2016 Topps Now Baseball - Regular Season in the Books

Ryan Cracknell over at Beckett.com has compiled an excellent, all-inclusive checklist of the 2016 Topps Now Baseball set. His data includes the player name(s), team, event summary, date of event and total print run for each card. An eBay auction link is even provided for most of the cards, taking you right to any examples that are are currently available for sale on the platform.

Ryan's excellent NOW article and checklist can be found here.

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2016 Topps NOW Baseball - The First 158

Topps has kept the NOW cards a comin' since our last update on May 29, releasing another 52 cards in the past 20 days. In our second update on May 4, we did a little math and estimated that the NOW set might feature around 300 cards by season's end... At the current rate of issue, we'll have to bump that estimate up to 350 or so by season's end. 

Back on May 29 we highlighted the fifteen cards with the highest print runs, as well as the fifteen with the lowest. Beginning with an updated list of the fifteen highest print runs, we see a few new cards on the list that are highlighted in red:

#57          Bartolo Colon          8,826

#68          Max Scherzer          3,746

#69      Noah Syndergaard      3,670

#102         Julio Urias RC         2,992

#154         Ichiro Suzuki         2,798

#123      Corey Seager RC      1,900

#30          Jake Arrietta          1,808

#29            Kris Bryant            1,644

#12       Nomar Mazara RC       1,427

#59          Bryce Harper          1,366

#11         Tyler White RC         1,350

#9         Trevor Story RC         1,298

#20          Bryce Harper          1,286

#129     Cubs (Dual-Sided)     1,278

#122        Trea Turner RC        1,276

King Bartolo is in no danger of losing his crown when it comes to the highest print run. Ichiro's status as the all-time hit leader among Japanese and American pro baseball gave him a respectable run of 2,798 cards, but still not in the same time zone as Colon. Two new rookies, Corey Seager and Trea Turner, entered the list while three dropped off of it (Mazara, Story and Maeda). The fourth card to crack the above list is the first dual-front NOW card to be printed, which features four star players from the Chicago Cubs (in recognition of their fast pace to win 40 games this season).

While just two new cards have snuck on to the fifteen lowest print runs list since the last update, one of them has managed to take the top position. Twelve-year veteran and Blue Jays all-star Edwin Encarnacion's card released on June 11 has a print run of just 207, edging out former chart-topper Evan Gattis' run of 212. Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker grabs the fourth spot on the list with a print run of 216 cards. All of these are definitely worth keeping an eye on:

#141   Edwin Encarnacion   207

#79          Evan Gattis          212

#67        Chris Iannetta        215

#144     Matt Shoemaker     216

#52     Piscotty/Holliday     217

#24      Melvin Upton Jr.      226

#78      Kendrys Morales      227

#51         Corey Kluber         229

#53     Colorado Rockies     231

#8          Albert Pujols          244

#22           Chris Sale           244

#26         John Lackey         244

#58           Aaron Hill           246

#49        Justin Smoak        252

#66     Marwin Ganzalez     253

Mariner Dae-ho Lee maintains the lowest print run for a rookie with 363, but another rookie with a slightly higher run, Trayce Thompson, is one to watch. With a run of 431, the 25 year-old Dodgers' slugger has the potential to be a longball hitter for years to come (he also has a second card in the set with a run of 566). As we mentioned on the last update, Rangers rookie star Nomar Mazara is featured on three cards thus far in the NOW set, with his second card (#47) having a print run of just 468. Definitely keep an eye on the Mazara and Thompson issues.

These are attractive cards, and Topps has managed to build a nice fanbase of NOW collectors. If I had to choose one thing I didn't like about the set thus far, it would be the overuse of Gatorade/water celebration shots; I'd hate to see 20 or more of them by season's end!

As always, collect whatever makes you happy. Most collectors can't afford to purchase these cards on a daily basis, but you can guarantee that more bundle-style and pick-'em deals will be listed on eBay in the weeks to come. 

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2016 Topps NOW Baseball: The First 100 Plus

As the 2016 Topps NOW Baseball set continues to rapidly expand, collectors are closely monitoring the newly released cards on a daily basis. New records for both the highest and lowest print runs have been set since we reviewed the first fifty cards not quite a month ago. Numbers geeks such as myself are having a ball in the process.

