Topps undoubtedly hit a home-run with their 2009 edition of Finest. The cards are incredibly well-designed and the Finest Moments autographed sub-set contains a slew of superstars.
Alex Rodriguez, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Ryan Howard and Jim Thome all have an assortment of finest autographs ranging from the one-of-one white xfractor to the basic plain white finest moments auto. The price tag on the product is higher than expected, but the product’s performing fairly well on the secondary market.
300 Dollars for a Red #/25 Joba!
The only issue with 2009′s Finest product is of course, the autographed manufactured rookie-card patches. 2009′s rookie class, while not amazing, holds it own with David Price, Travis Snider, Mat Gamel, Matt Antonelli, Gaby Sanchez, Greg Golson, Will Venable, Jonathan Niese, Bobby Parnell, Angel Solome, Michael Bowden, Kila Ka’aihue, Dexter Fowler and Conor Gillaspie.
Each autographed patch is available in a Xfractor #/1, Red #/5, Gold #/10, Blue #/25, Plain Refractor #/75 and finally a base #/250-80ish. Herein lies the problem, for players like Mat GAMEL or David PRICE there will be 5 different white Xfractors, each numbered one of one — cool.
But what about Gillaspie, Ka’aihue, Solome, Parnell, Antonelli, Golson, Niese, and Venable?
Hrm, Only 5 A's Made?
Remembering that these are manufactured patches, I challenge you, and Topps for that matter, to explain to me the difference between the Xfractors in Conor Gillaspie’s last name.
With each patch numbered 1/1, is it possible that the only difference between the two letter Ls and two letter Is in GILLASPIE, is Topps’ word that, “oh, this one of one is for the first I, and this one is for the second I.”
I have a terrible feeling that there are multiple 1-of-1′s of the exact same card out there. They were undoubtedly assembled in sequence and inserted into the same one-of-one x-fractor casing.
This is why so many people hate the manufactured patches. If this were a game used patch, Topps would have no problem explaining why there are two 1-of-1′s that are literally the exact same card. However, as they’re merely manufactured patches, all letters are created equal.
This means your two RED numbered-to-five autographed Matt Antonelli letters N and L, really aren’t out of five after all. There are ten L’s floating around and ten N’s too. While it’s easier for the collectors who put together complete names, I prefer my one-of-one’s and low-numbered autos to actually be as scarce as advertised.
If the cards were signed after completion, I’m sure Topps asked the athletes to sign differently on the alternate sets of the same letter. If the Rookies merely signed letters and the cards were assembled afterwards — this is blasphemy.
In the end, maybe I’m overreacting and I probably am, but to claim that the 20 GOLD Letter-N’s in Antonelli are rather 2 sets of 10, seems out-there. I pray that there is a noticeable difference somewhere on these cards, but I get the feeling that the only difference between the duplicate letters is Topps’ promise that they represent different letters in his name.
This is why collectors hate collecting letters of the alphabet, especially when they’re supposed to be scarce. I understand WHY the Topps company did it, but to pay an absurd amount of money for a one-of-one and to realize that someone else has the EXACT same card — well, I’d imagine that’d be preeeetty upsetting.
