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Monthly Archives: July 2010
Box Busters: 2009-10 Panini Crown Royale basketball cards
07.14
Join Beckett Media’s Keith Hower and Tracy Hackler as they bust into a pair of 2009-10 Panini Crown Royale basketball cards from Panini America in this latest edition of Box Busters.
What will they find in their boxes of this not-even-out-yet product?
Watch and find out.
Inside Tim Tebow's Helmet: The Anatomy of a Fantasy Football Card
07.14
By TRACY HACKLER | EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
I’ve been where few men have been before. I’ve been . . . inside Tim Tebow’s helmet.
He doesn’t know that — yet. But every time I see a preview these days for a new 2010 Tebow Rookie Card, I’m reminded of my moment in the sun — actually, it was in the shade — wearing Tebow’s most regal Riddell crown. I figured now was as good a time as any to come clean.
I’ve always dreamed of appearing on my own football card. The overly self-indulgent tale that follows is likely about as close as I’ll ever get. Besides, how often do you have the opportunity to look at a superstar’s Rookie Card and say, “Hey, I’ve worn that helmet” . . .
Part I: The Helmet
Tebow’s sweat-kissed, sun-soaked Denver Broncos helmet had been perched – silently majestic, metallically shining – on an inconspicuous table for most of the afternoon. It had traveled all the way from the Broncos’ training complex in Colorado to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a weekend full of football card cameos.
And now, the very helmet atop Tebow’s head for many of his Rookie Card photos on a postcard-perfect, late-May Saturday morning at the 2010 NFL Players Rookie Premiere was just . . . sitting there.
I first noticed it on the red-draped snack table after lunch, just out of bounds at about the 23-yard line. Tebow had spent the first half of the day with Panini America and Upper Deck; his afternoon was reserved for Topps.
Somewhere, one of the most polarizing football players of all time was posing for his football card photographs topless — you know, without his top, his headgear.
Detroit Tigers OF Brennan Boesch is third Topps Red Hot Rookie
07.14
Topps unveiled the third of its 2010 Red Hot Rookies on Wednesday morning and this one’s Detroit Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch.
Boesch is hitting .342 with 12 homers and 49 RBI in 65 games this season.
The Red Hot Rookie redemptions are found one per hobby box of 2010 Topps Series 2 baseball cards. The remainder of the 10-card set will be announced throughout the remainder of the season. Previous RHRs include Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata (No. 2) and Indians catcher Carlos Santana (No. 1.)
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.
First Look: 2009-10 Panini NBA Season Update
07.13
Panini America will recap its first season as the exclusive NBA cardmaker with the early September release of 2009-10 Panini NBA Season Update, a quirky catch-all release sporting a reasonable $2.99 pack price and a typical box break (24 packs) that will produce one autograph, two memorabilia cards and 22 additional insert cards.
See more images after the jump.
The product is bolstered by 111 on-card Kobe Bryant autographs, more than 1,000 additional on-card signatures updating previous 2009-10 releases and special Christmas Cards featuring swatches from jerseys worn on Christmas Day 2009.
Stay tuned to Beckett.com for additional information on this product.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Andrew Cashner is the seventh Finest Rookie Redemption
07.13
Topps revealed its seventh 2010 Finest Rookie Redemption card on Tuesday, and it’s Chicago Cubs pitcher Andrew Cashner — and it’s autographed.
Topps previously announced Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg as No. 6, Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton as No. 5, and that No. 4 was Reds pitcher Mike Leake. Topps’ other releases for the set include Cubs rookie Starlin Castro for rookie No. 3, while info on rookie No. 2 can be found here and rookie No. 1 can be found here.
Cashner is 0-3 with a2.41 ERA for the Cubs this season. He has 15 strikeouts in 18-plus innings of work.
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.
Obscure LeBron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh Card Enjoys 500% Increase
07.13
Leave it to Miami’s men of the moment – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – to transform an utterly forgettable 6-year-old eyesore into the single hottest basketball trading card on the market.
Indeed, while South Florida’s hoops-collecting populace was waiting impatiently for the first cards featuring James, Wade and Bosh together, those with a little more market savvy and a lot more memory began scouring their 2003-04 Topps Rookie Matrix stashes for the one that already existed.
Last week that card was valued at $20. Today it’s valued at $100. And when the new issue of Beckett Basketball hits the market later this month, the convoluted Rookie Card will also be No. 1 on the Hot List, ahead of key Rookie Cards of five-time NBA champion and 2010 Finals MVP Kobe Bryant and 2009-10 Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans.
