A GPK Take On The Olympics

I am not a Garbage Pail Kids collector, I was hitting my teens when they were first released. I looked for the cards that played off of my name but those are long gone but my daughter loves them now so I get a chance to see what is out there and I have to say that some of the artwork is quite clever.

 

What got my attention from the upcoming 2014 Series 1 release are the inserts. Following trends from both sports releases and comic releases we have seen chrome versions, parallels, printing plates, inserts, sketch cards and artist autographs but Topps stepped it with Full Bleed Canvas cards, Olym-Picks Motion cards and Textured Relics.

Because the set is being released around the time of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia there are a number of Olympic related cards. There will be cards based Olympic sports, medals and lenticular motion cards showing “Epic” crashes.

 

Cloth stickers and Full Bleed Canvas cards are pretty cool. Cloth stickers are not new, they have been in Topps products before but the canvas cards are printed on an actual canvas. Sketch cards, artist autographs and bonus stickers are back with the addition of die-cut sketch cards.

 

 

The cards that caught my attention are the Texture Relics, they are manufactured relics added to some of the cards to give a new dimension. I figured that they would be similar to the manufactured relics that we have seen taking over in sports so I didn’t give two thoughts to it until I saw a relic card and got a laugh. They are 1:48 packs (every other box) so they are not super rare but I think GPK collectors are going to grab them up because they are different.

Is Jeff Demps Worth A Contract?

Former Florida Gator’s running back Jeff Demps is looking to sign on with an NFL team, and has even seen some interest from the Buccaneers and Eagles. His stats at Florida, while not mind blowing, are reasonable. He averaged 617 rushing yards plus another 120 yards receiving a year and he did time at Punt Returner and Kick Returner. He may be undersized at 5’7” and 190 lbs. but I have two words for you (No… not “Suck It!”… Damn I miss DX sometimes) but I was thinking more along the lines of Percy Harvin. Yes, Harvin has a couple of inches on Demps but you get the idea of how he could fit in to a coach’s plan.

What I find surprising is how there are quite a few reporters and analysts that are calling this a joke. Sure he has taken time off to work on his Olympic training, where he helped win the Silver medal in the 4x100 relay in London, and he missed out being drafted because he stated that he planned on focusing on track leading up to the Olympics but claiming his training would stunt his football skills is just ludacris. There have been a number of Olympiads who went on to play in the NFL successfully. Michael Bates, an old elementary school friend from Tucson (Go Cragin Cougars!), was drafted by the Seahawks in 1992 but took off the summer for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where he won the Bronze in the 200 yard dash and while I would not say he had a great career he had a successful career as a kick returner, he played 10 years (6 teams) and was a Pro Bowler 5 times, made the All-Pro Team 5 times and was selected to the 1990s All-Decade team.

I think that Demps may have a similar path to Bates, he is close in size (5-7 to 5-10 and 190-215) so I would expect to see him probably come in as a kick/punt returner mainly and possibly lining up as a receiver or slot back on occasion. I do not see why a team would have a problem with brining him in now, sign him and give him a chance. He can be signed for the rookie minimum and what is the worst that can happen? If he stinks cut him loose during the roster cuts and if he succeeds you have a player worth his salary (something that seems very rare in the NFL today).

UPDATE 8/17: Jeff Demps is rumored to be signing a contract with the Patriots later today, if there is one coach who will know how to work Demps in to the game plan it is Belicheck.

Topps Team USA

This afternoon the U.S. Olympic Committee announced that Topps has signed an exclusive contract with them to produce Team USA cards, just in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games. This will be the first "Complete" Olympic set since Impel's 1992 U.S. Olympic set (which featured the original Dream Team). Other Olympic releases include the 1991 Impel U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame and the 1983 Topps Olympics sets and Upper Deck inserted an Olympics Medalist set in to the 2009-10 Upper Deck NHL Series Two release.

The agreement states that Topps will release cards of top Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls and will also include former athletes from past Olympics. Additionally there will be autographs, game/event-worn clothing, Manu-patches and Manu-medals.

Topps will be donating a portion of each sale to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams.

Shawn Johnson Base Card

2012 Olympic Gold Medal

Tyson Gay Manu-Patch

Hope Solo Autograph

Misty May-Treanor Event-Worn Relic

Joe Frazier Cut-Signature