Story produced in cooperation with RookieCards.com As Aaron Rodgers football cards continue to appreciate this season, collectors are distinguishing which of those in the Rodgers catalog are the ones that may prove worthy over the long haul. While popular issues from 2005 Contenders and Exquisite often dominate the discussion of which issues constitute Rodgers’ best and … [Read more...]
Hobby News and Notes from the Editor’s Blog
Upper Deck is promising to hold products for as long as it can to cut back on the number of redemption cards. Collectors hate them and often accused the company of not being as responsive as they should when redemptions would go unfulfilled for months--even years at times. They aren't alone, though. Waiting on players to sign cards has caused nightmares for other … [Read more...]
Rich’s Ramblings: Now Catching… Dr. Jim Beckett
by Rich Klein To begin, I received a nice email from my old friend Lou Orfanella about our trip to see Joe DiMaggio back in 1982. He still remembers the details of what I had signed (it was an off-quality 1939 Play Ball) and he still has his signed DiMaggio picture to this day. Always a pleasure when 30 years later, the details are still fresh in our mind. He also told me he … [Read more...]
Triple Platinum: A First Look at 2012 Bowman Platinum Baseball
by Chris Harris Now in its third year, 2012 Bowman Platinum Baseball will be released in late July, about halfway between 2012 Bowman and Bowman Chrome. And while most of the product’s structure remains unchanged, Topps has added some new additions for collectors to chase after. The base set will consist of 100 cards and will be supplemented with an equal number of … [Read more...]
2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball Preview
by Chris Harris The seventh edition of Topps’ Allen & Ginter’s World Champions is scheduled for release in July, and collectors should notice one subtle change to the set’s checklist. The 350-card base set (with the final 50 cards short-printed) will feature noticeably fewer non-baseball subjects than ever before. 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter will be a little more … [Read more...]
Editor’s Blog: 15 Years and 738,395 Memorabilia Cards
Oh, for the simplicity of 1995. The home computer wasn't yet mainstream. eBay was just a gleam in a west coast entrepreneur's eye. Cards were cards. Some cards were shinier than others. Most were still pretty plain. You bought a pack of cards and you got...cardboard. Then came 1996 and the revolution that swept the modern trading card industry into something much … [Read more...]
Topps to Produce 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Glossy Factory Set
Topps will create a 2011 Allen and Ginter Glossy Factory set with ten all-new, exclusive cards. The sets will only be offered online and only 999 will be produced at a retail cost of $99.95. Each card in the high-gloss set will be foil-stamped with a matching set serial number. Like the quirky history of the brand, 2011 Allen & Ginter includes veteran players, … [Read more...]
Variety, Quantity Make 1922 Attractive Target Year for Card Collectors
If you had been an aggressive baseball card collector in 1922, you had plenty of options. More than two dozen sets issued exclusively that year are listed in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. Eighty-nine years ago, they were little more than a novelty; something to help sell candy more than anything. Now, the variety and volume of cards, attractive pricing and the … [Read more...]
Editor’s Blog: First Pack, Old Pack, National Impressions, Prime 9
Topps says the #5 redemption card in its PRIME 9 promotion for Series II is Mike Schmidt. The company has released an image of the card that collectors can bring to their participating local card shop and redeem it for an exclusive limited edition Topps Chrome Refractor as part of the weekly program. Redemption cards can be found in Series 2 Hobby packs (1:18) and … [Read more...]
Baseball Card Shop Making a Mini Comeback?
Last week, I posted on Facebook and Twitter that I thought the baseball card shop might be making a small comeback. In case you missed the italics, let me repeat the word "small". No one is suggesting that they're going to start popping up in every neighborhood like they did in the late 1980s and early 90s. That ship left its port a long time ago. Numbers? Nope. I have … [Read more...]