05.27
Panini America is unveiling several videos from the recent NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere this week where Scott “Not Van Pelt” Prusha interviews some of the NFL’s newest rookies.
See Prusha go one-on-one with Detroit Lions TE Brandon Pettigrew above and see the rest of the action (and a few more soon) here.
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
05.27
Yesterday, Upper Deck released its preview package for its 2009 Goodwin Champions baseball card set modeled after the 1880s tobacco cards of the same name.
Today, the company announced a big inclusion to the autograph checklist.
A guy named Jordan, a G. for the Bulls — in ye olde tobacco speak — aka Chicago Bulls legend and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Michael Jordan.
We’re sure he won’t sign many cards for the set, but his autograph’s inclusion in any product — just like Tiger Woods in the recently released Champ’s hockey — will spark interest from those who don’t normally dabble in the particular sport.
And that’s a very good thing for the industry these days.
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
05.27
Upper Deck released basic product information and preview images for its upcoming 2009-10 UD Black NHL set on Tuesday, a product that appears to be loaded with patch and autographed memorabilia cards.
Black will include one Rookie Letterman patch card and one autograph or multi-swatch memorabilia card per pack, and the product includes a wide array of 12-swatch gatefold cards, Game Night Ticket autographs (like the Bobby Orr above) and Pride of a Nation patch cards among others.
See additional preview images below. You’ll find more information about the product here as it is released.
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
05.27
One of my favorite additions to the baseball card world this past year is the Sketch Card, which after years of appearing in non-sports packs, finally made its way into baseball cards beginning with Topps sets late last year.
But there is a drawback to those one-of-a-kind miniature pieces of artwork that picture baseball players and not iconic figures such as Darth Vader or Superman.
It’s the baseball sketch card whodunnit — though in this case we know who did it (an artist named Graham) — it’s a whoisit.
Yours truly trekked across Dallas on a late lunch hour Tuesday afternoon to pick up a certified mailing from Topps — a redemption card for a sketch from 2009 Series 1 baseball had finally arrived.
When I ripped open the envelope, the first thing I looked for was the artist’s name — then I struggled to determine who the player is.
I have a couple of leading candidates, but without a team logo or a name I’m not sure. And I’d rather not influence your ideas — so, who do you think it is? Leave a comment below.
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
05.27
Beckett Baseball‘s Chris Olds and Brian Fleischer ripped into boxes of Upper Deck Series 2 baseball on Tuesday to see what they could find inside for the latest episode of Box Busters.
Did they happen to land a hot box (found in every case)? Did they find something big?
Click here to find out.
05.26
Sportkings released additional images for its upcoming Series C on Tuesday and announced that it will produce just 2,500 boxes of the high-end product this year.
Here’s a look at some of the high-end cards to be found when it arrives in collectors hands beginning on July 29 at The National. Our favorite, an Owner’s Box cut autograph of famous Chicago Cubs owner Philip Wrigley is above. See the rest below.
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05.26
Upper Deck released the basic product breakdown and preview images for its upcoming Goodwin Champions baseball set, a new release that delivers much of the oldschool aesthetic that many collectors crave, along with some interestingly odd inclusions that touch on other collecting fields.
The set, scheduled to arrive in September, will include current and retired baseball stars alongside stars from other sports such as horse racing, surfing and martial arts among others.
The product will include advanced DNA memorabilia cards — entomology cards (see the butterfly card above), Landmarks cards and Thoroughbred Hair Cut cards that include hair from well-known horses such as Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Funny Cide – one in every 12-box case. (Not sure how the bug-phobic might react to finding them in their packs, but we’ll examine that when we get there.) The Landmarks cards will include elements from notable locations — coal from the Titanic wreck and salt from the Dead Sea among others.
Every 20-pack box will include two memorabilia cards and one autographed card as well as a selection of standard cards from the basic set, which is comprised of 150 regular cards, 40 short-printed cards, 20 super short-prints and 42 high series mini SPs.
According to Upper Deck, there is one one mini card per pack (some have rarer foil versions), while three out of every four packs will have an additional insert or short print card inside. Also available will be original 1888 Goodwin Champions buyback cards — including Hall of Famers Cap Anson and King Kelly.
Other inserts include Printing Plates, mini or foil mini cards (along with Black Bordered Gypsy Queen Backs, Mini Foil Black Bordered Magician Back, limited to only eight cards) as well as Citizens of the Day and Citizens of the Century cards.
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
05.26
The good news is that we received preliminary product information and tons of eye candy on 2009 Donruss Threads Football today. The bad news, of course, is that you’ve gotta wait three months to get your hands on some.
But based on the contents of the sales sheet, you likely won’t mind.
While you’re feasting on the visuals, here are some of the product highlights:
* 200-card base set with 100 rookies numbered to 999; autographed rookies will be numbered to less than 999
* As its name suggests, Threads will include a bevy of memorabilia inserts (no less than nine unique sets not including parallels). Some of the highlights include Triple Threat Materials (three teammate swatches), Pro and College Gridiron Kings Materials (with autographed versions of both numbered to 10 or less), Rookie Collection Materials and Generations Materials.
* Rookie Class returns with autographed nameplate letters of the featured newcomer’s surname numbered to 399 or less.
* Stay tuned to Beckett.com and The Beckett Blog for additional product information.
– Tracy Hackler
05.22
Join Beckett Media multitaskers Tim Trout and Tracy Hackler as they rip through a box of Press Pass Premium racing and a few packs of Fathead NHL Tradeables.
Did they pull anything worth screaming about? You’ll have to click here and here to find out.
05.21
Topps released the basic product information and images for its 2009 Bowman Chrome baseball set on Thursday, a product that includes one autographed prospect card per 18-pack hobby box.
The set will include 110 prospects on their first bowman cards and will arrive in hobby shops in early September.
Among the notable players included in the set are hard-hitting White Sox prospect Dayan Viciedo, Braves pitching prospect Tommy Hanson, Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello as well as Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospects Dinish Patel and Rinku Singh who were signed from India.
Patel and Singh lead off the autograph checklist (right), which also includes ambidextrous Yankees pitching prospect Pat Venditte, Hanson, A’s starter Brett Anderson, Viciendo, Beckett Baseball prospect diary writer and Reds pitching prospect Juancarlos Sulbaran (good to see his name finally spelled correctly) and the familiarly named Ernie Banks, who’ll ultimately hope to play two for the Marlins in the future.
Also included in the product are 40 more World Baseball Classic cards as well as 220 base cards.
See more cards from the set after the jump.
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