Upper Deck Gives Back to the Troops

Making the announcement on Veterans Day of all days, Upper Deck is doing their part to send goodies to US troops stationed around the world. Participating in conjunction with "Operation Gratitude," Upper Deck has launched the "Million Pack March for the Troops," where they hope to see one million packs of cards donated in the next year.

Although the company is starting things off by tossing in 100,000 packs, they'll also be looking for donations from collectors and industry types. Part of the plan includes donation drives at major hobby events like the National as well as establishing drop off points at hobby shops. The program will include Upper Deck products in all sports as well as non-sport.

If you have sealed packs of Upper Deck cards you'd like to donate to the cause, they can be sent to the following address:

Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
Attn. Upper Deck’s Million Pack Drive to Support the Troops
17330 Victory Boulevard
Van Nuys, CA 91406

This isn't the first time a card manufacturer has sent cards to troops. In 1991 Topps caused a huge stir when they not only sent 1991 Topps Baseball cards to US troops fighting in Operation Desert Shield, they were customized with a special foil logo. As cards began to trickle back, they became an instant hit and still command a decent price today. This PSA 10 Frank Thomas finished for $560 a couple days ago.

iCardz Remembers Canada's War Contributions With Gorgeous Promo Cards

Today is a day where we remember those who fought for our countries and continue to make sacrifices for freedom and the good of humanity even today. Last year iCardz released their first set, Lest We Forget: D-Day, which celebrated the Canadian contributions on the beaches of Normandy. They're also putting the finishing touches on America at War: WWII, which I previewed in September. The manufacturer is also busy getting a follow-up Canadian set ready for the new year: Canada at War: WWI and WWII. To launch the set, iCardz produced a series of promo cards that were distributed in packs attached to a recent issue of Legion Magazine, a Canadian publication that celebrates the country's military and its veterans.

The promo set has a total of 20 cards plus two headers, one for each of the wars. iCardz was kind enough to pass along two of the promo packs to share. They each contained eight cards, seven from the numbered set and one header. Doing some quick math, it'd take three copies of the magazine and a little luck to complete the set. The cards are also skip numbered, so figuring out what you need could be a little difficult. Thankfully, some fine folks over at Non-Sport Update's Card Talk did their homework. The complete set of Canada at War: WWI and WWII promos has the following cards:

LM26
LM27
LM29
LM36
LM40
LM46
LM48
LM55
LM60
LM61
LM63
LM67
LM68
LM70
LM71
LM72
LM96
LM114
LM118
LM125
WWI Header
WWII Header

Design-wise, these cards are gorgeous. The photographs are intense and help tell the story of the wars. The images are sharp and appear to be digitally colored. The name plates and choice of fonts are both very classy. Red plates and backs are for WWI and WWII is accented with blue. Card backs are text driven and contain lots of information.

iCardz project manager Alastair Grant did let me know that these promos do not totally reflect the quality of the final cards. He mentioned the promos were printed in-house, which explains some of the chipping on the edges. The final release of the set will see improved cardstock printed on recycled paper.

Here is a look at some more of the Legion Magazine promos:

 

iCardz has an excellent site for their products that not only has info on the sets but links and content that compliments the cards.

First Details: 2010 Upper Deck Baseball

The mystery of what Upper Deck's going to do without an MLB license is starting to become a little clearer. About a month ago they released preliminary details about how Exquisite inserts would be inserted in all their 2010 baseball releases. Now the breakdown of their flagship set is out, but still no pictures.

The base set will chime in at 600 cards. This is a nice size as long as there's not a lot of subsets. I'm also loving the fact packs come with 20 cards. Sixteen packs make up a box and 12 boxes per case. Each box is set to have one atograph and two game-used cards.

As far as inserts go, there's a little retro appeal with the apparent return of the Baseball Heroes line, this time showcasing Joe DiMaggio. Not surprisingly, there'll be DiMaggio cut signatures as well. 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the Baseball Heroes line, which brought the first cerrtified autographs to baseball cards. Upper Deck is celebrating the anniversary with one 20th Anniversary art card in every box. There will also be autographed versions.

Even though we laugh a little now at 2008 Upper Deck Documentary, there's a bit of a second swing at it, sort of, in the Season Biography inserts that will fall two per pack. Each day of the season will be given a card. Hopefully the pictures will match the content. Base set gold parallels numbered /99 return once again and once again few will pursue them.

As far as new ideas go, Portraits have me most intrigued. Inserted 1:4 packs, they should be somewhat plentiful. There's also a black and white parallel for the set limited to 99. Here's hoping they're something like the V.J. Lovero portraits from 1996. Other inserts include All World, Pure Heat and throwback-themed 10th Anniversary cards of the 2000 rookie class that never had Upper Deck cards at the turn of the milennium. Expect Johan Santana and others.

The autograph program is highlighted by buyback autographs from the biggest stars 20 years ago. I'm very excited about this and hope it turns out to be like the Topps Fan Favorites sets that mixed big stars with popular characters of the game. Additional autographs will fall under the Signature Sensations banner.

