2010 Tri-Star Obak Minor League Baseball

I was a big fan of last year’s Obak set and am very happy to see that it will be returning in 2010.  With so many sets doing the same things with the same players over and over again, Obak is a breath of fresh air and a very fun set to collect.  The best part of these sets are the cards celebrating the history of baseball.  There’s a lot to be learned just reading the backs of these cards.

The Obak set isn’t licensed since Topps has the MiLB exclusive license, but for the best cards in this set it doesn’t really matter if they are licensed or not.  For the athletes in the set, if you don’t mind some airbrushing and lack of team names, then you’re going to end up loving this set.

Charles Ebbets is one of the cards that can be found in the Game Changers subset.   Other people in the set include Eberhard Anheuser for the beverage of choice during ballgames, George Eastman whose advancements in film helped get pictures of the game to fans and Jefferson Burdick who is known for The American Card Catalog which became the standard for identifying and organizing trading cards produced before 1951.

History’s Greatest Players includes Roger Clemens, Andre Dawson, Hank Greenberg, Dale Murphy and Cal Ripken Jr bringing some established star power to the set.

There’s a Minor League Player of the Year subset that includes such names as Don Baylor, Johnny Bench, Jose Canseco and Jason Heyward.

The Can You Believe subset looks like it will be both fun and informative.  The subset includes one-armed pitcher and Olympian Jim Abbott, Wally Pipp who supposedly sat out a game due to a headache which led to the start of Lou Gehrig’s legendary streak and Moe Berg who also a spy during World War II.

There’s a Multi-sport subset, but it seems like it would have been a better fit in last year’s set that included Bo Jackson and Gene Conley.  Throw Brian Jordan in there and you’ve got the start of a great subset.  This year’s set consists of “Hopalong” Cassady, Dave DeBusschere, Francis Ouimet, Kyle Rote Sr. and Charlie Ward.

Tri-Star also has the TNA Wrestling license and make use of it in this set.  There’s a one card Pop Icon subset that consists solely of Hulk Hogan.  The Historic Names subset has a Tinker, Evans & Chance card which is cool.  Those three players also appear individually on short prints along with Todd McFarlane and his balls and a card featuring both William H Taft and Barack Obama.

The mini autograph checklist looks to be a good one.  You can find Jim Abbott, Johnny Bench, Starlin Castro, Roger Clemens, Jason Heyward and Hulk Hogan in that set.

The modern sized cards have some nice autographs available as well.  You can find Heyward again as well as Castro, Drew Storen, Michael Trout, Abbott, Baylor, Bench, Canseco, Clemens, Dawson, Gooden, Hulk Hogan, Dale Murphy, Cal Ripken and Darryl Strawberry.  One of the more intriguing autographs available is that of Todd McFarlane.  I already have his autograph in my collection, but it would be interesting to have it one a baseball card.

There’s one cut autograph card that’s going to command a lot of attention and that is the card containing autographs of Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.  If these were on-card autos that card might be the card of the year.  Who knows, it might still be with the cut signatures.  Other interesting pairings for cut signatures are Buster Posey with Matt Wieters, Hank Aaron with Tommie Aaron and Stan “The Man” paired with Pujols.  There are also cut autographs of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Obama.

The box toppers look very cool this year.  They are oversized cabinet cards and it looks like they feature a picture of each team’s stadium with a player from that team on the reverse.

Each box contains 11 hits.  You get 4 autograph cards which are numbered to 125 or less, 2 parallel cards numbered to 50 or less, 1 T212 mini parallel cards numbered to 50 or less, 3 short print cards and one of the T4 cabinet cards numbered to 75 or less.

Last year’s Obak set was great and it looks like this year’s will be even better.  You’ve got fun facts, a great autograph checklist and something different than everything else out there.  Obak comes out on August 11th unless you are going to the National where you can pick up the product on the 5th.

Technorati Tags: TRISTAR,2010 Obak

Sponsored Blaster Box Break: TRISTAR 2010 TNA New Era

There’s been buzz about this release ever since it was first publicized.  Say what you will about the TNA product on television, but this release contains autographs from some of the biggest names in the history of wrestling.  Hulk Hogan was the driving force of the WWF for decades while Ric Flair was doing the same thing over in WCW.  Now they’re facing off in the same federation and TRISTAR is striking while the iron is hot.

Those two cards aren’t the only ones available in this release though.  The Jeff Hardy autographs in the set should prove to be popular as will RVD’s autographs.  There’s a large autograph checklist though and the majority of the 55 autographs don’t have the amount of name recognition that the average WWE wrestler does.  I know that I’d be tempted not to rip the card in half if I were to pull a Bubba the Love Sponge autograph.  He’s not a wrestler and doesn’t belong in this set no matter how good of a friend he is to Terry Bollea.

I doubt that there will ever be a market for wrestler “rookie cards",” but if there were, this would be RVD’s TNA RC.  TRISTAR did a great job with the quick turnaround of this set.  Hogan, Flair, RVD, Hardy and Mr. Anderson haven’t been in TNA all that long, but they got them into this set and did a good job of it.

The cards look very nice and the photography is great especially when you consider that a lot of these images were taken from the big TNA Monday night special and the show where Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair made their debut with TNA.  The time period between those shows and the release of this set wasn’t long at all.  You’ve got to give TRISTAR plenty of kudos for that.  They definitely struck while the iron was hot and it is paying off.  The cards have improved by leaps and bounds since the first TNA set.  I still don’t know of too many people who are a fan of the glitter, but it’s TRISTAR’s thing so I don’t mind them sticking with it.

Each blaster box contains 24 cards and that includes one autograph card.  So, you are basically paying $20 or whatever the blasters sell for at retail for just the one autograph card.  These are unnumbered retail versions of the autograph cards.  That seems pretty pricey for what you get in a box.

