Gone But Never Forgotten

Today is a very solemn day for Americas; flags are at half-staff as we honor the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives. It has been 12 years since the attack but it seems like the wounds are still healing.

Suh Fined Again...

When it comes to NFL defensive players there is a small, specialized collector market. It is more glamorous to collect cards of the guy who passes for 462 yards and 7 TDs against the Baltimore Defense (Peyton Manning) than the guy who had 3 sacks and 5 tackles against the Jacksonville Jaguars (Justin Houston).

 

Very few guys create buzz on the D side of the game that get the collectors clamoring over their cards and when they do get the attention it is usually the “alluring” linebacker position. Guys like Ray Lewis, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, LT, Junior Seau and even the young Patrick Willis or Von Miller all have their collectors but lineman and DBs rarely raise anyone’s eyebrows. Ndamukong Suh may be one of the few defensive players that gets the attention of collectors.

 

When it comes to Suh, I think most of his fans follow him because of his antics, you wonder what he is going to do next. He has stepped on players, kicked Matt Schaub in the groin and treats opposing QBs as his personal stress dolls. His newest action, a low block on Minnesota’s John Sullivan following an interception, earned him a $100,000 fine. When you consider his base season salary is $630,000 (or $39,375 per game but this does not take in to account his $11.5 million signing bonus for 2013) he is playing the next 2 ½ games for free.

 

To put it in to perspective, his fine costs him 80 packs of Panini Flawless.

 

Oddly I think that Suh is one of the few players whose card values increase the more he is fined and with the nearly 1,400 cards available on eBay there are plenty of options for any collector.

An Odd Market

While watching the high powered offense of the Philadelphia Eagles on MNF, I have DeSean Jackson and Bryce Brown on my fantasy football team, I have been checking out eBay during commercials and I came across something that kind of surprised me.

 

Is there really a market for used and expired redemption cards?

 

There are some expired/used redemption cards that have their charm, like the Stadium Club Super Team redemption cards or the Upper Deck Predictor cards had visual appeal but ever since most companies have gone the route of the dummy card with a scratch off sticker there is no longer a pleasing design. I can understand that some collectors want to build the complete set including redemptions but is there anyone out there who will really pay $24.99 for a claimed 2012 Yasiel Puig Leaf Valiant redemption card? 

A House Payment Or A Pack Of Cards?

Panini has just previewed their 25^th NBA set of the year, that is right TWENTY-FIVE releases in one release year.

 

To close out their 2012-13 NBA products, Panini Flawless will run $1,250 a pack. You get 10 cards per pack; seven autographs, two relics and a card that is either diamond-encrusted card or a parallel containing a diamond or emerald embedded in the card. The autograph checklist will also include the first licensed autographs for ROY Damian Lillard.

 

So there will be some solid hits like Lillard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird, there will also be prominent players who won it all like Rodman, Olajuwon, Isaiah Thomas and Robert Horry but the checklist is filled in with players who made a name for themselves, some even making the Hall of Fame, but yet never hit that “Premier” or “Next Level” form. Steve Nash, Wes Unseld, Mark Price and Dikembe Mutombo are all included not to mention that Upper Deck exclusives Michael Jordan and LeBron James are absent, two players who could actually justify a $1,250 price tag.

To be fair the cards do look good and there is a nice checklist plus the autographs are all hard signed but how many collectors (The collectors who actually collect for the entertainment of the hobby and not the ones who are in it for the investment) can afford a pack of these? I wonder what kind of prices we will be looking at on the secondary market for many of these cards. I wouldn’t mind picking up the Tom Chambers auto/relic card.

But realistically, what can most collectors expect for a couple of student loan payments?

 

 



Early Preview: 2013-14 Upper Deck Black Basketball

For just about 7 years now Upper Deck has released Black Basketball, in one form or another, usually to positive reviews. The major issue over the last few years has been the lack of NBA licensing forcing UD to use their NCAA license. The problem with that is the limited photo stockpile of players. When you start looking at some of the bigger names like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird or Dr. J it can be difficult to come by college era images so UD has begun to recycle some and the cards begin to take on a re-tread appearance.

 

This 2013-14 release has it’s positives but as many people have pointed out the images are stale, some people even suggesting the route that Leaf and Panini are going and using current images but removing logos or angles that show the player in action but obscuring the logos. Upper Deck had their problems when they first lost their MLB license they tried this option but they half-assed it and got caught. If UD took the time and positioned or edited the images correctly then Upper Deck Black Basketball could become a solid contender again in the basketball market.

 

One of the new autographs that will probably draw some attention will be the Arena Art Signatures, a booklet card using the player’s home court. I love that UD decided to preview University of Arizona Alumni Sean Elliott at McKale Center. As much as I hope they release a Steve Kerr version, I probably wouldn't buy it any way due to the price.

There will be single, dual, triple autographs; there will even be a 9-signature booklet card. The BioScripts, an inscription autograph card, should also be a big draw. On the down side the Old School autographs don’t seem to fit properly in the UD Black autograph lineup.

A quick rundown of what to expect from 2013-14 UD Black Basketball lineup

I like Black, though I do not own any due to the high price of the cards I like, but overall the set is pretty cool. I do wonder how much longer Upper Deck will be able to continue with the set though, especially considering that they are re-using images over and over. The people who buy this product will eventually turn away unless there is rejuvenation.

Early Preview: 2013-14 Topps Premier Gold Soccer

In December Topps will be bringing us football from across the pond, which would be soccer to us kooky Americans. The high-end 2013-2014 Topps Premier Gold Soccer, which promises a hit per pack, will contain ten packs and you will pull 5 autographs and 5 relic cards.

