Logo-less and Lovely

Logos matter.  At least to this collector.  If you read this blog on a regular basis, then I'm sure you know that I've never been shy about my dislike for most logo-less trading cards.  However every now and then, I'll come across a non-MLB licensed product that isn't too bad.  I enjoyed collecting Panini Hometown Heroes a few years ago.  Their Golden Age cards were cool too.

Last March, I wrote a post about the 2015 Leaf Sport Kings buyback autographs that I enjoy picking up whenever they're affordable.  It was then and there that I confessed that I had a change of heart when it came to purchasing logo-less sport cards.

That's why I was pretty excited to see that Sage was going to release a 2018 Sport Kings product.  My main concern was that it was a set being created by Sage, which is a company I've never really been a fan of.  But I figured if they were able to utilize the traditional attractive card design as well as add some decent names to their multi-sport checklist, then I'd give this stuff a shot.

After watching Steel City Collectibles bust a blaster on You Tube in early November, I was interested.  A few weeks later, I saw blasters on Target's website.  In two separate purchases, I grabbed four boxes.

Last week, I opened all four and was very pleased with what I saw.  The base cards are truly gorgeous:

And if you're wondering why there aren't career statistics listed on the back of the cards, it's because the original 1933 Sport Kings didn't either.

As expected, the checklist is filled with legendary sports figures like Walter Payton, Abby Wambach, and Joe Lewis.

Unfortunately since the checklist is only made up of 48 athletes, there were a ton of big names left out.  But that's okay.  Maybe this will become Sage's version of a living set.

Another thing that I love about this product is that there aren't a bunch of inserts and parallels.  It's pretty simple.  There are exactly two variation cards: Ty Cobb and Walter Payton.  There's the standard sized base set, the autographs, and relics.  Outside of that, the only other thing to collect are the mini parallels:

It looks like the hobby boxes also have their own special base cards with green text as well as sketch cards that aren't available in blaster boxes.  Thanks Kin for bringing this to my attention.

Each blaster box contains 8 packs.  Seven of the packs contain four standard sized cards and one mini.  The eighth pack contains your hit.  Here are the four that I pulled out of my boxes:

***That's Mike Boddiker pictured on that Palmer relic.  Thanks to Dion and sg488 for pointing this out.

Normally, I'm all about the hits.  But these are by far the least favorite part about this product.  The other downside was that I wasn't able to complete a base set from the four blasters I opened.  Here's a look at what I still need:

I was able to pull both Ty Cobb cards, but only one of the Walter Paytons.  Plus I need two other cards.

I'm also chasing the mini set as well.  I purchased a large lot of minis on eBay, which helped me narrow down my wantlist to these nine cards:

I know that this might sound a little crazy, but I actually think this was my favorite product of 2018.  It's definitely my favorite logo-less sports card product of 2018.  I'm excited to read what you think.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!