06.19
Topps announced its second Finest redemption of the year on Friday and it’s Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson.
The redemptions are found one in every master hobby box of 2009 Finest baseball cards.
Hanson made his big-league debut on June 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers — a no-decision — but has a 2-0 record with a 4.08 ERA after three starts. He’s struck out 12 and walked 10 this season.
Topps’ first Finest rookie was Cleveland’s Matt LaPorta. The company will unveil the remainder of the 10 rookies throughout the season. There also are redemptions for Refractor (#’d to 199) and Gold Refractor (#’d to 50) versions.
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.
06.18
Atlanta-based Just Minors announced its final scheduled product on Thursday — Mystery Jerseys 2009 — which contains one full-size autographed minor league jersey and two autograph cards per box.
One in every 60 boxes will include a game-used jersey.
Among the players on the autographed jersey checklist are Josh Hamilton, Carlos Quentin, Cole Hamels, Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, Dexter Fowler, Aramis Ramirez, Alex Rios, Billy Butler, Carlos Gonzalez, Colby Rasmus, Yovanni Gallardo, Jason Heyward, Tommy Hanson, Andrew McCutchen, Fernando Martinez and Jose Tabata among others.
There are Glossy 1/1 autograph cards as well as dual and triple signature cards that are inserted one in every six boxes. Each master carton will contain one of each of those cards.
The boxes are $119.95 and can be pre-ordered on shopjustminors.com. The product ships in July.
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.
06.18
Topps released the basic product information and preview images for its 2009 Triple Threads baseball set on Thursday.
The fourth installment of the high-end memorabilia-loaded set arrives in October and is a hobby-exclusive product which will include bat knob Relic cards as well as some surprising triple-book cards that include hat logo patches — and more — on the same card.
Each pack (mini-box) contains three numbered base cards and two numbered parallel cards plus one Triple Relic card. An Autographed Triple Relic card replaces the Triple Relic card in every other pack — or one per display box.
Every case will contain one 1/1 autographed Triple Relic card and one Triple Relic autograph card numbered to 36 or less.
See more images and information after the jump.
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06.18
Upper Deck has announced its third 2009 SPx Rookie Signatures redemption card and it’s Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Andew McCutchen.
The card is No. RR3 and will be card 128 in the set. The previously announced autographs are of St. Louis Cardinals rookie Colby Rasmus, No. RR2, with 25 signed with a “Go Redbirds” inscription. The first was Baltimore Orioles pitcher Koji Uehara, who signed 25 of his cards in Japanese.
Upper Deck will reveal the remainder of the cards ever few weeks during the season until all of the cards have been announced.
The redemptions can be found two per 14-box case.
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.
06.17
Panini America announced on Wednesday evening that there are several retail-only rookies to be found in 2009 Donruss Elite football.
They are:
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06.17
The championship Sports Illustrated covers for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Pittsburgh Penguins are now available from SI Uncirculated — a joint project between Time Inc. and Beckett Grading Services.
The issues are $24.99. The Lakers issue, which has Kobe Bryant on the cover, can be purchased here, while the Penguins issue, which features Sidney Crosby, can be purchased here.
SI Uncirculated was announced last week and debuting with the June 8 national and regional issues featuring the Detroit Red Wings and star high school baseball player Bryce Harper. (The Harper issue sold out quickly, while a few of the Red Wings issues remain available.)
Under the authority of Time Inc., this is a collector’s only way to get an uncirculated copy of SI slabbed by BGS — copies that were not released to the public but instead distributed directly to BGS for the program. Only a limited number of each issue are available. Once the initial offerings are sold out, they cannot be offered again.
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06.17
Beckett Grading Services has launched an original photograph authentication and grading service.
From news photos, wire photos and movie stills to snapshots, Polaroids and mounted photos from the 1800s, BGS will grade them all. It also will provide a choice between authentication and encapsulation only or slabbing with with a numerical grade. Both services provide the best preservation and presentation capabilities on the market.
BGS will team with noted photograph expert and art historian David Rudd (www.cycleback.com).
For more information, call (972)-448-9188 or visit www.beckett.com/photos
06.17
Noted Sketch Card artist Brian Kong will have a 25-card insert set featuring his artwork in the 2009 Allen & Ginter baseball set from Topps.
Kong will have 25 cards in the product, which is in its fourth year and arrives on July 1. The 2006 and 2007 sets included artwork cards from Dick Perez.
You’ll be able to see a gallery of many more of Kong’s cards in the August issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly.
For more on Kong’s work, visit www.briankong.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.
06.17
A PSA/DNA-certified, near-mint condition photograph signed by 30 members of the legendary 1927 New York Yankees team has been purchased for a record $350,000.
The price is the most ever paid for a vintage sports photograph and is nearly 70 percent higher than the last time this item was auctioned in 2006.
The purchase by an anonymous buyer from an also unidentified seller was brokered by Memory Lane Inc. of Tustin, Calif. The company first sold the autographed photo for $206,000 in a December 2006 auction.
“The team-signed photograph of the 1927 Yankees players was purchased by a New York metro area collector who told me he now wants to share it with other fans and make arrangements for publicly displaying it at the new Yankee Stadium,” said Joe Orlando, President of PSA/DNA, in a news release.
Signatures include Babe Ruth Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Earle Combs, Benny Bengough, Bob Meusel and manager Miller Huggins.
The autographs originally were obtained by Yankees pitcher George Pipgras who passed it down to his daughter, LeMorn Pipgras Simpson. She later sold it for $80,000.
06.17
Upper Deck has released the first preview images and the basic product information for its 2009-10 SP Signature Edition Basketball set, which will include two autographed cards in every box.
The standard set consists of 100 cards along with SP Signature Rookies, while the inserts will include Star Signatures (two, three and four types), Inkredible and SIGnificance.
Each pack will include four cards when it arrives in September.
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.