If you happen to be unfamiliar with the the Topps NOW concept, we talked about it in this blog post. Basically, collectors have a 24 hour window to order a Topps NOW card, by logging on the the Topps website. Topps announces the print run of each card shortly after the ordering window has closed. It has been fascinating, to say the least, to follow the print runs and values of these cards thus far this season.

Let's look first at the lowest print runs up to this point. Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis  holds the distinction of having the fewest cards printed to date, with a mere 212 copies distributed to commemorate his game-winning home run on May 17. Right on his tail is Mariners catcher Chris Iannetta, who had 215 cards printed to also honor a game-winning homer; this time on May 11. While both players certainly deserve a card in the set, neither is known as a player with great offensive numbers and both play for teams with smaller fan bases. The card that features the third lowest print run is somewhat of a surprise to me; budding star Stephen Piscotty and seasoned vet Matt Holliday of the Cardinals share a NOW card with a print run of just 217 examples. From there the trend set by Gattis and Iannetta continues, with Padres outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. having a print run of 226 for a card that commemorates his game-winning home run on April 16.

Here's a look at the sixteen cards with the lowest print run thus far (Liriano and Davis are tied for fifteenth place):

#79         Evan Gattis         212

#67      Chris Iannetta      215

#52    Piscotty/Holliday    217

#24    Melvin Upton Jr.    226

#78    Kendrys Morales    227

#51       Corey Kluber       229

#53   Colorado Rockies   231

#8        Albert Pujols        244

#22         Chris Sale         244

#26       John Lackey       244

#58         Aaron Hill         246

#49      Justin Smoak      252

#66    Marwin Gonzalez    253

#55   Giancarlo Stanton   259

#1     Francisco Liriano     266

#13        Chris Davis        266

 

The largest print runs make for an interesting study. For starters, the first five cards with the highest runs all feature pitchers... And the current king of the Topps NOW castle isn't even close. Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon set an MLB record on May 7, when he clubbed his first home run at the age of 42. In response, the NOW card created for Colon's feat was purchased in incredible quantities; a whopping 8,826 copies were sent out to collectors. Nats ace Max Scherzer comes in a distant second with a run of 3,746 cards to note his 20 K performance on May 11.  Colon's Mets teammate Noah Syndergaard currently holds third place with a run of 3,670 cards to commemorate his spectacular showings on both the mound and the plate on May 11, coincidentally on the same day as Scherzer's aforementioned performance. 

The fifteen highest print runs thus far are as follows:

#57       Bartolo Colon       8,826

#68       Max Scherzer       3,746

#69   Noah Syndergaard   3,670

#102      Julio Urias RC      2,992

#30       Jake Arrietta       1,808

#29        Kris Bryant        1,644

#12   Nomar Mazara RC   1,427

#59       Bryce Harper       1,366

#11     Tyler White RC      1,350

#9     Trevor Story RC     1,298

#20      Bryce Harper      1,286

#88      David Wright      1,014

#98    Nomar Mazara RC    996

#4       Trevor Story RC       981

#7      Kenta Maeda RC       952

Seven of the fifteen cards with the highest print runs feature the "rookie card" designation. The rookie with the fewest cards printed thus far is Mariners slugger Dae-ho Lee, who smacked a game winning home run on April 13. At 33 years of age, Lee already has fifteen seasons of foreign professional baseball experience under his belt and is obviously predicted to have a short MLB career. Nomar Mazara's second card in the set (#47) has a print run of just 468, and has the potential to be a "sleeper." Having just turned 21, one might expect to see highlights of Mazara for the next fifteen or so years. On the high side of the print run, nineteen year-old Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, who made his MLB debut on May 27, is featured on card #102 with a run of 2,992 copies.

Regarding values, the Bartolo Colon home run card (#57) sold for upwards of $50 in the days immediately following it's release on May 8. It has since cooled down to the $20-$25 range, and I expect it to drop to ten bucks by season's end. Trevor Story has four cards in the set thus far, with his first one (#4) being the hottest. Also briefly selling in the $50 range at one time, this card can currently be purchased on eBay for $15 or less. The first two NOW cards released, Francisco Liriano (#1) and the Kansas City Royals (#2), each sell for $35 or higher when they appear on eBay. Only a few examples of each have found their way to the secondary market as of now, which helps to account for their seemingly high values.

