Hobby Musings: Breaking 2020 Onyx Vintage Baseball – Onyx’s 2020 Vintage Baseball hobby product hit the market a few weeks ago. Back for another year, the product once again gives collectors the chance to score ink of some of the best prospects in the game. In addition to the prospects, this year’s checklist also included signatures of current stars like Ronald Acuna Jr. It also features retired legends like Randy Johnson. For people chasing by the case or looking for other thrills, Onyx also included redemptions for graded rookie cards of a star from the 1950s or later.
Each box of Vintage includes two on-card autographs and two base cards. I didn’t come away with a graded rookie in either of my two boxes that Onyx provided for review. But did, however pull, an autograph of Royals prospect, Bobby Witt Jr. I also pulled a red ink auto of Athletics prospect, Robert Puason. Signatures of Giants prospect, Alexander Canario and Indians farmhand, George Valera, rounded out my autographs.
Once again, the on-card autographs are a plus, especially on the softer card stock. This has been one of Onyx’s calling cards with its signatures over the years, and it’s nice to see Lance Fischer and company remain committed to doing so. While not all of the prospects are household names yet, there’s a good chance that many of them will be much better known within the next year or two. Onyx tends to a have a knack for picking good prospects for its checklists.
For a collector who may not have the funds to chase after Bowman or other high-priced prospect ink, Vintage offers a more cost-affordable alternative to chase down some of those signatures. This is true whether it’s through sealed box or on the secondary market via singles.
It’s also good to see Onyx continue to take chances and try new things and improvements with a product that performed very well last year. The addition of autographs from players like Nolan Ryan was a bit of a surprise from a company that is predominantly known for producing autographs of younger players. For more on this year’s product and what the company has planned with its Vintage Premium release, I had the chance to catch up with Lance Fischer via email.
Hobby Musings: Breaking 2020 Onyx Vintage Baseball – Interview
KS: Lance, Vintage has been out a few weeks now. What kind of response have you seen to it so far?
LF: It has been absolutely amazing, lots of positive feedback and excitement around the product this year.
KS: Which autographs do you think have been the most popular with people breaking it?
LF: Wander Franco, Mackenzie Gore and Bobby Witt Jr. on the prospect side. Third-party sales have been very positive!
KS: Something you did this year with Vintage is go back to previous prospects that you had sign before for new content. Did getting players like Ronald Acuna now that they’re most established present any type of increased challenge?
LF: Believe it or not, it was fairly easy only because we had a prior relationship (we were one of the first to do Ronald Acuna Jr. trading cards). It really helps to establish an early relationship with these future stars.
KS: You recently teased that Vintage Premium would be coming out. Why decide to branch off with it?
LF: Last year’s inaugural Vintage edition really opened the door to the Onyx brand. As you know, we have tried a few different approaches in breaking into the card industry. Last year was finally our breakthrough. Vintage Premium will offer collectors an opportunity to collect a mid to upper end trading card of some of the best prospects in the game.
KS: What will be the main differences between Premium and the base brand?
LF: The design, feel and addition of a few more names on the checklist. Some of those new names are a couple of 2020 July 2nd International guys in Cristian Hernandez and Carlos Colmenares,
Hobby Musings: Breaking 2020 Onyx Vintage Baseball – Image Gallery
2020 Onyx Vintage Collection Giveaway
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