Sweep the leg!
The 1984 cult classic “The Karate Kid” is featured in 2012 Topps Archives with autographs from actors in the movie. This was an interesting idea from Topps, and not a terrible idea at all. It matched their 1984 design, it was a classic movie with a large fan base, and it’s in a genre that collectors would enjoy. It just doesn’t fit baseball to me.
But when Topps posed the question on Twitter on what we thought the bonus addition to Archives would be, I thought they were going to go with Major League. And that’s something they should of had in the product to make it legendary.
Imagine a Ricky Vaughn Topps card. Maybe Pedro Cerrano. Willie Mays Hayes? All of these characters would look great in Topps products with their Cleveland uniforms on. Then throw in some on-card autographs from the actors. Leaf has tried this with Charlie Sheen and it got a great response and the cards have some pretty good value attached to them. I would argue if Topps did it, it would be more valuable.
I just wish Topps had done this with Archives instead of The Karate Kid, or even in addition to The Karate Kid. The product is great as it is, but it could have reached legendary levels with that addition.
I guess with the success of this year, there is always next year. If they can’t afford to get the actors from Major League, maybe add a movie from 5 years later…Rookie of the Year. Get a Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) autograph. Phil Brickma (Daniel Stern) and of course, Chet Steadman (Gary Busey).
You may find 2 rookie autographed refractors and 3 rookie parallel autographs per box. There will also be some red ink parallels that are just limited to 15 copies. Parallels will be to 99, 25, 1, and printing plates. I’d imagine those superfractors would go for a pretty penny. You can also find dual and triple autographs like an Andrew Luck/Robert Griffin III dual auto. Nice, right?
Bowman Signatures football releases on May 30, 2012, with a price around $180 from what I’ve seen online so far. Word is this product has a limited print run as well, which may help secondary values.
But wait, that’s not it with the hits. There is an insert set in this product called “Studs”, and it’s not what you may think it is. This subset features players who are known to wear the “bling” on their ears. They can have bling, so why not you? Each of these cards is embedded with diamonds itself.
This looks to be an interesting product from Panini, reminding me of a SPGU/Triple Threads mix. Check it out in July, where it’s sure to be hot.
To start, you’ll be getting 24 packs per box of this product with one rookie per pack to get your rookie fix of this product. You’ll also almost get an insert per pack as well with a number of inserts like the Longevity parallels, True Blue parallels, and my favorite, the return of die-cut pennants featuring players and teams.
You can find more information, and more pictures, 
Justin Blackmon autograph using a different color ink. Finally, Panini has listened to collectors and are trying something else other than just a different color foil.
