Random Blaster Box- 2010 Upper Deck World of Sports

A few weeks ago I did a review of the 2010 Upper Deck World of Sports release. The product contains athletes from across the board ranging in sports from basketball, baseball, soccer, swimming, ice dancing, lacrosse and a few others. I do find it odd that there are no football players though even though Upper Deck has a license for the NCAA. It is an interesting collection and because it is so varied almost every type of collector will find something of interest.

Most of the athletes in the team sports are in their college or high school uniforms with the only exceptions being the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and Major League Lacrosse, which Upper Deck has licenses. One thing that you will notice is that the coach cards show a team logo in the lower left corner, I wish that the other base cards do too. I know some solo athletes (like figure skating, golf, swimming, etc.) do not have a team logo maybe put their college team logo or something like the Olympics or X-Game logos or even just a country flag. I know it is just a little thing but it is kind of cool.

This is a product that I decided to pick up because the base set. This is classic Upper Deck with a clean action shot, simple design and the focus is all on the athlete. As much as I like the base set I hate the inserts.

A few of the disappointing/glaring problems:

The autographs are all stickers.

The All-Sport Apparel relic card was designed with a sticker auto in mind and the cards without an autograph look unfinished.

The Athletes of the World autograph cards do not even show a shot of the athlete.

This is just a selection of some of the known athletes that I pulled. Of course I had to include the only Univ. of Arizona athlete, Eric Berger. Some others of note include Russell Westbrook, Danny Ferry, Amanda Beard and Bode Miller.

A Future In Seattle?

Carson Palmer has made it clear that he is determined to leave Cincinnati, which is bad news for Bengals fans, but could turn out to be good news elsewhere. In Seattle Matt Hasselbeck has shown that he still has the ability but at 35 he is starting to show his age and the Seahawks do not have a back up plan , Whitehurst is not a starting QB and JP Losman has attempted 1 NFL pass in the past 2 seasons.

 While Palmer is 31 he still has a couple of years of football ahead of him and could be a buffer to allow the Seahawks to pick up a young QB and allow them to learn the system. I don't expect to see him in Seahawk Blue and Neon Green but I can still hope, I actually figure things will settle down between Palmer and the Bengals and him finish out his career in Cincinnati.

Vintage Card Of The Month: Hugh Gallarneau

February’s Vintage Card of the Month turns out to be the epitome of a classic common card. Hugh Gallarneau was actually such a significant force for the Stanford Indians (now Cardinal) that along with teammates Frankie Albert, Pete Kmetovic and Norm Standlee, turned the team from a perennial looser to an undefeated team in 1940 and ended the season ranked #2 in the country. But that success did not carry over in to his pro years.

By the time the 1955 Topps All American set was release Gallarneau was done with football having gone on to have a mediocre career having played only 5 seasons for the Chicago Bears (interrupted by World War II) but he will best be remembered for his time as one of the WOW Boys at Stanford.

As you can see Topps was having QC issues even back in 1955, I would call this at least a 95/5 on centering and there are a number of creases but I enjoy the card none-the-less. This is a piece of history, one of the best football sets of the Century in my opinion. I actually picked up this card recently in a trade.

I love the trivia added to the back of the cards. Did you know that in 1955 if a pass is caught by an Offensive Lineman the team is penalized a down and 5 yards. I had to look in to this one but the penalty now is either a loss of down (if the Defense refuses the penalty) or loss of 5 yards (if accepted).

Sports Card Uncensored Contest Time

Gellman from Sports Cards Uncensored is running a contest with a box of Topps Five Star Football as the prize. The question he asks is to tell about our favorite Topps football card.

Without even thinking about it I can tell you that my favorite Topps football card above all is my 1987 Topps Doug Flutie, card #45. There are a number of reasons why this stands amongst my favorites; I have liked the guy since his USFL days, the 1987 Topps football set was the first set I ever completed, this card is Flutie’s RC and the main reason I like him is because he was the underdog. He was not supposed to be a star, he was not supposed to really even be playing professional football but he proved everyone wrong over a very long, 20 years, career. His determination and resourcefulness more than made up for his size.

Leaf MMA Wrapper Redemption Offer #3

Leaf has made two recent announcements regarding their MMA wrapper redemption program. First, the Alistar Overeem redemption has been extended until February 28th. The second announcement regards the 3 offer which will be for Jon Jones, which will run through March 31st.