TRISTAR continues to deliver fun autographs on their cards.  The card of Mr. Anderson reads, “Mr. Anderson… Anderson!!” which is what the wrestler yells into an old school microphone lowered from the ceiling as part of his entrance.

On the downside of things, the stickers are once again on stickers.  I can understand it for this set since there was a quick turnaround time, but there’s no way that there should be sticker autographs on future sets.  All that TRISTAR has to do is send a representative or two down to Orlando on a Thursday night with cards to be signed and they’re all set.  It’s really inexcusable.  On-card autographs would really bring these sets to the next level.

Technorati Tags: TNA Wrestling,TRISTAR,box break,TNA The New Era

TNA 2010: The New Era

TRISTAR will be releasing their next TNA set on April 28th and it looks like they’ve got a big winner here.  They were already doing a good job with the TNA sets and it looks like the quality continues to improve while the TNA roster gets better by leaps and bounds.  In fact, this past weekend I ordered my very first TNA Pay Per View and was very happy with what I saw.  The Ultimate X match featuring the Motor City Machine Guns and Generation ME was easily the match of the year so far in any federation.

One of the big selling points for this set is that there are over 30 different Hulk Hogan cards available.  This includes the base cards, relic cards, autograph cards, autographed relic cards and an Obak insert.  This set definitely has Hulkamania.

The base cards look great with excellent photography.  I count 11 cards in the base set with Hulk Hogan’s name on them so if you are a fan of the Hulkster then this is the set for you.  There’s a lot more than that though.  This set has content as recent as TNA’s big move to Monday night which included the return to wrestling of “Mr. Monday Night,” Rob Van Dam.  That’s a huge coup for TNA as the WWE had been trying to lure RVD back for a while now.  He did rejoin them for one night, but that would be it.  Jeff Hardy’s first TNA card is in this set as well with a picture from the Monday Night Special where he made a brief appearance.  Some other notable new additions are Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac, Shannon Moore, Mr. Anderson, Generation Me, The Pope, Desmond Wolfe and THE Brian Kendrick.

The two per box Obak cards should be very popular.  I loved the Obak set and can’t wait for these cards.  Hopefully they don’t prove to be too popular since this is a set that I’ll want to chase.

Each box contains one memorabilia card numbered to 1, 25, 50 or 199.  There aren’t any bums in the relic set.  The single relic set includes Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Sting, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Mr. Anderson and Syxx-Pac.  There’s a dual relic card of Beer Money Inc.  Triple relic cards feature three Hogan swatches; Hogan, Flair and Sting (pictured) or the members of The Beautiful People.

Who wouldn’t love pulling a Hulk Hogan autograph out of one of these boxes?  Autographed cards are numbered to 1, 5, 25 or 50.  There are single signed cards of just about every member of the TNA roster.  Some of the highlights are Hogan, Sting, Angle, Kevin Nash, AJ Styles, RVD, Samoa Joe, Velvet Sky, Christy Hemme, Daniels, Daffney, Jeff Hardy and Ric Flair.

There are some nice dual autographed cards highlighting business partners such as Hogan and Dixie Carter, allies like Hogan and Abyss or bitter enemies like Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson.  The Hogan/Angle and Hogan/Flair cards should be two of the more sought after cards from this set.

There are also triple signed cards as well.  There are four different cards with one featuring former nWo members Hogan, Nash and Syxx-Pac another with the current members of The Beautiful People, the third features The British Invasion and the last one features some of the more popular ladies of TNA (Tara, Christy Hemme and Traci Brooks).

Last, but certainly not least are the quad signed cards.  There are five different cards including the one pictured here that Beckett called the greatest wrestling card ever produced.  I think I’ve got to agree.

The other quads feature the current members of The Beautiful People along with former member Angelina Love.  The Hogan/Jarrett/Angle/Foley card should be popular as well, but not as popular as the pictured card.  There’s a card of TNA Knockouts Taylor Wilde, Sarita, Hamada and Awesome Kong and the final quad is of Hulk Hogan, Abyss, Ric Flair and AJ Styles who have been the subject of many main events lately.

There are 6 different single event-used, autographed cards.  Along with the pictures Ric Flair, you can also pull Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Sting, AJ Styles and Velvet Sky.  No bums there and these cards look great.

You can find the checklist and more details about the set on the official website.  Thanks to the generosity of TRISTAR, you can expect to see a preview of the set right here on the blog close to the release day.

Technorati Tags: TNA Wrestling,Hulk Hogan,Ric Flair,TRISTAR,new release information,Jeff Hardy,RVD,Rob Van Dam

TNA 2010: The New Era

A NEW ERA HAS ARRIVED:
TRISTAR ANNOUNCES UPCOMING RELEASE OF NEW TNA WRESTLING TRADING CARDS AS TNA MAKES HISTORY TONIGHT ON SPIKE TV WITH MOVE TO MONDAY NIGHTS

All-New, Exclusive-Licensed Trading Card Set Features Legendary Pop Icon HULK HOGAN

HOUSTON, March 8, 2010 – As TNA Wrestling begins a new era with “TNA iMPACT!” moving from Thursday nights to Monday nights beginning tonight, Monday, March 8 (9:00-11:00pm ET/PT), TNA’s exclusive trading card licensee, TRISTAR, announced the upcoming release of an all-new trading card release, entitled “TNA 2010: The New Era.”  The new product is scheduled for release in late April 2010.

“TNA 2010: The New Era” Trading Cards will hit stores worldwide in late April, featuring TNA’s many new talent additions this year, namely legendary pop culture icon Hulk Hogan, one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world.

Hogan is the subject of numerous cards in the new product and is featured prominently on the product packaging.  “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who debuted with TNA on the company’s first-ever Monday live “TNA iMPACT!” on January 4, 2010, will have his first-ever TNA trading cards in the set.  Plus, special cards of Jeff Hardy, Scott Hall, Mick Foley, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle and many more.  "The Icon" Sting, who has signed a new contract with TNA and will be at tonight’s historic broadcast on SpikeTV, will be featured as well.

“With Hulk Hogan’s arrival, “TNA iMPACT!” has delivered its highest-ever ratings and is growing its fanbase,” said Mandy Fuerst, TRISTAR’s Vice President of Operations.  “As a new era dawns in TNA with iMPACT!’s move to Mondays, we look forward to showing the TNA fans that TNA trading cards are a great way to collect their favorite stars.  Collectors recognize the quality and value of these cards with all of the autographs, serially-numbered parallels and event-used memorabilia cards.”

Among the cards to be most highly sought-after in the new product are a limited quantity of trading cards featuring Hulk Hogan’s hand-signed autograph, as well as cards including a swatch of the shirt that Hogan wore on his first-ever live appearance on “TNA iMPACT!” on January 4, 2010.

The new set of high-quality, glossy cards showcases never-before-seen photos, with parallel editions of each base card featuring serial numbering.  What can TNA Wrestling fans and collectors look forward to in “TNA 2010: The New Era” Trading Cards?  Highlights include:

• Special card subsets including
  • “Hulk Hogan: The Pop Icon”
  • “The Nature Boy” (Ric Flair)
  • “Dynamic Duos
  • “Monday Night Magic”
• TNA Debut cards of newcomers Flair, Hardy, Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Anderson, D’Angelo Dinero, Desmond Wolfe and many more.
• TNA Autograph cards with hand-signed signatures from 60+ different TNA stars. Dual, triple and quad autograph cards!
• TNA Authentic Action event-used memorabilia cards, featuring clothing right off the backs of top TNA stars, including Hogan, Flair, Foley, Angle, Kevin Nash, AJ Styles, The Beautiful People, Sting and more! Look for dual and triple event-used memorabilia cards, plus event-used memorabilia and autograph combo cards.

The TNA 2010: The New Era Trading Card checklists, as well as all the product details, will be available online next week at www.TNAWrestlingCards.com.

My Take: I just got finished watching the big TNA move to Monday night and it was a good show.  I like the current TNA roster a lot.  They’re not bogged down with geriatrics like they were when the Main Event Mafia was dominating the show.  The additions of Jeff Hardy, RVD and Shannon Moore should compliment an already great roster.

As usual with TRISTAR products, this set will be all about the fun autograph cards.  Each set keeps getting better as far as design and photography goes.  I’m excited to see what’s in store with this set.

Technorati Tags: TRISTAR,TNA Wrestling

Lazy Friday

I apologize for the lack of real content lately, but the state of the third floor just isn’t conducive to doing much of anything.  I’m up here right now for a little while, but I don’t plan on staying for long.  I’ve been told that things should be finished Monday or Tuesday which is cool since I’ve got Monday and Friday off next week and could get a lot done putting the room together and loading it back up.

Topps sent out a PDF with a ton of images from National Chicle.  For a set that was almost universally shit on when the first images were released, I think that this is a set that is going to end up pleasing most people.  The majority of the cards are nice looking and you get two on-card autographs per box.  If the product contains a strong autograph checklist then this product will be popular.

Since these cards were done by a variety of artists, some are better than others and cards that one person loves will be hated by another.  I have a feeling that the on-card autos will sell a lot more boxes than bad paintings might keep away.

I leave you with a couple of other cards that caught my eye.  A lot of the retired player cards have these same clouds in the background.  I’m guessing they were all done by the same artist.

Love the Eck in a BoSox uni.  He’s become a pretty good analyst for NESN.  He didn’t do that good of a job willing in for Jerry Remy though.

One thing that I dislike about many short prints is that you don’t know who is short printed until the company releases a list and without that list you have no way of knowing what is a short print and what isn’t.  That’s why I don’t mind when all of the SP are at the end of a set or on a different card stock.

Panini sent out information about the short printed Rookie Ticket cards in Contenders Basketball.  They just weren’t very specific about it.  Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Tyreke Evans, Jordan Hill, Brandon Jennings and Tyler Hansbrough were all printed to 499 or fewer copies.  There are a lot of numbers that are fewer than 499.The cards themselves aren’t serial numbered so you have no way of knowing just how limited they are.  To me, it sounds like Panini started with 499 copies, threw out any that got damaged and then packed out the rest.  Blake Griffin, Dante Cunningham, Earl Clark, Jonny Flynn, Stephen Curry and Terrence Williams have cards printed to 649 or fewer and I’m assuming greater than 499.

In more Topps news, they’re taking a page out of Panini’s book and offering a prize to collectors who pull a certain card out of packs.  The first person to pull the triple signed Dana White, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz card out of UFC Main Event will be flown to Las Vegas, NV and be Dana White’s personal guests at the UFC Training Center.  There are 10 copies of this card in existence and the other nine people that pull the card will get a pair of UFC gloves signed by the three fighters.

Panini sent out some news about their Adrenalyn Tour.  While it sounds cool for those lucky enough to go to games when the tour is visiting, I don’t think they’ll find enough players by just focusing on game crowds.  They need to be outside of the arenas as well.  If it turns out that they’re inside of the arena when they come to Boston I might have to think about making a trip to the Hoops Hall instead and see them there.  Probably not worth it though.

It looks like the big site news will have to wait until next week.  I’m excited for it to happen and to share it with all of you.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Topps Releases Details on Series 2 Baseball

Even though collectors are feverishly ripping through packs of the all-new 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1 and Opening Day is still over a month away, it’s never too early to start talking about…2010 Topps Baseball Series 2!

Whether people are collecting for the excitement of the Million Card Giveaway, all the cool inserts, the hobby and retail exclusives, the great photography or all of the above…one thing is for sure: Topps, the exclusive producer for MLB Trading cards, and its flagship brand, Topps Baseball, is loaded with excitement.  And Series 2 features everything collectors love about Series 1 and much more. (image attached)

From the addition of T206 cards in the Million Card Giveaway to the all-new 4^th of July Hat Logo cards, Series 2 plans to pick up the momentum of one of the best Topps baseball products in years.