It'll be time to review the first 150 NOW cards soon enough. I doubt that King Bartolo and poor E-Gatt will be knocked from their titles as highest and lowest print runs, but you never know. I hope everyone enjoys what they collect, and the best of luck to you with your search!

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2016 Topps NOW Baseball: The First 50

Click here for a brief description of the 2016 Topps NOW Baseball cards.

It took exactly one month for Topps to issue the first 50 cards of their inaugural "NOW" baseball set. As the owner of several of these cards, I consider myself a fan of both the look and the idea behind them.

Now that we've had a full month to watch the set unfold, we kinda have a feel for how this whole thing works... We know that a promising rookie will have a higher print run than a veteran who has a random great game. From an investment standpoint, however, the rookie cards still hold the most promise. It will be up to set collectors to drive the demand for cards featuring veteran players like Mark Trumbo and Melvin Upton Jr, even though these print runs are quite low. 

Speaking of set collectors, will there be many of them? By doing a bit of simple math, we can estimate that the 2016 NOW set may feature around 300 cards by season's end. That wouldn't be considered many cards if a set were assembled from packs; but because these NOW cards are offered one at a time from Topps' website, it becomes a much more difficult and expensive proposition. Some eBay sellers have already begun to offer "bundles" of cards, as well as the chance to pick the cards you need from their list. Even so, if the average cost of each card is $7, the total cost of a 300 card set will be... Yikes.

Of the first 50 cards, eleven of them feature a rookie (Trevor Story is found on four of them). As I mentioned in my original post about these cards, I purchased my first NOW cards from Topps on April 10 when they offered rookie Nomar Mazara of the Rangers. I paid my $80 for 20 of them, and three weeks later Mazara has claimed A.L. rookie of the month. While I'm not much of a speculator, I couldn't resist trying to kill two birds with one stone; Mazara provided the opportunity to both enter the NOW market at a good time and possibly provide trade bait/money for other oddball cards. As a bonus, it's a heck of a lot of fun to follow a prospect when you have a small stack of their cards lying on your desk.

The other card I've purchased directly from Topps is that of Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia, released on April 15. I figured the print run would be low and grabbed ten of them; Topps printed 300, which was the exact number that I predicted to be on the high end (in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have released a blog post telling everyone to buy the guy). I've purchased two additional players from the secondary market off of eBay; Chris Sale of the White Sox (244 cards printed) and Melvin Upton Jr. (226 cards printed, the lowest total so far). 

In my opinion, the biggest surprise regarding any of the print runs so far features Cubs ace Jake Arrieta, who had a whopping 1,808 cards printed on April 22 -- the record thus far for most cards printed, and 164 more than teammate Kris Bryant, who was offered on the same day. Though Arrieta has had an incredible season thus far, I'm not really sure why there was such a huge run on the card. One week later, on April 29, Arrieta's second NOW card had a print run of just 365 cards... Go figure.

I always believe a person should collect what they like. I like these cards, but it seems unrealistic to acquire a complete set at this point. I know many cards will drop in price on eBay when speculators start to sell their excess stock (and they only paid $4 a card when they purchased a 20 lot from Topps). A handful of cards will increase in value over time, with the successful rookies being the most likely to do so. Hopefully Trevor Story and Nomar Mazara won't have ten different cards each by the end of the season, as this would likely dilute the values of all of them.

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1. Francisco Liriano, Pirates (266)

2. Kansas City Royals (356)

3. Bryce Harper, Nationals (782)

4. Trevor Story, Rockies (981)

5. David Ortiz, Red Sox (471)

6. Trevor Story, Rockies (759)

7. Kenta Maeda, Dodgers (952)

8. Albert Pujols, Cardinals (244)

9. Trevor Story, Rockies (1,298)

10. Brandon Crawford, Giants (316)

11. Tyler White, Astros (1,350)

12. Nomar Mazara, Rangers (1,427)

13. Chris Davis, Orioles (266)

14. Addison Russell, Cubs (331)

15. Trevor Brown, Giants (590)

16. Dae-Ho Lee, Mariners (363)

17. Nolan Arenado, Rockies (268)

18. Vincent Velasquez, Phillies (557)

19. Jaime Garcia, Cardinals (300)

20. Bryce Harper, Nationals (1,286)

21. Jackie Robinson, Dodgers (759)

22. Chris Sale, White Sox (244)

23. Mark Trumbo, Orioles (285)

24. Melvin Upton Jr., Padres (226)

25. M. Tanaka, Yankees and H. Iwakuma, Mariners (424)

26. John Lackey, Cubs (244)

27. Cincinnati Reds (278)

28. Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, Nationals (489)

