Three New Bowman Sterling Autographs

I am still trying to catch up a little bit from December, but I picked these three cards up a few weeks ago and haven't had a chance to post anything about them yet.  I have been a little reluctant to add Bowman Sterling autographs before in the past since they are a high end product that I won't open myself and they tend to be sticker autographs.  The players in the Bowman Sterling set often have cards in the Topps Chrome set, Bowman Chrome set, or Bowman base set that are nicer in appearance and are on card autographs.

For example, a few years ago I had the opportunity to see Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold play a few games against the Durham Bulls and was really impressed by him.  I came home and found a few Reimold autographs include a Bowman Sterling.

2009 Bowman Sterling Nolan Reimold

While this is a very nice card, and it was very inexpensive, I can't imagine that the person who pulled it out of the Bowman Sterling pack, $50 range, would be very happy.  I paid less than $5 for this card including shipping.  However, I don't like to settle for sticker autographs, so I also tracked down this Bowman Heritage.  The autograph is on card and I paid the same exact price for it as the Bowman Sterling.  

2007 Bowman Heritage Nolan Reimold

Over the last few years, little has changed with the Bowman Sterling product.  It continues to be a high end product that features sticker autographs and a steep sticker price.  I gave the product little thought as it was released a few weeks ago, but I did take a few minutes one day to check out a Chris Archer autograph.  I found several copies of the card on Ebay and COMC, but also saw that the card featured sticker autograph.  The card design was cool, but I figured I could get a copy of the Archer as a throw in as part of a trade.

A week later, I ran into a copy of the Marcus Stroman autograph and was really impressed by the card. The blue background was nice and simple compared to whatever is behind Nolan Reimold above and best of all, the autograph was on card.  Copies of the card were inexpensive on Ebay, but I also found a few available for trade.  I went the trade route and landed a copy of Stroman, who pitched at Duke, and a few other cards from the Bowman Sterling to go along with it.  (Smudges on the card protector)

2012 Bowman Sterling Marcus Stroman Autograph

I was happy to get the Stroman since I collect his cards, but I was a little bit more excited about landing a Nick Castellanos autograph too.  Castellanos is a Tiger's minor leaguer who hit over .400 last year in the Florida State League and also won the MVP award at the Futures Game in Kansas City last summer.  I've been trying to pick up a few more Tigers cards over the past year, so this card was a very welcome addition.  I am hoping he gets up to Toledo this summer, so I can see him play in Durham.  If not, I am sure it will happen soon enough.  

2012 Bowman Sterling Nick Castellanos Autograph 

My third, and final card, for the evening is another Bowman Sterling card.  I saw James Ramsey play twice for Florida State the past few years, once at an NC State game and another time at the ACC baseball tournament in Durham.  Ramsey was one of the better players on the FSU team, but I am not quite sold on him as a Major League Player.  He's a good player, but I am not sure he does anything really well.  A lot of people said the same thing about Jon Jay, from U. of Miami, and he has turned out pretty well, so I will hold on to the card and see how things turn out.  

2012 Bowman Sterling James Ramsey Autograph 

30 Year Top 50: Topps Triple Threads

#34-This post is going to be slightly different than the other posts that I have made for my Top 50 countdown.  I came up with the idea of doing this countdown leading into my 30th year in baseball card collecting this summer and put thought and consideration into where to rank all the different card sets that I have brought into my life since the summer of 1983.  The Triple Threads brand started in 2006 and is still currently running.  Every summer I eagerly await the release of Triple Threads and cannot wait to pick out a handful of really cool cards to add to my collection.  In many ways, the Triple Threads set is a top 10 on my personal list, but looking at the big picture and taking into account important rookies, design, etc, etc this is where it falls.  Note that I did not attach a year.  I do have a few I like more than others, but not a clear cut favorite.  Let me walk you through why I love this product:

2006 Triple Threads
I was initially really excited about the release of Triple Threads in 2006.  I rushed up to a card shop, which is no longer with us, in Durham to buy a pack.  Quickly spotting the product behind the counter I bought a pack of the high end product and immediately remembered my rule about high end wax.

2006 Topps Triple Threads Dan Johnson Dual Jersey/Autograph

Starring me back in this face was this Dan Johnson card.  Of course, he ended up playing for the Durham Bulls and won the International League MVP, so I would have ended up with the card in my collection anyway.  Right?  Disappointed, I did not open another pack of Triple Threads the rest of the year.  Since that time I have traded for a few.

