The final card in my Chrome RC auto lot

    Another Topps Chrome RC autograph out of the 2014 product goes into my collection. This particular one is #181 Jordan Lynch. I learned from the back of the card that even though he was undrafted (no large surprise considering these can be had for a dollar or two on Ebay) he was a Heisman Trophy candidate as a QB for the Washington Huskies. I had a little time off today due to the holidays so I was considering swinging by the local card shop to grab another box regardless of how bad the product has tanked. There is a nice large lot tonight that ends on Ebay with tons of autos from this product that I'm going to shoot for instead. Impulse buys are usually not good, often you're just left with a sour taste in your mouth, especially if your box was bad. I think I'll pass today and see what goodies Ebay has to offer. 

While I was perusing the sportscollectorsdaily.com site (a great resource for box reviews and industry news I popped across an online shop that seemed to have reasonable prices, even on freshly pulled autographs and base singles. Next time you need to fill that hole in your base set or find that tough insert check out Football Card Shop. Even comparing to Ebay they seem reasonable and they have thousands of singles priced far better than similar items on the Beckett Marketplace.

Another 2014 Topps Chrome RC card autograph

Here's my second of three rookie autographs I got on Ebay last week. The design really is nice and the autograph is on-card for most of the set. I've seen a few (the Jake Matthews OT for the Falcons) where the autographs were on a sticker. As you can see by this one the autograph can be much bigger and have a sweeping look to it than those confined to those tiny stickers. Not all the players make use of the space they are given (and there sure are some lazy signers in this set) but when they do it looks really cool. This card is a prime example of that. People went bananas over the Money Manziel card, an example where the top rookie decided to inscribe "Money Manziel" below his autograph.

Some collectors were annoyed with the product as I've mentioned several times before. One collector, Mike Pereira had an excellent rant on Beckett which you can read here:

Mike Pereira

\This year’s Topps Chrome is awful because unlike last year there is no limit we know of on the base autos. Last year it was limited to 600 or less so we had as good as chance of hitting a Le’Veon Bell as hitting a Tyler Wilson. Now who knows how many Johnny Manziels are available while we keep getting multiples of players like Mike Davis in a single case. Without auto limits who’s to know that Manziel only signed 100 base autos while Davis signed 1000. Collectors have a worse chance of pulling something they want when the product is stacked with fillers. Topps is stacking the product with cheap filler player autos and hiding exactly how many are available for each player so they can make more cases and therefore make more money as collectors continue to open more product looking for players they want. And unlike last year if you take the stated Refractor total you are really only getting two numbered refractors since Topps is counting the three that everyone gets in a box that aren’t numbered (blue wave, pulsar, and green) and then three base reflectors. Leaving collectors only two total numbered cards per box instead of eight.

Topps Chrome Rookie Auto

     Here is one of the three rookie autographs I got in the mail today. I only paid 1.40 for each of the three and they are cards I need for the 2014 Topps Chrome collection I have going. I feel bad for the seller having to unload these three autographs so cheaply but that's the going rate for most of these. Boxes might plunge a little more in price now that the Odell Beckham RC Auto Superfractor has been pulled.

    All three of the cards I got are rookie players with no stats in 2014 so I guess they aren't what you'd call impact players. This watered down rookie autograph content really makes Topps look bad. I know they are still the best card company right now when it comes to football cards but collectors all around have been extremely disgruntled with this release. It has made me reconsider buying a box or two for sure. I'll be saving my money for something better and pick these autos and singles up for much less.

A National Treasure card

Today's card is a 2012 National Treasures Pro Bowl Colossal numbered to 49 copies. I got this one at the beginning of the year at Mike's Stadium Sports cards and just haven't added it to the collection yet. Although I don't see the need to celebrate the Pro Bowl with an entire set of cards I do like the alternate Jersey type, it does make for an interesting card at least. As a sucker for Broncos cards and memorabilia this is a great addition for me. 

