From here on out, all of the cards in Dan's trade package are from Ntreev. As such, I'm going to try to explain each of the sets just like I do for Japanese cards. So, here's a big thank you to Dan for sending the cards, and for his work with the Trading Card Database - I believe Jason has posted some of the checklists to the site but I know Dan has added lots of images and listings as well.
Technically, the Blue Edition set is just one big set; the entire release is numbered as one set, without any inserts or parallels. However, it's broken up into several subsets, and that's where the fun begins.
I should note that while this is my first Ntreev post, it's not the first set they issued; there are three "seasons", which equate to series, which were released throughout 2014.
Generally, the set can be identified by the suffix on the card number. However, there are a few subsets without their own unique suffix. You'll see what I mean.
This is as normal as it gets - an example of a regular base card. This is SBCBE-176-N. Superstar Baseball Card Blue Edition - 176 - Normal. The backs on regular normal cards are identical. Unfortunately, that means there are no statistics on these cards.Card SBCBE-146-GN, or Gold Normal. The only real difference here is the minor use of gold foil.
SBCBE-137-AS (All-Stars). I'm naming the suffixes but I could be wrong. Anyway, the AS cards actually do have unique backs, with biographical data and statistics. These cards also have a sparkly foil finish on the front. The yellow text at the top of the card front identifies the players as league leaders in various categories.
SBCBE-207-N. While this is part of the "normal" subset, it's also a sub-subset of team logos. The back has some team history and basic "biographical" data.
This may seem like the same kind of card as before, SBCBE-210-N is from the team mascot subset. The chart on the back has the same information as the team logo card.
Finally for my collection, but not the set, this is SBCBE-220-N. This is from a subset of team photo cards, but as you can see they're not the same as the team photos Topps used in the past.
Finding everything for this set is probably impossible, though Dan did a great job getting me the basic cards from the release. Here's a breakdown of the entire set:
- #1-14: SD suffix, dual memorabilia, #/30.
- #15-65: SA suffix, autographed, #/10.
- #66-82: SC suffix, coin (manurelic), #/30.
- #83-97: SS suffix, various serial numbering #/100-600. Highlighting various records.
- #98-145: AS suffix (All-Stars/League Leaders)
- #146-172: GN suffix (Gold Normal)
- #173-199: N suffix (Normal)
- #200-208: N suffix (Normal - Team Logos)
- #209-216: N suffix (Normal - Team Mascots)
- #217-225: N suffix (Normal - Team Photos)
- #226: N suffix (Normal), apparently a regular card that is serial numbered as 1/1.
The weirdest thing about the Blue Edition set isn't readily apparent unless you have the other 2014 sets. The photos on all the "Gold Normal" cards are recropped photos from cards in the Season One, Two or Three sets that year. And all the players on the "Normal" cards had "All Star" short printed cards in the Season One set. There's at least two players who are in both the "Gold Normal" and "Normal" sets. Very odd.
ReplyDeleteI kind of liked the team logo, mascot and photo cards and missed them from the Gold and Black Edition sets. (Although I probably only liked the mascot cards because they haven't done them to death - unlike BBM.)
Interesting! I'm somewhat interested in full sets of all of these issues, but with all the SPs I doubt I'll bother. I am probably going to try for the team logo, mascot, and photo card subsets.
DeleteI probably have all of what you need for those three, if wanted.
Delete