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Bench Warmer
Topps Unique’s array of bat knob cards adds to short and unique niche
While Billy Ripken still has the most memorable bat knob in hobby history, the latest baseball card set from Topps certainly is giving him some competition.
Among the tough-to-find insert cards in 2009 Topps Unique are Bat Knob Relics, which have a piece cut from a player’s game-used bat.
Found at a rate of one in more than 50,000 packs, Unique has 110 knob cards to be found — all 1/1s — between the standard and autographed sets. But what’s interesting is how this release affects the total population of a very small niche in the hobby.
It raises the total number of bat knob cards listed in the Beckett.com database to just 551 different cards — and just 132 of those are autographed. How many of those 132 came from Unique? Just 95.
How many overall knob cards exist? A majority of them are 1/1s, while some — cards with knob-size cuts touted to be from the South end of a bat — have as many as 10 copies. And, in all, there are just 17 memorabilia card sets that include bat knob pieces — and most of them pale in comparison to Topps’ 2005 Pristine knob inserts, which was — and remains — the largest set of knob cards on the market, despite Unique’s arrival.
While Billy Ripken still has the most memorable bat knob in hobby history, the latest baseball card set from Topps certainly is giving him some competition.
Among the tough-to-find insert cards in 2009 Topps Unique are Bat Knob Relics, which have a piece cut from a player’s game-used bat.
Found at a rate of one in more than 50,000 packs, Unique has 110 knob cards to be found — all 1/1s — between the standard and autographed sets. But what’s interesting is how this release affects the total population of a very small niche in the hobby.
It raises the total number of bat knob cards listed in the Beckett.com database to just 551 different cards — and just 132 of those are autographed. How many of those 132 came from Unique? Just 95.
How many overall knob cards exist? A majority of them are 1/1s, while some — cards with knob-size cuts touted to be from the South end of a bat — have as many as 10 copies. And, in all, there are just 17 memorabilia card sets that include bat knob pieces — and most of them pale in comparison to Topps’ 2005 Pristine knob inserts, which was — and remains — the largest set of knob cards on the market, despite Unique’s arrival.
