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Filed under: Beckett Media, college basketball, Upper Deck | Tags: 2011 Upper Deck World of Sports, Bob Hugguns, David Beckham, Joe Canseco, Tiger Woods, Upper Deck, World of Sports
By Chris Olds | Editor
In the college ranks, there’s typically one man who stands above the rest.
The head coach.
While countless coaching legends have appeared on cards through the years, it’s in Collegiate Licensing Company-approved and draft pick products where the legends are often found. The likes of Bobby Knight, John Wooden, Bobby Bowden, Tom Osborne and many more have made their way into packs.
But there are still more to be found — and that’s where the latest effort from Upper Deck comes in.
Filed under: Beckett Media, NHL, Upper Deck | Tags: Autographed Helmet, Boston Bruins, Hockey Helmet, Tyler Seguin, UDA, Uper Deck Authenticated, Upper Deck, Upper Deck Pack Attacks
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
Upper Deck and Sports Images have teamed up to bring an expansive Pack Attack event to the New England area this month.
Beginning with pre-qualifying Upper Deck Pack Attacks at eight different hobby shops in the area (listed below), the promotion will culminate with the winners from each location competing in one final event on March 3, 2011 at the Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning game. There, winners will receive premium prizes like player-signed mini sticks, Tyler Seguin-autographed gloves and a Rookie Showcase helmet featuring penmanship from this season’s top newcomers. Continue reading
Filed under: Beckett Media, NHL, Topps | Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Product, Topps Super Bowl XLV
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
Moments ago, via Twitter Topps announced its product nod to the Lombardi-lugging Green Bay Packers.
Celebrating the Packers’ Super Bowl XLV victory on cardboard, a limited 27-card set is available for sale on Shoptopps.com. Cheeseheads far and wide can expect the commemorative blister pack to ship on the week of Feb. 28.
Filed under: Beckett Media
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
The Packers have been crowned kings of the league and Super Bowl XLV is over and done with.
While the confetti at Cowboys Stadium marked the end of another season, collectors can certainly fill that football void with the ever-expanding hobby offering. Officially scheduled to release next Wednesday, Panini’s 2010 Playoff Contenders is a near-future means of savoring the gridiron beyond the big game.
Featuring on-card signatures from 35 of this rookie standouts, the set’s Rookie Ticket Autographs are hot commodities even after the contending has closed for the year. Below is just a glimpse — albeit a gawk-worthy one — at what’s to come next week: Continue reading
Filed under: Beckett Media, NBA, Panini | Tags: 2009-2010 national treasures basketball, Blake Griffin, Panini
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
We’ve looked at Blake Griffin’s cards before on the blog. We asked which of his rookie cards would you like to own.
But if you could own any of his cards – rookie card logo rules withheld – would this card be it?
Griffin’s 2009-2010 National Treasures Logoman auto 1/1 is on eBay with a staggering buy it now price. Anyone who is interested in the card would only need to fork over $32,032.32
The seller is not accepting any low-ball offers either. He states directly in his auction that anything submitted under $15,000 will automatically declined. Twenty offers have already been submitted, but he hasn’t taken any yet.
In the last year, we’ve seen some cards go far tremendous prices – mostly in the baseball world such as Stephen Strasburg’s 2010 Bowman Chrome Superfractor.
But if this card were to go to auction, what do you think would be the final price?
Filed under: Beckett Media, NFL, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps Prime, One Retail Pack, Super Bowl XLV, Topps Prime Football
With temperatures finally reaching the 30s and some direct sun, the winter storm that tried to stop Super Bowl XLV is finally melting. Remedying a case of cabin fever yesterday, I managed to drive over to a nearby retail establishment to pick up some necessities (and a pack of 2010 Topps Prime Football, of course).
Last night, I opted for some take-out Chinese food and saved the pack for this morning’s video.