29. Kris Bryant, Cubs (1,644)

30. Jake Arrieta, Cubs (1,808)

31. Curtis Granderson, Mets (294)

32. Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees (326)

33. Chicago White Sox (321)

34. Brett Gardner, Yankees (278)

35. Kenta Maeda, Dodgers (784)

36. Bryce Harper and Chris Heisey, Nationals (400)

37. Neil Walker, Mets (289)

38. A. Pujols, Cardinals and R. Jackson, A's (527)

39. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates (524)

40. Jake Arrieta, Cubs (365)

41. Yoenis Cespedes, Mets (325)

42. Trevor Story, Rockies (800)

43. Ryan Howard, Phillies (280)

44. David Ortiz, Red Sox (346)

45. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (453)

46. Bartolo Colon, Mets (298)

47. Nomar Mazara, Rangers (468)

48. M. Machado, Orioles and B. Harper, Nationals (540)

49. Justin Smoak, Blue Jays (252)

50. Lorenzo Cain, Royals (280)

Results of the Topps NOW Baseball Alert

The window for ordering yesterday's four Topps NOW cards is closed. I felt the offering of four cards in one day was an interesting scenario, seeing as how none of them featured a rookie, and I loosely guessed what the production numbers would wind up being.

For starters, I pointed out that two of the cards pictured superstar players; Bryce Harper and Jackie Robinson. I predicted that Topps would sell several hundred of each player, and indeed, 759 of Jackie Robinson's cards were sold. Bryce Harper surprised me a bit, as a whopping 1,286 of his cards were ordered (by far the largest print run for a veteran)... When you compare that to the 782 examples printed of Harper's first card just ten days before, one starts to see that this Topps NOW program is really gaining some steam.

Phillies pitcher Vincent Velasquez and Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia were the two other players featured on NOW cards yesterday, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that their cards would be ordered in smaller quantities. I felt that Velasquez' card would have a higher print run than Garcia's, because Velasquez is a strikeout pitcher near the beginning of his MLB career; Garcia, on the other hand, has been in the league since 2008 and has yet to achieve All-Star status. Predictably enough, Velasquez' print run was 557, while Garcia's was right at an even 300. Yesterday, I felt that Garcia had the potential to be at or near the lowest print total for all NOW cards, and my guess wasn't too far off. Garcia's print run of 300 cards is a tad bit more than the four lowest; Albert Pujols (244), Chris Davis (266), Francisco Liriano (266) and Nolan Arenado (268).

Ten of those 300 Jaime Garcia cards are mine. It will be interesting to see how low-printed cards like this fare over the next several months, and I have a feeling that set collectors will be the primary force to drive up their value. At a cost of five dollars per card, I'm really not too worried!

Click here to hunt for Topps NOW cards on eBay

 

2016 Topps NOW Baseball Alert!

Here at the Oddball Card Collector Blog, we're not really in the business of tracking breaking hobby news. We did notice today, however, that Topps has decided to release four new NOW cards in one day! Phillies pitcher Vincent Velasquez, Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia, Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson are each the subject of their own NOW card, available for sale on the Topps website over the next 24 hours.

As we mentioned in our previous Topps NOW post, the rookie cards are the ones being purchased in the largest quantities. As of today, the four cards with the lowest print runs feature four veteran players: Albert Pujols (244), Chris Davis (266), Francisco Liriano (266) and Nolan Arenado (268). 

Getting back to the four cards that were released today, none of them are rookies. Bryce Harper and Jackie Robinson both reside in the superstar category, and Topps will probably sell several hundred of each. The most intriguing cards today, regarding their possible small print runs, are pitchers Vincent Velasquez and Jaime Garcia. The Phillies' Velasquez will potentially be a great strikeout pitcher for years to come, and has pitched almost flawlessly in his first two starts of 2016. His Topps NOW card is not branded as a rookie because of his inclusion in the 2015 Topps Update and Heritage High Series sets. While I believe the number of NOW cards sold of Velasquez will suffer because they lack the rookie designation, I reeeaally think the Jaime Garcia cards will be overlooked.

