Astros ’18 Topps Update Patch Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Carlos Correa 2018 Topps Update Series MLB Postseason Logo Manufactured Patch Gold Parallel #’ed/99.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, November 30, 2018 @ 8:00 p.m. EST.
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post.
• You can enter once per day.
• The winner will be selected at random.
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering.
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over.
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again.
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

Card of the Day: Chase Utley 2014 Topps Series 1 Manufactured Commemorative Patch

Manufactured Patches Done Right…. Is It Possible?

I refuse to dedicate an entire post about the legal drama thats unfolding at Upper Deck this year.  Who cares about who can and cannot use logos for their trading card products.  I just hope Upper Deck is prepared to pay out some hefty legal fees.  Gellman over on SCU thinks its a possibility that Upper Deck could go under.  If that happens, I think its time that all card bloggers come together and start a new card company 🙂

I know manufactured patches don’t get a good rap within The Hobby.  Some collectors would rather pull a Barry Bonds ’87 Topps RC versus one of those manufactured letters where you can barley read the player’s signature.  Currently I only own one card like this in my collection and the only reason its there is because I can’t move it.  Nobody wants it!

While looking at some of the Phillies stuff coming out of 2010 Topps Series 1, I discovered a few commemorative manufactured patches which I think look really good.  I must not be the only one either, because they have been selling anywhere from $30.00 to $60.00.  I believe certain manufactured patches should be welcomed, but certainly not all.

’08 World Series logo commemorative patch – I like the look of this card a lot.  I still think a manufacturer should try and include pins into a card somehow.  I bet it would look something like this.

I know this isn’t a piece from an actual hat worn by Richie Ashburn, but it is made from hat material.  I’m also glad to see that Topps used the old Phillies “P” instead of the modern one.

What Was Topps Thinking?

Chris from Freedom Cardboard wrote a post warning collectors about this, so I thought I’d do the same and help spread the word.  2010 Topps Series 1 Baseball includes manufactured logo patches of some of baseball’s biggest stars from the past and the present.  These cards clearly state on the back that the logo patch on the front is manufactured and not game-used.  I have no idea what Topps was thinking when they decided to include these things.  You know very well scammers will try and convince collectors these things are really from the player’s jersey.  For advanced collectors, they’ll know right away the patches aren’t game-used because real logo patch cards would never be numbered to 50.   DO NOT PURCHASE THESE UNLESS YOU READ THE BACK OF THE CARD.

Manufactured Madness!

Six years ago when I opened a box of 2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot baseball, I saw my first manufactured patch card.  Little did I know that this was one of the earliest stages of an epidemic that has swept through the hobby. 

In recent years, more and more manufactured patches have entered the hobby.  Some of them being autographed and others not.  One of the biggest problems I have with manufactured patch cards is the fact that card manufacturers are starting to consider them actual “hits”.  When the outside of a box states “At least one relic card per box” I’m looking for an actual relic from a game, not just some random piece of cloth packed into a card.  I’m not saying that these commemorative patches don’t have their place in the hobby, but I wish that companies wouldn’t consider them actual “hits”.  Lets take 2008 Topps Letterman football for example.  Each factory sealed hobby box contains three mini-boxes.  Out of those three mini-boxes you are suppose to pull at least two autographed manufactured patch cards.  That means the third mini-box will contain just a plain unsigned manufactured patch.  I don’t know about you, but spending $75.00 for an unsigned manufactured patch seems a lot to me.  Another problem I have is that new collectors can get confused an actually think that these cards are really “game-used”. 

I think the major card manufacturers have pushed these type of cards way too far like they do a lot of things.  They have overproduced them to the max.  In the end, I can’t say that I dislike them too much.  Within my personal collection I have a Walter Johnson 2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot commemorative patch #’ed/10. 

What are your thoughts on manufactured patches?