2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 2 Review
Good: deep prospect crop, low numbered parallels, low numbered relics, low price point
Bad: autographs are unappealing and not very well done, hard to sell, lacks excitement, novelty has worn off, overkill on prospects who have already been sufficiently covered, lacks direction & a place in the baseball card landscape
The Bottom Line:
Pro Debut Series 2 is exactly what you would expect, an extension of 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 1, which was released this past Summer. When Series 1 came out, there were very few choices for baseball collectors and there was a tangible excitement surrounding the product due to the fact it was Topps' first foray into officially licensed Minor League Baseball cards. Fast forward to October and the novelty has worn off, it comes off extremely flat and feels extremely uninspired.
At the end of the day, it does carry an extremely low box price of around $60, deliver 3 hits and a several low numbered blue and gold parallels, which doesn't make it too risky of a break, I just wouldn't recommend it over the recently released prospect geared 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition, which is a far surperior product.
Design: 2.5/5
The base card design is the same as 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1 & 2, which is either a turn-off or a turn-on depending on whether you liked this year's design or not. The autograph cards feel thrown together and are extremely unappealing. The coolest looking cards in the box are the Futures Game relics, which feature a swatch covering roughly half the card.
Checklist: 4/5
Don't get me wrong, the Checklist features a fantastic array of prospects and is as deep as 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition, it just doesn't back those great names with cards worthy of collecting. Another thing that feels odd is the pressence of prospects that have already been covered in Bowman like Jesus Montero, Mike Moustakas, and Dustin Ackley. I would prefer they exclude guys like that in favor of featuring more prospects below AA. If done better, Pro Debut could be an excellent vehicle to introduce collectors to prospects they haven't learned about yet as well as be a perfect compliment to Bowman. If 2010 Series 1 & 2 is what Pro Debut is going to be in future years, I would almost prefer they save some of the big name prospects for Bowman.
Value: 2/5
The only real value in Pro Debut lies in the low $60 box price, which unfortunately still takes a case hit to pay off. The autographs are extremely hard to sell, even big time prospects like Jesus Montero are a hard sell due to the unappealing card design and presence of a Bowman Chrome Auto already in circulation.
The only way to pay off the box price is to pull an AFLAC Debut Cut signature, 1/1 Parallel, Patch Relic, or Future's Game Book Cards, which are case hits or carry odds that are similar.
Enjoyability: 3/5
As a big time prospector, I found the presence of players like Francisco Peguero, Miguel Velazquez, and other prospects who truley make their baseball card debuts exciting, but as I noted above, they are drowned out by an Ackley, Jennings, Montero, and Moustakas overkill. However, I find the card backs informative and interesting. I spent an hour reading the back of each one and found them to be an excellent tool for prospectors. But at the end of the day the weak autographs and lack of electricity and direction really sucked a lot of the excitement out of the box break.
Box Break
The highlights of my box break:
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Terry B.
Opened my box last night, pulled 3 autos (regular Shane Peterson, gold #/50 Shane Peterson, and some pitcher I’ve already forgotten). My Futures swatch card was Moustakas, which is a nice hit. Fun for collectors, don’t bother for investors.