Triple Threads MLB Topps The Hobby HoTTT List

Q – What do you get when you haven’t had a high-end MLB release since Topps Museum Collection hit March 28?

A – You get a group of baseball collectors who can’t get enough of a monster release with a longer winning streak than Vladimir Putin.

2014 Triple Threads Baseball once again hit with a bang and even though most collectors are in a NFL frame of mind, they seem to be finding enough coin to go through these $180.00+ boxes.  Since bumping up from the one hit per mini box to the current format with two, collectors now feel assured that getting skunked is a bit harder than before.

Seriously, few other releases offer such popular case guarantees like TTT does.  Seriously, it’s like a 1/1 producing machine set on overdrive.

Seemingly every card has a 1/1 parallel including printing plates, ruby parallels, wood parallels, the now legendary White Whale printing plate parallels, Cut Above autographs, (if that wasn’t enough) Dual Cut Above autographs, Jumbo/Number/Letter/Logos, Jumbo Patch Logos, Bat Knobs, Bat Name Plates, All-Star Jumbo Sleeve Patches Book Cards, Jumbo Laundry Tag Book Cards, MLB Silhouetted Batter Logo Patch cards and I’m sure that I left a few out.

The Dual Cut Above checklist is worth sharing in entirety.  The pairings include Ruth/Gehrig, Wagner/Hornsby, Greenberg/Clemente, Snider/Reese, Snider/Koufax and Yaz/Ted.  Any of those would make your case complete and a couple even might cover a college semester at a non-Ivy League school.

At the insane hour that I’m writing this, a  Jumbo Patch 1/1 Combo of Jeter/Rivera/Sabathia still had 19 hours and was bid just past the $1,000 mark .

Looking at the 1/1 All-Star game Jumbo Sleeve Patch cards makes you applaud the creativity of those crazy card designers in New York.  Truth be told, I don’t even care about Jhonny Peralta and I want to bid on this masterpiece.

Back are the expression cards which happen to be among my favorites.  I know some people want to go to the All-Star Game or World Series each year.  My goal is to one day be a fly on the wall when the different phrases are voted on during the ultimate annual super-secret meeting.  I’m not sure I could top “HEAD 1^ST” for Tim Raines, “UP ARROW” for Chris Archer, “WHAT A PEACH” for Ty Cobb, “DUCKS ON POND” for ALLEN CRAIG and the soon to be immortal “WUT DUZ THE FOXX SAY” for Mike Napoli.  Hey Topps, if you’re reading this, I will pay my own way and gladly put myself up for the night/weekend during which all these phrases are voted on (REALLY).

We actually had a collector over the past weekend that took down the last six boxes from a mini case and cleaned up like few other six-packs have delivered in my shop’s history.  While two of the three are easy to appreciate, the real gem might be the Mark McGwire Triple Hits card.  McGwire is once again being included in card sets.  When my lucky collector gets this card back it will be /10 and will feature an oversized handprint along with an autograph and a jumbo relic swatch.

Should you care to see the break for yourself, please feel free to check out all 6:34 from that break below.

In all, I would have rather seen this release during the summer when MLB had the full attention of sports fans, but with the creativity and success I have seen from breaks so far, it made hosting a break at my shop on 9/27 a no brainer.

And now for the rest of the Top 5 Hottest Products in the Shop:

2) 2014 Topps Chrome MLB – Even though it has been out for a bit, collectors are still digging the 2 autographs per box.

3) 2014 Topps Finest NFL – With 2 autographed rookie jerseys in each box, we have already moved through 4 cases of this annual delight.

4) 13/14 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection NHL – We’re still in the state where Nathan MacKinnon plays and shredders are still working their ways quickly through our cases.

5) 13/14 National Treasures NHL – See #4.

5A) While 2014 Panini Innovation MLB doesn’t hit until the morning after I wrote this, we already have commitments for our case.  In seeing the previews, something tells me this will be a few spots higher the next time I share  What’s Hot In The Shop.

Mike Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, CO where they’ve got a brand spanking new look to their website. Normally, his column focuses 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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