Yeah, I am keeping my streak of not attending The National intact for the umpteenth year and I am sitting in my basement in front of a computer looking at Facebook seeing pics of my hobby peeps basically having a blast…without me.
We’ve been here in Colorado, ripping open fresh cases as several new products hit the shelves.
So here is my non-partying, non-walking the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, non-hanging out with my hobby friends version of What’s Hot in the Shop. Can you tell that I wish I was there?
1) 2016 Topps Chrome Baseball – 
For lack of a better term, this came in like a wrecking 
ball. Three days in and my shop has gone through six cases and I wish I had brought in more than six jumbos and a couple of regular cases.
Collectors seem to be digging the jumbo boxes with five autographs per and the mix of rookie and veteran signatures are well worth it. One of our cases yielded a Bryce Harper auto /25. Sorry I do not have photographic proof.
Topps pulled a 2013 Bowman Draft Kris Bryant by inserting all the Carlos Correa autographs that were due to appear in last year’s release into the 2016 version and it all seems to be working so far.
2) 2015-16 Upper Deck Black NHL – Sure it was due a while ago, but who cares when it looks as good as it does. Every box has a single pack with one base card and five autographed or relic cards.
If you are lucky enough to find one of the signed base rookie cards of Connor, it is individually numbered to 199.
Our biggest hit after we flipped four cases in two days was a Wayne Gretzky autographed patch card out of just five made and one of our four box cases yielded two Dylan Larkin signed cards.
3) I really wanted to put 2016 Donruss NFL in this spot, but my distributor still has yet to deliver my cases so instead it goes to 2016 Leaf In The Game Used Hockey – 
We brought in one case and it lasted about as long as a cold Mountain Dew on a hot day in Vegas. While boxes could have used a few more autographs, the relic cards were simply stellar.
Some of the relic cards contained six or even eight swatches and the combinations were off the charts.
I would rattle off the names of possible players, but let’s just say it is every retired player you could possibly want.
4) 2016 Panini Certified Football – Did arrive and we have already gone through our direct order and are well through our second wave of restocks. Boxes once again offer 4 autographs or relic cards and all the rookies appear in their professional team uniforms.
My collectors do not mind knowing that Panini is recognizing the greatness of Peyton Manning.
Perhaps this will be the year in which one of my collectors finally pull one of those fabled 1/1 Mirror Black Shield Tags…nahhhhhhh!
5) 2015-16 Panini Noir Basketball – Just for fun, I found this as one definition for the word Noir -“A genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity.” I’m sure there are others. At least I hope they are because I would not want to believe that was the rationale for naming this set. Panini has made some serious advances with their NBA offerings in recent years and I had no problem finding a buyer for the case I was allocated by my distributor. Cases go for about as much as a nice mortgage payment, 450 Big Macs or 1800 things from Dollar Tree.
Boxes offer seven autographs or relic cards and the rookies are numbered to just 99 made. Let’s just say Panini placed everyone short of the big two into the autograph checklist and the prime relic cards are worthy of their name.
So there you have it. I did not spend the night losing all my funds at the soon to be closed Trump casino in Atlantic City or making my pedometer go “WOW” after walking the floor of The National. I spent it sharing some of the cardboard goodness from Colorado’s Best Card Shop. You’re welcome.
Mike Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, CO. 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].
