A Second Unpolitical Political Post

Brian Wallos, the creator of Decision 2016 and Benchwarmers, wanted to make sure to get the word out about his upcoming Decision 2016 set so with Leaf’s help (Leaf is distributing the set) promo packs of his product were handed out at the Hawaii Industry Summit a few weeks back.

The promo set includes 18 cards from the base set, numbered P1-P18 (Card #13 is missing the P), and while they are not numbered each card is limited to #/100.

Once the cards started showing up I have been grabbing them as I can. Prices for the cards released at the Hawaii Industry Summit are really fluctuating from a couple of dollars up in to the twenties, I have been pretty fortunate and found some deals. I have eleven cards, plus two dupes, so far and hopefully I will be able to complete the entire promo set. Now that the set has been released you can find the regular cards at a pretty reasonable price.

At $69.99 shipped I even gave in and ordered a hobby box through pre-sell, which shipped today so watch for the box break next week.

You're Fu#*ing Out, I'm Fu#*ing In!

There is a 5-card set that I have wanted to add to my collection since 2009 but usually the price was too high and I wasn’t ready to pay it but I finally found someone selling the set for below the normal reasonable price so I paid the $40 BIN price and finally have the cards in my hand and can remove the set from my Wanted List. The pack even came with a stick of gum.

The set is from HBO and they used basic Topps designs, though no Topps logo, and it was a promotion for Eastbound & Down, the hilarious story about Kenny Powers (Played wonderfully by Danny McBride), a washed up pitcher who is a complete ungrateful bastard.

In the beginning of season 1 you see Power’s decent from a dominant rookie for Atlanta to a complete joke reliever for Seattle. They don’t actually use team names or logos but it is obvious which teams it is based on color alone. It is a quick montage but you see all the teams he played for in the pros: Atlanta, New York (AL), San Francisco, Boston and finally Seattle. After he leaves the big league he also plays for the Myrtle Beach Merman minor league team and the Charros of an independent league in Mexico.

The cards are exactly what you would have pulled from packs between 2001 and 2006 with complete stats on the back. There is another card that was not part of this set but appears to be a promo card, but I will pick one of those up at a later date.

I have been watching these sets for years and packs usually are priced in the $75-100 range and many of the individual cards have been graded and are selling above $60 each. One seller I was watching had posted the pack at $89.99 or BO, I offered $50 and he declined without even offering me a co-offer. Over the months he dropped the BIN price to $75, $69, $60, $50 and finally $40 which is when I bought the pack. Basically the guy lost out on $10 that I would have paid if he accepted by original $50 price but I prefer the $40 I paid so I guess it worked out best for me to wait. The other promo card, which depicts Kenny in his Charros uniform, sells in the $3-7 range.

Topps Super Bowl/NFL Experience Promotion

Topps is out in force at the NFL Experience in New Orleans and has their own Super Bowl offer for collectors. They have a couple of promotions actually, when you purchase a Super Bowl edition of the complete 2012 Topps Football set you will receive a limited edition manufactured  patch card, the other promotion is a wrapper redemption for a 5 card pack of Super Bowl cards.

 

There are 5 different limited edition patch cards, each #/200, and like Panini’s Diamond MVP cards they are based on 3 Super Bowl quarterbacks with a New Orleans connection plus rookies Andrew Luck and RG3.

  

The wrapper redemption set is a 17 card set consisting of 3 team sets (5 players each team); the Baltimore Ravens, the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints, plus two rookies, Andrew Luck and RG2.

 

Some of the cards are beginning to shop up on eBay, the Super Bowl factory sets are running in the $40-50 range and the only patch card I could find, an RG3 patch, is sitting at $40 with no bids. There are a number of each 5-card team set with bids ranging from $15-30 and Luck and RG3 cards are each running around $10 per card.

Panini's Super Bowl Black Box Promotion

Building on the Super Bowl energy Panini has created a special autograph set to help celebrate Super Bowl XLVII. When you purchase any 2012 Panini NFL box (Hobby or Retail) with a MSRP of $60 or more from Panini’s online store you will receive a limited edition Super Bowl XLVII Black Box that contains one randomly selected Super Bowl related autograph card.

 

There are three different autograph sets and they are all limited to #/25 or less including a couple of 1/1 cards. Unfortunately all autographs are stickers. The checklist is pretty solid, consisting of players who played in the Super Bowl plus a handful of 2012 rookies.

 

Currently there are only 7 different products still available on Panini’s online store, 5 hobby boxes and 2 retail boxes.

 

 

Private Signings:

This is the main insert set, the 34 card checklist is made up mostly of offensive players; QBs, RBs, and WRs, with a couple of defensive players; DL and DBs, tossed in for variety.

 

 I kind of like the design, very simple with focus on the player (without their helmet) and the autograph. This design would have been ideal for on-card signatures.

 

 

Diamond MVP:

This 3 card set focuses on three Super Bowl MVP Quarterbacks that have a New Orleans connection; Peyton and Eli Manning and Drew Brees. The cards are all 1/1 and include a sticker autograph and an authentic diamond (chip).

The design reminds me of the earlier Upper Deck Ultimate sets but for some reason I do not like these, maybe because the sticker autograph is placed across the player’s midsection. When dealing with 1/1 autographs, they really should be on-card signatures.

 

 

Rookie Relics:

This 8 card checklist focuses on the stand out rookies and includes a jersey relic, I am not sure if they are game used or from the Rookie Premier. The checklist is made up of Andrew Luck, RG3, Russell Wilson, Brandon Weeden, Trent Richardson, Doug Martin, Ryan Tennehill and Justin Blackmon

 

I cannot argue with this design, it is better than many relic inserts that we have seen recently from Panini and they keep the elements the focus; player (action shot), relic and autograph. They are spaced well and the design flows so I guess we could call this one a win for the Panini designers. Again the autographs are stickers and you would think that with only an 8 card checklist and the cards all #/25 or less that they would have used a patch, or at least a multi-colored swatch, for the relic.