This is a bit of a teaser, but at least it has some info for you all.  Topps has released some preliminary info for the 2011 USA Baseball Boxed Set. We have yet to see any images of the cards, as well as a checklist, but we do know the key points in regards to the structure of the product.

• 61 card base set
• 3 teams are featured: Collegiate (22 players), 18U (19 players), and 16U (20 players)
• Each sealed boxed set will include (7) Autographs and (3) Relics
• All base cards will feature 1/1 printing plates

For the autographed cards and triple relic cards, there is a new addition to the product structure…

…..new this year will be Gold parallels — cards limited to just 25 copies singed in gold ink. There also will be red (/99) and Green 1/1 parallels as well. Autographed Triple Relics will have Gold (/20) and Green (1/1) foil parallels as new additions along with the Reds limited to 25.

Triple Relics will be paralleled with Red foil (/25) and Gold (/10) while there also will be Green 1/1s to be found.

For insight into the rosters for the Collegiate/18U/16U teams, check out USAbaseball.com for names eligible for the set.  Once the checklist goes live, check back for more info on this USA release from Topps.

[Source]

It took a little while (probably longer than it should have), but the first 2011 Bowman Chrome USA 18U Superfractor auto entered and exited the market.  It turned out to be one of the players with the most upside, both hobby-wise and potential, in the entire set.

I really thought it would sell for more, given the prices of the other parallels.  Whoever ended up snagging it got a pretty solid deal.

Watch out for Walker Weickel.  Already standing at 6’6 205lbs, he’s about as projectable as a pitcher comes from the right side.  Touching 94 at this point can only mean scout salivate over his potential as he fills out down the road.

After all the speculation and confusion on the 2011 Topps Chrome USA Collegiate Team Auto redemptions, we finally see them….LIVE!  A collector on Freedom Card Board Forums just got theirs in the mail, which happen to be the Atomic Refractor versions #’d /10 copies.

As you can see, the cards look great, albeit for the sticker autos (pretty much expected).  What was originally thought to be a redemption for entire sets of parallel autos, turned out to be 5-card packs of cards.  Each redemption card has randomly selected players of the given parallel, so good luck trying to get an entire set of the rarer parallels.

This collector made out extremely well on his player assortment.  Mark Appel and Deven Marrero are arguably the best of the set.

Another USA season is starting, which means the USA card license is once again in full swing.  Topps still holds the licensing rights, so they planned another schedule of release dates for the Team USA autographs, spread out over multiple releases.  While the 2011 Topps Chrome autos (Collegiate) are only in redemption form and the 2011 Bowman Platinum redemption autos (Collegiate) are cheaper than cheap, we finally have the first live and significant set.

The 18U team are once again autos in 2011 Bowman Chrome, featuring a lackluster team of players (arguably so), and the prices are reflecting of this.  Two of the best players - Albert Almora and Nelson Rodriguez – are back for repeat USA autographs.  The rest of the roster is pretty pedestrian outside of Gavin Cecchini and Addison Russell.  The most notable pitching prospect is Walker Weickel, who oozes projectability in his 6-6, 205 lb frame. High risk and high reward.

It might be early in the USA season for sales to pick up, but these have also been fueled by projection and potential.  While it was always nice to see some of the players perform on the world stage, the draft hype train pushes them to higher levels.  Based on all the variables, we have a low level of hype and few names to really carry the value.  It pains me to say this but these are nice to have as more personal collection items at this point. The sustainability and growth just isn’t there, at least until the hype train starts rolling.

The full checklist is below, along with market links for each player.  Feel free to check them out and see if you can get your favorite prospect at low prices.

18U-1 Albert Almora
18U-2 Alex Bregman
18U-3 Gavin Cecchini - Orange Refractor Sale: $97
18U-4 Troy Conyers – Red Refractor Sale: $118
18U-6 Chase DeJong
18U-8 Carson Fulmer
18U-13 Cole Irvin
18U-15 Jeremy Martinez
18U-17 Chris Okey
18U-18 Cody Poteet
18U-19 Nelson Rodriguez
18U-21 Addison Russell - Red Refractor Sales:  $210 and $205
18U-22 Clate Schmidt
18U-24 Hunter Virant
18U-25 Walker Weickel - Red Refractor Sale:  $140
18U-26 Mickey White
18U-28 Jesse Winker