11.30
Collectors holding 2009 Press Pass Fusion redemption cards for Brock Lesnar autographs can take comfort – and, perhaps, a great deal of surprise – in knowing that the current UFC heavyweight champion already returned all of his signatures, just a week after the product went live.
Even more remarkably, the cards arrived at Press Pass headquarters less than two weeks after Lesnar underwent surgery for a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract. Lesnar continues to recover from a highly publicized illness initially thought to be potentially career-ending.
“We were recently informed by Lesnar’s representation that he had returned home from the hospital to continue recuperating, and that the cards would be signed shortly,” said Nick Matijevich, Press Pass Director of Product Development. “Obviously, in light of the health scare he had, we let them know that this was a secondary concern for us at the moment, and that our main interest was that Lesnar make a full and speedy recovery.
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11.30
It would appear that the New York Giants’ probability of winning the NFC East for the second straight season isn’t the only thing blowing up in Eli Manning’s hands these days. Apparently, one of the gold paint pens he used to sign some of his new 2009 UD Black cards wasn’t exactly operating at full efficiency, either.
Judging from this card, pulled during a recent taping of Box Busters, it would appear that things got a little messy in Gotham for the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Giants, who’ve dropped five of their last six games. The result is an ink-blot-test-feeling conversation piece that also inadvertently covers up the card’s serial number.
We reached out to Chris Carlin at Upper Deck to see if the company is aware of similar instances with the big-ticket Black product.
“In speaking with our football team and Quality Assurance group, they believe this would have been an isolated incident,” Carlin said. “Cards are reviewed when returned back to us from the athletes, but if someone was going through these too quickly or holding them in a way that could have blocked this damage, it could have been missed.
“While these pens give a great-looking signature, the do fail sometimes. We make sure we review the cards before they go out, and we produce some overstock to use for replacements. We would be able to replace this card.”
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11.30
With Topps‘ announcement earlier today that it will be the exclusive licensee of cards for Minor League Baseball beginning in 2010, there’s a common question brewing among many prospectors.
What does this mean for Bowman? Could Topps entering the MiLB card market impact the prospect-packed Bowman lines?
Nope, according to Topps’ Clay Luraschi.
“Business as usual with Bowman,” Luraschi told Beckett Media on Monday afternoon.
Luraschi did offer more details for Topps’ inaugural release, 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 1, which will arrive in March.
Luraschi confirmed that the MiLB products from Topps will include autograph and memorabilia cards (something a Minor League release quite possibly could have gone without) and that a second series for Topps Pro Debut will arrive sometime in the summer.
The MiLB deal, which operates under a blanket agreement, allows Topps to make cards of any player — so those looking for the first fully licensed cards of No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg just might find him there.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Graded Card Investor. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
11.30
Topps officials on Monday confirmed that the company has secured an exclusive multi-year deal with Minor League Baseball.
The agreement, which takes effect beginning Jan. 1, 2010, grants Topps the exclusive rights to produce nationally distributed trading cards of draft picks and prospects within Minor League Baseball, and will give Topps the rights to names and logos of the 160 affiliated Minor League clubs and current Minor League players in uniform on baseball cards and stickers.
The deal also means Topps is the only company that can use Minor League Baseball’s Pro Debut logo. (Grandstand, Multi-Ad and Choice will continue to produce team sets for regional/team distribution, according to one MLB executive, as this deal does not affect those companies.)
The company’s first officially licensed Minor League product will be 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 1, set to release in March.
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11.29
While its $34.1 million opening weekend was lost in the shadow of a teen vampire movie, The Blind Side – a film based on the real-life struggles of a current NFL rookie — is holding on to the No. 2 spot at the box office again this week.
And that has helped spark interest in Michael Oher‘s football cards.
Oher, a first-round pick by Baltimore in this year’s draft who has started every game for the Ravens, was a star offensive lineman for the Ole Miss Rebels. Before that, he was a homeless child in Memphis, Tenn., who was taken in by a family. His story inspired a book by Moneyball author Michael Lewis as well as the film, which stars Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw.
Oher appears on 153 different football cards so far this year — just 22 of those autographed and all from Upper Deck. And with the kind of national exposure his story is getting, there are a lot more than just the typical football card collectors picking up his cards.
Sales have been strong. For example, Oher’s 2009 Philadelphia National Chicle Autographs card (No. #NC100; above) typically sold in the $30 range (high-side) but has recently gone for as much as $90. His 2009 Upper Deck Icons Autographs card (No. 125) typically sold for about $20 but has gone for as much as $80.
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11.29
While many folks across North America were making their way to church on Sunday morning, In the Game officials released preliminary information and images on 2009-10 Heroes & Prospects Hockey.
The product, due out in January, includes a 150-card base set honoring the best from the Canadian Hockey League and the American Hockey League with subsets devoted to the likes of CHL Prospects, AHL Prospects and AHL Grads. In addition, two 10-card sets devoted to rookies from the CHL and AHL.
Autographs from a checklist more than 100 subjects strong will be found approximately two per box, as will memorabilia cards, which have become Heroes & Prospects’ calling cards, if you will, in the last five seasons.
Stay tuned to Beckett.com for more information on 2009-10 ITG Heroes & Prospects Hockey. In the meantime, enjoy this sneak peek at some of the product’s sweet inclusions.
– Tracy Hackler
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11.27
Stick with us here on Black Friday as we have two more contests to go …
And since we want everyone to be able to have a chance to win, we’re making the questions easy and we’ll leave them open for the rest of Friday, well after the crazy sales have ended…
Next one’s up in a few minutes…
11.27
Stick with us here on Black Friday as we have three more contests to go… the next is coming up in roughly 10 minutes…
What’s to come? Another autographed plaque, an autographed basketball and a future baseball famer’s autograph.
Stay tuned.
11.26
From everyone in the Beckett Media family to everyone in yours . . . Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks for everything you do that allows us to do everything we do.
11.25
Garbage Pail Kids, the 1980s trading card parody of the Cabbage Patch Kids toys (and really much, much more in pop culture), are returning with a new set from Topps that pays tribute to many of the memorable original cards from the 1980s.
Scheduled for a mid-February release, Garbage Pail Kids Flashback is a 160-card set (two named versions of 80 drawings) that includes some of the most memorable kids from the past classic sets along with nine “lost” Kids that never made the cut back in the mid-1980s.
See more images (you just might recognize a few of these GPKs besides Rappin’ Ron) and read more about the new set after the jump.
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