Some Designs, Some Prospects

 There are some designs that are so bad that they just can’t be saved. Others… well, they may not be that bad but throw a little makeup on them and all of a sudden you have a much more attractive set.

Take 2023 Topps flagship. It wasn’t a horrible look by any means. I dug the player’s headshot and the team logo inserted above the name plate. What I didn’t care for were the geometric shapes at the bottom of the card (other than home plate). And it wasn’t until I got three Chrome autos from COMC that I realized just how good this design could look. 

When Topps unveiled the look for its 2021 flagship set, I remember how disgusted I was at how blatantly the manufacturer ripped off Donruss. As a lifelong Topps homer, I want my cards to look like Topps- not some has-been manufacturer. Four years later, I still rank it as one of the worst designs in the company’s long history but it does look a little more inviting in the Chrome version.

Just as card designs can be hit-or-miss, so too are most of the prospects who get the RC designation. Not that I’ve collected them very much over the years but I will always hold out a few years before buying the Chrome rookie autos. Just to let the prices come back to earth. Each of these cost me about 2 bucks a piece.