Upper Deck Signs Andrew Luck

Upper Deck announced this morning that they have signed a deal with Andrew Luck and the “Trade” cards that have been inserted in 2011 Exquisite, 2012 SPx, 2012 Upper Deck Football, 2012 SP Authentic and most recently 2012 Exquisite will be exchanged for Andrew Luck cards.

 

The cards design is completed and now that the deal is done the cards will be printed and Luck can begin signing. The gold trade card is for the autograph version and the silver trade card is for the unsigned base version. Since it has been announced that the player is Andrew Luck the auctions for the gold trade card have picked up, a couple of silver trade cards are available in the $75-100 range.

 

Upper Deck has included a preview of the 2012 Exquisite Collection Luck autograph card.

 

 

UPDATE:

 Upper Deck has now released the images for the Upper Deck Football exchange cards

 

NFL Week 1 In A Nutshell

Two things have become evident in Week 1 of the NFL season.

 

First, rookie QBs received much more hype based on their pre-season results than probably should have been given just yet. Besides RG3 and sort of Luck it was a complete rookie suck fest. It is possible that this can change and that the problems were just jitters but we shall see.

 

RG3- Win: 19/26, 320 years and 2 TDs

Luck- Lost: 23/45, 309 years and 1 TD with 3 INTs

Tannehill- Lost: 20/36 for 219 yards and 3 INTs

Weeden- Lost: 12/35 for 118 yards and 4 INTs

Wilson- Lost: 18/34 for 153 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT

 

RG3 played against a solid Saints defense and he even added 42 yards on the ground. Expect to see a similar performance next week against St Louis and when they hit their Bye week in Week 10 I think it is totally possible to see them with a winning record as long as he keeps up his play.

 

Luck had a very decent output against a stingy Chicago defense and if he hadn’t thrown the picks people would be praising him for his play. Indianapolis has a tough schedule and Luck may not see his second win until Week 9 or 10 (Dolphins and Jags respectively) but on the positive side he would have doubled up last year’s win total and could quite possibly hit 3 or 4 wins if luck is with Luck (see what I did there?)

 

Tannehill was just really out of his league against the Texans defense. His 3 picks were all bad decisions and he gives the defense time to react and jump the route because he follows his target receiver before he threw the ball. Houston was rushing additional players forcing Tannehill to make a quick read and make the throw before getting hit, expect to see upcoming teams rushing him with extra players and blitzes. One positive for Miami is they have weak schedule, it is quite possible that they may not even see a (real) winning team until late in the season. That being said, it is reasonable to say that the Dolphins may actually end the season close to .500 as long as they can score as often as they give up the ball.

 

Weeden just plain sucked, I know Browns fans are going to point out that the game could have easily went the other way but as my high school coach used to say, “Second place is just first place loser”. Look, Vick sucked too but he led the team to a 91-yard drive for the go-ahead TD with 5 minutes left so he took the reins when it was necessary and won the game. Do you realize that Weeden had a 5.1 Passer Rating? I didn’t even know that was possible. He threw 35 passes, completed 12 and gave up 4 INTs. He had 1/3 as many interception as completions. Things are not going to get any easier either, Cleveland was handed probably one of the hardest schedules just based on the division but then someone thought it would be fun to toss in the Giants, Redskins and Broncos for additional Yuks. I am going to go out on a limb and say the Browns end up going 2-14 or even possibly 1-15 and McCoy will see the starting role by Week 3 (who himself will be pulled and replaced by Week 6). On the positive side the Browns will have the chance to draft another QB in the 2013 NFL Draft next April, possibly even Matt Barkley (If Pete Carroll doesn’t bomb the Seahawks season for the chance to draft Barkley).

 

Wilson, if there was a QB who was hyped beyond his talent it was Wilson. Look, I am a Seahawks fan and I have hopes for Wilson. I still think they should have taken Nick Foles but that is neither here nor there right now. Wilson was tossed in to an unstable coach’s game plan and while Wilson fans will point out his pre-season play, I will point out every QBs pre-season play. Every QB has an awesome pre-season for a reason, it is pre-season and many coaches are resting their star defense and they are not going to use their best defense plans, they are going to toss the most basic defense so no other team can figure out the game plan during the regular season. Understand, I am not down on Wilson it is Pete Carroll and his system that I am down on.

 

I had the misfortune of watching two of my favorite teams playing and if you did not see the game, trust me it was a race to see who sucked less. Neither team was superior and even though the Seahawks were handed the chance to win with less than 1 minute left they basically sat down and shit themselves. The Seahawks had 6 plays to win with 51 seconds left even making it to the Cardinals 4-yard line. Wilson threw 3 straight passes on similar plays in to the endzone and screwed up everyone one of them.

 

I personally think Wilson was given a bad hand and I am holding out hope that he can rise above Carroll’s crappy coaching but I am a realist too and do not expect to see Wilson starting possibly as early as next week against the Cowboys. Watch, Carroll is going to switch out QBs like cogs, never staying with one to long before moving to the next option. I think that it would not be a stretch to see Carroll bring Portis in from the Practice Squad and give him at least one start or bring in an un-signed free agent.

 

I made this prediction awhile back and I stand by it (I seriously hope I am proven wrong) but the Seahawks are going to end the season with less than 3 wins and will give the Browns a serious challenge for the chance to draft Matt Barkley. Pretty sad when you consider that just last week people ranging from ESPN and Sports Illustrated to various sports and collectible blogs were talking about how the Seahawks are going to be the surprise dark horse in the NFC after their 4-0 preseason and how well Wilson outplayed Flynn. Here is what I figure for Seahawk wins- 1 win against the Rams and a win against the Dolphins and even those will be wins based on a cosmic aligning by the planets along with 6 starting QB changes.

