Upper Deck inserts depict presidential candidates

Posted Feb 3, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Feb 3, 2012 at 11:46 PM

The Florida primary is history and the candidates for president are becoming clearer. As we wait for the Republican National Convention this summer in Tampa, it’s not a bad time to reflect on those men and women seeking to occupy the White House in January.

Upper Deck has taken that step, with a nine-card World of Politics insert set that will be part of the World of Sports product that will be released Feb. 21.

The inserts will be seeded one in every 40 packs on the average and will include President Barack Obama and the chief Republican challengers: front-runner Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum (throwing a baseball). Others who campaigned who will get a card are Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Perry. There’s even a Sarah Palin card thrown in for good measure.

Upper Deck has gone political before. During the 2008 campaign, UD produced Presidential Predictor cards that were inserted into Series 1 baseball. Those were caricatures of the candidates, with each tied to a baseball play or event. I thought those were very well thought out and lots of fun to collect — I mean, George W. Bush putting a phantom tag on Al Gore and getting the call was priceless, and so was John McCain with a home run swing that looked suspiciously like Ted Williams’.

There also was a Hillary Clinton card that was pulled from production, a parody that portrayed the former first lady (and current Secretary of State) as Morganna, the Kissing Bandit. Probably a good move.

This year’s cards are more sedate, or presidential-looking, if you will. The photographs are sharp and crisp and completing a set will be a nice goal for collectors.

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Enforcer set pays tribute to NHL’s tough guys

Posted Jan 31, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 31, 2012 at 11:49 PM

For a set dedicated to the NHL’s enforcers, In The Game’s latest effort certainly has taken its share of hits.

In the several months leading up to the Jan. 19 release of the Enforcers product, the set design — some cards are adorned with fake blood spatters and bandages — has come under fire, with several news organizations literally dropping the gloves and taking healthy swings.

Well, at least you can say that In The Game can take a punch, as they weathered the blows and delivered their product on time.

I certainly do not condone bloody fights in hockey games, or high sticking or ramming players’ heads into the boards. And I am sensitive on the issue of concussions. It’s a hot-button topic and rightfully, a major concern. My colleague at The Tampa Tribune, columnist Martin Fennelly, noted in his eloquent way this week that “everybody in hockey should think about concussions. Or they should have their heads examined.”

Certainly, not all concussions in the NHL have been caused by dirty play.

Still, it’s a fact that enforcers have played a key part in the sport. Enrico Ciccone was cheered lustily by Lightning fans when he was protecting Tampa Bay players. Hockey fans do enjoy a good scrap on the ice. Same with current Bolts enforcer Steve Downie. There is something interesting about watching two players square off, drop the gloves, circle each other warily, and then flail away. It’s an intricate ice dance.

Tough guys were immortalized in film by Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson and Dave Hanson, who portrayed the Hanson brothers in “Slap Shot.” You know, the 1977 film about the Charleston Chiefs that revered “old time hockey.”

As Brian Price, the owner of In The Game, told CBC News in Manitoba last month, “I’m not glorifying violence. I’m paying tribute to the players.”

That’s what I believe the Enforcers product does. It is aimed toward a niche group of hockey fans who enjoy toughness.

A box will run somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 and contains 12 cards. Five are autograph cards, while two are game-used relic cards. Rounding out the box are five base cards.

The names are impressive: Ciccone, Tie Domi, Bob Probert, Joey Kocur and Marty McSorley, to name a few.

The box I sampled had five autographs, as advertised: Rob Ray, Stan Jonathan, Paul Laus, Reed Low and Craig Berube were the names I pulled. The photo of the player is a small head shot, and the autograph is large, bold and stretches across a bandage (although at first, I didn’t realize it was a Band-Aid. I thought it was some kind of wood grain until I inspected it more closely). The player’s name is in small type in the bottom right-hand part of the card.

The blood spatters on the left-center and upper right-hand corner of these autograph cards really don’t add anything to the design. They probably should not have been included. It doesn’t disturb me, but I don’t believe it enhances the design, either.

The relic cards are more sedate in appearance, but impressive in the size of the swatch. An Instigator relic of Nashville’s Sheldon Brookbank features a large gray swatch with one black looped string. The second card is a Combatants dual relic of the Blues’ Basil McRae and the Ducks’ Todd Ewen. McRae’s uniform swatch is white, while Ewen’s is half gray and half black.

