02.28
Like so many others, I watched the tape-delayed broadcast of the 1980 Olympic Games’ Miracle on Ice, the U.S. men’s hockey team’s unthinkable medal-round upset win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Like so many others, I was elated with the results. Ever since, I’ve been a collector of this moment – and I’m far from the only one.
I have the 1995 Signatures Rookies Miracle on Ice set and that’s a great place to start. You can get a base set for a fair price, but the autographs – headlined by the one of late, great coach Herb Brooks – are the real keys to this set. The Brooks autograph is currently valued at $50, as are the two cards of Mike Eruzione. Jack O’Callahan’s autos are listed at $30 apiece, Jim Craig’s at $25; the vast majority of the autographs can be had for between $12 and $15.
The 2004-05 SP Legendary Signatures boxes that guarantee one Miracle Men autograph per box will cost you about $189 each. But the autographs are plentiful on the secondary market and can be picked up for affordable prices. The autograph I had to get was the Mark Pavelich. Why?
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02.27
By CHRIS OLDS | Beckett Baseball Editor
My Saturday morning started off like few others — my alarm clock went off at 7:30.
Why? Heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne was in town to sign copies of his new book I am Ozzy — currently charting on The New York Times Best-Seller List — at a Dallas Barnes & Noble, and I had to be at the store by 9 a.m. to get a wristband and assure myself of a chance at an autograph.
Here’s where I’d quote lyrics from one of Osbourne’s favorite bands, The Beatles — “Woke up, fell out of bed/Dragged a comb across my head/Found my way downstairs and drank a cup/And looking up I noticed I was late” — but that didn’t even happen. I was in too much of a hurry.
It takes a pretty big-name celeb for me to go hounding these days — or in this case standing in line for the book-signing cattle-call — but in my mind Osbourne is hands down one of the most iconic figures in the history of heavy metal, so this event was a must.
I braved the cold Dallas morning (only slowed by having to scrape a light layer of ice off my car’s windows) and ventured forth in search of the signature of The Prince of *@¢*!$% Darkness.
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02.26
Ever wondered what the owner of a sports auction house might collect — and just what might be in that collection?
David Kohler, the owner of SCP Auctions, recently showed off his impressive collection of Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia to NBA.com’s Craig Sager.
Click here to watch the video.
02.26
Upper Deck has started unveiling its 2009 Goodwin Champions Entomology Cards that include an actual dead insect embedded into a sports card that is ultimately a shadowbox for the insect.
Issued as redemptions in its 1800s-inspired baseball set last year, the company has started to receive back the cards from its manufacturer and this first card seen above is roughly four times the size of a standard baseball card (roughly 5×7) and at least 10 times creepier.
Read more about the cards by clicking here.
02.26
Join Beckett Football‘s Tracy Hackler and Dan Hitt as they rip into a pair of 2009 Ultimate Collection football packs from Upper Deck in this red-hot edition of Box Busters recorded just minutes ago.
What will they find inside? Watch and find out.
02.26
Topps released a large number of card images to preview its forthcoming 2010 National Chicle baseball card set on Friday.
The set, which features work from several notable sports artists, will arrive in late-April featuring stars from the past alongside the players of today on its checklist. Read more about it here.
Until then, you can check out the images after the jump.
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02.26
Upper Deck unveiled plans Friday for a second wave of 2010 Upper Deck Baseball coming to retail store shelves in May.
The Wave 2 release will include 50 additional cards in the set, Nos. 601-650, along with a selection of cards from the 600-card Series 1 set. These cards will be found one per standard pack and two per 36-card Fat Pack when it arrives on May 4.
Among the inserts to be found in the release are the Gold parallel, Upper Deck Portraits, Season Biography, 20th Anniversary Heroes Art Cards, All World, All World Short Prints, Pure Heat, Pure Heat Short Prints, Supreme Green (with Blue and Red versions) along with UD Game Jersey Black variation cards.
The Fat Packs will include two Rookie Debut cards in each pack as well as two new exclusive cards as well.
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.
02.25
We’ve previously written about one of the most traditional pieces of pro wrestling memorabilia — the steel chair – but now the collecting world can truly rest easily knowing that the iconic of all wrestling icons has a trading card of its own.
The steel chair has a card in the new 2010 Topps WWE Slam Attax trading card game.
It won’t get an RC tag since Beckett Media doesn’t tag wrestling cards, but there’s no doubting this one’s place in the game.
02.24
By TRACY HACKLER | BECKETT MEDIA EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Razor Collectibles‘ Brian Gray on Wednesday evening shared a staggering assortment of autographed patch cards from his company’s forthcoming 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl Football product due out March 1 . . . and here’s what I think about what I saw:
* In a word, “Wow!” With the exception of dreaded sticker autographs — yes, even high school players are using them these days — this oversized patch autographs set (sequentially numbered to just 5) is double-take attractive. I don’t know if there’s a long future for trading card sets devoted to prep football stars; but if there is, they should all strive to look like these.
* Because its checklist is culled from the rosters of the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, this set boasts an absolutely devastating array of talent, most of which will shine on Saturdays for the next three years or so. The very best of this checklist will shine on Sundays in the future, too; the opportunity to own an autographed jersey card of those players now is a rather enchanting proposition.
* As a means of illustrating the previous point, know this: 21 of Rivals.com‘s top 50 current high school seniors — and seven of the top 10 — are in this set, highlighted by Florida signees Ronald Powell (No. 1) and Sharrif Floyd (No. 4), USC signee Seantrel Henderson (No. 2) and California signee Keenan Allen (No. 5).
* It’ll be extremely interesting to watch the market activity surrounding these cards once the players on them begin making an impact in the college ranks.
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02.24
Seventy.
That’s the statistic that matters most in the career of Sheamus, a 6-foot-6, 272-pound bruiser from Dublin, Ireland, who makes his first WWE trading card appearance in the new 2010 Topps WWE Slam Attax gaming set.
What’s the stat? Well, it’s day count for his tour of terror — err misery — that wrestling fans endured as the 32-year-old was booed in arenas around the world as the WWE Champion … a reign that thankfully ended this past Sunday thanks to Triple H in the Elimination Chamber.
Since the Irish fighter had only been in WWE full time since last June or so, many a fan didn’t take to his winning the title — even if he defeated another guy many wrestling fans love to hate, John Cena — and his Attax card, which assigns points to a wrestler that are used in gameplay against other wrestlers’ cards, affirms many of those fans’ notions.
How?
Sheamus’ 51 Defense and 59 Attack points are topped by the likes of Melina (55-66), Natalya (52-59) and even Michelle McCool (56-62) — three of the WWE’s female competitors.
If you didn’t know, McCool is a 5-10, 135-pound bruiser who is a former seventh-grade science teacher. (Don’t get me wrong, wrangling seventh-graders might be tougher than taking down Sheamus — even if the guy only was pinned once in a match that mattered since the middle of last December.)
No word on whether Mr. McMahon has placed a call to Topps …
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