Tag Archives: Zack Wheeler

2019 Mets Card Spring Preview

Posted by on 11 March 2019 Comments Off on 2019 Mets Card Spring Preview

Where do we go from here?

So, yeah, not much going on here these days. After a monster 2017, I took a step back in 2018 and have continued that in 2019. Keeping up with the current releases just isn’t as much of a priority for me because there’s just too damn much out there and most of it isn’t particularly interesting. After seeing what Topps did with 2019 Series 1 Jumbo, I’m not hopeful for a whole lot of value in their products this year. And with rising overhead costs on the secondary market, it’s getting harder to track down hidden gems on the low end. On the plus side, I’ve got tons of great stuff that has yet to be scanned, so I’m buried in work if I ever come up with something to put together. Not much of a plus side, but there it is.

2019 is a transition year for the Mets as the Captain has left the field and the front office had significant turnover. That translated into a flurry of offseason moves, but whether that turns into success has yet to be determined. Last year had to have been rock bottom (just look at how many cast-offs were on the roster), but there were still a few glimmers of hope (Cy deGrom) tinged with despair (deGrom’s extension talks). Basically, same old Mets.
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Product Spotlight: 2015 Bowman

Posted by on 3 September 2015 Comments Off on Product Spotlight: 2015 Bowman

In which I praise Topps for getting (some) things right

The evolution of the Bowman brand has been interesting lately.  Since the last major redesign in 2012, Bowman has added ice parallels, wave refractors, and mini shimmer refractors, removed the First Bowman Card designation, added a new 1st Bowman designation, introduced Bowman Black autographs, confused collectors with 2013 Kris Bryant Bowman Chrome autographs in 2014 products, added wrapper redemptions, ended wrapper redemptions, dropped the pretense of a “base set” in Bowman Draft, and much, much more.  After three years of incremental improvements, Topps reshuffled the deck in 2015 and brought order to an increasingly chaotic product.

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Product Spotlight: 2015 Topps Series 1

Posted by on 18 March 2015 Comments Off on Product Spotlight: 2015 Topps Series 1

Changing up the base Topps formula

When it comes to base Topps, there hasn’t been much of a difference from year to year in a long time. Most of the elements of the flagship Topps products date back to at least 2012, some all the way back to 2001. It was time for a change.

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Best Mets Cards of 2014

Posted by on 2 March 2015 Comments Off on Best Mets Cards of 2014

Firsts, lasts, and everything in between

It’s hard to believe that it’s March already. And this piece is two months late… Between Topps and Panini releasing products right down to the wire, chasing down cards, and chasing down answers, it took me longer than expected to get this the way I wanted it. 2014 brought us the first cards, first autographs, and first memorabilia from the first Mets player to win the Rookie of the Year award in 30 years. It also brought us the last autograph card from the first person ever to wear a Mets uniform.

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The Essentials: 2014 Mets Memorabilia

Posted by on 3 February 2015 1 comment

Panini Turns Variety Into Notoriety

With all of the cards released across dozens of products in 2014, it can be hard to figure out what is worth collecting and what might as well be forgotten. What makes something essential? It’s a mix of collectibility, notability, and attainability. Popular brands/inserts and autograph debuts will dominate here, not big money low-numbered parallels or big stars. Just about everything mentioned here should still be fairly easy to find on the secondary market at reasonable prices.

Now in the second year of the post-black era, the Mets memorabilia offerings in 2014 were a bit more colorful than they’ve been in the past. Color has been hard to find recently, but new blue and orange jerseys and a renewed focus on pinstripes at home helped to turn things around. It was looking like a great year for memorabilia until the black came back courtesy of Panini. The plague of “event-worn” memorabilia has now spread to baseball.

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The Essentials: 2014 Mets Autographs

Posted by on 2 February 2015 1 comment

The Prospect Boom Goes Bust

With all of the cards released across dozens of products in 2014, it can be hard to figure out what is worth collecting and what might as well be forgotten. What makes something essential? It’s a mix of collectibility, notability, and attainability. Popular brands/inserts and player debuts will dominate here, not big money low-numbered parallels or big stars. Just about everything mentioned here should still be fairly easy to find on the secondary market at reasonable prices.

2014 continued the Mets prospect autograph explosion that started in late 2013, but that fizzled out late in the year. While that meant lots of autographs for many top Mets prospects who had previously been overlooked, it was bad news for the Mets’ 2014 draft class, which is still waiting for its first autograph card from Topps.

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