The base cards I saw covered three different subsets: there were two Tale of the Tape cards. This card takes two players and relives a specific fight. The back of the card is the true “tale of the tape,” comparing the players’ heights, weights and penalty minutes.

The cartoon-like Bloody Battles subset is an artist’s rendering of famous scraps on the ice. Both cards I saw depicted Probert, the Red Wings enforcer who always had the back of current Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman during his playing days in Detroit. Probert, who died of a heart attack in July 2010, is shown in battles against Domi and Tony Twist.

And the Tough Franchise card featured four Florida Panthers players: Laus, Peter Worrell, Rocky Thompson and the late Wade Belak.

The inclusion of Belak and Derek Boogaard in the set has raised some hackles, since both players died last year. Belak was found dead in a Toronto hotel on Aug. 31. Boogaard died on May 13, 2011, and according to his death certificate the cause was from an accidental overdose of painkillers and alcohol.

Certainly the passing of Belak and Boogaard were tragic events. But to not include them in a set honoring enforcers would have been a disservice.

Simply put, hockey fans who like tough guys will love this set. If you fall into that category, then this set is for you. The five autographs alone should be attractive to collectors, but the relic cards pack an extra, um, punch.

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Topps will be giving away more gold

Posted Jan 31, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 31, 2012 at 06:11 PM

The official release for the 2012 Topps Series 1 is Feb. 1, although I’ve already seen blaster boxes, rack packs and regular packs at my hometown Walmart. I haven’t checked out Target yet, but I am sure there are retail boxes there, too.

Nevertheless, Topps released its final marketing blitz for Series 1, and now that I think about it, it should not come as a surprise.

Collectors will be able to find a Golden Giveaway code card in every sixth pack of Series 1, and that card will have a code on the pack that collectors can use to get digital golden coins, special gold chrome die-cut cards, or cards that contain actual embedded pieces of gold.

Here is the breakdown:

There will be 100 different Golden Moments chrome die-cut cards, and collectors also will have a shot at a gold parallel numbered to 99.

An even rarer subset will be 1/1 cards, called Truly Golden Moments. There will be 100 die-cut chrome cards embedded with a real piece of gold.

In a similar vein, the base set will have 1/1 parallels, also embedded with a piece of gold.

Some collectors who enter codes and win gold coins could win prizes that will include autographed gold coin cards autographed by Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr., to name a few.

The site is not operational yet, but Topps said it will go live in late February. The site is www.topps.com/golden.

This is pretty much a carbon copy of the Topps Million promotion last year, and a collector certainly can acquire a nice virtual collection. Loved their retro rings like Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia A’s, for example.

It’s the same formula this year. The only difference is that instead of unlocking rings and cards, collectors have a shot at something that appears (to me, anyway) to be a more appealing collectible.

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Price of Rally Squirrel variation card soaring

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 07:12 PM

Wow, this is insane. Or, given that it’s about the Rally Squirrel card, kind of nuts.

With Topps Series 1 hobby boxes coming out on Feb. 1, and with retail packs already in some stores, the quest for the Skip Schumaker/Rally Squirrel card variation (card No. 93) has begun.

Already, there is a card up for auction on eBay. As of 6:30 p.m. Monday, there have been 31 bids, with the top bid at $631.99. The auction ends on Jan. 31 at 4:35 p.m. EST. Can it break $1,000? Should it break $1,000?

There is always that early season flurry to grab the hot variation cards.

I can see the folks at Topps rubbing their hands with glee. If the price of this card keeps soaring, or even maintains a high number in the hundreds, then it stands to reason that more people will buy hobby boxes and retail boxes, hoping to find the card and perhaps make a quick turnaround sale.

Yes, I am feeding the publicity machine here also, but I do find it fascinating that this card has become such a darling among investor/collectors. I am using the same photo I used last week, which appeared on the www.beckett.com site.

The eBay seller with this card has a 100 percent rating with 5,996 positive comments (and more than 2,300 over the last 12 months), so he is definitely not a fly-by-night guy. I think he is rubbing his hands with glee, too, especially since he apparently has 30 hobby boxes on order from Topps.

Now, for the bidders. The lead bidder as of 6:30 EST Monday has bid five times on the Rally Squirrel card. In the last month, he has bid on six items. This is the only sportscard-related bid. The others? One smartphone, two different bids on women’s vintage clothing, two bids on a pair of jeans, and two bids on a laptop/netbook.

