Bat brands get spotlight in 2015 Topps Tier One
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor | Commentary
I’ve always had a soft spot as a collector for game-used bats, which are perhaps the most-personalized pieces of equipment for a player.
The wear and tear that a bat shows only adds to a bat’s mystique, its intrinsic value. The same can be said for players’ choices in modifications — and with all of the bat companies out there these days approved for use by MLB players a brand of bat can be directly tied to a player, too, beyond just a specific model that they’re always known to use.
One type of game-used bat card in 2015 Topps Tier One, which arrived in hobby shops today, is the Limited Lumber set. It is a tad different from those typically found in packs. This time, at least on some cards in the set, the center brand of a bat gets the nod as the showcased piece of lumber in the 1/1 creations.
Is it a first? Perhaps. I can’t recall there being a set specifically showcasing bat center brands before. Player nameplates? Sure. Bat knobs are common, too. These? Well, they seem a bit different.
What caught my eye first? I almost thought it was a hockey stick embedded into a baseball card — the center brand for Mike Trout‘s Old Hickory model was so nestled into the card I couldn’t even tell that it was round. Stick cards have been common in hockey, and the brands of the piece are showcased quite well on those cards. For reference, an image of the center brand from a Trout gamer is also seen here.
The checklist for the set is a deep one and it was previewed as being one as many as 100 cards — the final checklist actually shows a few more than that — with “unique bat pieces” the main aspect of each card. They’re certainly unique … at least the ones I have seen so far.
Tell us what you think of these cards in the comments below.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Looks like someone will be overpaying for these cards when they hit the bay.
Very cool card, but I would like it better if it was a booklet with the Bat Brand on one side and the corresponding nameplate on the other side. Then a 1/1 Bat card would seem to really be a true 1/1 and not just a slew of manufactured bat labels from ‘nobody’s’ bat. (Trust issues? :) )
I think the cards look great. My only hope would be that an actual picture of the whole bat appeared on the back of the card for references purposes (kind of like what you did in your piece above). Tier 1 is out of my “want/need to buy” range, but these would be awesome cards to pull.
My only issue on the subject of bat cards:
Since they are plentiful and the supply grows with each game/year, newer players bats being chopped up doesn’t bother me, it’s the old-timer ones that are that break my heart.
I think its an amazing card. However, just like everything Topps produces rare today; over produced tomorrow.