2007 Triple Threads

My second venture into Triple Threads went much better.  I opened approximately zero packs of product, but worked the secondary market very hard to come up with a few gems for my collection.  My favorite:

My first Triple Threads card with a patch piece was a Shawn Riggans with two jersey pieces, a piece of green patch from the old Devil Rays unis, and an autograph.  I found it cheap in an Ebay auction and picked out the card since Riggans was having a great season for the Durham Bulls.  Riggans struggled in the majors and now out of baseball.  Still a cool card and turned the corner for me on this product. 

2007 Topps Triple Threads Shawn Riggans Dual Jersey/Patch/Autograph

2008 Triple Threads 

We all have misses in life and the 2008 Triple Threads set was a miss for me.  I didn't have many players I was excited to collect out of this set and the players I did collect, well....

2008 Topps Triple Threads Elijah Dukes Triple Bat/Autograph

I think I also picked up a few Jo Jo Reyes cards, Melky Cabrera, and a few other infamous characters.  I did pick up a good selection of Matt Holliday relic cards from this set after the Rockies run to the World Series.  This was the first year that I really went after the relics cards along with the autographs.  More recently, I landed a nice Dimaggio relic piece in a trade.  

2008 Topps Triple Threads Joe DiMaggio Six Piece Relic

2008 Topps Triple Threads Matt Holliday Six Piece Relic

2009 Triple Threads

I have two favorites in my collection from the 2009 set and would rank this set in a three way tie for the lead in the best Triple Threads sets.  My favorite card I picked up in 2009 which is a Ryan Braun patch/autograph.  This card has patch pieces from his Futures Game relics, the red/black/yellow pieces along with a thicker piece of black or navy patch.  I also love the word: HAMMER on the card.  If I ranked all of my Triple Threads cards against each other this would finish in the top 5.  

2009 Topps Triple Threads Ryan Braun Triple Patch/Autograph

My second card I picked up a few years ago after watching Nolan Reimold play for the Norfolk Tides. Sometimes I get a feeling about a player I watch in the minors and was fairly impressed by Reimold.  I found this card on Ebay really cheap and figured I would, at worst, have a really cool looking cards.  Reimold is looking like a regular though, so I think I did well with this card.  I love the orange jersey pieces and the yellow/red/black patch piece like the Braun. 

2009 Topps Triple Threads Autograph

2010 Triple Threads

I loved the 2010 release of Triple Threads.  If I had to narrow the Triple Threads sets down to the best, this would be another among my favorites.  The best part of the 2010 release was the inclusion of on-card autographs.  In someways, it gives this release a slight nod over the 2009 set, except the more standard looking Triple Threads cards were still sticker autographs.  My favorite two on card autographs were Andrew McCutchen and Howie Kendrick.  The McCutchen was my first McCutchen autograph and the Kendrick card is just signed really cool.  I've always like Howie's signature and I like how he just wrote over the whole card.  

2010 Topps Triple Threads Andrew McCutchen Jersey/Autograph

2010 Topps Triple Threads Howie Kendrick Jersey/Autograph 

The regular Triple Threads cards were still cool, but again, Topps used sticker autographs.  My favorite has to be Zorilla.  Ben Zobrist.  Again a personal Top 5 Triple Threads card. 

2010 Topps Triple Threads Seven Piece Relic/Autograph

2011 Triple Threads

The 2011 release was similar to the 2010 release in many ways and again, I would consider this to be among the three best Triple Threads sets along with the 2009 and 2010.  The veteran cards were generally sticker autographs.  My favorite is my Miguel Cabrera autograph, which I also collected all of the similar relic cards.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads 13 Piece Relic/Autograph

The young star players in the set were on card autographs like the 2010 release, but I felt the design of the 2011 cards was a little truer to the set.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads Jaime Garcia Triple Jersey/Autograph

The real drawback to this set, in my opinion, is the veteran cards with a single piece of jersey or patch.  If you are going to use sticker autographs the only reason to duck the design of the Cabrera card above is to cheapen the product.  I love the Matt Holliday card below, but I would have gladly tried to find a copy with multiple relic pieces in the regular Triple Threads format.

2011 Triple Threads Matt Holliday Patch/Autograph

2012 Triple Threads

I feel like the set has taken a little step back this year.  Still a really cool product and I own several really nice cards from the set, but the player selection is a little lacking in my opinion and there are several cards which are repeats from previous years.  Also, similar to the 2011 is the pattern on the autographs. Veterans are on stickers, younger players are on card, and there are single jersey autographs that are also stickers.  My two favorites from 2012:

2012 Topps Triple Threads David Freese Autograph

 2012 Topps Triple Threads Lance Lynn Jersey/Autograph

If you like the follow up I do on card sets not in my Top 50 be sure to check back tomorrow for a special piece I am putting together on a few sets released over the past few years similar to the Triple Threads releases.