For those counting at home, that virtually-overnight ascension from $20 to $100 represents a 500 percent increase. Not bad for a set that was an afterthought not long after it was released in April of 2004.
Simply put, the 2003-04 Topps Rookie Matrix product was a conflicted mess whose one redeeming quality – this card – has perhaps forever changed the set’s legacy for the better.
Strasburg 1/1 Red autograph set to hit auction block with Huggins and Scott
07.13
The premiere Stephen Strasburg card from 2010 Bowman — his 1/1 Red autograph — will hit the auction block on Wednesday as part of Huggins and Scott‘s worldwide sports memorabilia catalog auction that runs through July 28.
Also on the block is an uncut sheet of 1954 Topps baseball cards — which includes a Hank Aaron Rookie Card — but the most talked-about card in the Silver Spring, Md.-based company’s auction of more than 800 lots is the Strasburg, which was found by a collector in Florida who initially opted for an eBay auction that ended with plenty of bad bids.
That card will start with an opening bid of $9,000.
Huggins and Scott cited rapid growth in the last year, which has prompted he company to double the frequency of its catalog auctions. It is now offering up to six auctions a year — the next to come in September.
“Our upcoming July auction will produce an industry stir as the company offers unique and rare items such as the Strasburg 1-of-1 and the 1954 Topps uncut sheet,” said the company’s head writer, Kevin Heffner. “But the company has many great items slated for our September sale, with many items to be displayed at The National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore this August.”
The Strasburg SuperFractor from 2010 Bowman has been sold twice since it was discovered — on eBay for $16,403 and to Razor Entertainment’s Brian Gray for $21,403.
George Steinbrenner's legacy of winning with New York Yankees is not reflected on baseball cards
07.13
George Steinbrenner — one of the most polarizing but successful owners in Major League Baseball history — died at age 80 Tuesday morning.
Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees in 1973 and amassed seven World Series titles and 11 pennants in his time at the helm. Despite that success and his status as the highest-profile owner in the game, Steinbrenner never appeared on a standard-issue baseball card made by a major manufacturer.
In fact, Steinbrenner appears on just 15 items in the Beckett.com database — the lone highlights being four 1/1 cut autograph cards made by SportKings and Upper Deck in 2008 and 2009.
Three of those cut autographs come in the Yankee Stadium Legacy Moments in Time Dual Cut Signatures set, pairing him with others who are tied to memorable moments in the stadium’s history. The card above features Steinbrenner’s signature along with Nelson Mandela, who made one of his first stops after 27 years in prison at an appearance in the stadium. The other two cuts from the set include Steinbrenner with actor Jason Alexander (an obvious Seinfeld reference) and a card with former Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert.
Steinbrenner’s autographed items are already proving to be volatile on the auction block with signed jerseys, baseballs and documents being the priciest items. (Whether those items sell remains to be seen.) While his signature may be plentiful, his status in the game should command some strong prices — so buyers should exercise caution and buy only certified signatures or items from trusted dealers.
Other memorable items — such as his Sports Illustrated cover appearances — should make for of-interest lower-end items for collectors hoping to pick something up.
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.
Bustin' Wax: 1979 O-Pee-Chee baseball cards
07.12
Beckett Baseball‘s Chris Olds opens a 31-year-old pack of 1979 O-Pee-Chee cards — so you don’t have to – in what we hope will be the first in an occasional series of vintage pack breaks called Bustin’ Wax.
What will he find inside? Watch and find out …
While he didn’t admit it in the video, this is the oldest pack that Olds has ever opened. (That’s excusable since he started collecting in 1987, we guess…) His previous-oldest was a pack of 1982 Topps.
We want to know — when did you start collecting and what’s your oldest ripped pack?
Tell us below.
UFC Stars Rampage Jackson, Brock Lesnar Featured in Round 5 Versus Line
07.12
Some of the biggest fights in recent UFC history will be commemorated later this year by some of the coolest little collectibles going.
The creative, Canadian power punchers from Round 5, a leading producer of officially licensed mixed martial arts figurines, recently unveiled prototypes of the company’s forthcoming “Versus” two packs capturing scenes from four key UFC matchups.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, currently co-starring in the summer blockbuster “The A-Team,” is showcased twice in the new line – in his title-losing battle against Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 and in his knockout victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92.
Current heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar’s UFC 100 pummeling of Frank Mir and Chuck Liddell’s demolition of Tito Ortiz at UFC 66 also are featured. Each of the new two packs comes with an Octagon segment display stand.