What’s Hot in the Shop: Dynasty Delivers

Earlier this summer when Topps approached hobby shops with the opportunity to order one five-box  case of 2014 Topps Dynasty baseball, I have to admit part of me was  wondering what I was doing when I clicked in my order on the Topps dealer website. There would be just one card in each pack at a hefty price point.  One.  With Topps Sterling a few years back, there were at least some commons to lessen a cardboard punch to the gut.

To their credit, Topps has not simply sat on their partnership with MLB.  Since getting the exclusive ability to manufacture trading cards of baseball players wearing their uniforms, they have signed players like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Ken Griffey Jr, Mark McGwire and many more names that turn heads in the hobby.  I knew there would be some big name autographs in 2014 Dynasty MLB.

I took my chance, ordered my five boxes and after selling out in about 24 hours, I am starting to wish my allocation was greater than that one case.   Being honest, ordering high-end products these days is not quite the reward for supporting earlier in the year releases that it used to be.  In the past, the amount of Exquisite, National Treasures and other monsters was based on how much low to middle end cases a shop brought in.  It was easy to have those ultra-high-end products hit, send out an email and get out of the way of hungry shredders as they plowed through box after box.

These days, with high-volume internet sellers and case breakers, those products get spread out differently and competition is so vastly different from how it used to be.  Sadly, too many of these titanic releases don’t do as well as shop owners would have liked.  Previous higher end releases from Topps like 2013 Topps 5 Star MLB and NFL did not exactly perform well.  Beyond those, the out of the gate activity on 2014 Topps Tribute MLB and most recently Topps Triple Threads has not exactly been Oscar worthy.

With 2014 Topps Dynasty Baseball, Topps has created a release with a single encapsulated card in it for $300 or more, depending on where you buy.  While the line to buy it doesn’t rival Apple stores with their iPhone 6 on release day, for sports cards it is long enough.  Sports card fanatics are definitely interested in this product.

The current and recently retired player checklist has more stars in it than most galaxies and each card is numbered to no more than 10.  Imagine pulling autographed cards with that print run of players like Albert Pujols, Bo Jackson, Bryce Harper (one of our collectors pulled one of those), Buster Posey, Cal Ripken Jr, Chipper Jones, Clayton Kershaw…we are not even up to the D’s and I want to break open my remaining two packs.

Beyond those players are the likes of Greg Maddux, Jose Abreu, Mariano Rivera, Mike Trout, Rickey Henderson, Willie Mays and a few others to get up to the 72 player base set checklist.  Top it off with 1/1 versions and it makes you wish like myself that this was the second or third year of Dynasty and not just its rookie season.

Sharp signature?  Check.  A nice chunk of a letter?  Check.  Going to sell for a lot?  CHECK!

Looking at some of the singles that have been previewed and already pulled, it looks like Topps has been secretly hoarding some of the sweetest swatches a jersey can offer for this set.  A quick run through the top 50 listings on eBay shows that every relic piece has at least two colors, if not many more.

I’m pretty sure the swatch on this card is 1/1 worthy.

They have also put together arguably the best cut signature list since the early days of SP Legendary Cuts. There are 41 players with 1/1 cut signatures such as Babe Ruth, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio, Kirby Puckett, Lou Gehrig, Roberto Clemente, Roger Maris, Satchel Paige, Ted Williams, Thurman Munson, Ty Cobb, Warren Spahn and even more jaw dropping names.  Suffice to say that over 50 people when you count the 10 players with 1/1 cut signatures and relic swatches will have to worry about not dropping these gems from shock when they bust their boxes.

It looks like someone pulled one of my dream cards already.

Sure players like Adrian Gonzalez, Evan Longoria, Manny Machado, Michael Wacha, Paul Goldschmidt, Shelby Miller and others made the list, which means there is a roll of the dice factor, but there are more than enough of the greatest to ever play to more than make up for them.  Yes, I know that’s easy for me to say since I won’t be breaking any.

With the release of 2014 Topps Dynasty baseball, it’s safe to say that the folks at Topps have shown that they can make premium releases with the best of them and perhaps a few years from now, we might be talking about dare I say, a high-end cardboard dynasty of their own?

Below is a list of the ‘most watched’ 2014 Topps Dynasty cards on eBay.  Below that…Mike’s top 5 selling products at present.

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Mike’s Top 5 Selling Current Sports Card Products

1) Almost any product that was part of Panini Black Friday 2014
2) 14/15 Upper Deck 1 NHL
3) 2014 Panini Totally certified NFL
4) 2014 Bowman Chrome Jumbo MLB
5) 2014 Topps Chrome NFL

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]