Filed under: Beckett Media, NFL, Panini, Topps | Tags: Dallas Convention Center, NFL Experience Memorabilia Show, Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLV NFL Experience
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
As mentioned in the previous post, I countered a case of cabin fever by heading over to the Super Bowl XLV NFL Experience in downtown Dallas. Below is a video, featuring some of the sights and sounds from my stroll around the event.
Filed under: Beckett Media, NFL, Panini, Topps | Tags: Dallas Super Bowl, NFL Experience Memorabilia Show, Panini, Super Bowl XLV NFL Experience, Topps
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
Braving the second evening of a three-day North Texas ice apocalypse, I put on my warmest clothes and ventured to the Dallas Convention Center for the Super Bowl XLV NFL Experience.
Despite the freezing temperatures, I arrived without incident and with childlike glee when I saw the epic Super Bowl XLV letters standing in the iced-over convention center lawn. As visitors – some locals, some tourists, some brandishing terrible towels, some sporting cheese heads – poured inside the building, I couldn’t help but momentarily absorb the spectacle from afar.
However, I have seen the movie “Alive,” and I know what prolonged exposure can do to a man.
After making my way inside the traveling NFL theme park and eating a protein bar (just to make sure), I confirmed the glorious magnitude foreshadowed by that dramatic entrance. I was greeted with the hustle and bustle of show-goers, a light show and an enormous Drew Brees cut-out hanging from the ceiling.
At the epicenter of the experience, the Topps and Panini-sponsored Memorabilia Show lured me in immediately. Bringing their best host-city wares and cream-of-the-crop football collectibles, dealers set up shop, hoping to make hobbyists out of every attendee. Offering reasonably-priced merchandise and promotions to a crowd of awestruck football fanatics, most of these merchants didn’t have to do much convincing. Continue reading
Filed under: Beckett Media, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2011 Bowman Platinum, baseball cards, Bowman Platinum, Bryce Harper, MLB, Topps
By Chris Olds | Editor
You might not have fully digested your first helping of Bowman Platinum, but the next helping is already here.
Topps released preview images and basic product information for 2011 Bowman Platinum on Thursday, a product that will arrive in late-June — just months after the product made its baseball debut.
There will be two prospect autographs as well as one autographed Relic in every 20-pack hobby box. Each 12-box case will include one multi-autograph card and redemptions for on-card autographs from the latest crop of USA Baseball players.
The product will mark a high-end (Chrome) arrival of Bryce Harper autographs as the 18-year-old No. 1 overall pick is slated to have a Chrome Refractor Prospect autograph in the product as well as appear on the triple-autograph card (top) also signed by Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman.
Filed under: Beckett Media, First look, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2011 Topps Pro Debut, MILB, minor league
By Chris Olds | Editor
Topps‘ second year of producing officially licensed minor-league baseball cards will start off with a little something extra — four hits in every box of 2011 Pro Debut.
Set to arrive in late May, Pro Debut will consist of 330 cards — apparently just one series this year — but will pack two autographs and two game-used Relics in every 24-pack box along with eight parallels and 18 insert cards. (Last year’s two-series release included two autographs and one memorabilia card in every hobby-only box.)
New this year are Side-by-side Dual Autographs which pair two players together, while the rest of the lineup is pretty similar. There are Gold (/25), Red (1/1) and Blue (/199) parallels, while there are also printing plates to be found. The insert sets include Single-A All-Stars, Double-A All-Stars and Triple-A All-Stars.
Filed under: Beckett Media, Card gallery, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2011 Topps baseball, Albert Pujols, Diamond, MLB, Topps
By Chris Olds | Editor
Today’s the day that many had marked on their calendars — well, after Topps pushed up the release date — as it marked the arrival of the annual baseball card-collecting staple.
You know, the annual Topps Baseball set.
While our Box Busters review boxes are somewhere in an iced-over UPS truck likely stuck in a snow drift and the Beckett Media offices are closed for a second consecutive day, a little lot of snow ice wasn’t going to stop your idiot intrepid editor from journeying through the tundra to a Target store.
After a blaster box, jumbo pack and way-too-many loose packs to mention, here’s a selection of cards from this year’s set … after the jump.
