist that includes Yasiel Puig, Stephen Strasburg, Freddie Freeman, R.A. Dickey, Carlos Gonzalez, David Oritz, Clayton Kershaw, Manny Machado and a few others should improve anyone’s collection. This Andrew McCutchen 1-1 has been generating a lot of eBay looks.
Now if you prefer your 1/1 relic cards to be bat related, then Museum thought of you as well. The Jumbo Lumber Bat Nameplate Relics are very popular. Just think of the coolest piece of a baseball bat carefully placed on a card and oh yeah, there are 100 different players possible. Check out this line-up that would make any All-Star manager jealous. Hall of Famers like Cal Ripken Jr, Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson, Robin Yount, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Wade Boggs, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Rickey Henderson, Pee Wee Reese, Nolan Ryan (by the way, I do love the irony of bat cards of pitchers), Johnny Bench and more.
The current player list is equally impressive with Mike Trout, Troy Tulowitzki, David Ortiz, David Wright, Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton, Alex Rodriguez (wait, is he current?), Matt Kemp, Matt Harvey, Evan Longoria and a few others.
Also back this year is the Framed Autographs insert with three different versions. There are gold versions /15, silver /10 and the incredibly popular blacks which are 1/1. These hard to find metal bordered cards appear only one per case. The player selection here is nothing to sneeze at with Willie Mays, Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, Griffey Jr, Bo Jackson, Greg Maddux, Bob Gibson, Randy Johnson, Jose Canseco, Sandy Koufax and many of the players you have already seen listed above. Check out the secondary market for these here.
Topps has put together loads more autographs and relic card sets for this release and it certainly seems to be working. As a shop owner, it is encouraging to see a release like this that is not rookie driven sell so well. Many of our box buyers have come back for more after giving them a try.
At my store, we have recorded a few box breaks of Topps Museum and please feel free to enjoy them here and here. Please also feel free to subscribe to our channel since we will now be recording more breaks from the store. Hopefully we can even get a few more Museum breaks posted soon.
Mike Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, Colo. You can read his column here every week (or close to it), focusing on what products are selling best in hobby shops. See his eBay listings here. 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]
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[…] of what’s happening in the market overall and that’s why it was fun to read the latest What’s Hot in the Shop and see Mike’s customers were enjoying 2014 Topps […]