The first offering (Offer #1) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Shogun Rua autograph #/85. This offer was valid through 1/31/11 or while supplies last and has since expired. I do not see any up for auction at this time but the last one I did see sold for $180.

The second offering (Offer #2) is a 2010 Leaf MMA Alistair Overeem autograph #/185 and is still available for 96 wrappers. This offer was extended through 2/28/11 or while supplies last. There are currently three of these cards up for auction, they are at $199, $199 and $220 and all are BIN auctions.

The newest offering (Offer #3) is a 2010 Leaf MMA Jon “Bones” Jones autograph #/99 and is available for 24 wrappers. This offer runs through 3/31/11 or while supplies last. There are not any of his Leaf Wrapper Redemption cards available for auction but there are 50 auctions for various Jones autos ranging from $1 to $749 with a couple of Leaf autos from this set going anywhere from $24.99 to $200. You can find a similar Bones Jones autographed promo card at Blowout Cards for $19.99

2010-11 Panini NBA Gold Standard

Schedule Release Date: May 25, 2011

Box Configuration: 1 pack per box, 12 cards per pack
SRP: $200/box

Box Break:
3 Autograph cards
2 Memorabilia cards
4 Gold Common cards
3 “Other” inserts


My Thoughts:
Panini has gold in the mind with the current Golden Ticket in 2010 Playoff Contender Football and not the 2010-11 Panini Gold Standard Basketball coming out in May.

The crazy thing about this product is that Panini not only used gold as the theme, which you will notice the gold coloring to every card, but there will actually be gold encased in some of the cards. Each case will include 1 “Gold Rush” card plus there are 50 “Solid Gold” 14 Karat Panini 50th Anniversary Gold Cards #1/1 also available.

There are some concerns, in a product like this you would think that stickers and manufactured patches would not be included but they do make an appearance.

Pros:
Very unique

Each case will include at least 1 card containing real 14k gold #/10 or less

Each case will include at least one autograph of Larry Bird, Magic, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant or Bill Russell

Each case will contain 2 Autographed Gold Logoman Patches and 2 Autographed Gold NBA Team Logo Patches

Instant-Win Golden Tickets offering one of five unique prizes

There are 12 cards in each pack, something not common in high end single pack boxes.


Cons:
Expensive

Some patches are manufactured patches

Some autos are sticker autographs

Rating: 

If I do not take the price in to consideration, which I have seen range from $185-200, I have to give this product a 3 ½ out of 5 because considering that this is a high end product you still have the chance to pull a sticker auto or manufactured patch.

eBay Toads- Preying On The Babe's Good Name

Sometimes while searching eBay you come across items that are being sold by someone who is either delusional or just plain trying to rip people off.

 Today while searching for Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth cards I came this listing for a 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York Babe Ruth card supposedly containing “a piece of game worn hat REAL!” but the card pictured (which you see above) is a base card from the set. If you are not familiar with the 2001 Legends of New York release, Upper Deck created this set highlighting the teams of New York both past and present. It includes the Yankees, Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. On the front of the card the team’s logo is made up of felt using the team’s colors. His card is even in pretty bad shape with multiple creases across the front. Most base cards from the set in mint condition sell for only a couple of bucks.

What leads me to believe that this guy is attempting to rip someone off is his claim that the card came with a Certificate of Authorization, which he mistakingly threw out when he got the card. This is a lie because Upper Deck marked the back of these cards as authentic, not on a separate certificate.

I opened a box of this product and was fortunate enough to get pretty close to an entire set plus I pulled a Dave Winfield bat card and a Joe Pepitone jersey card. As you can see the base cards look very different from the memorabilia cards and all of the base cards contain the same felt around the logo. I even have the same exact Ruth card #126 along with other Yankees cards.

I did email him pointing out that his card is actually a base card and that you can find it for a couple of bucks. I guess we will see what becomes of this listing. Another situation of “Know what you are buying”



On a separate note, you will see that the dates for Winfield are 1951-1972. Considering he was born in 1951 and he played for the Yankees from 1981-1990 I think this is just a mistake. Pepitone’s dates are incorrect too, he played for the Yankees from 1962-1969. Now he did play for the Astros, Cubs and Braves between 1970-73 so I am not sure if the dates are his full career or if the dates are supposed to be their time with the Yankees.