I'm going out on a limb by predicting that today's Jaime Garcia card has the potential to have the lowest print run of all the NOW cards thus far. This limb is only about six inches above the ground, I believe, and is a pretty safe bet. I certainly don't see the print run being anything above 300. Garcia is a solid pitcher, but is not an All-Star and is already playing his eighth season in the Majors. 

I'll revisit this post tomorrow to update how my predictions fared. Stay tuned, NOW fans!

Click here to hunt for Topps NOW cards on eBay

2016 Topps NOW Baseball Cards

You may have noticed these past few years that Topps has experimented with several modern ways to release baseball cards; virtually all of these methods relate to the internet, whether it be their semi-closed eTopps program, eBay Topps Vault store, or exclusive classic player reprint sets available only on the Topps website.

The cardmaker's newest baseball offering is a unique idea called "Topps NOW." Every day of the MLB season Topps will release one or two cards, each featuring a player (or team) that had a notable performance the day before. For example, the first card in the set features Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano, who struck out ten Cardinals and notched a win on April 3... The NOW card commemorating this feat was made available for purchase on the Topps website for 24 hours, on April 4 beginning at noon. Shortly after an offering closes, Topps announces the print run on their website and mails the cards out to the buyers (266 Liriano cards were printed, by the way). As of this writing, the program is still getting started and just twelve different cards have been released. 

Anyone with a Paypal account or credit/debit card can order a NOW card from the Topps website after registering. This same one-time registration also allows you to purchase any other products offered on the Topps website. One feature of this program is that you can order just the cards you want, assuming you do it during their 24-hour window. The website gives you the option of ordering one card for $9.99, five cards for $29.95, ten cards for $49.99 or twenty cards for $79.99; shipping is included in these prices.

Cards are the standard 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" size, and are printed on 16-point glossy card stock. Fronts feature borderless color photos that were taken the day of the actual event, with a line of text across the bottom that tells what the highlighted event is. Card backs are simple, with a paragraph detailing the event and any relevant backstory. 

My opinions are as follows: I think the cards are nice and a welcome addition to the hobby. These can be considered a new generation of oddball cards in an era where you no longer get them from the barber shop or a local patrolman. It may be unrealistic to complete a set of these, but Topps welcomes you to buy just the cards you want (and the quantities you want).

Regarding the potential value of the NOW cards, I think it's safe to say that many of these  will hover near their issue price for a while, and some will dip well below the issue price as time goes on. Even though a mere 266 Francisco Liriano NOW cards were printed, the supply may still outweigh the demand in today's age of the "super short print" card. The ones that have the most potential for a price increase are the rookies, which feature the appropriate "RC" logo on the fronts. Even though the rookie cards are being ordered in larger quantities by speculators -- 1,350 cards of Astros prospect Tyler White were printed -- I believe the rookies still hold the potential for the greatest price increases. Future first-ballot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols has the distinction thus far of having the card with the lowest print run (244); even so, his NOW card may get lost in the shuffle of all the other limited cards a Pujols collector might chase these days.

I've been keeping an eye on the daily NOW releases, waiting to pull the trigger on a card that catches my interest. Today was that day. I finally settled on the twelfth card to be issued, which features Rangers rookie outfielder Nomar Mazara. Called up at just 20 years of age, Mazara went 3 for 4 with a home run in his Major League debut; I also noticed, several hours after I ordered the cards, that he went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored this evening... I have a feeling that he may edge out Tyler White and take the crown for the most NOW cards issued. (Update: yep, 1,427 Mazara cards were printed)

I probably won't be throwing tons of money at this set. There are still hundreds upon hundreds of oddball sets waiting to be added to the archives, and I'll continue to dedicate much of my spare time to tracking as many of them down as possible. Even so, I will look forward to my daily email from Topps, informing me of the new NOW cards that show up for sale (I would recommend that all collectors put themselves on the Topps email list, which informs you of all their current oddball releases). 

Heck, maybe maybe the profits I gain from these Nomar Mazara cards will help land me that 1980 TCMA Reading Phillies set I've had my eye on for years!

Click here to hunt for Topps NOW cards on eBay

Click here to read a post about the first 50 2106 Topps NOW cards

Click here to read a post about the first 100 2016 Topps Now Cards

Click here to go to the Topps website for a complete NOW checklist with print runs