| The Best of 2000 |
|
A look at what kept us collecting sportscards in 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
While looking over the events and products that made the sportscard hobby grow I realized that there was probably more good than bad in the year 2000. With close to four new products released every week it wasn't easy picking through them to find the best, but I believe that we've found some good examples of what makes collecting sportscards so great.
We'll start things off with a look at some of the best products for each of the five major sports. To create our list we looked back at every product to check card design, player coverage, insert cards, and box value. Needless to say, no product did well in every category, but they had to score good in at three to get a mention. After the product awards we've come up with some special awards for other companies and events in our hobby this year.
BEST SPORTSCARD PRODUCTS OF 2000
BASEBALL
Fleer Greats of the Game - It's not just the super cool Yankee Clippings jersey cards or the Hall of Fame autographs, but a beautiful base card design that made "Greats" live up to its pre-release hype.
Other sets in the running - 2001 Topps and Fleer Tradition.
BASKETBALL
SPx - The year started with 99-00 SPx which gave us numbered, autographed rookie cards and ended with 00-01 SPx which raised the stakes with numbered, autographed, game jersey rookie cards, but it's more then just the hot new ideas in rookie cards as SPx also sports a slick card design for its base set.
More products worth trying - Skybox Dominion WNBA and 99-00 Upper Deck Game Jersey Edition
FOOTBALL
Upper Deck Pros & Prospects - With the dominance of SP Authentic over the past couple years, it was a surprise when Upper Deck put out a new set with base cards as clean and white as SP, rookies numbered to a record low (at the time) of 1000, and blew us away with autographed game jersey cards in every fourth box.
Also a smart purchase - Playoff Contenders and Pacific Private Stock
HOCKEY
2000-01 Pacific - Sure it's not as slick looking as Upper Deck Ice (a runner-up), but I know hockey card collectors and they like to see all of their favorite players on cards. Pacific made 450 base cards and added autographs and game jerseys to keep the insert collectors happy.
You won't go wrong with - Upper Deck Ice and SP Authentic
NASCAR
Upper Deck MVP - At $1.59 per pack and decent odds at autographs and race used numbers memorabilia cards MVP is easily the winner in box value, but the 102 card base set is also one of the biggest racing sets of the year and the base card design is not bad either.
Race fans also enjoyed - Press Pass and Upper Deck Victory Circle
2000 MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR
I've had good and bad to say about almost every manufacturer this year and I'm sure that will be the same next year, but when I stopped to look back at 2000 and the 15 products that got mentioned above as the best of the season, I became obvious which one was the Manufacturer of the Year. Upper Deck is responsible for 7 sets we listed including three of the five top awards. I still believe that they produce far too many products, but that can be said about Fleer and Topps as well so the fact that they made nearly half of the best sets makes them number one in 2000.
2000 CARD OF THE YEAR
In a year which saw card companies cutting up everything from Georges Vezina's goalie pads to Joe DiMaggio's jersey, it's Mickey Mantle who appears on the 2000 Card of the Year. Not only is the Yankees Clippings jersey card the first Mantle worn jersey to get cut, but it is found in our baseball set of the year, Fleer Greats of the Game. Add the beautiful card design and the perfect picture of the Mick and you have a winner.
2000 GRADING SERVICE OF THE YEAR
Card grading has gone out of control in 2000 with new grading services opening up all over the place and making us question the standards and accuracy of many of the graded cards on today's market. I've spent a lot of time studying the various graders over the past two years and my hopes are that most of them will go out of business soon. I still believe we need more than one option, but not too many more. I've decided that the service that has come the farthest in 2000 is Beckett Grading so they take home the Grading Service of the Year award. 2001 looks to be even more interesting as the graders ally themselves to the manufacturers and hopefully manage not to ruin our hobby with too many graded products.
2000 HOBBY PERSON OF THE YEAR
I'll be the first to admit that when I heard of thePit.com and their idea to create a "stock market" for sportscards I figured it would make it a few months and then die out as collectors and investors went back to more traditional means for buying and selling their cards. When I spoke to their CEO, Marc Lore, I quickly realized that he was very serious about his company and believed that he could create something that had long term appeal not only with people in the sportscard hobby, but with sports fans in general. The jury is still out as thePit has been open for less than three months, but Lore's ability to cut deals with hobby companies like Beckett and Collector's Universe, as well as some quick moves to react to customer concerns prove that he is deserving of our award for sportscard person of the year.
That's it for 2000. Looking back has really been a tiring ordeal, especially when I tried to come up with the products of the year. My hopes for 2001 are that the hobby can slow down a bit. We don't really need 200 new products and 10 or 20 new gimmicks. Maybe it's time to look back to the past when simple basic sets were all we needed and most players had just one rookie card. I know that's only a dream, but it never hurts to hope for the best.
Happy New Year and here's to a Great 2001!
ANDY
 CHAT |
 Previous Sportscards Articles: |