A Sweet 2013 Finest card

This lot I bought last year is still being added to my collection bit by bit. Today's card is the Blue Refractor Jumbo Jersey Autograph of Brent Celek shown in the picture above (although my serial # is 2/99). This was one of the veteran autographs that Topps added to the 2013 content. I really have a thing for Eagles cards which is why this lot appealed to me, two nice Eagle TE cards all in a lot priced less than half of a box of Finest. His production fell off a bit in 2014 (31 catches for 339 yards and 0 TDs) but it's still a nice card and one I'm glad to own.

Why Not collect the best in the game?

I realized the other day that I have a small collection of both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady so why not try to go for good collections of both? My Tom Brady collection is a bit better with the 2000 Spx RC leading the way. My Manning collection also only has one rookie card (oddly enough) with his 1998 Topps Gold Label being the only card I have in this collection. Yesterday I added a Brady, today a Peyton and I think these might be the only ones I have left. The rookies of both are pretty out of sight with Brady having much less cards in 2000 than Manning did in 1998. Manning was hyped to the gills being the #1 overall pick as a QB, a rarity in this era. The same can be said of Andrew Luck right now, many people are asking why his cards are valued so much more than Russell Wilson and the answer is obvious. Luck can win games on his own, there have been many examples of this in this season alone. Put Wilson on a team with not much of a supporting cast and I don't think you would see the ability and "wowness" that Luck showcases. 

I'll be adding cards from previous breaks as I save up for my next Brady RC (any one will do but I'll try to get something in a lot) I decided it's best to focus my efforts on cards that will retain their value rather than rookies that won't even play a down. This is what smart collectors do and I think after many years I'm seeing the value of this.

Today's card is of Tom Terrific!

Today's card comes from 2014 Topps Chrome and is of course one of the best to ever play the game. These Fantasy Focus cards come at a rate of 2 per box. Since fantasy is such a fickle game I'd like to post the checklist here and see if there were any non-factors in 2014.

FF-AB Antonio Brown - Pittsburgh Steelers
FF-AG A.J. Green - Cincinnati Bengals
FF-AJ Alshon Jeffery - Chicago Bears
FF-AL Andrew Luck - Indianapolis Colts
FF-AP Adrian Peterson - Minnesota Vikings
FF-AR Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers
FF-BM Brandon Marshall - Chicago Bears
FF-CJ Calvin Johnson - Detroit Lions
FF-CK Colin Kaepernick - San Francisco 49ers
FF-CN Cam Newton - Carolina Panthers
FF-DB Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints
FF-DM DeMarco Murray - Dallas Cowboys
FF-DR Dez Bryant - Dallas Cowboys
FF-DT Demaryius Thomas - Denver Broncos
FF-EL Eddie Lacy - Green Bay Packers

FF-JC Jamaal Charles - Kansas City Chiefs
FF-JN Jordy Nelson - Green Bay Packers
FF-JR Jimmy Graham - New Orleans Saints
FF-JT Julius Thomas - Denver Broncos
FF-JW Jason Witten - Dallas Cowboys
FF-LM LeSean McCoy - Philadelphia Eagles
FF-MF Matt Forté - Chicago Bears
FF-ML Marshawn Lynch - Seattle Seahawks
FF-MS Matthew Stafford - Detroit Lions
FF-PM Peyton Manning - Denver Broncos
FF-RB Reggie Bush - Detroit Lions
FF-RW Russell Wilson - Seattle Seahawks
FF-TB Tom Brady - New England Patriots
FF-TR Tony Romo - Dallas Cowboys
FF-VD Vernon Davis - San Francisco 49ers

I'd say they nailed the list down pretty well with the exception of Adrian Peterson (legal troubles), Vernon Davis (30 year old tight end on poor offensive team this year) and Russel Wilson (never has been a top fantasy QB) By keeping this list short and sweet the team at Topps made this a little subset that I think anyone would enjoy putting together. Interestingly enough I had both Tom Brady and Andrew Luck on my fantasy team at the beginning of the year. Foolishly I dropped Brady early on the year when he was doing poorly thinking he was done. Brady proved me wrong as the year went on, in fact one of my hated opponents beat me using Brady. It's kind of like the fable of the eagle that gave one of his feathers to the archer and, as he lay dying looked at the arrow fletched with his own feather. Moral of the story is don't ever give up on Tom Brady. This card is a nice addition for me. I pulled it from my three team case break a few weeks ago.