Here’s a closer look:

BASE CARDS (330)

PARALLEL CARDS

• Gold Parallel (330) sequentially #’d to 2010
• Black Parallel (330) sequentially #’d to 59 HOBBY ONLY
• Platinum Parallel (330) Platinum-bordered cards #’d 1 of 1
• Printing Plates (330) Printing plates of the base cards #’d 1 of 1 HOBBY ONLY
• Silk Collection (100) sequentially #’d to 50. HOBBY ONLY
• Black Background (330) WAL-MART ONLY
• Throwback Parallel (330) TARGET ONLY

INSERT CARDS – PAST (TOPPS AND BASEBALL HISTORY)

• The Cards Your Mom Threw Out (58) Inserted 1:3.
• The Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Backs (58) 1 per box
• Topps Vintage Legends Collection (25) Retired legends featured on vintage Topps designs on which they’ve never appeared. (1:4)
• History of the World Series (25) Inserted 1:6.
• Turkey Red (50 subjects) (1:4).
• 1962 Mickey Mantle Reprint Relic (1 subject) Sequentially #’d to 62.
• Legends Cut Signatures #’d 1 of 1.
• Hall of Fame Buybacks (500) Repurchased cards of Hall of Famers are inserted in packs.
• Legendary Lineage (30) Inserted 1:4.
• Legendary Lineage Relic…Sequentially #’d to 50.
• Peak Performance (50) Inserted 1:4.
• Peak Performance Autographs (30)
• Peak Performance Relics (40)
• Peak Performance Relics Blue Parallel (40 subjects) Sequentially #’d to 99.
• Peak Performance Dual Relics (15 cards) Sequentially #’d to 50.
• Peak Performance Jumbo Relics (20) Sequentially #’d to 20. HOBBY ONLY
• Peak Performance Autographed Relics (10) Sequentially #’d to 50. HOBBY ONLY.
• Red Hot Rookies (10 subjects) Redemption cards for the ten hottest rookies of the new season, to be announced as the season progresses. (1 per box) HOBBY ONLY
• Sketch Cards #’d 1 of 1. HOBBY ONLY.
• Manufactured 4^th of July Hat Logo Cards (160) #’d to 99. HOBBY ONLY.
• Topps Attax plus pin code (30 subjects) 1 per pack.
• Topps 2020 (20) Kid-focused foilboard cards featuring the stars of today on their 2020 Topps base cards. (1:6).
• Million Card Giveaway 1:6
• Create Your Own Sketch Card 1:24.
• MLB Logo Man Manufactured Patch Card Continuity Program – 5 subjects. #’d to 50.
• Manufactured Event Patch Cards (50) 1 per Retail Value Box.
• 1951 Topps / Walmart (15)
• 1951 Topps / Target (15)
• Cereal Box Chrome Refractors / Wal-Mart  (10)
• Cereal Box Chrome Refractors / Target  (10)

My take: Those of you who thought that there were too many insert sets in Series 1 are really going to hate Series 2.  The Cards Your Mom Threw Out return and are joined by cards of legends on set designs they never appeared in.  Mike Schmidt on a ‘52 Topps?  Why not!  George Brett on ‘61 Topps?  Sure.  These could be cool, but I’ll have to reserve judgment until I start seeing some of them.  It looks like these take the place of Tales of the Game from Series 1.

History of the World Series replaces History of the Game.  Turkey Red continues through Series 2 as do the 1951 Red and Blue Walmart and Target exclusives.  Peak Performers continue as do all of the relic and autograph versions of these cards.

The 1962 Mantle Reprint Relic seems odd.  This is the type of card that Topps has previously included as a bonus card in factory sets, but this time the card is going to be extremely limited with only 62 copies existing.

The Million Card Giveaway continues through Series 2 and is joined by 500 Hall of Fame Buybacks.  I guess Topps went overboard and ended up purchasing 1,000,500 cards.  There are an awful lot of Hall of Famers in the 1997 set isn’t there?  Just kidding.  If they do as good a job on these as they have with the cards being awarded on the website, collectors will love these, but with only 500 available it won’t affect many box breakers.

I’m disappointed to see Red Hot Rookies return after Topps did such a blah job with them last year.  I don’t think any of them were autographed and they weren’t even refractory.  For the amount of time that you have to wait on these, couldn’t Topps slap stickers on 2 or 3 of them or on 10% of the print run of each card and then send those out randomly as they are redeemed.  I’m at the point where I’m about fed up with redemption cards.  Who knows what year it will be when my 2009 Finest Tommy Hanson autograph will show up.  If I’ve waited this long for it to arrive with a sticker on it, I’m going to be pissed.

For some reason sketch cards are going to be in Series 2.  Other than being 1/1, is there really a big demand for sketch cards of baseball players?  I just couldn’t picture someone going to a comic book convention and asking an artist to sketch Albert Pujols for them.  Then again, a Todd McFarlane drawn piece could be awesome.  Maybe I should have had Terry Moore sketch Big Papi for me instead of having him draw Francine from Strangers in Paradise.  Nah!

There’s also a one-per-box Create Your Own Sketch Card which has been done before in Collectors Choice packs.  Depending on what they are like, these could be cool for sending out to artists for commissions.

The very popular hat logo cards return, but this time they are 4^th of July Logos which I think means that the logos will be red, white and blue.  These will be cool if this is it, but if Topps keeps revisiting this idea year after year then people will tired of these as quickly as they have plain white swatches and sticker autos.

Topps Attax looks like it replaces Topps Town.  If these cards look as good as the inserts in Opening Day then this is a huge upgrade.  Heck, it’s a huge upgrade even if it’s only the gold versions of the inserts that look that way.

Topps 2020 looks like it replaces When They Were Young.  Unless the 2020 design that they come up with is really sharp, I don’t see this as being a popular insert set.

I don’t see myself putting together any of the insert sets other than Turkey Red, but I’ll be buying a jumbo box right when they are released.  Maybe I’ll be lucky and 2 out of 3 of my hits won’t be Yankees next time around.

Technorati Tags: baseball cards,2010 Topps

A Closer Look: TRISTAR Pursuit

I’ve received some more images from the upcoming TRISTAR Pursuit set that I wanted to share.  The first image is the short print image variation of two-sport star D’Vontrey Richardson who was drafted by the Brewers.  The regular card pictures Richardson swinging the bat and this variation has him running with the pigskin.  There are five of these variations within the set.

Here’s an example of one of the inscription cards.  The inscription cards will be very limited with versions numbered to 25, 5 and single copies.  Due largely to Upper Deck, inscriptions have become very popular within the hobby as of late and these unique cards should be very popular with collectors.

Next up is an example from the Full Name Autograph variants.  I know that at times athlete’s signatures can be illegible, but it is easy to see that this signature begins with a V and not a C.  That is because Carter’s full name is Vernon Christopher Carter.  I doubt that you’ll find any other Carter cards which are autographed in this way.  These cards are numbered to 5 and single copies.

I have a feeling that this will be one of the more popular cards in the set.  You’ve got an all-time Braves great on the same card as the potential future of the Braves organization.  It also does a good job of showing the major difference between autographs from players of days gone by and current players.  Dale Murphy’s signature is very clean and legible while Heyward’s looks like “8tu” in cursive.

Last, but not least, here’s one of the triple signature cards featuring Grant Desme, Alexander Colome and Brandon Waring.

There are 6 dual signature cards to be pulled with 2 of them being short prints.  You can find 3 triple signed cards with one of those being a short print.  There are also two quad signed cards with one of those being a short print.

This will be an interesting set when it comes out.  For those only interested in the base set, you can break open a set and sell off the 15 hits or you can see if any prospectors sell off the set cheaply after pulling out the autographs.  For those looking for autographs there are a bunch of different kinds in different levels of rarity.  Should be something for everyone who collects minor league cards.

Technorati Tags: TRISTAR,baseball cards,minor league

Sell Sheet: TRISTAR Pursuit

TRISTAR kicks off their 2010 release schedule with Pursuit Series 1 which will be released on March 26th.  Pursuit will be a very limited product with only 60 24-box cases produced.  Like every TRISTAR release, all boxes and cases will be individually numbered.  Click on the image of the sell sheet on the left to view a larger version.

So, what do you get in each box of Pursuit?  Each box guarantees 15 hits and those hits break down the following way:

6 Autograph card numbered to 80 or less
4 Parallel cards numbered to 50 or less
3 Short Print Cards
2 Obak ‘10 Short Print Preview Cards

The other 75 cards in the box will be the base set of cards 1 – 75.  For those who enjoy a chase, they can go after the rest of the short printed cards as well as the Obak previews which will each have a variation.

Topps’ exclusive deal with MiLB does mean that no logos will appear in this product, but it looks like TRISTAR did a great job removing them from the cards.  Judging by the cards depicted on the sell sheet, it looks like they chose a lot of pictures where body parts did the obscuring naturally and it leads to nice looking cards.

Whether it be Minor League or TNA sets, something that TRISTAR excels at is fun autograph cards.  This set is no exception.  You’ve got Dual, Triple and Quad autographed cards.  Braves fans will love the Dale Murphy/Jason Heyward dual auto and I’m sure that the Roger/Koby Clemens cards will get plenty of attention as well.  There are also inscribed autograph cards to be found.  Inscriptions are currently the hot thing in the hobby when it comes to autographs and you can find them here.  There are also cards of players signing their First, Middle and Last names.  No tiny little squiggles to be found here.

I leave you with the checklists for the set.  You can find the base set and 8 short print cards on the left and the extensive autograph checklist on the right.  The Obak Preview checklist can be found on the TRISTAR website.  The highlights of that set are autograph cards of Jason Heyward and Kyle Drabek numbered to 10 copies.

Press Release: Topps Million Card Giveaway

TOPPS TAKES AN UNPRECEDENTED TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE UNVEILING THE FIRST EVER MILLION CARD GIVEAWAY IN 2010 TOPPS BASEBALL SERIES 1

Rare ‘52 Mantle Rookie is Among One Million Original Vintage Cards Available in Topps’ First Exclusive Product

New York, NY, February 16, 2010 — The Topps Company, the leading creator and marketer of sports cards and the official baseball card company of Major League Baseball®, today unveiled its first exclusive MLB® product with 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1.  As part of this year’s product release, Topps is truly re-connecting fans of all ages with the original vintage cards that “their mom threw out.” Topps has scoured the vaults and is making available over one million original Topps cards, including EVERY Topps base card produced since 1952 such as rare rookie cards of Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr., as part of this promotion.

Special code cards will be inserted in one out of every six packs of 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1*. Fans can then enter the code online (www.Toppsmillion.com) and receive an original vintage Topps card.  The year-long program also includes 2010 Topps Baseball Series 2 and 2010 Topps Updates and Highlights and each code redeemed will allow that fan to vie for the opportunity to win a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card worth over $20,000.

This year’s 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1 leads off the MLB® season with a celebratory anthology of baseball’s past, present, and future, with 330 base cards, exclusive autograph, cut signature, relic, sketch, and insert cards including:

• The History of the Game – The history of baseball through photography, spotlighting: famous venues, locations, stars and legendary moments;
• Tales of the Game – Commemorating baseball apocrypha, such as: Eddie Gaedel, pine tar incident;
• Hall of Fame Buybacks– Original Topps cards of Hall of Famers such as Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson;
• Legendary Lineage – Dual player cards link a current star with a past legend;
• When They Were Young – Featuring photos of current MLB stars as Little League, high school, or college players.

