DA Drops of the Week: 4/17-4/23

By Troy Licastro on April 20, 2022 in DA Drops, Gaming News & New Products, New Releases, Sports Card News and New Products

Sunflower seeds, eye black, pine tar, and card releases make me feel like baseball season is back in full swing!

That’s right, Topps, and Panini, are back with the latest in cardboard collectibles of America’s Pastime.

DA Drops is back to give you a taste of what’s hitting the market.

Baseball

First up, Panini is due to deliver the 2021 Prizm Draft Picks, where you’ll find all the top draft picks and future superstars. The top picks will also appear in insert sets like Thunderstruck and Fireworks.

There are also multiple hobby-exclusive parallels like Gold, Tiger Stripes, and Burgandy Cracked Ice, Panini says.

Ultra-rare inserts include Electric College Stars, Electric DPL Stars, and Color Blast.

Prizm Draft Picks will have five autographs, five Silver Prizms, and five inserts per box. There are five packs per box and eight cards per box.

Topps is turning a double-play with a pair of releases coming Wednesday.

Leading off is 2021 Topps Big League Baseball. Topps says this product brings a shot of nostalgia with “designs drawing influence from fan-favorite sets of the 80s and 90s.”

Big League Baseball is also an expansive 300-card base set full of top vets and rookies.

Topps tells collectors to look for new inserts such as Souvenirs and Art of the Game in the Collector Box.

In the Hobby Box, there are new inserts, including Wanted and Home Team Traditions.

Each Collector Hobby Box comes with one Super7 Action Figure. Topps says it is teaming up with Super7 for another year to bring collectors an exclusive lineup of ten player figurines in image and card back variations.

Look for Big League Autographs in the product, especially the new Souvenirs and Wanted autograph parallels.

The Collector Box comes with five packs and ten cards per pack, while the Hobby Box comes with 18 packs per box and ten cards per pack.

For more information, click here.

And last but not least is the 2022 Topps Archives Signature Series Baseball, with each box containing one encased buyback autograph, according to Topps.

The company also says each card is stamped and sequentially numbered.

Something to keep in mind is this version of the Archives Signature Series is active players with the gold-foil stamp. Topps says this product features one of the biggest checklists of players to date.

“As is tradition, all Topps Archive Signature Series cards are hand-signed, serially numbered, gold-foil stamped, and enclosed in a Topps Authenticated casing,” Topps assured.

Football

With the draft coming next week, we move to a yearly staple of Panini football products.

2021 Phoenix Football is due to hit shelves on Friday, April 22. Each box of Phoenix contains two autographs, one memorabilia, two silvers, nine #’d parallels, nine inserts, and 12 rookies.

“Printed using stunning opti-chrome technology, Phoenix is one of the most colorful and sought-after brands of the year,” Panini said.

Collectors can look for all new Mythical Autograph Materials and short-printed Volcanic inserts in the 2021 Phoenix product. It is a 242-card set with 100 base, 100 rookies, and 42 “RPS rookie auto jerseys.”

En Fuego and Phoenician are also hobby exclusive short-print inserts hobbyists can collect.

There are 12 packs per box with five cards per pack.

It looks as though Topps is getting in on the pre-draft football product action with the drop of 2022 Bowman Chrome University Football on Friday, April 22.

Topps says it’s brand new to the family of Bowman products and is debuting with a “booming list of football’s brightest young stars.”

According to Topps, Bowman Chrome University is a 100-card base set showcasing the top talent throughout college football. Topps says it also includes “sleek inserts and parallels.”

There is one shimmer refractor per box, exclusive to the hobby version of Bowman Chrome University. The colored shimmer refractors are all exclusive to the hobby version of the product. Additionally, there are two chrome autographs per box.

Collectors should also look for 2000 Bowman and Big Kahuna inserts.

For the product breakdown, click here.

Gaming

We usually like to round up our weekly releases with some gaming, and this week is no different. There is not too much to report this week, but there are a couple of Pokemon releases.

Fans of the TCG can expect a tin and a V Box this week.

Below you will find details on what to expect from the Pokemon products this week.

These are due to come out on Friday.

Each Pokemon Boltund V Box includes: