Look for some additional rookie autograph content in 2020 Panini Gold Standard football, set for release on Wednesday, August 5. Once again, Gold Standard will be heavy on autograph and memorabilia cards but there's a base set to chase, too. 2020 Panini Gold Standard Configuration and Base Set Each box will carry a single pack with seven cards. Five of those will be … [Read more...]
8 Great 1980 Topps Baseball Cards Beyond Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson’s 1980 rookie card is a thing of beauty, no doubt. Displaying Henderson trademark crouched batting stance, it’d be a nice card even if it wasn’t extremely valuable. High-grade versions of the future Hall of Famer and Oakland Athletic great’s 1980 Topps card cost way more than you’ll pay for a typical complete set. Rickey’s rookie is the first card you … [Read more...]
Upper Deck 2019-20 Clear Cut Hockey Offers Premium Cards
The entire structure of our sports seasons is being upended but the sports card calendar is remaining on a fairly familiar track. One of the season's final NHL products from the interrupted current season is due to arrive in September. 2019-20 Upper Deck Clear Cut returns for its second season, and the emphasis once again will be on on-card autographs signed on acetate … [Read more...]
Humble Beginnings: Most of Cal Ripken Jr.’s First Baseball Cards Were Destroyed
It’s May 30, 1980, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Nashville Sounds are at Jim Crockett Memorial Park to take on the Charlotte O’s, the AA Minor-League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Souvenir programs leading up to tonight’s Southern League contest have billed the game as “WBTV Baseball Card Nite.” Through a partnership with Charlotte’s WBTV Television, “all children 14 … [Read more...]
Topps Project 2020 Print Runs, Checklist, Review
The "reimagination" business has been good for Major League Baseball's official trading card partner. After a modest start, Topps Project 2020 has become a big hit with hundreds of thousands of cards sold in just a couple of months. It is quickly becoming one the company's most successful new endeavors in a long time, one that's already generating millions of … [Read more...]
New Sports Card Release Calendar: 5/27/20 – 6/11/20
The supply chain is getting back to normal and the sports card release calendar is starting to look a little more normal as May gives way to June. In fact, it's getting a little crowded. The first week of June will see four new products alone. 2019-20 Panini Noir hit the market Wednesday. From here on out, it's a mix of more basketball, baseball, … [Read more...]
Worth the Wait: 1960 Topps Cello Pack Break Yields Big Prize
Sixty years after it was boxed up and left the Topps plant during the Eisenhower administration, a Topps baseball cello pack finally revealed its contents Tuesday night. Still tightly sealed, the 12-card pack would have cost 10 cents in 1960. It was the star attraction in a five-hour pack breaking marathon conducted by Just Rip It. The company offered … [Read more...]
2020 Topps Update Baseball Will Include Prospects
It's been a year of adjustments for sports trading card makers. With temporary shutdowns of printing plants and various other pandemic-related delays, calendars have been adjusted. Baseball's "regular" season still has no date but at least for now, the baseball card products continue to arrive. 2020 Topps Update is still on the docket but Topps appears to have … [Read more...]
2020 Contenders Draft Football Preview
As the NFL moves slowly toward the start of an uncertain season, another football card product is set to hit the market this week. 2020 Panini Contenders Draft Picks is due out on Friday, May 29. Each hobby box promises 18 packs with six packs per box. There should be six autographs inside along with an array of base cards, parallels and … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Is It Bowman or Play Ball?
Recently, I was flipping through some of my card binders. While I buy plenty of singles and lots, my primary collecting focus is really on building sets. I like the satisfaction of completion and set building can present some interesting challenges. Because my focus is on sets, often I find myself buying particular lots of cards even if I only need a few. That, of course, … [Read more...]