By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

When Steve Young and Joe Montana faced each other, all eyes were on the football world. The once teammates were now rivals, embroiled in a controversy only sports columnists and radio show hosts could love.

The Vindication Bowl.

Young vs. Montana and a chance for all the San Francisco 49ers fans to voice their frustrations over a change many questioned.

The Chiefs won the game 24-17, and now the jerseys from the iconic quarterbacks in that game are going to auction through Goldin Auctions as part of The Joe Montana Collection. The auction runs Feb. 25 – April 5.

Montana signed both sides of the #19 Chiefs home jersey with inscriptions. The front reads “1994 GAME JERSEY 9-11-94 KC 24 – SF 17″. On the back, it reads “MY GAME WORN JERSEY, 9-11-94 KC 24 SF 17, 19-31 PASSING 203 YDS 2 TDS.” The jersey comes with a signed letter of authenticity from Montana and is pre-certified by PSA/DNA.

Young’s 49ers road jersey is also a special piece for fans. Despite losing the game, San Francisco won the Super Bowl that season and Young was named the MVP. His jersey is signed with “MVP ’94″. It includes a LOA from the 49ers and is certified PSA/DNA MEARS-10.

Bidding for the Montana jersey begins at $5,000 while bidding for the Young jersey begins at $2,500.

“The fact that Montana saved this jersey for more nearly 20 years shows just how important the game was for him. It’s certainly the most important game he ever played for the Chiefs and one of the 10 most memorable games in his career,” said Ken Goldin, Founder of Goldin Auctions. “The chance for a collector to own the two jerseys worn by these two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in their only ever head-to-head match-up is a spectacular offering and a must-have for any 49er, Joe Montana, Steve Young or football Hall of Fame collector or football historian. This jersey pairing is easily worthy of being on display in Canton”

The Montana collection contains eight additional game-worn items from his time with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

Todd and Ula Nelkin were sad the night their well-known eBay auction ended without a sale.

The 1999 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch dual-signed autograph card with Barry Sanders and Walter Payton finished at $11,100, but the card did not meet the reserve price.

“We were disappointed,” Todd, 45, said. “I can’t believe there wasn’t a fury at the end. It just fizzled.”

But there is good news after all for the couple who intended to sell the card to pay for a procedure that would help them have a child.

The Nelkins sold the card to a collector from New York City for $12,000, which covers the basic cost they needed. The buyer told the Nelkins the card would be staying in his collection for now.

“He intends to keep the card for a while and then sell it himself to help him pay for his child’s college education,” Todd said. “Adding to the legacy of this amazing card which will be responsible for a child and a child’s education.”

The Nelkins never ruled out adoption, but they wanted to attempt to have a baby on their own. They tried IVF twice before unsuccessfully.

However, their plan has changed.

The Houston couple was recently introduced to open adoption where the birth parents interact with the adoptive parents before and after the baby’s arrival.

“With in vitro we run of risk of walking away with nothing to show for everyone’s efforts during the auction, this almost guarantees us of having that happy ending,” Todd wrote in an email. “We want a child more than anything and we are excited about the possibility of helping out someone, knowing the child’s medical history and hopefully having a healthy happy baby boy or girl.”

Football legends Sanders, Steve Young and even strangers donated to the couple after they heard their story.

“The amazing thing is thanks to Mr. Sanders and Mr. Young and other people we might have enough to cover the costs of the adoption,” Ula, 42, said. “Since we did not raise enough for the in vitro, everything is still going to have an amazing happy ending.”

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

When getting a dual autograph sometimes a collector wishes different players could have been paired together. Perhaps even hoping to have two favorite players on one card that share no real bonds.

With a new autograph set in 2011 Exquisite Football, collectors can actually make the dual and quad autographs they want by mixing and matching special cards – of course, within the scope of the checklist.

Upper Deck took its removable autograph slot cards to another level by with Choice Signatures, slot cards on one larger card. Some of the original pairs include Jake Locker/Blaine Gabbert, Eddie George/Gale Sayers and Andy Dalton/Colin Kaepernick.

But what if you want Locker and Dalton on one card instead?

That’s simple. Remove the slot cards with the on-card autograph and replace it with a player that you want.

“We’ve heard from consumers, collectors why did you put this combination together?” Upper Deck product manager Greg Kohn said in a video on YouTube. “Now, we’re giving you the opportunity to put any combination together you want. … You have the option of building any type of autograph card you choose. Anything you desire.”

Upper Deck only has a college license, so all the players appear in their college uniforms. But that hasn’t stopped collectors from grabbing these cards.

On Wednesday, a Barry Sanders/Steve Young combo of Choice Signatures sold for $400 on eBay.

There is a redemption card in this set that lists the players as TBA. As soon as Upper Deck updates that information, we’ll add the information to this blog.

Some of other players with Choice Signature cards that appear on the checklist (which is subject to change) include Adrian Peterson, Aaron Rodgers, Bo Jackson, Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Dan Marino, John Elway, Jerry Rice and Troy Aikman.

If you could pick, what combo of players what you put on a card?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Football magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

Football season is never too far out of mind, and Topps has a way of getting collectors to think about the sport — even in the middle of a dead heat.

Topps released information and pictures one of its most popular products, 2012 Topps Triple Threads. It’s back with a couple different designs and plenty of autograph and Relics.

But there aren’t just cards in 2012 Triple Threads. Nope, collectors will get a chance to get full pieces of autographed memorabilia. Collectors can hit redemptions for autographed jerseys, helmets and hand-signed autograph cards (rookies sign gloves and jumbo cards with their on-card autographs).

