What's Hot in the Shop: Triple Threads Triumphs

When you go into a card store (and I hope you do regularly) you have the luxury of making your choice after a product releases, giving you a better idea how good the rookies are and how valuable their autographed cards are, based on recent sales.

When you own a card store and you are direct with Topps, you make your purchase a wee bit differently. I remember ordering 2015 Topps Triple Threads Baseball while in Las Vegas for the Industry Summit before a single team had been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, Kris Bryant was some kid who was putting together a solid spring training and the idea of Golden State winning the NBA championship was still a long shot worth wagering on.

So when it came time to guess whether it was wise to make a $3,000, $6,000 or$9,000 investment in a high-end release that came out after the NFL season started, it was a bigger gamble than you could find on any casino table one floor below the Summit level.

I remember standing with one of the reps from the MLPBA and asking him how many cases I should order just to share what it is like to order from Topps. We settled on two 18ct cases being the right amount and it shows that even someone with a bit more MLB insight than I had could make an error.

It turns out that buying six cases would have been the correct answer, but I am pretty sure that even if that had been my allocation, that I might not have jumped at the chance. Apparently nobody at Topps was told the rule about there being a 1 1/1 hit per case as some of the ones opened in my store have had as many as five such hits including signed versions from Mike Trout, Rickey Henderson and another uno of uno with signatures from Chipper Jones/John Smoltz/Greg Maddux.

You know a product is hot when you get multiple calls and emails from collectors imploring you to do a case break the following weekend. Here is the break we did featuring yours truly.

Looking at what the creative folks at Topps did for the 10^th anniversary of TTT, I’m particularly drawn to the booklet cards. The best of the booklet cards offer relics from 10 different players and would cause random.org to freeze up, curl into the fetal position and sweat profusely.

Don’t forget about All-Star Jumbo Sleeve Patches books. These little beauties feature the entire AGS patch in a 1/1 booklet form that will make player collectors cry when they get beat in auctions. Missed out on the sleeve patches? Perhaps you could settle for the 1/1 All-Star Laundry Tags books Set.

Fine, you like older players? No problem, Topps thought of you as well with an impressive selection of 1/1 cut signatures of players like Joe DiMaggio, Warren Spahn, Ted Williams Willie Stargell and more.

Without spending the next 15 minutes going over what else is in a release that has been out for a few weeks, you should get your LCS to put together a little 9 or 18ct shred fest of your own. Feel free to suggest they mail me all the Rockies singles as thanks.

Rounding out the Hot List are –

1) 14/15 Upper Deck The Cup Hockey – Sure it is about 36 hours old at the time I’m typing this, but we have moved multiple cases already and even hosted a case break over the weekend.

2) 2015 Topps 5 Star Baseball – This falls into The Cup brand new to the world, but with multiple cases out the door already, clearly collectors are embracing the new format. One of my shredders shared pics of three Hank Aaron autographs from his two cases. Thanks Topps for loading them up and I’ve got a little something for you when I see you next.

3) 14/15 Panini Flawless Basketball – Yup, another hot off the presses release that rolled. Looking at the top three releases and a new MTG release hitting in the AM, if you own a card store and do not make some bank this week, it’s time to find something else to do.

4) 2015 Bowman Chrome Baseball – Come on, not everything on this list could have come out on the same week or could it?

5) 2015 Panini Certified Football – This one might have been a bit higher, but I messed up and allowed myself to sell out of it. Many thanks to Mr. Winston, Mr. Mariota and Mr. Cooper for reminding us what a solid rookie crop out of the gate looks like.

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].