Fast Five: Overlooked things collectors should consider

This one is a new department here on The Buzz ... Fast Five -- a quick list under a simple topic that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection. It's a basic list of five items that could be fun for a starting collector or a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's perhaps something to ponder.

This time? Five perhaps overlooked things baseball card collectors should consider.

USA BASEBALL
Nearly every year, nearly every draft pick already has appeared on a baseball card thanks to the USA Baseball deal with Panini today and a few other companies in the past. If you want an autograph, memorabilia card or just basic baseball card (or two, or three) for this year's No. 1 draft pick, Spencer Torkelson, all you have to do is rip into some USA Baseball packs. He's already got almost 200 different card appearances there -- nearly half of those autographs -- thanks to these releases and other prospect All-Star showcase products. The same can be said for a lot of notables from the last decade-plus and they won't cost you nearly as much as popular-brand MLB prospect debut cards or MLB Rookie Cards. Isn't the big appeal of first prospect cards or Rookie Cards their being early? USA Baseball can trump them all with players in their teen years having cards years before college or pro stardom. Torkelson, for example, has had cards since 2016 and had his first USA stuff in 2018 (Elite Extra Editon). He can be found in the last two Stars & Stripes releases, too. These cards are also easy enough to find to rip in bulk and stockpile/slab.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

MiLB MAGIC
The same logic for USA stuff applies to Minor League Baseball but with more of a collecting challenge. Topps presently makes two MiLB sets a year -- a Pro Debut set and a Topps Heritage Minor League set -- and they have to have one of the lowest print runs of the year for its baseball brands if not all of its brands. You won't find these boxes at retail and they typically showcase better prospects all in one place. You won't get everybody, of course, but there are hits and rare parallels to find. Want an even bigger challenge? Finding players' cards from team-issued sets which in some cases can be as rare as a few hundred sets. You might not recognize Bo Bichette in his Lansing Lugnuts uni but that's kind of the point here -- they don't have as many cards in these obscure unis, which, to me, also adds to the appeal. It also doesn't hurt that they can be dirt-cheap pick-ups.

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DON'T FORGET RELICS ...
It may sound too basic -- it is basic -- but hear me out. You know all of those big bucks being paid on Rookie Cards, autograph, variants and parallels? Well, for each of those sought-after players you can typically find game-used memorabilia cards that aren't nearly as pricey, and, based on the fact that they take more time to make and require swatches, are ultimately rarer cards than a lot of the stuff out there. Mem cards have their skeptics out there but I'm not one of them. This Fernando Tatis Jr. card had an $15 price tag on it, which isn't super-expensive. Meanwhile, a card like this could make for a solid-looking in-person auto or key card in a fun set to collect. A lot of younger players (especially those who aren't USA guys) won't have a boatload of mem cards for the most part, though some releases are heavier on young-player Relics than others. Fewer cards means you might have a better time making a project out of chasing 'em all -- and Relics are all over the place in today's boxes.

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THE TWEENER YEARS AND CARDS ... 
Big, big money is being thrown at Ronald Acuña Jr. first Bowman Chrome cards and his Rookie Cards the following year but in between there are a number of cards from prospect releases that aren't any less important for the most part yet can be light years away price-wise. Why is this? People latch onto the "big" stuff and those cards get flipped around a little more often as the prices rise. The other stuff can be a lot cheaper -- and if a guy truly blows up (like this guy did upon arrival) there might be more percentage gains for cards like these once people get priced out on the big stuff. This one isn't that cheap for rarer parallel versions but it is cheaper than others -- and there are a number of Bowman tweener years and cards for a lot of guys you can load up on without breaking the bank.

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MANUFACTURED RELICS
This one isn't a no-brainer "go get 'em" kind of pick as much as it's a reminder that some different kinds of cards can have different kinds of appeal. This Luis Robert card comes from a one-per-blaster-box set of roughly 50 cards in 2020 Topps Series 2  that gives you a tough challenge right off the bat with the odds. (It won't take you 50 boxes to find his Rookie Card or some parallels in hobby.) These cards are really heavy and different and there are a number of other sets from the recent past that simply offer something different inside a box. Some scoff and get rid of them as they aren't autos or mem cards but they can surprise over time in some instances -- and once blasters disappear in retail stores they can sometimes be challenges to find later, unlike hobby boxes which more people seem to rip and flip more regularly. (That's why some retail-exclusive cards can have surprising prices later, especially if they are store-specific exclusives.) It never hurts to have something different in your collection -- you never know what might be popular later that isn't right now.

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What would you want to see in a future Fast Five? Let Buzz know on Twitter or email.

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