 

I am a Seahawks fan and this is the beginning of my 12-step program. I sooooo want to be wrong here but only time will tell.

 

Second, the replacement refs suck! I think that the NFL could have grabbed a handful of fans and tossed them in zebra stripes and they would have gotten better results.

 

To steal a line from Harland Williams in “Something About Mary”, Roger Goodell has only one thing to say to these scab refs…

Step in to my office

Why?

Cause you’re fuckin fired!

Andrew Luck Versus Leaf Trading Cards

On April 13^th Andrew Luck’s attorney sent a cease and desist order to Leaf Trading Cards demanding that the company stop selling/producing cards of Andrew Luck from the 2008 Army All-American Bowl.

It seems that Luck’s attorney missed an important detail, Leaf has an exclusive license with SportsLink, the company that produces the Army All-American Bowl, which allows them to use the names, likeness, images and intellectual property of players in the game and this includes alumni players from previous bowls.

Leaf, in return, has filed their own lawsuit against Andrew Luck to assert their rights to continue producing cards of Luck from the All-American Bowl.

Considering that Leaf has the exclusive license to all players in the game I do not see much coming from this besides a declaratory judgment for Leaf allowing them to continue selling the cards. I do not think it will matter much though because in a few days after Luck is selected #1 by the Colts in the NFL Draft people will turn their attention to officially licensed cards of Andrew Luck.

Press Pass Offers Andrew Luck Autographs

Over the next few months Press Pass will be releasing 3 football sets, Press Pass Rookie Football, Press Pass FaneFare and Press Pass Showcase. In each of these sets they will be including autographs of the top (potential) NFL Draft picks, including Andrew Luck, Trent Richards, Justin Blackmon and Robert Griffin III.

While not NFL approved (or even NCAA approved) these cards will probably draw some attention for Press Pass based on the autographs alone, take a look how Leaf generated some big news with their Andrew Luck Metal cards (ok, the error helped) now toss in an on-card autograph.

I think they may have hurt themselves a bit with the release schedule though with FanFare Football (May 9) and Showcase Football (June) being released after the NFL Draft when collector’s attention will turn towards wanting cards with the players in their pro uniforms. But, expect to see high prices initially.

Has Leaf Created Buzz Or Just An Error?

The other day Leaf posted the first licensed Andrew Luck up for sale through their eBay store. What was not noticed was that Leaf proofers missed the misspellings of both “Anderw” and “Hight” on the backs all of the prismatic parallels. Since the Base cards were not affected they are still up for sale but all parallels auction have been ended. The Base and Metal (#/350) were selling with a BIN price and 39 of the Metal cards sold before the auction was ended. Leaf’s Brain Gray has stated that those 39 cards will be shipped with the error but all remaining cards with the misspelling will be destroyed and reprinted.

Some people have even suggested that the error was done on purpose to increase the attention of these cards. Admittedly the error and subsequent announcement by Leaf has drawn the attention of many collectors and those who were fortunate enough to purchase one of those 39 Metal error cards have begun to profit with 6 cards already posted up for auction by this afternoon, two have since sold. Prices currently range from $150 (with 8 days left) to a BIN of $349.99 (with 4 days left.), not bad for an original purchase of $14.99 plus shipping.

I have highlighted the errors on the card.

Leaf Releases Licensed Andrew Luck Cards

Leaf has created the first Andrew Luck “licensed” card using his 2008 US Army All-American high school image. They have a base card #/500 with parallels Metal (#/350), Green (#/99), Blue (#/50), Red (#/25), Super Prismatic (1/1).

Leaf has released the cards through the Leaf eBay store in the last hour and the auctions range from 3 days to 30 days. The Base and Metal are being sold using BIN prices ($9.99 and $14.99 respectively) with the other 4 cards selling using a traditional auction style. The Super Prismatic is already up to $415.00 with 3 days remaining.

I have to admit, I am a bit surprised to see that an Andrew Luck card in his US Army All-American jersey is selling at these prices. In another 4-5 months we will be seeing cards picturing him in his professional jersey and these prices will suddenly seem absurd.

Metal parallel #/350

Green parallel #/99

Blue parallel #/50

Red parallel #/25

Super Prismatic parallel 1/1

Time To Reconsider?

Before Andrew Luck stated that he planned on returning to Stanford and would not declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft there was the question on whether Luck and Harbaugh would go as a package deal. With the Carolina Panthers looking for a head coach and with the team holding the #1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft most people probably assumed that the Luck/Harbaugh team would continue their relationship in Panther Blue but now you have to wonder if they will continue together but instead of wearing Panther Blue they will be wearing 49ers Metallic Gold.

The 49ers now have the first piece of the puzzle with Harbaugh and considering that they need a reliable QB it is conceivable that the team may try to work a deal with Carolina to trade for the #1 pick. Now if Andrew Luck reverses his decision, he has until January 15th, and declares for the NFL Draft we may actually see this card after all.

Andrew Luck Says "No" To The 2011 NFL Draft

Using the Topps 2011 Baseball design I created this Andrew Luck Topps NFL rookie card that unfortunately will not be seen in packs this year.

Stanford’s Andrew Luck, the projected #1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, today announced that he will be returning to school instead of declaring himself eligible for the NFL Draft. Luck claims that his reason for remaining in school is that he wants to complete his degree, he is scheduled to graduate early 2012, but you have to wonder how much of his decision was made after sources within the Carolina Panthers stated that they would be drafting Andrew Luck with the first pick in the draft this April.

Barring any surprise announcements regarding underclassmen declaring for the draft it now looks like Clemson’s De’Quan Bowers will be the #1 draft pick in what looks to be a First Round loaded with defensive players.