First the basics on Triple Threads, which is set to be released in mid-November … after the jump.

There are 100 base cards, which are numbered to 930 or less, with seven parallels:

・ Sepia (numbered to 320)
・ Emerald (/150)
・ Gold (/99)
・ Onyx (/50)
・ Sapphire (/25)
・ Platinum (1/1)
・ printing plates (1/1)

There are two mini packs in every box. Each will contain seven cards with one of two configurations. A pack will either have three base cards, two parallels, one Triple Relic and one Triple Threads Rookie Auto Relic or three base cards, two parallels, one Triple Autographed Relic and one Triple Threads Rookie Jumbo Relic.

All the Relics and autographs are numbered to 99 or less.

Case breakers will also get a bit of the action. Every 18-box case will contain a 1/1 autograph relic card, a triple autograph relic (numbered to 27 or less) and an autograph relic book, which is new to Triple Threads this year.

One of the best things about football products is how quickly a Rookie Card can gain popularity. There’s no waiting for a guy to get through lower levels to wonder if he is going to make it. That’s why RCs in football products work well.

And Triple Threads has no shortage of rookies.

There are at least 35 base rookie autographed Relics, including Ryan Tannehill, LaMichael James, Andrew Luck, Michael Floyd, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Trent Richardson and others.

The base rookie autographed Relics will have a horizontal design with three swatches, all numbered to 99. There are seven parallels of this card: Sepia (numbered to 70), Emerald (/50), Gold (/25) and patch versions of Sapphire (/10), Platinum (1/1), Pigskin (1/1) and White Whale Printing Plates (1/1).

Rookie collectors aren’t going to have all the fun though. Veterans and retired players make appearances in the product with guys such as Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Darren McFadden, Emmitt Smith, Kurt Warner, LeSean McCoy, Steve Young, Tony Romo and Victor Cruz along for the ride.

The Triple Threads Auto Relics of these players will be tougher to find since they are numbered to just 18. There are Gold (numbered to 9), Sapphire (/3), Platinum patch (1/1), Pigskin patch (1/1) and White Whale printing plate (1/1) parallels of these as well.

Book cards will feature several different players paired together. There will be 10 different cards with two players, two autographs and six relic swatches numbered to 18. Parallels of these books include Gold (numbered to 9), Sapphire (/3) and Platinum patches 1/1.

One combination is not enough for Topps. There are also double combo cards. Six players with all their autographs and relics one on book card.

In addition to these cards there are also Letter plus Autograph Relics, Triple Threads Cut Above Autograph (featuring a cut auto and three swatches), Dual Cut Above Autographs (two cut signatures and six swatches) and Leather-Bound book cards where the jackets of the cards are made from leather footballs used at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere.

Topps isn’t going to forget about the two hottest rookies to come out of this year’s draft.

Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck are getting special treatment in Triple Threads. Up to five different cards will focus on putting these two guys together on a book card with autographs and Relics, which will be numbered to 10.

While so much of the product is focused on autographs, Topps puts plenty of work into the Relics. As in past years, there are number of Relic-only cards that be found in Triple Threads:

・ Triple Threads Relics: Up to 50 subjects featuring one player and three pieces all numbered to 36. Parallels include: Sepia (/27), Emerald (/18), Gold (/9), Sapphire (/3) and Platinum patch (1/1).
・ Triple Threads Relics Combo: Up to 40 different players with three players and three pieces on the card numbered to /36. Parallels are the same as in the Triple Threads Relics.
・ Triple Threads NFL Shields: Up to 35 players with two swatches sand and NFL logo shield. All these are 1/1.
・ Triple Threads Quarterback Immortals: Fifteen different cards featuring one quarterback with three pieces, numbered to 36. Parallels: Gold (/18), Sapphire (/3) and Platinum patch 1/1.
・ Triple Threads Jumbo Combos: A three-panel book card featuring up to 10 different cards with three players and three jumbo patches. These are one-of-a-kind cards.
・ Triple Threads Rookie Jumbo Relics: There will be at least 55 rookies with a jumbo swatch, numbered to 99. These parallels include Sepia (/75), Emerald (/50), Gold (/25), Sapphire Patch (/10) and Platinum patch (1/1). Some of these cards may also be autographed.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

One of Upper Deck’s most well-known high-end products is coming back for another edition in football.

Exquisite is back for the 2011 season featuring five autographs in every box with new four new autograph subsets.

Like all of Upper Deck’s recent football products, all the players in the set are featured in their college uniforms, but those players include some today’s brightest prospects. The autograph checklist also includes 26 Heisman Trophy winners.

As one of the high-end products, Exquisite offers just a few cards, but the company makes up for that in quality with great looking patch cards and low-numbered autographs.

There are six cards in every box and three boxes in a case.

The new subsets in Exquisite include:
・ Signature Slots
・ Exquisite Twelve
・ Exquisite Masterpieces
・ Exquisite Dimensions

UD Black Rookie Cards and Exquisite Rookie Book Marks are back again.

For case breakers, Upper Deck is offering two autographs from some of football’s best players: Aaron Rodgers, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Dan Marino, John Elway, Drew Brees, Jim Kelly, Gale Sayers, Cam Newton, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Tony Dorsett, Andy Dalton, DeMarco Murray and Blaine Gabbert.

There is no release date or a preliminary checklist yet, but check back at Beckett.com as more information is released on this product.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.