Can you spell “speculator”?

Want my advice? Buy your own box, or get some packs, and see if you get lucky first before jumping into bidding wars. But if you pull the card, well, it’s up to you to decide whether to sell or keep it. No telling what the cost could be a month from now.

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Topps touting trio of golden relic subsets

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 04:35 PM

As Topps gets closer to its Feb. 1 release for its Series 1 baseball card set, the company continues to send out a news release each day touting something different about its product. No complaint from me, since it gives me a chance to write about it.

But soon, expectations will be done, and the time to see the actual product will be near.

Gold continues to be a theme for the 2012 set, and there will be three special themed relic subsets collectors will be looking for.

The first will be Golden Great coin cards. This will feature 15 different legendary players (like Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle)
with a coin embedded into the player’s card. These limited pieces will be sequentially numbered to the player’s jersey number.  Since Babe Ruth wore No.3 and the Mick was No. 7, we can guess which will be the rarer cards.

The second set will be Golden Retired ring cards. These will be interesting, as the card will show off the tops of golden rings.  Each ring is engraved with a legendary player’s jersey number that has been retired. Players in that class include Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Cal Ripken Jr. and Don Mattingly.

Golden World Series Champion Pin cards is the final set. A World Series pin will be imbedded into a card, and 20 Fall Classics will be honored. Players like Lou Gehrig, Tim Lincecum, Sandy Koufax and Dustin Pedroia will be featured.

Topps sent me a nice collage of photos to illustrate these upcoming inserts, plus that short-printed, airbrushed card of Albert Pujols.

One more news release tomorrow before the hobby boxes are released, so stay tuned.

*GOLDEN WORLD SERIES CHAMPION PIN CARDS – These eye-catching cards included a specially designed World Series Pin embedded into the card and include 20 different Fall Classic standouts.  Find cards of Tim Lincecum, Lou Gehrig, Sandy Koufax and more.

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Bill and Monica autograph card? Believe it

Posted Jan 28, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 28, 2012 at 05:59 PM

I received a few more photos from the upcoming 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW set that will be put out sometime next month by Famous Fabrics Ink, so I thought I would share them. If you recall, this set is limited to 240 boxes and will feature cut signatures of presidents, their spouses, their running mates and opponents.

The one subset that intrigued me was called Forever Linked. I mean, a Jimmy Carter-Anwar Sadat dual autograph card is amazing, although a tri-autograph with Menachem Begin, the third party in the 1979 Camp David Accords, would have been through the roof. But then I started thinking on the snarky side, figuring that Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were “forever linked.”

Guess the folks at Famous Fabrics thought the same thing, as there will be a dual autograph (no dress swatches; after all, this is a set dealing with autographs) of Clinton and Lewinsky.

And taking it a step further, other Forever Linked cards will contain autographs of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan and John Hinckley Jr., and Richard Nixon and Carl Bernstein. JFK and Marilyn made me smile; the Reagan/Hinckley combination made me cringe a little bit. I feel a bit squeamish about putting a premium on the autograph of a guy who tried to kill the president. My vote would have went for Sam Donaldson.

Although honestly, if there was a dual autograph card of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth, that would appeal to me. I guess it’s because both parties are dead, or, more likely, it happened almost 147 years ago.

I had expressed a concern in my last post about the incorrect spelling of Dolley Madison (as “Dolly”) on one of the card images I saw. But apparently, as the image I am including shows, that error has been corrected. That’s good.

In addition to the presidential cut solo signatures that are in the set, some of the combos are really dynamite. There’s Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, John and Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. Presidential opponent signatures include Kennedy and Nixon, Harry S Truman and Thomas Dewey, and William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan.

I love history, so seeing what is offered in this set is alternately exciting and frustrating. Exciting because of the slice of history it offers; frustrating because it is so limited.

For more information, go to the company website at www.famousfabrics.com

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Topps’ Prime 9 focusing on sluggers

Posted Jan 28, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 28, 2012 at 03:24 PM

Topps is bringing back its Prime 9 hobby store promotion, and this year’s cards pack some punch.

This year’s subject is home run legends, and cards will include sluggers like Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.

When collectors open hobby boxes of 2012 Topps Series 1 baseball, there will be two Prime 9 redemption cards scattered among the packs. Some of the redemptions will be good for the Prime 9 home run legend of the week, and starting on Feb. 13, Topps will announce that week’s card.

