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Stopped by the hobby shop looking for Playoff (an NFL uniform product in the $200 range is rare nowadays) - no Playoff, but they did have 2022 (Yes, 2022) Sage Low Series hobby boxes.  16 autographs per box.  You know I'm going to try a box.

Initial impressions - I really like the way these base cards look - it's a unique design you're probably either love or hate, but I like them.  The Artistry Inserts also look very nice.

One one Peak Performance 

Note that the influence of NIL is definitely in effect - 4 of the autographs I pulled were players who are still going to be in college next year - including the most high profile auto I pulled - Spencer Rattler.

Note also that while the Sneak Peak are the current college players, one of the Sneak Peak autos I pulled is of a player who has entered the draft - and two of the regular autographs are players who are still in college.  Also the third sneak peak I pulled isn't even listed on the checklist at all.  Go figure.

Two of the Sneak Peak are of quarterbacks - Spencer Rattler and Tommy DeVito - both have transferred from the schools shown - Rattler to South Carolina (who last year started ex-Iowa State/North Dakota quarterback Zeb Noland who was actually supposed to be a graduate assistant coach - and ended up playing quarterback because he still had a year of elgibility left thanks to the extra year given to players due to COVID and they needed someone - college football is weird sometimes) and DeVito to Illinois 

The third sneak peak quarterback is a running back from LSU who has entered the draft - and is not listed on the checklist.

As far as the players who are in the draft the most prominent names are Texas A&M running back Isiah Spiller (Daniel Jeremiah has him as the top running back in this year's draft, number 33 overall) and Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe who was one of the Senior Bowl quarterbacks and last year broke Joe Burrow's record for most touchdown passes in a season with 62 as well as the record for most yards in a season.  Considered to be likely around a 4th round pick.

There was a Peak Performance autograph - those are around 1 per box at 1:17 packs - UTSA Running Back Sincere McCormick who definitely has one of the greatest names in the 2022 NFL Draft

The next level autographs are on card - the one I got was Central Arkansas running back Lujuan Willingham

Overall, I have to say this was a fun open - I like the base cards, there is an an auto a pack - although as a prospect set, the addition of current college players thanks to NIL means you might have to hold the cards for even longer - after all, I always hold cards from the predraft products because I have no idea if any of these players are going to wind up on the Eagles. 

Note that I wasn't able to get either of the biggest names in the set - Liberty quarterback Malik Willis or Desmond Ridder from Cincinnati - but there are two projected First Round draft pick quarterbacks in this set - and there are a couple more quarterbacks who are going to be in college next year.

Obviously, with the NIL world, products like SAGE are likely to be even more spectulative since as I said, at least a quarter of the autographs I pulled are players who are going to be in college next year (in some cases due to the extra year for COVID) - that makes things more difficult to gauge since essentially you have to wait even longer to know where the players are going in the NFL or what level they will be at.  It could well ultimately lead to products like SAGE getting more high draft picks - or not.  These sorts of products are always a mystery.  Sometimes you get multiple First Round draft picks in a box - sometimes you get no player drafted higher than the sixth round.  I do recommend picking up some 2022 Sage because I like the base card design and you get a large number of autographs

Thanks for the breakdown, very handy. I may try my hand at a box. Though the Bears again have a crippled draft coming up.

If Isiah Spiller ends up going as the 1st RB, it is going to be a pain getting his cards for my Aggie PC. Did you get any in your box that are for trade?

(02-08-2022, 08:58 AM)dogger99 Wrote: [ -> ]If Isiah Spiller ends up going as the 1st RB, it is going to be a pain getting his cards for my  Aggie PC.  Did you get any in your box that are for trade?

I think that Breece Hall might well go first for running backs, but it depends upon what a team is looking for - Breece Hall is a smaller back but he's been well coached in college (Matt Campbell previously coached Kareem Hunt and David Montgomery - an the two secondary backs behind Montgomery/Hall and Hunt both made NFL teams) and is a complete three down back with breakaway speed.

Nothing is available for trade currently - don't want to trade away a card only to see the player end up on the Eagles

(02-07-2022, 10:29 PM)jplarson Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the breakdown, very handy.  I may try my hand at a box.  Though the Bears again have a crippled draft coming up.

On the other hand, you might be pulling players that the Bears will draft in 2023 given that there are a large number of players who are still in college (indeed, many of the highest level prospects are the players who are in the products due to NIL).

Any Chris Olave or Garrett Wilson?

(02-08-2022, 10:10 AM)Speak917 Wrote: [ -> ]Any Chris Olave or Garrett Wilson?

Just base for Olave - I don't think Wilson is in the set (since Sage separates out high and low series he might be in high series)

(02-08-2022, 10:49 AM)ZSDOne Wrote: [ -> ]Just base for Olave - I don't think Wilson is in the set (since Sage separates out high and low series he might be in high series)

Help me out, does anyone know what the difference is (if there is one) between high and low series?

(02-08-2022, 12:22 PM)CMCFan22 Wrote: [ -> ]Help me out, does anyone know what the difference is (if there is one) between high and low series?

They just split up the set in two - generally you have different players in each set with half of the players in low series or high series.  That means you really have to pay attention as to what series you have because you often can only get autographs of particular players out of either high or low series but not both - to cite one example, in 2017, you aren't going to pull Christian McCaffery out of a Low Series Sage box - he's only in high series.  And most of the Mahomes autos are out of low series

Sage sometimes releases complete series boxes - and their products like Sage Aspire or Sage Autographed have everyone.

I agree and feel a lot the same as you do about SAGE, especially these days with prices as they are! Haven't collected for several years and recently got back into purchasing and attempting to build sets, and with SAGE it can be done without draining the bank account.

I was wondering if the card in question is #35? I have that number, but a different player than listed. I ran across a similar issue with last years set also. I received an autographed card #200 and checklist only goes to 199....???

Hey fingers are crossed we made a "risky". but good investment!