By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor | Commentary

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again — nothing is perhaps more perfectly symbolic of a home run hitter than a game-used baseball bat.

And, unlike cards, jerseys and other pieces of memorabilia, the more beaten and worn out a bat is, the more impressive it is — as long as it remains complete.

For card collectors and game-used cards, bats are not always as impressive. It’s not always a love-love relationship. But Topps is intending to change that with its upcoming Tier One release arriving later this month. While bats can yield hundreds, if not thousands, of anonymous-looking wood chips to be placed into cards, the most-special pieces of chopped up gamers are the nameplates — the spot on the barrel where the player’s name is burned into the bat — and the bat knob where a player’s perhaps most-personalized touches can be seen via numbers, initials or sayings.

In Tier One, there will be a 100-card set of 1/1 knob cards for collectors to chase, including some of the biggest names in the history of the game. It’s not an accident, said Topps Vice President Mark Sapir.

“The goal was to add special content, over-deliver value on this release,” Sapir said Tuesday night. “To create buzz and excitement in hobby, provide a special chase.”

Bat knob cards are not a common thing in the hobby today — even as game-used memorabilia cards are much more commonplace than they were even a decade ago. Today, there are just 629 total bat knob cards in the Beckett.com database. (Click here for a complete checklist and to get an OPG) Many of them are 1/1 cards that few of us ever see.

Topps previously billed this release as “one of the most significant memorabilia inserts ever offered in a product” and the company already is the runaway leader in bat knob cards made previously. There are 491 different Topps knob cards in existence, while the old Donruss/Playoff made the second-highest total with just 92. The remaining companies all have made fewer than 20 knob cards.

Among the legendary bat knobs to be inserted into Tier One will be Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and many more. Oh, and you can find new sluggers, too, such as Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Bautista, Josh Hamilton, Matt Kemp, Jay Bruce, Carlos Gonzalez and others.

It’s an impressive array — largely retired greats — and it will be a pricey one, too. In the cases of some modern sluggers the knob card might outpace the price of a complete game-used bat. (I’m expecting that as I’ll fight — and lose — to deep-pocketed Yankees fans online for what will be just the third Nick Swisher bat knob card to ever be released. It will likely surpass what I paid for even the most-expensive of my 10 or so complete game-used bats.)

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Feast on a massive gallery of the actual Tier One bat knobs below and then take our poll.

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By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

The Beard, The Angel and a Prince are coming to a toy aisle near you.

McFarlane Toys has unveiled its 30th line of MLB Sports Picks figures and the seven-figure lineup includes two debut figures and some All-Star staples.

Most notable might be injured San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson and his world-famous beard. His figure will feature the pose he does in honor of his father when he closes out games. No word on whether “The Machine” will have any cameos when the figures arrive next month. (Need a Wilson checklist or OPG? click here.)

Albert Pujols will make his Los Angeles Angels figure debut in the series, while Prince Fielder will appear on his first figure as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista will be a chase figure in the series (he’ll have a standard figure sold in Canada and online), while Jacoby Ellsbury, Curtis Granderson and reigning American League MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander will make just his second McFarlane appearance.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor | Commentary

The ongoing saga of how collectors might react to Panini America‘s MLBPA baseball cards offered its lasted chapter on Monday as the company teased a number of cards yet to the signed for its forthcoming Prime Cuts product.

And it all left me saying “Who needs logos when you have inscriptions?”

Prime Cuts is set to include a Notable Nicknames autographed insert set — which means Albert Pujols here should be adding something like “The Machine” signed alongside his pricey sig. That’s an addition that doesn’t come cheap.

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The other insert set, Significant Signatures, uses sepia-toned mugshots as part of the design, a look which also showcases autograph ink. Again, a move that negates the lack of logos in my mind as team colors simply don’t enter the mix.

Maybe I am wrong … maybe I’m not. Take our poll above after you check out the images below.

We’ll see more of the cards — after they are signed — next month.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.