2010 Playoff National Treasure Football

Schedule Release Date: March 4, 2011

Box Configuration: 1 pack per box, 8 cards per pack

SRP: $399/box

Box Break:

6 Autograph/Material cards with at least 3 being autos

2 Commons, Legends, Rookies or Parallel cards

My Thoughts:

First and foremost is that if someone is to spend $400 on a pack of cards they better get on-card autographs not stickers. Panini really messed this one up. I know people will still drop this kind of cash on packs but I bet there will be a feeling of being cheated.

Every autograph except the Souvenir Cuts (which are cut signatures) are stickers, which do not belong in a product like this. To make matters worse is that almost every memorabilia card was designed to add a sticker autograph including the Colossal patches, Timeline, Rookie patches, Notable Numbers, etc. The problem is that apparently they are not all going to include an autograph. I know the Timeline inserts for sure are not all autographed which leaves the card looking unfinished with too much negative space overpowering the design.

To add to the pain of paying $400, know that you can pull hits of power players like ex-Jet Wayne Chrebet and Chargers third-string Running Back Darren Sproles (I know he is a decent Kick Returner but really?) If I am going to pay this price I want three types of players only- Stars, Hot Rookies and HOF players and that is it. I know that Ernie Davis is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but he is a very special exception.

On the positive side there are some AMAZING cards in this set. The Dual Brand Logo patch cards are beautiful. The Barry Sanders & Adrian Petersen card has been posted and you can see what I mean about being a very sweet card. The Rookie patch and logo cards also look great and I really like the Souvenir Cuts.

Pros:

Dual Brand Logo patches

Souvenir Cuts

Multiple autographed Pen Pals

Ernie Davis relic/cut signature



Cons:

Stickers

Some hits designed to include a sticker autograph do not in fact include an autograph

Sticker… wait, did I mention that already?

EXPENSIVE

Rating:

Not taking the price in to account this product is a solid 3 out of 5, this score is in part due to the sticker autographs and the cards designed with a sticker auto in mind but do not include the autograph. If this product was on-card autographs it would easily be a 4 out of 5.

The Final Coutdown For Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols has said that if a deal has not been agreed upon with the St Louis Cardinals by noon on Wednesday then there will be no discussion during the season and Pujols will then be a free agent following the upcoming season. He has made it clear that he wants to remain with the Cardinals and hopes to retire in St Louis but if things do not work out and he ends up going elsewhere does Pujols become more collectable?

I figure that if he were to go to the Yankees, Red Sox or maybe even the Dodgers I would expect an increase in his prices because those teams have some pretty rapid fans/collectors, but what if he were to end up playing in Florida (either the Rays or Marlins) or how about in KC, Minnesota or Seattle? Let’s say he plays for another 10 years in a new city and let’s say he keeps up his production, do we still see people paying $100 or more for his autograph in a Mariners uniform?

A Trade With Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle

A couple of weeks back I got an email from Greg at Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle asking if a Russell Westbrook relic that I pulled from a 2010-11 Donruss Basketball blaster is available for trade. Being an anti-OKC Thunder person (Clay Bennett is a bad man who stole the Sonics) I was more than happy to part with the card. The trade was basically a Carmelo Anthony Banner Season jersey card for the Westbrook jersey card plus a couple of additional cards.

I sadly admit that I do not trade enough, I think part of it deals with the fear of getting screwed over but I am finding that the blogging community is actually a great group of collectors.

2010 Panini Carmelo Anthony Limited Banner Season jersey relic

2009 Upper Deck Edgar Martinez SP Legendary Cuts jersey relic
Edgaaaaaar is my third favorite Mariner behind Griffey and Buhner

2008 Upper Deck Jeff Clement Ballpark Collection rookie autograph

I remember when this guy was coming up; he was the First Baseman of the future. He was sitting behind a quickly failing Richie Sexson. Unfortunately he was never given a fair shake in Seattle and was included in a trade of mediocre players to the Pirates.

1986 Swell Hall of Fame Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe is a favorite of mine and I am always happy to add another card to my personal collection. Thorpe is one of the greatest professional athletes in the world ever. A gold medal Olympian, NFL Hall of Famer, he played 6 years in MLB (289 games) with a respectable .252 BA and a couple of years ago it was found out that he played professional basketball for two years in 1926-27 on a team he created, the World-Famous Indians, which barnstormed across the East Coast.