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Monthly Archives: April 2010
New York Mets 1B Ike Davis is Topps' second 2010 Finest Rookie Redemption
04.20
Topps revealed its second 2010 Finest Rookie Redemption card on Tuesday, and it’s New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis, who made his big-league debut on Monday.
Topps’ previous announcement for rookie No. 1 can be found here.
Davis went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his first game. Through 10 games at Triple-A Buffalo he was hitting .364 with two homers and four RBI before the promotion. Davis hit 20 homers last season in the minors between two levels.
Through the rest of the season, Topps will announce the remainder of the players in the 10-card set. Each Finest Master Box includes one Rookie Redemption, which also can be found as Blue Refractors (199 copies) and Gold Refractors (limited to 50).
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Box Busters: 2010 Press Pass Premium racing cards
04.20
Beckett Media’s Tim Trout and Tracy Hackler are joined by Press Pass brand manager Jesse Leadbetter to bust some 2010 Press Pass Premium boxes in this episode of Box Busters.
What will they find besides this Kurt Busch autograph?
To find out, click here.
Lorena Ochoa retires at top of her game in the hobby
04.20
One of the LPGA’s biggest stars, Lorena Ochoa, announced her retirement on Tuesday, marking the end of a Hall of Fame-caliber career that included 27 victories.
And when it comes to golf cards, Ochoa has been among the modern-day giants not known by a single name like Tiger or Annika.
The 28-year-old from Mexico revealed her plans on her website and will discuss the decision later in the week — a move that is likely just an extended break from the sport, not a permanent retirement. The world’s No. 1-ranked player became the second-youngest player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2008 (based on victories) but hasn’t yet met the final requirement for automatic induction as an active player by playing 10 years on the tour.
Although Upper Deck (or any other company) hasn’t released a PGA set since 2005, Ochoa appears on a total of 67 cards — 32 of those autographed.
First look: 2009-10 Panini Platinum basketball cards
04.20
Panini America released the basic product information and preview images for its 2009-10 Panini Platinum basketball card set on Tuesday, a $6-a-pack product that will arrive on July 7.
Each 18-pack box will include a pair of autograph cards as well as three rookies. Also to be found are two Prizm Green inserts, one Jam Masters card, one Future Stars card, one The Franchise card and four other inserts.
Among its notable inclusions are on-card autographs from Panini spokesman Kobe Bryant as well as 1/1 Prizm Black parallels, The Franchise Prizm Green Signatures and Rookie Prizm signatures found in Gold, Blue and Red.
See more after the jump.
MLB now authenticating … game-used cufflinks?
04.19
Game-used dirt, post-game championship champagne bottles, autographs, jerseys.
MLB’s authentication program has slapped those little code stickers on plenty of unusual things over the years and they’re not done yet.
The latest?
Cufflinks.
Those little pieces of game-used memorabilia that we’re all pretty used to in the memorabilia world embedded into baseball cards and other memorabilia pieces can now be found inside high-end cufflinks at cufflinks.com.
For the collector who has everything — except a pair of fascinating cufflinks — this might be the latest item to grab one’s attention. The game-used baseball links above are made of sterling silver and run $140 a pair — unless, of course, you’re a New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox fan. Those carry an additional $10 premium charge.
Also available are stadium seat cufflinks, which have a piece of an authentic stadium chair built into the links — they’re $155 a pair for the Yankees, $230 for the Red Sox (Hey, the Sox won something in that rivalry!), $155 for the Cubs and so on.
Also to be found are logo cufflinks (without memorabilia embedded into them), tie bars and other gift sets as well.
See a slideshow of some of them after the jump.
Ubaldo Jimenez remains one of baseball's bargain-bin players
04.18
There are countless baseball players who, no matter what they do, really don’t grab the attention of many a collector and remain off the radar when it comes to gaining ground on the hobby’s stars.
But after throwing the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history last night, Ubaldo Jimenez will get a little more attention.
For how long? We’ll have to wait and see.
The 26-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic won 15 games for the Rockies last season (while losing 12) and holds a 34-28 record after playing in parts of five seasons. He has a career ERA of 3.70 — which should impress even more considering he plays half of his games in the high-altitude launching pad known as Coors Field.
This year, he’s 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 21 innings.
So, what should collectors consider when looking into his cards? Well, he’s got just 510 total — and 112 of those are the “elusive” autograph. He’s got 43 memorabilia cards and 21 Rookie Cards — so there are a lot of choices to be made.
We’ll examine two worth considering…
Players Union Email Sheds Light on Upper Deck's Financial Hardships
04.17
A story posted Friday on The New York Times website details an email sent from the MLBPA’s Evan Kaplan to all player agents regarding Upper Deck’s current financial difficulties and its inability to pay many players.
According to the Times’ story, in the email, sent Friday, Kaplan said the union is working with Upper Deck to ensure all players get paid; until they do, however, the union strongly encourages players not to return any outstanding autographs or enter into any new agreements.
The story would appear to be another in a series of heavy blows delivered to Upper Deck in recent months that has included a stinging settlement in the MLB Properties suit and its failure to come to terms with the NFL Properties on an agreement for 2010.
Stay tuned to beckett.com for updates to this story.
First Look: 2010 Topps 206 baseball cards
04.16
Topps announced Friday afternoon that the famed T206 design will return for another year as Topps 206 will arrive on Aug. 30 packing one autograph and one Relic card per 20-pack hobby box.
The showcase for multi-branded mini cards will include 1/1 Red Chrome Carolina Brights cards, while there will be stamp cards, Gold Chrome Piedmont cards (limited to 50) and 1/1 T206 Cut Signature mini-book Relics to be found as well.
The base set will consist of 300 cards with veterans, legends and rookies in the mix — 50 of those cards being short-prints. The Mini parallels will include the Carolina Brights, Cycle, American Caramel, Piedmont, Old Mill and Polar Bear as well as 50 cards that will be found as silks.
Among its insert offerings are a 20-card Historical Events set that includes such firsts and notables as subway cars with side doors, the Army’s first military plane, the first Lincoln penny minted, the first U.S. junior high school, the first radio contest, and the “world’s first female cop.” For those more interested in baseball cards in their baseball sets, there’s an 80-card stamp set (well, they’re close to baseball cards) as well as Bronze parallels and the MLB Logoman Continuity program that will continue here. (Get it… continuity?)
The autograph lineups will include American Caramel (a new addition), which will be 35 cards, as well as T206 Cut Signatures (1/1s) along with the previously mentioned cards. (Get a preliminary autograph checklist after the jump.)
More to come.
See a full gallery of images after the jump.
Guest commentary: Saluting a legend in Mike Modano
04.16
By Russ Cohen
Dallas Stars forward Mike Modano looks like he is about to hang up his skates.
I know that he has a lot of fans in Dallas, Minnesota and around the NHL. He’s won a Stanley Cup, he’s been a six-time All-Star, and a solid NHL citizen for 20 years.
A lot of collectors like him because he’s one of the greatest American players of all-time as well. He’s played in 1,459 games, he has 557 goals and he has 92 game-winning goals which is more than Wayne Gretzky.
This soon-to-be 40 year old will leave an indelible mark in the hobby as being one of the most popular players of his era and for appearing on a boatload of cards as well.
He was the first overall pick in the 1988 draft, and he has been everything fans thought he would be.
Here are some key collectibles of his to look for:
Press Pass releases red-ink and inscriptions list for its 2010 football set
04.16
Press Pass has released its annual list of red ink autographs and inscriptions for its 2010 Press Pass Football set exclusively to Beckett Media this morning.
Here’s the rundown as grouped by color.
See it all after the jump.