The Rare ManuPatch Appearance

I used to be a big fan of the ManuPatch cards, but they have disappeared from my collection and blog over the last few years.  ManuPatch being a manufactured patch.  Topps used to make some really well designed ManuPatch cards that were pretty fun to collect.  I had two favorite types of ManuPatch cards.  

The first were the awards cards.  They were big and chunky cards.  Always really thick and heavy for a baseball card.  If I had to narrow the category down to two specific sets, I would go with the Silver Slugger cards in the 2013 Topps set.  

I believe that I got this out of a pack of cards and it was the only card in the pack.  No, the award cards were not in the per-box Manu cards at Wally World and Target.  Pretty common back then, but Topps put the nice ManuPatch cards in Hobby boxes and counted them as your autograph or relic that you were guaranteed.  

From the same year's Topps set, I also really like the MVP cards.  It could be that 2013 was the peak of ManuPatch cards.  I have a Pujols and Musial card from the set.  Still a little irked that Topps did not make a card for 1985 National League MVP Willie McGee.  

This card is not as thick as the Matt Kemp, but it might actually weigh more.  Great looking cards.  

I also really liked the Minor League ManuPatch cards that Topps used to put in Pro Debut and Minor League Heritage every year.  The Durham Bulls used to frequently appear.  

My two favorites were Tim Beckham and Mike Montgomery.  

There is a Blake Snell ManuPatch card as a member of the Bulls, but I do not like it as much as the two above for design reasons.   

I am sure that some people like the pennant shape.  I like the simpler look of the large square logo.  

I have a few Cardinal Minor League ManuPatch cards too.  I think my favorite is Kolten Wong.  

I have not bought any ManuPatch cards in recent years.  I went and checked COMC to see what I missed?  Maybe Topps didn't even make them?  As it turns out, Topps did make ManuPatch cards and I stand by my decision to not buy any ManuPatch cards.  

After years of skipping over ManuPatch cards, why would I buy one now?  

Have I mentioned how everyone is spending excessive amounts of money on Jake Cronenworth cards?  

Yes, bringing up his age or the fact that he graduated from the University of Michigan has not persuaded people to discontinue spending money on the cards of one of my favorite former Durham Bulls players.  In fact, it seems to have gotten worse as he plays better at the end of the season.  So, I have started looking for cards that are affordable, but not boring.  That includes ManuPatch cards.  

This was very affordable compared to many other Cronenworth cards.  

This is not nearly as good looking as the two award or Durham Bulls ManuPatches at the top of the page, but I still like the RC patch logo on this card.  I know the RC logo has limited meaning at times in the baseball card world with the large number of Bowman brand and Minor League products that Topps put out.  However, they skipped over Cronenworth for years, meaning this year Cronenworth is officially on his rookie card year, but these are literally his first cards.