The UFC Finest Grill Gear Relics Begin To Appear

2012 Topps UFC Finest went live at midnight on July 18^th and within minutes individual cards were showing up for auction. Possibly the most significant and anticipated card from the entire set showed up for auction within 12 hours of the product being released, the first Grill Gear relic card had at last seen daylight. The Grill Gear relics are a 15-card checklist where every card is #1/1 and contains an entire fight-used mouth-guard enclosed in a Lucite holder.

Not only was it the first Grill Gear relic, but the best of the Grill Gear relics, someone had pulled the Chael Sonnen Grill Gear relic card. The redemption card was set for auction and ended 24 hours later when it sold for $1,750. I am a bit surprised, I was actually expecting the price to be closer to $2,500 but I wonder if the short time frame was a detriment to the final sales price. You have to consider if a longer auction would have rewarded the seller; it is possible that some potential buyers may not have had the opportunity to even see the auction. I guess we will get a better idea when we start to see the other 14 cards come up for sale or if this one gets posted again by the new owner.

To add to the excitement, the first VIP Pass showed up for sale last Thursday and the auction runs through the 26th, there is a set $2,399.99 BIN. The VIP Pass cards are redemption of sorts, the card contains a code which is good for entry in to the VIP UFC exclusive sweepstakes. There are only 50 VIP Pass cards total and one winner will be selected and will win an all-inclusive trip to a UFC event, 2 tickets to the fight and access to a fight meet-and-greet before the event. Each VIP Pass is also signed by Dana White.

EDIT 7/24: Three more VIP Pass cards have shown up in the last 24 hours and range from $599.99 opening bid ($899.99 BIN) through $1199.99 BIN in addition to the first VIP Pass that showed up last week there are now 4 total VIP Pass cards up for auction.

Preview Image Of Topps Finest Grill Gear

In March I did a review of the 2012 Topps UFC Finest set, scheduled to be released July 18th. I have since updated the post with the most current information. At the time there were a couple of big chase inserts like the Fight Sponsor Auto Patch cards and the Finest VIP Pass cards but the one insert that has MMA collectors excited is the Grill Gear relic card.

When originally announced nobody had an idea of what to expect from Topps because nothing like this had been done before. Last week Topps finally let MMA collectors finally have a look at the much anticipated Grill Gear relic card when they released a sample image of a Louis Gaudinot Grill Gear card.

The checklist will contain 15 fighters and each card will be limited to 1/1, so expect to see some big cash numbers when they start to hit eBay. The complete checklist has not been released but it will include Gray Maynard, Brian Ebersole and Stipe Miocic along with Gaudinot.

The relic will be enclosed in a clear plastic container and the mouth piece will be viewable from all sides. I know I probably will not be able to afford one but damn... these cards are pretty cool.

Preview: 2012 Topps UFC Finest

Schedule Release Date: July 18, 2012

Box Configuration:  5 cards per pack/6 packs per mini-box/2 mini-boxes per Master box (50 cards total)

SRP: $95/box


Master Box Break:

2 Autograph cards

2 Jumbo Relic cards

2 Mat Relic cards

My Thoughts:

The 2012 Finest UFC release will be Topps’ second venture in to the UFC Finest line and if the 2011 Finest UFC set is any indication of what to expect you know that this follow up will do well. The 100-card base checklist is a solid collection of fighters ranging from up and comers to champions. The set also includes fighters from the former-WEC, Strikeforce and UFC and includes newly crowned Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson and interim Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit.

As expected there are 6 parallels to each base card- White Refractor, Blue X-Fractor (#/188), Gold Refractor (#/88), Black Octa-Fractor (#/8), Red Refractor (1/1) and Printing Plates (1/1).

There are 2 non-hit inserts- There are 5 parallels for each insert plus an autographed version.

Topps Finest Moments, a 25-card insert that highlights special moments for the fighters.

Bloodlines, a 25-card insert that covers the fighter’s heritage/historical background.

The hits include:

Shared Bloodlines Autographs: A dual autographed card displaying 2 fighters who share a heritage and #/25

Shared Bloodlines Auto-Relic Booklet: A dual autographed booklet card that includes relics and autographs from two fighters who share a heritage and #/10

Finest Threads Autograph: A large fight-worn relic and autograph

Jumbo Finest Threads: An even larger fight-worn relic

Jumbo Fight Mat: A large mat relic

Thoughts From The Boss: A dual autograph of Dana White and a fighter #/25

Finest Fighters Autographs: Fighters autographs

The hits are pretty standard, similar to what was included in the 2011 version. A nice variation of hits and autographs plus a decent selection of jumbo relics make for a nice box break. What adds to the chase are a couple of “super” hits that are extremely limited.

Fight Sponsor Autographs: A card which features a patch with a Sponsor logo along with a fighter’s autograph affiliated with that clothing line. There are 10 cards in the checklist and they will be limited. So far sponsors TapouT and Silver Star have been announced but I am sure we will see others, I wouldn't be surprised to see Xtreme Couture, Bad Boy MMA, Metal Mulisha and Jaco. The cards will be numbered and printed using Topps Finest Refractor technology.

Grill Gear Relics: A card with a fight used mouthpiece relic and #1/1

Finest VIP Pass: An autograph card containing Dana White’s autograph and is good for entry in to the VIP UFC exclusive sweepstakes. There are 50 VIP Pass cards total and one winner will be selected and will win an all-inclusive trip to a UFC event, 2 tickets to the fight and access to a fight meet-and-greet before the event.

Autograph Glove Redemption: A redemption card for an autographed fight worn glove.


Pros:

Small base set makes it easy for set collectors

Nice selection of hits

Large jumbo relics

Grill Gear relics


Cons:

Sticker autographs

To many parallels


Rating:

I give this set 4 out of 5, it is a decent set, not to large with some variety. The only downside is sticker autographs and parallels. I picked up a box of 2011 Topps UFC Finest not long ago and loved it, I definitely look forward to breaking a box of the 2012 version.