“It’s truly thrilling to unveil Topps 2010 Baseball, our first exclusive product as the official baseball card company of Major League Baseball®,” said Warren Friss, Topps V.P. –General Manager.  “Topps’ million card giveaway is our way of giving back to our fans by allowing them to get back the cards they collected as kids.”

This is Topps’ first exclusive product since they announced a multi-year licensing deal in 2009 to become the official baseball card of Major League Baseball®.  Topps has exclusivity on MLB®, Jewel Event and Club trademarks, logos and other intellectual property, for use on baseball cards, stickers and certain other product categories featuring MLB® players.

In August 2009, Topps became the first exclusive baseball card company of MLB® in nearly 30 years, as the company looks to expand its ongoing efforts to invigorate the category, continue launching ground-breaking products, improve the retail and collecting experience and make cards more relevant to children.

As part of the iconic company’s plans to expand into the digital space, and to strengthen its connection with kids, Topps unveiled a multitude of new and innovative products over the past two years including, Topps Attax, a new trading card game, ToppsTown.com, an online sports community developed just for kids and Topps 3D Live trading cards, the first augmented reality consumer product that brings your favorite MLB® players to digital life. 

Packs of 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1 are now available in local retailers and hobby shops for $1.99.

Panini Adrenalyn

PANINI AMERICA LAUNCHES ADRENALYN, A NEW NBA-THEMED INTERACTIVE TRADING CARD GAME TO TIP OFF NBA ALL-STAR 2010

Panini to Distribute Four Million Adrenalyn Packs and 2.5 Million Game Boards to Kids through the Remainder of the NBA Season

ARLINGTON, Texas (Feb. 11, 2010) – Panini America (www.paniniamerica.net), a subsidiary of The Panini Group, the leading global publisher of sports and entertainment collectables, will launch a new NBA-themed interactive trading card game – Adrenalyn – with an event at the Bailey Junior High School in Arlington, Texas. Dallas Mavericks Guards J.J. Barea and Rodrigue Beaubois will participate in the event along with multi-platinum singer Brian McKnight as part of NBA All-Star 2010.

Adrenalyn is an interactive trading card game, geared to children ages 6 to 11, that brings together the excitement of the NBA with the thrill of collecting a 450-card set featuring NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and NBA rookies Tyreke Evans, Blake Griffin, and Brandon Jennings, among many others.

The front of each Adrenalyn card features an offensive, defensive, and overall rating so kids can play the game using the Adrenalyn game board. The unique authorization code on the back of each card allows kids to upload their cards online to a virtual collector’s album and play the game at www.paniniadrenalyn.com, a safe and secure site. Adrenalyn cards, collector’s kits and starter sets are available at all major retail stores including Wal-Mart, Target, Toys “R” Us, Kmart, and The Dollar Store, and online at NBAStore.com and at the NBA Store in New York City.

“I’m really excited about Panini and Adrenalyn.  We both share a vision about how we can bring energy back into the trading card category, and Panini has a great strategy to do that.” said Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers guard.

During NBA All-Star 2010 in North Texas, Panini will distribute one million packs of Adrenalyn cards at various NBA events, including NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas, the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam, and various NBA Cares events throughout the week, as well as to the record crowd on hand at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. The day of the All-Star Game, Sunday, Feb. 14, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram will distribute more than 250,000 packs of Adrenalyn cards.

Panini will distribute four million Adrenalyn trading card packs and 2.5 million game boards to introduce the interactive game to kids across the country throughout the remainder of the NBA season.  Distribution will take place through a multifaceted program that includes newspaper insert activations, Adrenalyn Nights at NBA games and a multi-city Adrenalyn Tour that will visit retail locations, high-traffic areas, NBA arenas and youth sports organizations.  An integrated advertising campaign geared toward kids, which will include TV, print, radio, online and viral campaigns featuring NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant, will support the Adrenalyn product.

“We believe the best way to introduce this exciting new product to kids is to get it in their hands. No one in the card industry has ever supported a new product to this level with this amount of sampling,” said Mark Warsop, Chief Executive Officer of Panini America. “The Adrenalyn game is a fun, engaging game that we believe kids will enjoy because it brings the collecting experience online.”

The Adrenalyn Tour will begin in North Texas during NBA All-Star 2010 and visit 13-NBA markets, culminating with a series of events in Los Angeles at the end of the NBA regular season.  The Tour, anchored with a rock star-style Tour Bus, includes an NBA regulation-size half-court for kids to participate in basketball clinics with NBA players and basketball-related skills contests to help promote participation in the sport. There is also an interactive gaming area and trading card area where kids can learn how to play the game. To learn more about the tour and event stops, watch videos, and view photos from each tour stop, visit www.paniniadrenalyn.com.

Adrenalyn Tour Dates:

February 11-14	NBA All-Star 2010, North Texas
February 16-20	Houston, TX
February 22-24	Dallas, TX
February 26-March 1	Atlanta, GA
March 3-5	Miami, FL
March 7-9	New York, NY
March 11-12	Boston, MA
March 13-14	Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA
March 15-16	Secaucus, NJ
March 19-21	Indianapolis, IN
March 22-25	Milwaukee, WI
March 26-29	Minneapolis, MN
April 1-3	Sacramento, CA
April 9-18	Los Angeles, CA

My take: This seems like a fun game for the intended age group, but I don’t think that many people outside of that age group will play it.  I’ve tried out the online version a couple of times and I see glaring problem and that is that it doesn’t have any type of limits.  Once you get the 5 best cards in the game, you aren’t going to be beat.

That being said, these are my favorite cards that I’ve seen from Panini yet.  They look nicer than the flagship set and aren’t as busy as a lot of the high end sets.  As a parent, anything that combines sports and learning is something that I’ll give a try.  My daughter is a little young for comparing numbers up to 100, but she’d love to have her own cards of KG, Big Baby and Paul Pierce since she sees them on TV all of the time.  I’ll be taking her to the tour date to check out the game and see if she likes it.