All a collector has to do is bring their redemption card to a participating dealer HTA store and they will receive a Topps chrome refractor. That will be the first of nine weekly announcements.

And as an added kick, the back of each redemption card will serve as a special sweepstakes entry for the 2012 Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game. Fill out the form, give it to your dealer, and he or she will send it to Topps.

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Topps’ Golden Greats should be a heavy favorite

Posted Jan 27, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 27, 2012 at 09:47 PM

Topps is presenting 16 sweet cards that are pure gold.

Some of the bigger pulls from this year’s Series 1 set will be 16 special cards made of 14-karat gold. Called Solid Golden Greats, the cards will be pulled as a redemption card and will only be available in hobby boxes.

Some of the legends that will be included are Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

And if you like graded cards, these inserts are up your alley. Topps got together with Beckett Grading Services to present the cards in an exclusive Topps slab. Each slabbed card includes the insert name, player name and 1/1 numbering.

Getting one of those cards certainly will be a hefty addition to anyone’s collection.

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Topps goes nuts over Rally Squirrel

Posted Jan 27, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 27, 2012 at 06:49 PM

Forgive Topps for going a little nuts over its Series 1 release, which will hit the shelves on Feb. 1. Because this card is too funny to pass up without a comment.

In a story written by Beckett Baseball editor Chris Olds on www.beckett.com, the infamous Rally Squirrel will have its own rookie card in a short-printed version. Actually, the squirrel will share a card with Skip Schumaker, the Cardinals hitter who was batting in Game 4 of the National League Divisional Series. Roy Oswalt of the Phillies was delivering a pitch to Schumaker in the bottom of the fifth inning when the squirrel scampered across the field.

I am including a watermarked photo that Beckett is publishing in its upcoming issue (hope you’re not mad, guys) to illustrate.

Poor Skip. All we see is his foot on this card. But the squirrel is in full extension as he enters the batter’s box.

Like the Rally Monkey of the 2002 Angels, the squirrel took on a life of its own and became a rallying point for the Cardinals, who managed to go all the way and win the World Series.

There is a YouTube video of the squirrel’s mad dash for the plate. It wasn’t the first time the critter interrupted play, and it wasn’t the last. But it certainly got some attention since it occurred on a national state.

Schumaker, by the way, turns 31 two days after Series 1 goes on sale. The infielder wound up batting .600 against the Phillies in the NLDS. He wasn’t so lucky in his at-bat that featured the squirrel, although he did drill a 2-1 pitch to deep center field that was caught.

Some might scoff at the gimmicky nature of this card, but hey, card collecting is supposed to be fun. What’s wrong with having a little bit of fun, particularly with something that got some buzz last fall? This card is along the same vein as the 2007 Derek Jeter card that contained a waving President George W. Bush and Mickey Mantle in the Yankees’ dugout. At least the squirrel’s run actually happened.

Besides, it seems as if every year, Topps comes up with a few surprises or variations to give its Series 1 a little bit more of a push.

Cards like that still bring the kid out in me. I have to chuckle. And I hope I can pull one when Series 1 comes out.

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Panini will feature Howe in 2012 productrs

Posted Jan 27, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 27, 2012 at 04:36 PM

It sure has been a busy week for hockey legend Gordie Howe.

On Thursday, In The Game announced it would be featuring the hockey Hall of Famer in its 2012 products,  beginning with the Heroes and Prospects set, which is scheduled to hit stores on Feb. 23.

One day later, Panini America announced it had reached a multiyear trading card agreement with Howe.

That’s a lot of Howe, although I wonder why two companies are making this announcement in the same week. But as a collector, it’s definitely good news. Howe remains an iconic figure in the NHL, and any autographs and/or relics will be coveted.

Friday’s deal means that Panini will be able to include autograph and memorabilia trading cards of Howe in its officially licensed hockey products for the first time. Howe also will appear on the company’s packaging and promotional materials.

“When it comes to transcendent hockey superstars, they get no bigger than Gordie Howe,” Panini America CEO Mark Warsop said in a news release.

Howe, 84, helped kick off his status with Panini when he appeared at the company’s booth at NHL Fan Fair on Friday at the Ottawa Convention Centre.

As Panini is an official trading card manufacturer for the NHL, including Howe in its product is a great idea. The former Detroit Red Wings star still represents “old time hockey” to a generation of fans. Having more Howe product out there benefits the collector, and that’s a good thing.

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