[rjcj2017]

I got a look at the LCS - they had lots of blasters available there (how I know the blasters no longer list the odds which was a nice thing that Topps used to do)

LCSs should go back to leaving blasters in retail stores - this ain't 2020 anymore

Put your big boy pants on and by directly from the manufacturers

If the hobby box prices have gone up, that's your problem, not mine

But buying retail and marking it up is BS ... if you want to sell it for what you bought it for just to get people in the shop, great

[ZSDOne]

LCSs should go back to leaving blasters in retail stores - this ain't 2020 anymore

Put your big boy pants on and by directly from the manufacturers

If the hobby box prices have gone up, that's your problem, not mine

But buying retail and marking it up is BS ... if you want to sell it for what you bought it for just to get people in the shop, great

Topps has always been difficult to be able to buy directly from the manufacturer - and FanaTopps has made it even more so because they are a huge retailer so essentially the LCS compete with them 

Panini also 

Most LCS have to buy through the big distributers

One reason why more LCS are getting blasters now is that the manufacturers and distributors are actually forcing them to buy them to get allotments - if you want to get X number of hobby boxes, you have to buy Y number of blasters.  They used to do that with less popular hobby products, but now they are requiring people to buy blasters.

This guy gets the blasters from the Distributors and charges essentially the same price as Wal-Mart so it's not like he's buying them up and reselling at a huge mark up (there are other places that do that around here)

[rjcj2017]

Fair enough

Card companies gonna card company

[ZSDOne]

Topps now has Bowman U Sapphire Football which essentially is the exact same product (with a few changes since they seem to have removed Hunter "Banned from Playing NCAA Football for Gambling on Iowa State Games" Dekkers) that they already release das Bowman U Chrome football - I expect several more variations of increasing worthlessness and redundancy

And a once good company fades more and more into irrelevance - as the disasterous 1955 Bowman Chrome cards show, I can't even trust Fanatopps to do retro right - and retro was the only thing that Topps did better than Panini

[jplarson]

Topps now has Bowman U Sapphire Football which essentially is the exact same product (with a few changes since they seem to have removed Hunter "Banned from Playing NCAA Football for Gambling on Iowa State Games" Dekkers) that they already release das Bowman U Chrome football - I expect several more variations of increasing worthlessness and redundancy

And a once good company fades more and more into irrelevance - as the disasterous 1955 Bowman Chrome cards show, I can't even trust Fanatopps to do retro right - and retro was the only thing that Topps did better than Panini

I really enjoyed their Bowman U and Bowman U Chrome products. I put together sets of all 3 so far plus the common insert sets. The Sapphire barely budged the needle for me. Clearly a breaker product. Maybe the card backs have some differences but the fronts I can't really tell Sapphire from not. I would have liked at least a logo update or something to indicate a different set.

I'm ready for Topps Finest though.

[rjcj2017]

I’m ready for all Topps products to return and pretty much all Panini products to go away.

Sitting on two redemptions and a damage replacement I’d really like to have before they go belly-up.

[ZSDOne]

I’m ready for all Topps products to return and pretty much all Panini products to go away.

Sitting on two redemptions and a damage replacement I’d really like to have before they go belly-up.

Worst products for even more price and even more breaker focused 

Be careful what you wish for

[ZSDOne]

Fanatics is now releasing Stroud boxes which are without a doubt going to be extremely overpriced and are every bit as "unlicensed" and airbrushed as the Sage, Wild Card, Leaf, and Onyx

I suspect what Fanatics is doing secondary to hurting Panini (no question it's their primary goal) is experimenting to see if people will still buy boxes without hits from the top players and then directly sell them at elevated prices

Anyone who buys that trash is telling Fanatics they can get away with it

Buy a Leaf, Onyx, Wild Card, or Sage auto for less if you want Stroud - they're often much better looking than the junk Fanatics makes anyway (Panini makes much better looking high end cards and it's not even close)

[Speak917]

Just won an auction on the bay for a wildcard on card auto #/10 for $143. 160 with shipping and tax. Will see how condition is ifi actually receive the card.

[ZSDOne]

Just won an auction on the bay for a wildcard on card auto #/10 for $143.  160 with shipping and tax.  Will see how condition is ifi actually receive the card.

That's not bad at all - hopefully you get it and it is in good shape.  Wild Card makes some nice looking cards. 

Fortunately, I pulled the base and Peak Performance Sage autos for Stroud