Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Will an Extra "Hit" Make 2009 Topps Sterling Any Better?

Yesterday Topps announced that an additional game-used jersey card #'d/25 will be included in each pack of 2009 Topps Sterling at no additional cost. Is it going to make a difference? In the grand scheme of things, I doubt it.

Changing things up a bit from last year, Topps is doing away with player-specific packs and opting for themes instead like "Triple Crown Winners" and "Charter Hall of Fame Members." Get ready for more letter windows for jersey swatches, I'm guessing.

Jersey cards are done. Slap two swatches, five swatches, eight swatches and whatever serial number you want and not many people are going to care. There's literally millions of these things out there. Yes, some look nice and I'd love to have them in my collection but they're so plentiful none standout anymore unless they've got a massive swatch, colorful patch or some other gimmick that's likely based on real rarity instead of an arbitrary number on it. Sorry, but an extra plain jersey card isn't going to make me consider this release any more.

Then again, I'm not the market for these. The almost $250 presale price for five cards could net me a box of 2010 Topps Baseball, a box of 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights and probably both the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded sets. It's a no-brainer for my collecting habits that focus on sets and old-time rookies over generic "hits." So for those who like the chase and are all right with spending $250 on a pack, will this added content make you consider this set any more than before?



2 comments:

beardy said...

do. not. want.

i will pick up orioles singles on ebay for 1/20th of the box price though.

TheIronLung said...

If they're going to focus on jersey swatches, they need to focus on larger jersey swatches. Enough with 4 small pieces and calling it a quad... give me a big one! In my book, hard-signed autos are the key to any high-end product.

Canada Card World - The Blog
Hockey Card Heaven