I still don’t know how I feel about Pro Debut. It doesn’t have the prospect tradition of Bowman/Bowman Draft or the nostalgia of Heritage Minor League, but it does have 200 highly touted Minor League players in their official uniforms using the Topps Flagship design.
Over the last couple years I had picked up some Pro Debut singles and bulk lots through my LCS or collections I’d purchased. I’d never bought a sealed box, In my mind, Bowman was the prospect product to chase, and the 3rd string prospect product didn’t really appeal to me.
With the recent allocation issues and astronomical prices of some of the more popular releases, I’ve found my interest growing in more of the fringe or niche releases. Opening Day, Heritage Minors (which historically seems to be overlooked compared to the popularity of the standard Heritage release, however this year presale prices are crazy high) and now Pro Debut have peaked my interest.
The 2018 version contains a 200 card base set with a variety of serial numbered parallels and short printed variations to be hunted. The checklist contains a pretty solid mix of fresh prospects as well as some who are more seasoned and have actually already been called up to The Show by the release date!
Here's the base cards of Acuna, Soto, and Guerrero Jr.
Ronald Acuna and Gleyber Torres are probably the two most notable names in the product, and Juan Soto isn't too far behind. Oh, and don't forget Tim Tebow. He makes a return appearance, and the overall likability and feel good nature of his baseball pursuits keep his popularity up there.
This is a hobby only product, so stalking the WalMart and Target vendors isn’t going to provide you a MegaBox like opportunity here. Each hobby box contains 24 packs with an average of 2 autographs and 2 relic cards. One of the things I kind of like is the uniqueness of the relics. In my box I received a piece of a team’s championship banner and a piece of one of the outfield advertising signs at another stadium. While not directly tied to the individual player, it is more unique than your standard plain white swatch.
The autos in my box is where I got real excited. While flipping through one of the first few packs of the box I came across this beauty!
Wow! Torres Red Auto /10!!! Score!!!!!
That Torres is probably the 2nd best card I’ve ever pulled from a pack behind the 2017 Kris Bryant “1987” auto I got out of last year’s Series 1. I’m still excited and you can see it all happen here on my YouTube channel!
At this point I’m not planning to build the complete set, but I will be keeping the Acuna, Guerrero Jr., and Soto base cards for my PC. The rest will go to Sportlots. If you do want to set build, two boxes should cover it, or if you don’t mind chasing down a few singles you can get pretty close with a single box.
The insert sets bring another unique aspect to the set with the Ben’s Biz set highlighting some special moments and experiences captured in the blog of the same name. MiLB Leaps and Bounds focuses on some highly touted prospects, and the Promo Night Uniforms set features some pretty sweet threads!
At $60 or $65, this product seems like a great value. With four hits and around 200 cards of some of the top prospects out there, it’s hard to be too disappointed. I wasn’t sure how I’d like busting this, but even without the Torres mega hit, I still had fun with this very affordable product. I liked it enough that it may make it into the 2019 preorder plan!
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