Posts Tagged ‘First’

Rising Rookies: Topps’ First 2011 NFL RCs to Land in May

By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor

Topps revealed this morning that its first 2011 NFL Rookie Cards will be released in May with the Rising Rookies set.

Featuring the to-be-determined top 2011 NFL Draft picks, Rising Rookies comes 10 cards per pack in every 24-pack hobby box. Each box yields  21 inserts and four hits (including two-per-box autographs) which could fall in the following forms:

• On-card Rookie Autograph NFL Draft Logo Patch cards
• On-card Rookie Autograph NFL Shield Logo Patch cards
• Autographed jumbo Relic cards
• Autographed jumbo patch cards
• Rookie 1/1 parallels
• 1/1 Rookie and Base Card printing plates

Each pack should shake out four rookie cards and one rookie parallel. With 100 players appearing on their first Topps Rookie Cards and a base set filled with proven players, this line is designed to satisfy prospecting and veteran collectors alike.

As we continue to fend off Old Man Winter, Topps will continue to prune and grow Rising Rookies  for its May, 2011 release. Stay tuned here and on Beckett.com for more blooming details.

First look: 2011 Bowman Platinum baseball cards

By Chris Olds | Editor

You might not have fully digested your first helping of Bowman Platinum, but the next helping is already here.

Topps released preview images and basic product information for 2011 Bowman Platinum on Thursday, a product that will arrive in late-June — just months after the product made its baseball debut.

There will be two prospect autographs as well as one autographed Relic in every 20-pack hobby box. Each 12-box case will include one multi-autograph card and redemptions for on-card autographs from the latest crop of USA Baseball players.

The product will mark a high-end (Chrome) arrival of Bryce Harper autographs as the 18-year-old No. 1 overall pick is slated to have a Chrome Refractor Prospect autograph in the product as well as appear on the triple-autograph card (top) also signed by Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman.

There will be four Bowman Platinum cards per pack along with one Chrome prospect card — which is down from 2010. The Prospect set will include 100 cards. The base set (non-prospects) will include 100 players — a mix of veterans and rookies — and will have Gold, Emerald and Ruby parallels.

The Chrome prospect autographs include 1/1 SuperFractors and Printing Plates along with Red Refactors (/5), new Gold Refractors (/50), Blues (/99) and Greens (/399). The crop of prospect signers includes Harper, Jameson Taillon, Manny Machado, Christian Colon, Matt Harvey, Matt Lipka, Brandon Belt and many others.

For autographed Relics, new this year are SuperFractor patches, while there will be Red, Gold, Blue and Greens to be found. Among the signers for that set are Evan Longoria, Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Logan Morrison, Jason Heyward, Starlin Castro, Carl Crawford, Mike Stanton, Aroldis Chapman, Pedro Alvarez, and many others.

The multiple-autograph cards will feature duals (two prospects), triples (prospects and veterans), Hexagraph booklet cards — six autographs — which also will be found in patch versions (new this year). And it’s here where the combinations really take shape. Among the preliminary checklist inclusions are:

– Dual auto Relics: Heyward-Freddie Freeman, Buchholz-Phil Hughes, Stanton-Domonic Brown, Madison Bumgarner-Buster Posey, Adrian Gonzalez-Crawford, Yovani Gallardo-Zack Greinke.

– Dual autos: Harper-Taillon, Machado-Colon, Mike Montgomery-Moustakas.

– Triple autos: Strasburg-Harper-Zimmerman, Heyward-Stanton-Brown, Posey-Brandon Belt-Gary Brown, Nick Markakis-Matt Hobgood-Machado, Taillon-Chapman-Shelby Miller, Machado-Colon-Grant Green.

– Hexagraphs: Longoria-Robinson Cano-Dustin Pedroia-Jeremy Hellickson-Jesus Montero-Jose Iglesias, Harper-Heyward-Stanton-Josh Hamilton-Justin Upton-Brown, Joey Votto-Justin Morneau-Kendry Morales-Miguel Cabrera-Ryan Howard-Gonzalez.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

First look: 2011 Bowman Platinum baseball cards

By Chris Olds | Editor

You might not have fully digested your first helping of Bowman Platinum, but the next helping is already here.

Topps released preview images and basic product information for 2011 Bowman Platinum on Thursday, a product that will arrive in late-June — just months after the product made its baseball debut.

There will be two prospect autographs as well as one autographed Relic in every 20-pack hobby box. Each 12-box case will include one multi-autograph card and redemptions for on-card autographs from the latest crop of USA Baseball players.

The product will mark a high-end (Chrome) arrival of Bryce Harper autographs as the 18-year-old No. 1 overall pick is slated to have a Chrome Refractor Prospect autograph in the product as well as appear on the triple-autograph card (top) also signed by Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman.

There will be four Bowman Platinum cards per pack along with one Chrome prospect card — which is down from 2010. The Prospect set will include 100 cards. The base set (non-prospects) will include 100 players — a mix of veterans and rookies — and will have Gold, Emerald and Ruby parallels.

The Chrome prospect autographs include 1/1 SuperFractors and Printing Plates along with Red Refactors (/5), new Gold Refractors (/50), Blues (/99) and Greens (/399). The crop of prospect signers includes Harper, Jameson Taillon, Manny Machado, Christian Colon, Matt Harvey, Matt Lipka, Brandon Belt and many others.

For autographed Relics, new this year are SuperFractor patches, while there will be Red, Gold, Blue and Greens to be found. Among the signers for that set are Evan Longoria, Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Logan Morrison, Jason Heyward, Starlin Castro, Carl Crawford, Mike Stanton, Aroldis Chapman, Pedro Alvarez, and many others.

The multiple-autograph cards will feature duals (two prospects), triples (prospects and veterans), Hexagraph booklet cards — six autographs — which also will be found in patch versions (new this year). And it’s here where the combinations really take shape. Among the preliminary checklist inclusions are:

– Dual auto Relics: Heyward-Freddie Freeman, Buchholz-Phil Hughes, Stanton-Domonic Brown, Madison Bumgarner-Buster Posey, Adrian Gonzalez-Crawford, Yovani Gallardo-Zack Greinke.

– Dual autos: Harper-Taillon, Machado-Colon, Mike Montgomery-Moustakas.

– Triple autos: Strasburg-Harper-Zimmerman, Heyward-Stanton-Brown, Posey-Brandon Belt-Gary Brown, Nick Markakis-Matt Hobgood-Machado, Taillon-Chapman-Shelby Miller, Machado-Colon-Grant Green.

– Hexagraphs: Longoria-Robinson Cano-Dustin Pedroia-Jeremy Hellickson-Jesus Montero-Jose Iglesias, Harper-Heyward-Stanton-Josh Hamilton-Justin Upton-Brown, Joey Votto-Justin Morneau-Kendry Morales-Miguel Cabrera-Ryan Howard-Gonzalez.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.