Now that the 2011 Topps USA Boxed Set has been released, the patch autos have returned, but with a twist.  Instead of a parallel being #’d to /99 or #’d to /50, the patch autographs are 1/1′s.  A bit of a let down for the USA brand, since it makes it hard to justify breaking the product now for plain relic autos, but man are they nice looking! (check out the Dom Nunez that’s full of dirt. Awesome!)

Clean design, multiple patch pieces, and some really nice swatches.  Enjoy the gallery and click the links for the auctions!

GAVIN CECCHINI

BRADY RODGERS

DOM NUNEZ

COLE IRVIN

CHRIS OKEY

It’s a walk-off.  Topps vs. Panini.  The twitter and blog game just got real.

Panini released more pictures of two upcoming products, 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition and 2011 Playoff Contenders. It’s great to see that they plan to extend these staple products in the prospecting landscape.  The new designs look…well…interesting to say the least.  I can’t decide if I like the designs, or they are just a bit off.  Team USA Alum Mikie Mahtook is shown below for both sets.

What do you think – YAY or NAY?

Here are the first pictures of the 2010 Bowman Chrome USA Baseball 18U Autographs.  The product is officially live on Wednesday (11/3) but I got my hands on some early images from FCB.

Yes, the USA chrome autographs have stickers, but at least we get to see the players on actual chrome stock. There are also dual autographs and colored parallels to these, which I have not seen yet.  Also, the  USA chrome buy-back autographs have not surfaced from early case breaks.

Check back for more early images from 2010 Bowman Chrome Baseball.

When you look at the current hobby landscape you notice one specific thing seems to sell well – Retro designed sets.  Allen & Ginter, T-206, Heritage, and others sell like hot cakes and the collectors stop at nothing to complete their sets (ex. Heritage Chrome Black Refractors!).

With the USA Baseball brand, Topps has a clear history in putting out cards of the past teams, dating back to the 1980′s.  The first big USA card was Mark McGwire in 1985 Topps, which is one of the most iconic cards in history.  They also put out USA cards of some sort in 1988, 1991, 1992, and 1993.  Most of the cards were inserted/sold/packaged under the Topps branding, but they also had some in Bowman and Stadium Club issues.

Back to present day, Topps officially has the USA license back and is looking to start churning out cards of the current teams (16U, 18U, Collegiate) in various products.  We have also been promised a boxed set, but that has no details as of yet. So, as a collector, would you buy a USA Baseball “Retro” product from Topps?

The details of the product would be as follows, with obvious tweaking based on what works best (and autograph exclusivity of certain players).

-Wax Product (18 packs, 7 cards)
-3 Team Sets - 16U, 18U, Collegiate
-3 Base Retro Designs – 1 per team

16U Base Set (1993 Topps)

Chrome Technology
Base Auto Parallel (500 Print Run)
4 Refractor Autograph Parallels
Refractor /250
Blue Refractor /100
Red Refractor /25
Superfractor /1

18U Base Set (1988 Topps)

Chrome Technology
Base Auto Parallel (500 Print Run)
4 Refractor Autograph Parallels
Refractor /250
Blue Refractor /100
Red Refractor /25
Superfractor /1

Collegiate Base Set (1985 Topps)

Chrome Technology
Base Auto Parallel (500 Print Run)
4 Refractor Autograph Parallels
Refractor /250
Blue Refractor /100
Red Refractor /25
Superfractor /1

MLB Alumni Autographs (1989 Topps Big) – 10 Subjects

Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Will Clark, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter, Ryan Howard
Chrome Refractor Technology /75
4 Refractor Autograph Parallels
Blue Refractor /25
Red Refractor /5
Superfractor /1

MLB Young Stars Alumni Autographs (1992 Bowman) – 10 Subjects

Pedro Alvarez, Evan Longoria, Justin Upton, David Price, Colby Rasmus, Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey, Stephen Strasburg, Matt Wieters, Ike Davis
Chrome Refractor Technology /250
4 Refractor Autograph Parallels
Blue Refractor /100
Red Refractor /25
Superfractor /1

16U, 18U, Collegiate, MLB Young Stars, MLB Alumni – Game-Used Insert Set(s)
New Retro version design of Triple Threads

Jersey – 350 Run (No Serial #’d)
Patch /100 (Serial #’d)
Patch Auto /10 (Serial #’d)
Flag Patch /1 (Serial #’d, Booklet)

1990 Topps George Bush – 20th Anniversary Chrome Insert

3 Refractor Autograph Parallels
Blue Refractor /50
White Refractor /25
Superfractor /1
Autographed Version – 10 Copies

WOULD YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT?