Stadium Club Baseball

[Nhi2017]

At the small show in my area last weekend, actually had guys looking through my case at my PSA graded black and white (hobby sp's) and commenting on how they had those "sepias" already...lol what? Its there on the label, and the cards don't look anything like sepias (easy to tell the difference in person, much easier than trying to decipher an ebay photo with bad lighting...)

I will admit, I wasn't as aware of the difference between the parallels until last year either. I got told a few times that what I was listing on ebay was incorrect, and it took a few rounds of messages for me to figure it out. I eventually admitted my lack of knowledge. I started researching print runs and odds, and hobby twitter helped to sort out what was common and what wasnt.

There is a such a big difference between retail and hobby with stadium club baseball, that the common collector or flipper doesn't understand and ultimately, it leads to rare and tough to grade cards being overlooked (value unappreciated) when they truly are hard to find and nearly impossible to get in top condition.

Topps chose not to use a serial number variations in the 2022 set for b&w and sepias, and to add to the confusion, left card numbers the same across the base stadium club set, and the chrome set (each with refractor parallels, image variations, and other unreasonable parallels). The set will be iconic, with Wander, JRod and Witt rookies, and some really great photos of Ohtani and Judge, but if everything mentioned earlier wasnt bad enough, PSA has been mislabeling tons of cards, and giving random beginner collectors the impression they have low pop cards (the research team cant tell the difference between a base ohtani from scc, and a chrome parallel from sc, due to them having the same #1 in both sets).

I guess, as a collector of the hobby exclusive black and whites, and a fan of the shorter print run refractors from scc, its frustrating to see people laugh when you explain to them the low pops on certain cards aren't a joke, and no one is asking for the moon on cards, they really are that hard to find and that hard to grade.

Stadium club is expanding their parallels, not something Im a fan of, but the photography and *mostly* on card autos in the sets are great, and why I prefer SC and SCC to other flagship sets. Anyone else see where I'm coming from or think the same?

Long term, would be great to see hard to find SC variations and parallels (or high grade / low pop cards) get the love (and value) they deserve.

[PuddleMonkey]

Those early Topps Finest cards, I still to this day can't spot the 'refractors' and probably have some sitting in commons boxes.

Never heard of a Sepia.

[Skipscards]

When they make them impossible to find, they become a tree falling in the forest when nobody is around.

[Eric1285]

I once bought a gold minted chrome parallel that someone listed as a sepia.

I've picked up quite a few wave refractors that weren't labeled as such.

Easiest way to distinguish between SC / SCC cards that share a card # and photo is by using the CMP code on the back. Can be tough to read the tiny print though. I probably won't be able to read in in another 5-10 years.

[pewe]

I got this “sepia” at a nice discount a couple weeks back (it’s not my first b&w found this way)



I’ve also purchased several gold minted that were also labeled “sepia”


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[pewe]

Originally Posted by Nhi2017

At the small show in my area last weekend, actually had guys looking through my case at my PSA graded black and white (hobby sp's) and commenting on how they had those "sepias" already...lol what? Its there on the label, and the cards don't look anything like sepias (easy to tell the difference in person, much easier than trying to decipher an ebay photo with bad lighting...)

I will admit, I wasn't as aware of the difference between the parallels until last year either. I got told a few times that what I was listing on ebay was incorrect, and it took a few rounds of messages for me to figure it out. I eventually admitted my lack of knowledge. I started researching print runs and odds, and hobby twitter helped to sort out what was common and what wasnt.

There is a such a big difference between retail and hobby with stadium club baseball, that the common collector or flipper doesn't understand and ultimately, it leads to rare and tough to grade cards being overlooked (value unappreciated) when they truly are hard to find and nearly impossible to get in top condition.

Topps chose not to use a serial number variations in the 2022 set for b&w and sepias, and to add to the confusion, left card numbers the same across the base stadium club set, and the chrome set (each with refractor parallels, image variations, and other unreasonable parallels). The set will be iconic, with Wander, JRod and Witt rookies, and some really great photos of Ohtani and Judge, but if everything mentioned earlier wasnt bad enough, PSA has been mislabeling tons of cards, and giving random beginner collectors the impression they have low pop cards (the research team cant tell the difference between a base ohtani from scc, and a chrome parallel from sc, due to them having the same #1 in both sets).

I guess, as a collector of the hobby exclusive black and whites, and a fan of the shorter print run refractors from scc, its frustrating to see people laugh when you explain to them the low pops on certain cards aren't a joke, and no one is asking for the moon on cards, they really are that hard to find and that hard to grade.

Stadium club is expanding their parallels, not something Im a fan of, but the photography and *mostly* on card autos in the sets are great, and why I prefer SC and SCC to other flagship sets. Anyone else see where I'm coming from or think the same?

Long term, would be great to see hard to find SC variations and parallels (or high grade / low pop cards) get the love (and value) they deserve.

Maybe stick an actual sepia parallel in the case next to the b&w to make the distinction more obvious?


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[GaryPayton]

What are the odds on the hobby vs retail b/w vs sephia for 2022?

Overall agree with what you are saying. 2021 SC had the white on the Stadium Club Logo and serial number to denote the image variation. Took me a month+ to figure it out and went through my base and found 3 vlad jr, biaz, snell. Now they are my favorite image variations to PC for that set.

[atk825]

The whole Stadium Club franchise is currently a bit of a mess. Between just way too many parallels to the point where even really rare ones aren't that desirable and the photography taking quite a step back, it's getting a little tired.

[Nhi2017]

Originally Posted by GaryPayton

What are the odds on the hobby vs retail b/w vs sephia for 2022?

Overall agree with what you are saying. 2021 SC had the white on the Stadium Club Logo and serial number to denote the image variation. Took me a month+ to figure it out and went through my base and found 3 vlad jr, biaz, snell. Now they are my favorite image variations to PC for that set.

Not sure on sepia print run, but it’s retail and hobby and are fairly common. 4 per blaster when I was opening boxes…

B&W are hobby only, with a print run of about 63 per card for the 2022 set. Odds were 1:48 hobby packs, so 1 in every 3 hobby boxes on average.

I like the scarcity of the parallel, mainly. Just wish they were easier to recognize, for the common collector.


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[Nhi2017]

Originally Posted by atk825

The whole Stadium Club franchise is currently a bit of a mess. Between just way too many parallels to the point where even really rare ones aren't that desirable and the photography taking quite a step back, it's getting a little tired.

I agree. But after grabbing the more rare B&W parallels for 2022, I’ve been going back a few years, trying to find ohtani, Acuna, judge, etc. and calculating print runs.

More enjoyable than losing out on hobby boxes over and over.


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[Mhphillips7048]

Does anyone know the print run of the black foil in 2018. Can't seem to find it.

[Mhphillips7048]

Actually, also the print run for the red foil for 2018 also?

[corockies]

Originally Posted by Mhphillips7048

Does anyone know the print run of the black foil in 2018. Can't seem to find it.

Originally Posted by Mhphillips7048

Actually, also the print run for the red foil for 2018 also?

https://baseballcardpedia.com/index....8_Stadium_Club

Doesn't have actual print runs, but it does have pack odds. Neither the red foil (5-6 per hobby box) or the black foils (2 per hobby box) were very rare in 2018, so I can't imagine either print run is low.

[queonda]

Since they are trying to make parallels consistent across products, how bad are they going to overhaul the stadium club parallels, if it even exists for 2025? Will they turn the common red foil parallels into red /5? Will gold minted become /50?

I don’t think changing the serial numbers would bother me, but a lot of the 2024 parallels looked hideous… Hope they fix that.

[Triple B]

I just want Stadium Club released. Parallels are just artificial value to make people think they pulled something wild out of their dud box. I'll depend on the breakers to get the singles I want out into the marketplace.

[corockies]

Originally Posted by queonda

Since they are trying to make parallels consistent across products, how bad are they going to overhaul the stadium club parallels, if it even exists for 2025? Will they turn the common red foil parallels into red /5? Will gold minted become /50?

I don’t think changing the serial numbers would bother me, but a lot of the 2024 parallels looked hideous… Hope they fix that.

I have a feeling a lot of 2024 Stadium Club went unopened - hardly any singles hit eBay when it was released and singles overall for sale have stayed consistently low for all of 2025.

[JimEd14]

Originally Posted by corockies

I have a feeling a lot of 2024 Stadium Club went unopened - hardly any singles hit eBay when it was released and singles overall for sale have stayed consistently low for all of 2025.

I would agree with this, I'm still hunting some gold minteds that had 1 or 2 two pop up right after release and then none in the last 10 or so months.

It doesn't help that hobby boxes are around $300 because of the strong rookie class.

No one breaking it, no one buying it.

Was really hoping there would be a Black Friday deal somewhere but it never happened.

[bblair_2002]

Originally Posted by corockies

I have a feeling a lot of 2024 Stadium Club went unopened - hardly any singles hit eBay when it was released and singles overall for sale have stayed consistently low for all of 2025.

If there's one thing I know,putting the 2024 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor set has been an incredibly slow process. It was a bit easier when Chrome was a stand-alone product. I've seen a good amount of retail opened but not nearly as much hobby and compact.