Topps goes to low-end of bats for high-end addition

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Topps is upping the ante in its forthcoming Tier One baseball release by taking one memorabilia set in the product a bit high-end.

And it’s doing that by going to the low-end of 100 game-used baseball bats.

The company announced on Thursday that it is adding 100 1/1 game-used bat knob cards to the second-year product, an inclusion that has not been done as extensively since 2009 when it launched Topps Unique.

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 1/1 cards and some of them showing some of the unique ways that players mark their game-used equipment.

Tier One will include two autographs per pack — one Crowd Pleaser autograph for sure. Also to be found is one of three other options — a multi-signed autograph card, an autographed Relic or a cut signature. A third hit will be a Relic when it hits hobby shops on June 18.

Topps bills it as “one of the most significant memorabilia inserts ever offered in a product” while the company itself is already the runaway leader in bat knob cards made. 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.

The 2012 Tier One checklist:

Hank    Aaron
Dustin    Ackley
Luis    Aparicio
Ernie    Banks
Jose    Bautista
Carlos    Beltran
Johnny    Bench
Wade    Boggs
George    Brett
Jay    Bruce
Miguel    Cabrera
Robinson    Cano
Rod    Carew
Steve    Carlton
Gary    Carter
Starlin    Castro
Shin-Soo    Choo
Roberto    Clemente
Ty    Cobb
Carl    Crawford
Andre    Dawson
Joe    DiMaggio
Jacoby    Ellsbury
Cecil    Fielder
Carlton    Fisk
Freddie    Freeman
Lou    Gehrig
Bob    Gibson
Carlos    Gonzalez
Curtis    Granderson
Josh    Hamilton
Todd    Helton
Rickey    Henderson
Jason    Heyward
Matt    Holliday
Ryan    Howard
Catfish    Hunter
Monte    Irvin
Reggie    Jackson
Fergie    Jenkins
Andruw    Jones
Chipper    Jones
Al    Kaline
Matt    Kemp
Harmon    Killebrew
Ralph    Kiner
Ian    Kinsler
Paul    Konerko
Carlos    Lee
Tim    Lincecum
Evan    Longoria
Mickey    Mantle
Roger    Maris
Victor    Martinez
Eddie    Mathews
Don    Mattingly
Joe    Mauer
Bill    Mazeroski
Willie    McCovey
Andrew    McCutchen
Paul    Molitor
Joe    Morgan
Eddie    Murray
Stan    Musial
David    Ortiz
Jim    Palmer
Dustin    Pedroia
Tony    Pérez
Buster    Posey
Albert    Pujols
Lance    Berkman
Aramis    Ramirez
Hanley    Ramirez
Jose     Reyes
Jim    Rice
Cal    Ripken Jr.
Brooks    Robinson
Frank    Robinson
Alex    Rodriguez
Ivan    Rodriguez
Jimmy    Rollins
Babe    Ruth
Ryne    Sandberg
Pablo    Sandoval
Mike    Schmidt
Tom    Seaver
Gary    Sheffield
Enos    Slaughter
Ozzie    Smith
Duke    Snider
Darryl    Strawberry
Nick    Swisher
Mark    Teixeira
Jim    Thome
Jim    Thome
Troy    Tulowitzki
Justin    Upton
Dave    Winfield
Carl    Yastrzemski
Robin    Yount

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.