Wednesday, December 29, 2021

What Are The Top Questions For The Sports Card Market Heading Into 2022?


There is an ominous feeling within the sports card industry for 2022. Collectors are likely looking at the last full year of Topps branded major league baseball cards, as its MLBPA license expires at year's end. With the window potentially closing on Topps' MLB legacy (unless there is a Fanatics merger), we looked at three pressing questions for my Forbes Sports Money column that fans and collectors are looking for answers to in 2022.

Sunday, December 26, 2021

2021 Topps Chrome Black | Box Break and Review


After opening a box of 2021 Topps Chrome Black Baseball, it appears Topps has saved its best design for this late-season release. The black matte finish gives these cards a sleek look and feel that is markedly different from Topps' traditional releases. The deep black background isolates the players and cuts out much of the noise that comes with other Topps issues. With just four cards in each box, one is left with the feeling of wanting more cards from the base set before getting to the encased autographed card. 

2021 Topps Chrome Black Baseball Base Set and Checklist

The 100-card base set checklist is awash with rookies including Alec Bohm, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Joey Bart. Each card is also minted in Topps' standard parallel rainbow (Refractor #/199, Purple #/150, Green #/99, Green Atomic #/99, Blue #/75, Gold #/50, Orange #/25, Magenta #/10, Red #/5, Superfractor 1/1), giving collectors even more opportunities to chase down their favorite players from this set. 

2021 Topps Chrome Black Fernando Tatis Jr. / Topps

2021 Topps Chrome Black Baseball Autographs

The encased autographs, which come one per box, feature a mix of past, present and future stars. The signer list includes Hall of Famers Derek Jeter, Johnny Bench and Reggie Jackson, as well as Mike Trout, Luis Robert and all of the rookies included in the base set. These autographs also have serial-numbered parallels (Refractor #/150, Green #/99, Gold #/50, Orange #/25, Red #/5, Superfractor 1/1) that add excitement to the chase in each box. 

Topps sweetens the deal by adding a highly curated 21-player Super Futures autograph set that is numbered to 99 or less of top rookies and young stars such as Randy Arozarena, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto. 

2021 Topps Chrome Black Baseball Box Break

Watch our box break video below of 2021 Topps Chrome Black Baseball to see which autograph we pulled, as well as to get an up close look at the tremendous design that we think make this set one of Topps' best this year.

Sunday, December 19, 2021

2021 Topps Tier One Baseball | Box Break and Review


Topps rolled out one of its high-end products earlier this year with 2021 Topps Tier One Baseball. The three-card boxed product is a high-risk, high-reward proposition, as collectors hope to hit one or more autographs that justify the $250 price tag

Each box offers two autographed cards and one relic with a dizzying level of signature variations. A look at the checklist reveals nine different autographed card categories and an additional eight types of autographed relics. Major starts past and present are included in this set, with Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. alongside the recently deceased Hank Aaron and the Hall of Fame's newest member, Gil Hodges. 

Baseball's next wave is also heavily represented, as Topps highlights the game's emerging stars. Fans will find on-card autographs of coveted young talents such as Ke'Bryan Hayes, Jo Adell and Luis Robert in 2021 Topps Tier One Baseball. 

The set's design is crisp, with the photo and signature getting an even split on the front, giving the signature room to breathe without disrupting the card's flow. The thick card stock has a premium feel in one's hand, which should be expected at this price point.  

In the box Topps provided for this review, we scored a major hit that sure made 2021 Topps Tier One Baseball a fruitful dive. Watch the video below from our YouTube channel to see which superstar's autograph we pulled from the box.


Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Gil Hodges Finally Makes His Way To Cooperstown


No more debates about whether Gil Hodges belongs in the Hall of Fame. The 2021 Golden Days Committee voted Hodges in the Hall of Fame during its December vote, giving Hodges the 12 votes necessary for election. 

Leading up to the vote, I debated in my Forbes Sports column whether the Hall of Fame had a financial interest in electing Hodges, as past committees haven't been favorable to deceased candidates from his era. Apparently, the committee went all in on four candidates—Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso, Tony Oliva and Hodges (with Dick Allen narrowly missing), focusing on widening the Hall's reach, instead of focusing on the living candidates who could promote the museum. 

The three-time World Series champion (two as a player, one as a manager) died of a heart attack on April 2, 1972 during spring training with the New York Mets. Prior to his election, Hodges was the only Hall of Fame candidate eligible for the Veterans and Eras Committees that received at least 50% of the BBWAA vote and didn't get enshrined.


Saturday, November 27, 2021

An Early Look Ahead to the 2022 World Series and MLB Season

The 2021 World Series won by the Braves / Topps


The Atlanta Braves just overcame the Houston Astros to claim the 2021 World Series after what was an utterly enthralling season of baseball, but we are already thinking about how next season will go – and who might win the 2022 Fall Classic. 

Read on to find out who the favorites at vegasbetting.com to make the playoffs are – and what baseball fans can expect to see in the ballparks next year. 

Braves to Repeat? 

Atlanta ‘only’ won 88 games in the regular season in 2021 and was ranked third in the National League going into the playoffs. An excellent postseason run saw the Braves overcome Milwaukee in the NLDS, before beating favorites Los Angeles Dodgers in six in the NLCS. It then took another six games to get past Houston to win the World Series. 

There doesn’t seem to be too much appetite for backing the Braves to repeat in 2022. A lot will depend on whether Freddie Freeman will return, even though Atlanta should be fine to finish atop of what is a very inconsistent NL East. Anything can happen in the playoffs, of course, but Atlanta might not be celebrating again this time in 2022. 

Dodgers the Sportsbooks’ Favorites 

Unsurprisingly, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been named the favorites with the bookmakers to win the World Series next year. That was the case this year. The Dodgers won 106 regular season games, but couldn’t take the NL West; however, they got revenge against the Giants in the NLDS. 

There are plenty of question marks about the Dodgers going into 2022. A lot of money was spent two years ago to win multiple World Series – and that hasn’t quite happened. The flag was won in 2021, but there was no repeat. Now with many of their leading players as free agents, there is an uncertainty that hampers any real confidence in a Dodgers title.

MLB Teams to Look Out for in 2022 

It doesn’t look as though there will be many surprises in 2022. A bunch of teams will be expected to make repeat postseason appearances – but once it gets to that point, that is where things will get interesting. As far as the regular season goes, the NL West is worth keeping an eye on. San Diego was disappointing in 2021, but could upset either San Francisco or Los Angeles next year. The American League looks a little bit more predictable. Houston and the Chicago should win their respective divisions once again, while Tampa Bay should have the East locked up. The real battle in that division is with Toronto pushing to upset the Red Sox and Yankees to sneak into the wild card spots. 

Race for the Flag The 2021 

MLB playoffs showed that anything can happen once the regular season ends. Tampa won 100 games last year and then fell to the Red Sox in the ALDS – a team that won eight fewer in the regular season. Both number one seeded teams fell away well before the World Series too. Baseball’s postseason system might seem a little cruel to fans of other sports. After such a long and grueling regular season, only five teams out of 15 have a chance of progressing – and one of those only gets a one-off wild card game to stay in the competition. Whoever does make it to the World Series has definitely earned it. 

Final Words 

This article didn’t set out to confidently predict the winner of the 2022 World Series; however, hopefully you will see the race for the flag will be just as intense next year as it always has been. There will be some very familiar faces at the business end of the season – that’s for sure. But as far as the 2022 champion goes at this point it's all speculation.