06.30
Topps has announced its VIP cards for this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland and it’s an assortment of cards using the memorable 1959 design that get the nod this year.
There will be two Mickey Mantle cards — one showing him batting righty, the other lefty — with all VIP bags receiving four cards — but only one of the Mantle cards.
The others include Roger Maris, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella.
Robinson’s card shows him as a member of the New York Giants, a team he was traded to in December of 1956 but never played for.
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.
06.30
Memory Lane Inc. will offer the first public showing of the finest known collection of Mickey Mantle baseball cards during this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention.
The California-based auction company will have the Donald E. Spence Mantle collection on display for collectors to enjoy inside the IX Center in Cleveland July 29-August 2.
The collection includes all 21 major Mantle cards in mint or gem mint condition, all of them authenticated and graded by PSA. Every card is graded 9 or 10 and several are the highest graded Mantle cards in existence.
Collectors will be able to see the cards and have their picture taken with the “Million-Dollar Mantle card” — a PSA 10-graded 1951 Bowman Mantle rookie — at booth 101.
The collection grades out at a 9.53 on a 10-point scale, making it the No. 1 “set” of Mantle cards on PSA’s Set Registry. Eleven of the cards been graded PSA 10 and the group was named to PSA’s Set Hall of Fame this year.
06.29
NASCAR rookie Joey Logano made history Sunday by becoming the youngest winner ever in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and in July Press Pass will deliver some of the the 19-year old’s hottest cards in two new brands.
Press Pass Series 2 arrives July 8 with gold edition Press Pass Autographs as well as a retail-exclusive red edition limited to 10 copies. Of the memorabilia cards, there will be Tread Marks autographed race-used tire cards (#’d to 10),
2009 Daytona 500 race-used tire cards and Four Wide multi-swatch cards (#’d to 50).
Press Pass floors it with its first high-end set, Press Pass Showcase, on July 15. Each $225 three-pack box will deliver one autograph plus two race-used memorabilia cards of the sport’s premier drivers. Logano’s featured card will be the short-printed Premier Prospects Rookie Card, which is an autographed, race-used firesuit card. There will be four types all varied by foil stamp color, sequential numbering and firesuit swatch:
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06.29
Upper Deck‘s Draft Edition basketball set is on the way in late-July with a mix of newly drafted college stars in their school colors.
And then there’s this other guy named Eldrick.
You probably know him as Tiger Woods, the top pro golfer in the world. As one of Upper Deck’s spokesmen, he’s popped up in several sets in the last year and this upcoming basketball set will be one of them, too.
Not many of his gold cards display his Stanford ties so prominently — in fact, this writer can’t think of any cards that do so.
Cool move.
The set also will include cards of a few other company spokesmen — Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
And, of course, it also will include more than a few draft picks.
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.
06.26
The wait is over for those collectors holding redemption cards for Wilmer Flores autographs.
The New York Mets’ 17-year-old shortstop prospect has returned his signatures and those redemptions should begin being fulfilled soon by Panini America. Redemptions for Flores signatures were inserted into four 2008 Donruss products – Threads, Elite Extra Edition, Americana Sports Legends and Contenders.
“This is definitely a big one for everyone,” Panini America brand manager Mike Payne said. “Our acquisitions team deserves a lot of credit for staying on top of this and for their continued pursuit of the signatures, even after Flores left the country after last season and after he had changed agents during the off-season.”
Flores, ranked the No. 2 prospect in the New York Mets organization by Baseball America before the 2009 season began, will represent the World Team in the 2009 Futures Game.
Last season, his first as a professional, Flores batted .307 with eight home runs and 42 RBI in 280 at-bats combined between three minor league teams. Through June 25 of this season, he was batting .273-2-18 with 11 doubles at Class A Savannah of the South Atlantic League.
06.25
Look, I’m a collector and I make no apologies about that. But as such, it’s my pastime to accumulate material mementos that remind me of those diversions about which I’m most passionate.
It occurred to me tonight – watching the myriad tributes to Michael Jackson and growing increasingly melancholy while doing it – that outside of a few old records, I don’t have any MJ in my collection.