Also be sure to take our poll — on whether you think 2011 Topps is a winner or a loser.
Filed under: Beckett Media, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2011 Topps, Diamond Anniversary, MLB, Topps
By Chris Olds | Editor
The first boxes of 2011 Topps Baseball have been ripped and the first reports of oddball findings are coming in, too.
The most notable previously unannounced finds are cards that have the twinkle or sparkle of a diamond digitally placed into the photograph of the card.
Filed under: Beckett Media | Tags: Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, PSA/DNA, Super Bowl XLV
By Chris Olds | Editor
Each and every game ball used in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday will be tagged with invisible ink to authenticate it as being used in game-play, announced PSA/DNA on Tuesday.
Roughly 120 balls will he used during the big game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they won’t be the only items authenticated — the pylons and the coin for the coin toss also will be marked.
“The DNA ink has an astronomical 1-in-33 trillion chance of being accurately reproduced by counterfeiters,” said Joe Orlando, President of PSA/DNA. “Many of the game-used Super Bowl footballs are sold by the NFL through charity auctions. The PSA/DNA certification combats potential counterfeiting and helps assure future owners that each ball is genuine.”
The Santa Ana, Calif.-based company uses a synthetic DNA strand that can be seen only with a specific laser. This will be the 13th year that the company has authenticated Super Bowl balls, which also will include a letter of authenticity. For added protection, the letters will have codes that can be verified at PSADNA.com.
The first of three In The Game uncut sheet auctions is under way.
A trio of eBay auctions of sheets from ITG: Heroes & Prospects “Hits” Series 1 will benefit charity.
The first auction — a sheet of autographed prospect cards from the set — benefits Special Olympics and is at $635 with a week remaining.
Filed under: Beckett Media
By Chris Olds | Editor
The NBA‘s long-running Starting Five promotion — one that gets exclusive stuff into the hands of collectors just for visiting hobby shops and buying cards — starts today.
In its fourth season, the program is once again led by NBA exclusive card licensee Panini America, which has produced the special cards for the program. There will be 10 exclusive cards to be collected at participating shops. (Find that list here.)
Dear Beckett User,
As many of you know, we have had our dose of Murphy’s Law in the last week. We suffered a severe network outage at our old host provider. That was fun. In addition, Dallas is under a few inches of ice, sleet and snow, which has our office closed.
We expected to launch the new site this last weekend – as it stands we are doing so now. Yep, currently we are importing your data and the massive database (have been since Monday) into our new hosting location.
Due to the extremely slow nature of the data migration, it is hard to say exactly when it will be complete. Likely by 48 to 72 hours.
So the time is here. Once the data migration is complete, the main components of the new site will be live. This will be followed shortly by an update to both our Grading and Marketplace sites.
Thanks,
Brian
Brian D. Gulledge
President
Beckett Media LLC
Filed under: Golf, NHL, Upper Deck | Tags: Bubba Watson, Goodwin Champions, PGA, Tiger Woods, Upper Deck
By Chris Olds | Editor
Upper Deck has its sights set on a return to the golf world sometime soon and a pair of future products will include a golf card first and a big batch of Tiger Woods.
Those are things that golf fans — who have been without a set of their own since 2005 — will undoubtedly appreciate.
Up first, is a first — Bubba Watson‘s first Upper Deck golf card. It will appear in 2011 Goodwin Champions, which will arrive later this year.
Upper Deck’s Sports Marketing and Social Media Manager Chris Carlin had additional details.
“We’ve reached a deal with the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open winner for image rights and autographs,” he said. “That’s kind of big news as many were wondering if we would ever produce Goodwin Champions again. The last Goodwin Champions set had a lot of very unique and innovative trading card inserts sets, so we are very excited to bring that product back with even more bells and whistles that will be announced in the coming months.
“Watson’s first autograph cards will appear in 2011 Upper Deck Ultimate Champions, a cross-sport product with a high-end look and feel.”
The second item — a whole lot of Tiger — can be seen after the jump.
The Beckett Blog 