08.20
Upper Deck officials have produced the first Major League Soccer trading card of French superstar Thierry Henry and are distributing it free to those collectors who purchase two blaster boxes of 2010 Upper Deck Soccer at the company’s online store.
Henry, a headline-generating talent of international proportions, is the all-time leading scorer for Arsenal of the English Premier League and a member of France’s 1998 World Cup championship squad. He signed with the MLS’ Red Bulls less than five weeks ago and promptly scored a goal in his first game, on July 22.
The Upper Deck card features an image from that historic tally.
“There are few names associated with soccer right now that are bigger than Henry’s,” said Jason Masherah, Upper Deck’s Vice President of Marketing. “Since we were unable to include him in our original Upper Deck Soccer product this year, for the simply fact that he was not yet a member of the [MLS], this is a big coup for us. We’re extremely excited to get this card out into the marketplace.”
08.19
We got our first look at the 2010 Topps WWE set on Wednesday and one of the things that stands out in this release are strong photographs cleanly showcased on the design for Topps’ 2010 baseball set.
From the WWE Divas to the brutes, the set of both past and present stars seems to carry a crisper and more energetic look than recent wrestling releases — even last year’s much- improved set — largely because of the photos, which are a mix of action and studio work.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that there are some pretty deep insert card sets to be found — and some autographs from guys who haven’t signed in years.
Get a closer look at the set with a 30-plus card gallery after the jump.
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08.19
Grey Flannel‘s Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Auction netted $1.48 million recently — an average lot price of more than $6,600 — with some classic items helping lead the way.
The annual auction, which was held at the Hall of Fame, is in its fifth year and was topped by a 1968-69 Boston Celtics home warm-up jacket worn by Bill Russell and and a 1965-66 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers game-used home jersey. Each drew $84,000.
A collection of items from Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson was sold, including his 1984 Boston Celtics World Championship player’s ring, which went for $78,000. His 1980 Western Conference game-used All-Star uniform went for $24,000.
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08.19
Topps officials on Thursday provided preliminary product information and images on 2010 Topps Magic Football, one of the company’s few throwback-inspired gridiron releases that arrives in late December yielding three autograph cards per box.
Magic is bolstered by the Magic Autographs, Magic Dual Autographs and Magic Dual Autographs signature inserts, and each includes a Chrome Refractor parallel version.
New this year for the brand are Gridiron Stamp of Approval and Historical Stamp of Approval stamp cards (think 2007 Leaf Certified Souvenir Stamps) numbered to 10 and 25, respectively, and hobby-exclusive Relic cards.
The product’s 250-card base set includes 50 short prints and a striking artistic aesthetic that should be well received by collectors. Mini parallel versions will fall one per pack in either base, black-bordered or Pigskin (numbered to 50) form.
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08.18
Beckett Media’s Chris Olds rips into a blaster box of 2010 Topps WWE wrestling cards in this latest episode of Rippin’ Retail. (We’ll have a standard Box Busters video soon.)
What will he find inside? Watch and find out …
08.18
Wrestling fans know all about the story of Daniel Bryan and his time with World Wrestling Entertainment.
First, he was a breakout star early on in the first season of WWE’s version of American Idol, a show called NXT. But couldn’t get a win to save himself and eventually he was eliminated.
Then, of course, he was fired from the company for choking out an announcer with his tie during a NXT melee — something apparently not kosher in today’s more kid-friendly WWE.
And, much to some fans’ surprise, Bryan was re-hired just this past Sunday to help combat his former NXT compatriots at SummerSlam, a return announced during the pay-per-view.
Did you get all that, non-wrestling fans?
Well, to some it was obviously a work — wrestling slang for storyline that misleads — but oddly Bryan, a long-time star on the indepdendent scene, was allowed to work for other companies during his non-compete time. (Typically, dismissed talents can’t go to work for competitors for a period of two to three months as part of their contractual obligations.)
But to truly know Bryan’s firing was a work — and that his return has been in the works for some time — one has to look no further than the brand new set of 2010 Topps WWE wrestling cards, which arrives in stores this week.
When the card set was announced, not long after Bryan’s firing a few months ago, the preliminary checklist did not include him. But ripping into a pack of cards today I made an interesting discovery — he appears on card No. 68 in the 110-card set.
According to Topps‘ compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act — information obtained by checking a code printed on the cards themselves — the cards were printed between July2 and July 16 — well before Sunday’s PPV.
So much for John Cena‘s recruiting him to help save “Team WWE” on Sunday …
Forget getting Vince McMahon on the phone all you dirt-sheet reporters. If you want the real scoop, everybody knows you have to rip into packs of 2010 Topps WWE trading cards.
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.
08.18
Beckett Media’s Chris Olds rips into a 2010 Topps Baseball Value Box, a new item that hit retail shops this week.
What will he find inside? Watch and find out …
08.17
Despite the countless hours of behind-the-scenes legwork that go into preparing for any rookie photo shoot (let alone one that attracts more than 40 players like today’s just-completed 2010 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot), most collectors tend to strip the events down these days to two important questions: Will there be on-card autographs from the event and what do the photographs taken there look like?
In that order.
The captivating images that follow showcasing some of Panini America‘s 2010-11 NBA trading cards — and the young NBA superstars signing them — should provide some early answers to those two key questions.
Enjoy the gallery and stay tuned to Beckett.com for additional coverage of the 2010 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot.
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08.17
Panini America released the basic product information and preview images for one of its annual staples on Tuesday, 2010 Certified, which will arrive in late October.
The $10-a-pack product will include two autographs and two memorabilia cards in every 10-pack box and there also will be six insert cards per box — two each from Mirror Parallels, standard inserts and two rookies numbered to 999 or less.
Every 24-box case will be broken into three mini cases, each with one “Platinum Hot Box” inside with all base cards inside numbered to 999 or less.
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08.17
Panini America officials are taking advantage of the unprecedented access provided by today’s 2010 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot to acquire as many on-card autographs for the 2010-11 NBA card season as possible.
Some of the cards being signed, perhaps as you read this, are these 2010-11 Limited Same Day Rookie Signatures.
Although the cards shown here haven’t been signed yet, we thought they were worth a first look.
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