Topps/Yankee “Pie in the Face” Variations

During the 2009 season, the World Champion Yankees had a special way of celebrating walk-off heroics…with a “Pie in the Face”. Topps captures 12 of these fun moments on (very) short printed variations in 2010 Topps Series 1.

Alex Rodriguez- 5/16/09
Johnny Damon- 5/17/09
Jorge Posada- 7/4/09
Hideki Matsui- 7/20/09
Alex Rodriguez- 8/7/09
Robinson Cano- 8/12/09
Robinson Cano- 8/28/09
Nick Swisher- 9/8/09
Francisco Cervelli- 9/16/09
Juan Miranda- 9/29/09
Mark Teixeira- 10/9/09
Jerry Hairston Jr.- 10/17/09

And a hint for more hidden fun in 2010 Topps Series 1:  “Who would Abe Lincoln’s favorite team be?”

My take: As a Red Sox fan, I’m not supposed to like these cards, but I think it’s kind of cool.  Baseball cards are supposed to capture cool moments from the previous year and like it or not, this was one of the big things from last season.  The Yankees had a ridiculous number of walk-off wins and celebrated them in a fun way.  I think I would have been more upset if Topps had decided to use these pictures on the regular cards in the set.  I don’t want 12 pie in the face cards in my 2010 Topps set.  Stealth inserts aren’t a big deal to me.  If you pull one out of your box and don’t want it, it makes good trade or eBay fodder.  If you like it, it’s an extra cool card to add to your collection.

As for the little hint at the end, I think that everyone needs to check their Nationals cards very closely.  I’ll be curious to see this variant pop up.  Is it Honest Abe sitting in the stands or did Topps make a card of Lincoln himself.  Guess we can only wait and see.

Topps MLB Logo Man Programs

TOPPS CELEBRATES EXCLUSIVITY WITH TWO SPECIAL MLB LOGO MAN PROGRAMS

Topps, the exclusive producer of Major League Baseball Trading cards, celebrates 2010 with two special MLB logo man programs.  The program highlights the best of players of yesterday, today and tomorrow!

IN PRODUCT

In 2010 Topps Series 1, collectors have been discovering special manufactured MLB logo man patch cards sequentially numbered to 50 (image attached).  These are the first cards of a unique 100-card set that can be collected throughout the year.  The first 10 cards can be found in Series 1 and the remaining 90 will be seeded in Topps’ other 17 baseball products.  Next up will be Topps Heritage, featuring cards 11-15.

IN STORE

Starting on Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season, collectors can walk into participating Topps Home Team Advantage hobby shops and pick up one of 50 different logo man cards (without patch) just by purchasing pack(s) of 2010 Topps Baseball.

The checklists for both programs are as follows:

IN PRODUCT/ PATCH CARDS

LM-1	Albert Pujols
LM-2	Hanley Ramirez
LM-3	Mike Schmidt
LM-4	Nick Markakis
LM-5	CC Sabathia
LM-6	Babe Ruth
LM-7	George Sisler
LM-8	Gordon Beckham
LM-9	Adrian Gonzalez
LM-10	Ozzie Smith
LM-11	Yogi Berra
LM-12	Tris Speaker
LM-13	Ryan Braun
LM-14	Juan Marichal
LM-15	Ryan Zimmerman
LM-16	Robinson Cano
LM-17	Ichiro
LM-18	Manny Ramirez
LM-19	Troy Tulowitzki
LM-20	Tommy Hanson
LM-21	Joe Mauer
LM-22	David Ortiz
LM-23	Tim Lincecum
LM-24	Andrew McCutchen
LM-25	Miguel Cabrera
LM-26	Jackie Robinson
LM-27	Lou Gehrig
LM-28	Stan Musial
LM-29	Whitey Ford
LM-30	Ty Cobb
LM-31	Dustin Pedroia
LM-32	Evan Longoria
LM-33	Clayton Kershaw
LM-34	Johan Santana
LM-35	Mark Teixeira
LM-36	Frank Robinson
LM-37	Johnny Bench
LM-38	Ryne Sandberg
LM-39	Reggie Jackson
LM-40	Nolan Ryan
LM-41	Steve Carlton
LM-42	Johnny Podres
LM-43	Jim Palmer
LM-44	Jimmie Foxx
LM-45	Robin Yount
LM-46	Justin Upton
LM-47	Alfonso Soriano
LM-48	Grady Sizemore
LM-49	Matt Kemp
LM-50	B.J. Upton
LM-51	Pablo Sandoval
LM-52	Roy Halladay
LM-53	Joey Votto
LM-54	Chipper Jones
LM-55	Alex Rodriguez
LM-56	Andre Dawson
LM-57	Tony Gwynn
LM-58	Mickey Mantle
LM-59	Johnny Mize
LM-60	Rogers Hornsby
LM-61	Walter Johnson
LM-62	Honus Wagner
LM-63	Bob Gibson
LM-64	Warren Spahn
LM-65	Dizzy Dean
LM-66	Roy Campanella
LM-67	Cal Ripken Jr.
LM-68	Carl Yastrzemski
LM-69	Mel Ott
LM-70	Roger Maris
LM-71	Lance Berkman
LM-72	Justin Verlander
LM-73	Aaron Hill
LM-74	Josh Beckett
LM-75	Adam Wainwright
LM-76	Jon Lester
LM-77	Derrek Lee
LM-78	Chase Utley
LM-79	Zack Greinke
LM-80	Chris Carpenter
LM-81	Tom Seaver
LM-82	Cy Young
LM-83	Christy Mathewson
LM-84	Thurman Munson
LM-85	Eddie Mathews
LM-86	Al Kaline
LM-87	Willie McCovey
LM-88	Willie Stargell
LM-89	Hank Greenberg
LM-90	Ernie Banks
LM-91	Felix Hernandez
LM-92	Prince Fielder
LM-93	David Wright
LM-94	Kevin Youkilis
LM-95	Justin Morneau
LM-96	Ryan Howard
LM-97	Todd Helton
LM-98	Rick Porcello
LM-99	Nolan Reimold
LM-100	Dan Haren

