As we head into the final two months of the calendar year, there’s a mix of low and high-end sports card products set to arrive at hobby shops, online retailers and case breakers.
Courtesy of Maine Sports Cards, here’s a look at some of what’s on the docket.
2017 Topps Five Star Baseball (11/1)
Five Star is about the simplest product you can find. There’s no base set–just two autographed cards per box at a cost of around $120 online. There are rookies, veterans and retired greats and, of course, autographed memorabilia cards.
Some of the big hits will be the cut autographs of deceased Hall of Famers (the Ty Cobb 1/1 has already been pulled). Heart of a Champion autographs highlight players who have had great post-season performances. Inscriptions cards have players adding a nickname or other note to their signature. You can get a full preview and checklist here.
Maine Sports Cards will be breaking boxes of Five Star this week.
2017 Topps Luminaries Baseball (11/8)
If you’re looking for something even more limited, the newest addition to the Topps MLB line might be up your alley. Luminaries offers just one autographed card per box. Each will be limited to no more than 15 copies and each will be encased. The bigger hits will include book cards carrying multiple signatures.
Cross your fingers as you open the box, though. You’ll pay around $280 for your shot at a big score.
2017-18 Donruss Basketball (11/8)
Panini’s old school Donruss style returns with this lower cost NBA issue. There are 24 packs of 10 cards in each box with one autograph, one memorabilia card and 24 insert cards. Many of the autographs will be from this year’s rookie class.
Dominators Signatures will have a rookie element but also a veteran group that includes Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird and Shaquille O’Neal.
2017-18 Donruss basketball will come in hobby, retail and blasters, all of which are available online.
2017 Panini Immaculate Football (11/8)
Immaculate is back with five autograph or memorabilia cards and one base or base parallel for $375-$400 per box (preview here).
Rookie Patch Autographs, big patches, shields and other relics are the draw once again. The Super Bowl Moments autographs look like possible standouts.
2017 Topps Archives Signature Post-Season Edition (11/8)
Originally scheduled for an October release, Topps had to delay this one until after the 2017 baseball season is over, which is disappointing considering the checklist is all about post-season standouts from the past but maybe collectors who loved the playoffs this year (and who didn’t?) will use this as a baseball fix.
Like the other Archives Signature runs, there’s one plastic-encased card from a previous Topps release with an on-card signature and an Archives stamp. The cost is fairly reasonable with boxes available online for $40-45.
2017-18 Upper Deck Series One Hockey (11/9)
It’s n
ot the most expensive hockey card product the NHL’s partner produces but Upper Deck sells a lot of its flagship set and Series 1 gets the ball rolling. The annual Young Guns subset (six per box) is always a draw, along with the Canvas cards and Day with the Cup inserts that are very tough pulls.
One of the rare releases that is built, at least in part, around the base set, Series One offers a checklist of 250 with parallels numbered to 100 and even a Glossy parallel with each card numbered to 10.
Boxes are around $90 on eBay at the moment.
2016-17 Panini Flawless Basketball (moved from 11/10-11/17)
Yes, you read that date right. Once scheduled for release around the start of the new season, Flawless as pushed back to where it’s now arriving even later. Not that collectors really care that much when it comes to this type of product. It’s all about the big score with Flawless, which is again packed in a metal briefcase.
Every card you’ll see is numbered to 25 or less. There are ten cards per box (er, briefcase), at least seven of which will be autographed and every signature in the product is signed on-card. There will be one encased base or base parallel diamond card and one encased autograph card. Every jewel card in Flawless is now a single, double, triple or jumbo diamond.
You can check out online pricing here.
Other products slated for release during the first half of the month include: Immaculate soccer, Tri-Star Game Day Greats football, Leaf In The Game Signature hockey and Leaf Lumber Kings hockey.
Maine Sports Cards offers daily breaks of current and past products you can watch online. You can learn more about how to get involved in their box and case breaks and even sell your cards through their website by clicking here.
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