Unless you count the memories. When it comes to those, I’m sitting on a treasure trove; a priceless vault full of crystal-clear recollections that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
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06.25
TMZ is reporting that “The King of Pop” Michael Jackson has died at age 50 of an apparent heart attack.
While he has obviously been remembered for his eccentric exploits the last decade or so, there’s no doubting his place in music history — from The Jackson Five to the Thriller days to Bad and beyond.
There will surely be a groundswell of interest in his memorabilia — despite all of the negative things that popped up regarding him away from the stage.
Jackson appeared on his own trading card set made by Topps in 1984 — a 132-card set issued in two series, 33 cards and 33 stickers apiece.
They’re plentiful, so they’re not all that valuable. Some dealers want less than $20 — but most no more than $50 — for an unopened box on eBay.
Topps also produced an oversized sticker set — 13 cards that are roughly 5x7s.
Jackson’s autographs are relatively pricey, with most dealers wanting $500 or so for a signed 8×10 photo — and upwards of $1,500 for those that are PSA/DNA certified. You can expect those types of items to be the most in demand in the future and those prices to rise, while his other memorabilia will generally see an increase in the volume of items sold as well.
Evening update: The Topps cards are seeing a ton of action, so that price range is now moot. And autograph photos are topping out at $2,000 and more.
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.
06.25
The latest batch of game-used pink Mother’s Day bats have hit the auction block through MLB.com with the net proceeds from each and every auction benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.
Many MLB players used the pink bats during games on Mother’s Day this year to help raise awareness for breast cancer. Some of the bats are game-used, while others are merely game-issued (prepped for use) and some are merely autographed.
The unique items are a striking piece of game-used memorabilia that can be directly tied to the player’s use a particular certain date, unlike most game-used bats out on the market.
Bidding starts at $100 for some bats, $300 for most others, while the autographed game-used David Wright bat (above) has an opening bid of $550.
Right now, a Derek Jeter autographed pink bat (which does not appear to be game-used) is drawing the most attention at $430 after five bids.
See the full lineup of bats available on the block 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.
06.25
So as part of the Topps vs. Upper Deck court battle over alleged misuse of vintage O-Pee-Chee designs, a judge has ordered Upper Deck to cease production and halt distribution of the cards and ruled that the company can’t market those cards.
While this case means plenty to Upper Deck and Topps, this decision shouldn’t mean much to collectors. Why? This isn’t 1989 – the presses stopped rolling some time ago. Halt distribution? Well, the newest product in question, 2009 O-Pee-Chee, has hit retail stores, so there’s plenty already out there.
Upper Deck has until July 16 to sell off its remaining inventory of the products in question, which likely means the entirety of the product gets into large distributors’ (or dealers’) hands faster than it normally would. (A move that could cost Upper Deck some money vs. a longer sales period.) Ok, then what? That probably will mean lower prices on the product as said dealers need to move the inventory to make room for something else.
How much advertising do you see card companies doing after a product’s release? It’s not as much as you might think — if any at all. There’s always another product, the next new thing, to promote –- despite there being fewer products than ever on the market for baseball collectors.
The designs in question are insert cards in 2009 Upper Deck Series 1 that emulate the 1975 O-Pee-Chee (and Topps) designs and hockey products that emulate the 1979-80 hockey design. (This design also was used as an insert in the new 2009 O-Pee-Chee baseball set.) Plans for 1971-inspired (above) and 1977-inspired O-Pee-Chee inserts in this year’s OPC set and in Upper Deck Series 2 were abandoned.
Should this ruling mean much to collectors? No. The cards are out there and will remain on the market. Had the move that Topps previously pursued — seeking the destruction of the cards in question and a temporary restraining order preventing some of the later products’ releases as well as a chunk of Upper Deck’s profits — been approved, it probably would matter more to collectors.
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.
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.
06.24
Press Pass announced its VIP card set for the 30th National Sports Collectors Convention on Wednesday.
The set consists of five Press Pass VIP cards of NASCAR stars with a sixth, the Dale Earnhardt Jr. card above, a redemption that can be found at the company’s booth during the show in late-July in Cleveland. The cards will be stamped “2009 National.”
Also in the set are Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and rookie Joey Logano.
The sets are available only to VIP or SuperVIP package buyers at the show.
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.