 

The base set has a 100-card checklist with 19 of the 20 English Premier League teams being represented; poor Norwich City was left to pout alone. Each base card will have 5 parallels; Green (#/99), Orange (#/11), Platinum (1/1), Premier Gold (1/1) and Printing Plates (1/1).

 

There will be five insert sets with each insert card having five parallels (the same set up as the base card inserts). The inserts will be: Future Stars (Young footballers), Hot Shots (Top scorers), Midfield Maestros (Top midfielders), Shot-Stoppers (Top goalies) and Tough Tacklers (Top defenders).

There will be a couple of different autograph sets, essentially sub sets, which will all have five parallels. Memorabilia sets will be broken up with Single Relics, Jumbo Relics (#/99), Dual Relics (#/49), Triple Relics (#/20) and Quad Relics (#/11). The Single, Jumbo and Dual relics will have three parallels; Orange (#/11), Gold (#/5) and Platinum (1/1).

 

Some of the players who are confirmed to be on either the autograph or relic checklist are Pele, Tim Howard and Cristiano Ronaldo.

 

Time For A Fuji Contest

Fuji’s contest this month is taking us back to the oddball collections of the 1980s. Seven packs of stamps, Heads Ups and Pop Ups to bring you back to your childhood (If you grew up in the 70s and 80s).

 

Take a look at his blog for a chance to enter

RIP Tommy Morrison

Boxer Tommy Morrison, former WBO Heavyweight Champion, passed away Sunday at a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 44 years old. Cause of death has not been announced but Morrison has been bed ridden for the past year and may have been suffering from HIV or AIDS (His wife claims that he was actually suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, not HIV).

 

Initially diagnosed with HIV in 1996, Morrison accepted that his reckless lifestyle was to blame for contracting HIV and announced his retirement. In 2006 he went on to claim that his 1996 tests were false positives and that HIV is a government conspiracy. There is some disagreement on tests that he took in 2006 and 2007 but eventually went on to fight two more “staged” matches in 2007 and 2009. He finished his career at 49-3-1 with 44 knockouts.

 

During his heyday in the 1990s Morrison appeared in a number of boxing sets including Kayo, Ringlords and All World but because there were very few boxing sets after the mid-90s he did not show up in a major release until the 2011 Ringside Round Two set, which included both autographs and relics for Morrison.

 

He was a prolific signer and his autographs can be found on everything ranging from action figures to posters with prices starting around $30 for 8x10 pictures, $50 for signed gloves and action figures and over $60 for larger pictures and posters.

A Quick Peek At 2013 Topps Magic Football

Topps has decided to bring Magic Football back to the shelves after being an online-only release last year.  Boxes, no price announced yet, will be released in January 2014 and will include 24 packs. Each box will also contain three autographs.

 

The set is pretty large, 330 cards on the checklist, with 110 short prints. There will be retired players, veterans and rookies on the checklist. Each pack will contain 8 cards with one mini and one parallel. This year’s parallels will be Green, Black, Blue and Red (#/50).

The base autograph checklist will have at least 150 players, there will be two parallels (maybe more) Black (#/5) and Red (1/1). Additionally there will be Dual Autographs (#/25) and Six Autographs (#/5). There are also Mini Autographs (#/10) and Mini Autographed Books (#/5) which will be a dual auto booklet.

Relics are not a big part of the set and there is only one relic insert, Magic Rookie Relics, which contain a large swatch and are #/99, there will be a Magic Rookie Relics Patch parallel #/5 each.

 

Finally, there will be four base inserts, Ground & Pound (25 Running Backs), Aerial Attacks (25 Quarterbacks), Rookie Enchantment (33 Framed Rookies) and ’48 Magic (25 All-Time Greats based on the 1948 Topps Magic set).

 

I will do a more in-depth review as more information is released.

A Tale Of Two Quarterbacks

Today Texas A&M Quarterback Johnny Manziel’s punishment was handed out for his involvement in being paid to sign hundreds, if not thousands, of autographs last January when he met with autograph broker Drew Tieman in Miami before the BCS Championship Game. If we go by what Drew Tieman said on August 6th, he said he paid Manziel $7,500 to sign "hundreds" of autographs.

 

His punishment?

Suspended one half of the Texas A&M season opener vs. Rice

That is ONE HALF of a game, the first 2 Quarters, a mere 30 minutes of game time.

 

 

In 2010 Ohio State Quarterback Terrelle Pryor was punished for his involvement in receiving free tattoos for signing autographs, plus selling his Sportsman Award, his Big 10 Championship ring and a good luck charm. The three items sold for $2,500 and no price was assigned for the tattoos but for argument sake lets say $500 and we are looking at Pryor getting $3,000 total for his signing and items sold.

 

His punishment?

Suspended 5 games, which were carried over to the NFL after Pryor was selected by the Raiders in the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft.

 

 

Holy crap, are we talking about the same nonsensical all-mighty NCAA that issued both punishments? Yes we are. The NCAA is now claiming that they cannot find any proof that Manziel was paid, even though a number of people were in the room and stated that they saw money change hands. Plus we are talking hundreds items signed so the NCAA is saying that this kid, who has already proved that he is a knucklehead, signed all of these items for free out of the goodness of his heart?

 

If this kid was not paid for the autographs than why is he being suspended? If he did no wrong there should be no punishment.

 

I call shenanigans on the NCAA

 

The difference? Manziel is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and brings in millions of dollars to the NCAA and Texas A&M who want to hold on to this golden goose for at least one more year before he bolts to the NFL where Pryor was just another OSU Quarterback.

 

From the people that brought us the BCS we now find out that the NCAA is willing to overlook serious allegations when money can be made.