HTA In-Store Program

HTA-1 of 50	Albert Pujols
HTA-2 of 50	Hanley Ramirez
HTA-3 of 50	Mike Schmidt
HTA-4 of 50	CC Sabathia
HTA-5 of 50	Babe Ruth
HTA-6 of 50	George Sisler
HTA-7 of 50	Gordon Beckham
HTA-8 of 50	Tris Speaker
HTA-9 of 50	Ryan Braun
HTA-10 of 50	Jackie Robinson
HTA-11 of 50	Stan Musial
HTA-12 of 50	Ichiro
HTA-13 of 50	Manny Ramirez
HTA-14 of 50	Ty Cobb
HTA-15 of 50	Tommy Hanson
HTA-16 of 50	Joe Mauer
HTA-17 of 50	David Ortiz
HTA-18 of 50	Tim Lincecum
HTA-19 of 50	Andrew McCutchen
HTA-20 of 50	Reggie Jackson
HTA-21 of 50	Nolan Ryan
HTA-22 of 50	Evan Longoria
HTA-23 of 50	Johan Santana
HTA-24 of 50	Mark Teixeira
HTA-25 of 50	Pablo Sandoval
HTA-26 of 50	Jimmie Foxx
HTA-27 of 50	Roy Halladay
HTA-28 of 50	Lou Gehrig
HTA-29 of 50	Alex Rodriguez
HTA-30 of 50	Thurman Munson
HTA-31 of 50	Mel Ott
HTA-32 of 50	Mickey Mantle
HTA-33 of 50	Johnny Mize
HTA-34 of 50	Rogers Hornsby
HTA-35 of 50	Chase Utley
HTA-36 of 50	Walter Johnson
HTA-37 of 50	Zack Greinke
HTA-38 of 50	Honus Wagner
HTA-39 of 50	Roy Campanella
HTA-40 of 50	Prince Fielder
HTA-41 of 50	Cal Ripken Jr.
HTA-42 of 50	Carl Yastrzemski
HTA-43 of 50	David Wright
HTA-44 of 50	Tom Seaver
HTA-45 of 50	Cy Young
HTA-46 of 50	Christy Mathewson
HTA-47 of 50	Justin Morneau
HTA-48 of 50	Ryan Howard
HTA-49 of 50	Rick Porcello
HTA-50 of 50	Nolan Reimold

My take: So far only a handful of these have shown up on eBay and they have been extremely popular.  They’re an extremely tough pull and worthy of the prices that they have been selling for even though they are manufactured and not game used.  The 500 people who pull one of these cards ten cards out of 2010 Topps are very lucky indeed.  By keeping the numbering fairly low, Topps has kept interest high in the manufactured logos in this year’s product as the hat logos have been selling well on eBay as well.

2010 Bowman Baseball Information

Collectors highly-anticipating the first autographed cards of pitching phenom and # 1 pick Stephen Strasburg, will also be pleased to see a completely refreshed Bowman Baseball in 2010.  Additions include an exclusive relic program and three new inserts.  2010 Bowman’s pack opening experience will be unmatched in the brand’s history!

Along with Triple Relics, a 1992 Throwback, Top 100 Prospects and the Bowman Expectations Insert, Stephen Strasburg Autographs will be in good company with the likes of Dustin Ackley (2^nd overall pick) and Donovan Tate (3^rd overall pick).  In addition, highly-touted Cuban pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman will make his first appearance on a baseball card in a Major League uniform.

Every Hobby Box guarantees 1 Chrome Autographed Prospect and every Jumbo Box guarantees 3 Chrome Autographs (1 prospect + 2 rookies).

Each pack carries a $3 SRP and includes 10 cards (5 Vets/Rookies, 2 Prospects, 2 Chrome Prospects and 1 Gold Parallel)

The product in more detail…

BASIC CARDS (220)

· Veterans (190 subjects)
· Rookies (30 subjects)
· Bowman Chrome Autographed Rookie Cards (10 subjects)

PARALLEL CARDS

· Gold Parallel 1 per pack
· Blue-Bordered Parallel #’d to 500.
· Orange-Bordered Parallel #’d to to 250.
· Red 1-of-1 Parallel #’d 1/1. Hobby Only
· Printing Plates #’d 1/1.

INSERTS

· 1992 Bowman Throwback (100 subjects)
· Topps 100 Prospects (100 subjects)
· Bowman Expectations (50 subjects)
· Triple Relics (37 subjects)
· Prospects (110 subjects)
· Bowman Chrome Prospects (110 subjects)

• Purple Refractor Parallel #’d to 999.  Retail Only!
• Refractor Parallel #’d to TBD.
• Blue Refractor Parallel #’d to 250.
• Gold Refractor Parallel #’d to 50.
• Orange Refractor Parallel #’d to 25.
• Red Refractor Parallel #’d to 5. Hobby Only
• Super-Fractor Parallel #’d 1/1. Hobby Only
• Printing Plates #’d 1/1.

· Autographed Bowman Chrome Prospects (22 subjects)

· EXCLUSIVE Stephen Strasburg Autograph (1 subject)

Personally, I’m excited about the 1992 Throwback set.  1992 Bowman is one of my favorite sets.  The design is simple, classic and it was one of the hottest sets of the early 90s.  I know he’s not playing anymore, but it would have been nice to have a Mike Piazza card in this insert set since the Piazza rookie is the top card in the 1992 set.  I’m looking forward to seeing today’s stars in the 1992 design.