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Monthly Archives: May 2010
You know you’re a collector when … Bryce Harper edition
05.21
My issue of Baseball America arrived on Friday afternoon, the 2010 Draft Preview issue, with Bryce Harper on the cover.
It wasn’t the headlines that I noticed, it wasn’t the color choice that the designer made and it wasn’t the Bo Jackson-style portrait of Harper with his bat across his shoulders that I noticed.
First, it was the zig-zag tape job on his bat … but then I noticed the nameplate of his Marucci CU26 Pro Model.
It reads “Luke 1:37″ where the player’s name typically appears.
Its meaning? “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Those who are well-read about the teenager, who should have been a junior in high school this season but instead got his GED and enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada where he hit a school record 23 homers, this probably isn’t a passage reference that is anything new.
But for a collector of game-used baseball bats, it might be something new — something not quite seen before.
In fact, off the top of my head the only other players I can think of who have used bats without their names appearing on them are Ken Griffey Jr. (“Swingman”) and Roger Clemens (“Rocket”). It’s common for nicknames, phrases, numbers, etc., to be found as extra markings on bats, particularly the knobs, but not as part of the burned-on nameplate.
I’m sure there are others, though … anybody have any come to mind?
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.
NFL Players Rookie Premiere Photo Gallery: Day One
05.21
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Thursday marked the unofficial start to the 2010 NFL Players Rookie Premiere with Panini America and Topps getting a head start on acquiring autographs and photography in advance of Saturday’s extravaganza at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Panini America and Topps were situated in adjacent meeting rooms at the Loews Santa Monica Beach hotel as players stopped by throughout the day and into the night as they arrived at the hotel. One of the night’s last arrival’s — Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow — created the biggest splash and seemed genuinely happy to be there. In fact, with precious few exceptions, the more than 20 players arriving Thursday were lighthearted, engaging and admittedly appreciative of the opportunity. The true test, of course, will be if they still feel the same way late Saturday evening.
Tim Tebow can't get enough of Beckett Football
05.21
Beckett Media’s Tracy Hackler and Jon Gold will be at the NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere this weekend with all sorts of things that will interest football card collectors.
But on Thursday night it was Beckett Football No. 234 and the buying habits of collectors that got the attention of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.
You”ll never guess who’s No. 1 on the Hot List, Tim-mah …
Look for more from Los Angeles later today and throughout the weekend right here.
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.
Stephen Strasburg will grace cover of next Beckett Baseball
05.19
Stephen Strasburg had another dominating performance on Wednesday night in Rochester, N.Y., striking out nine batters in 6 1/3 scoreless innings in just his third start for triple-A Syracuse.
For the season, he’s 6-1 and he hasn’t given up a run in his last 17 2/3 innings while striking out 20 — all stats that will undoubtedly keep his newly released 2010 Bowman autograph cards scorching hot in anticipation of his big-league debut.
It goes without saying that he’s appearing more than primed for a call-up very soon — one where fans will quite possibly see him starting in Washington, D.C. for the first time on June 4.
But readers of Beckett Baseball won’t have to wait that long as he’s slated to appear on the cover of the next issue (No. 53) that arrives in hobby shops beginning next week.
The cover story focuses on powerful pitchers — perhaps still an overlooked segment of the hobby these days — with San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum, Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay and the New York Yankees’ CC Sabathia sharing the front cover.
The back cover, though, belongs solely to only one pitcher — perhaps the most dominating power pitcher so far this season, Strasburg.
In the issue, collectors also will have the chance to win one of three boxes of red-hot 2010 Bowman baseball cards as well, so there are a few reasons to keep an eye out for the issue.
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.
If You're in Oxnard on Friday with Nothing to Do . . .
05.19
One of the biggest weekends of the 2010 football card season will kick off early Friday afternoon at the Walmart Supercenter on Rose Avenue in Oxnard, Calif. From 1 to 3 p.m. PST, at least 15 of the 35 rookies in town for Saturday’s NFL Players Rookie Premiere will mosey on over to Walmart to join Panini America and NFL Players in interacting with customers, engaging in pack wars, signing autographs and generally generating awareness of football cards.
The current list of attendees — although subject to change — is headlined by Colt McCoy, Golden Tate, Ryan Mathews, Joe McKnight, Eric Berry, Toby Gerhart, Gerald McCoy, Eric Decker, Jermaine Gresham and Jordan Shipley.
Stay tuned to Beckett.com all weekend long for complete coverage of the NFL Players Rookie Premiere.
Box Busters: 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball cards
05.19
Join Beckett Baseball‘s Chris Olds and Brian Fleischer as they rip into a box of 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball cards about a week before its official release in this episode of Box Busters.
What will they find inside this insert-laden and always-popular product?
Watch and find out.
For more on what’s in this product, click here, here, here, here and, finally, here.
Topps' "You Sketch It" cards bring interactivity to a new level
05.19
Collectors often clamor for more interaction with trading card companies — feeling the need to tell them their demands while also telling them what they don’t like, telling them what they do like and more.
Sometimes, for varying ego-related reasons, individuals insist they should appear on a card inside a Topps wrapper, too.
Now, they can … sort of.
Found in packs of the upcoming 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball cards will be Topps “You Sketch It” cards that have blank fronts that can be drawn upon and sent back to Topps for the chance to possibly win a prize (according to sales materials) and potentially have their sketch cards inserted into future Topps products for collectors to discover.
Talk about interactive and potentially influential for a product. A crowd-sourced baseball card set? If they’re good, it could be interesting. Who wouldn’t want to find their card in a pack?
Here’s what the back of the card says:
Topps goes back to the future with a pair of insert sets in 2010 Series 2
05.19
Critics might say that Topps spends too much time looking into the past for its products, but a pair of new insert card sets in the forthcoming 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball card set shows that they’re doing that again as well as looking into the future.
It’s fair to say that collectors spend plenty of time looking to the past as well, so it’s a practice that’s justified. After all, baseball history is reflected in Topps’ history. But with a legacy that will be marked by Topps’ 60th anniversary of making baseball cards next year, it’s really more than justified.
A part of that legacy can be seen in the 25-card Vintage Legends collection where old-time players appear on card designs distinctly not from their playing eras — Babe Ruth on a 1999 Topps card, Cy Young on a 1987 card, Lou Gehrig on a 1958 card, Mel Ott on a 1989 card and so on. We’ve seen these designs re-created in recent years in the Fan Favorites and Topps Archives sets, but not with this crop of players (many of them players whose rights it acquired in a massive deal with CMG a few years ago). These cards are found one in every four packs.
Could it be a sign of a sweet return for Fan Favorites, perhaps one that adds some elite-level cut autographs into the mix? This collector wishes, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Box Busters preview gallery: 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball cards
05.19
We’ve cracked the first box of 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball cards for an upcoming Box Busters video, but until that arrives here’s a gallery of what can be found inside the packs.
(There are a couple of new insert sets that we’ll also examine later today.)
See ‘em all after the jump.
Topps' Million Card Giveaway includes T206s in Series 2
05.19
With 2010 Topps Series 2 arriving next week, we get the second wave of the overwhelmingly popular Million Card Giveaway, which includes original T206 tobacco cards in this series.
Our Box Busters box has been, well, busted and the video is on the way.
Call it journalistic curiosity — or a MCG addiction — but we really couldn’t wait to see what could be up for grabs with the six MCG cards we got in what has to be the first box of Series 2 that’s been opened.
What did we find? Was it extra special? Were the codes … loaded?
Find out after the jump.