In the continuity department, Gary Sheffield will join Upper Deck's A Piece of History 500 HR Club collection of game-used bat cards. Other game-used cards include basic UD Game Jersey cards and patch parallels limited to 25 copies.

2010 Upper Deck Baseball is scheduled for release the first part of February.

Will 2010 Bring Bob and Doug McKenzie Rookie Cards?

Creative Cardboard Concepts, the company behind the upcoming Ring Kings boxing set, an updated version of Scoop and the muti-sport Famous Fabrics has a true ace up their sleeve for 2010 - at least for a card-collecting Canuck like myself.

Famous Faces Canadiana looks like the Great White North's equivilent of Panini's Americana line. Little information on the set has been announced but it does look like Celine Dion is coming to cardboard. Oh, joy! Here's hoping John Candy, Bob and Doug McKenzie and "Mr. Dressup" Ernie Combs also make the 150-card base checklist. The base set will also include a blue parallel.

Few details have been released, but all autographs will be hard signed (except for the Cut Signatures that will presumably include only deceased subjects like Alexander Graham Bell).

Creative Cardboard Concepts has released an image of a Don Cherry base card. I do find it interesting that the "Canadiana" font choice and color looks similar to another piece of Canadian iconography:

 

When Thank-You Isn't Enough

While I was away an unexpected package arrived from Rod over at Padrographs. It contained a little bit of this and a whole lot of that. Here's a small sampling of the AWESOME (I do not take this word, especially in all caps, lightly) stuff found within:

We kick it off with Dick Clark and American Bandstand. I still have hopes of hanging with him in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Mark: So this is it...
Andrew Largeman: So knock... knock and barter for Desert Storm trading cards.
Mark: Don't tease me about my hobbies. I don't tease you about being an...

Can you name the not-totally-obscure-but-somewhat-obscure quote?

Elvis' briefcase phone - perhaps the ultimate piece of old technology for the ladies at Dinged Corners to marvel at.

Garbage Pail Kids making fun of Pokemon. AWESOME!

A shiny popstar.

And a fat, oddball celebrity.

These unto themselves are all amazing. But here was a little something that was also enclosed, giving the mail a slightly odd shape:

That would be Hot Rod telling me to "Stay strong!" 8x10-style. The Hulkster might have told me to eat my vitamins back in the day but I never bought it. When Piper tells me to, "Stay strong!" I'm going to listen. So much for the good guy and the bad guy mentality the two shared two decades ago.

I've had a couple of cards set aside for Rod for a while now that I've been meaning to send out. And while I know he did this out of the kindness of his heart, I wonder how I can ever return the favor.

I'll start small with oversized font:

THANKS, ROD!

Upper Deck Offers Appeasement for Upper Deck Icons Redemptions

Upper Deck has announced via Facebook that they're tossing collectors a bone for the wait on their 2009 2008 Upper Deck Icons Football redemptions. It seems that they've got some Letterman cards ready to ship out and have added a little something extra: one of six exclusive Brett Favre cards. Yup, six of them. And from the two they've shown, they look pretty swanky.

I'm glad they're doing this. Redemptions still suck but what better way to make them a little less sucky than with some swanky free cards.

If, for some reason you're not connected with Upper Deck on Facebook, they've been offering lots of good info.

(Edit to note that these are 2008 redemptions. What the heck, Upper Deck? Favre can play for the Jets, retire, make a Sears commercial, unretire, sign with the Vikings and  lead the team to an amazing start before you can get some unautographed Letterman cards produced. That's a production issue for the ages.)

If You Love Horror, Here's a Couple of Companies Here to Help

It's amazing how people get away with donning costumes on one day of the year that they'd get stared at and talked about on any other day. But it's Halloween so it's all good.

Although most card releases you find in your local hobby shop and at the neighborhood box retailer are geared at families (even though it's probably adults who are buying them), there's a pair of manufacturers who aim to please horror fans. And they hold back no punches in doing so.

Monsterwax has been around for almost two decades and has always specialized in genre sets. Recently they released the Shock Stories/Urban Legends dual set (two separate sets in one package), which focuses on popular tales that have been told and distorted over and over again. The all-art set harkens back to the golden age of horror comics, offering depictions that are often grotesque and sure to outrage teachers if they were bargained about at the back of the classroom.

Each of the two base sets has 50 cards for 100 total. There's also a variety of inserts including 51 Shock Stories 3D parallels, sketch cards, printing plates and special prize cards that can be redeemed for such prizes as original art. Here's a link to a full article from Non-Sport Update Magazine on the set.

Previous Monsterwax releases have focused on classic horror movies and TV shows, The Night Stalker, old science fiction novels that are being turned into mostly crumby summer Hollywood blockbusters and even a hyper-patriotic set released in the wake of 9/11 that delved into some of recent history's atrocities. The company's next set is another dual one, this time focusing sci-fi novels The Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The set is scheduled to arrive sometime in the spring.

Terror Cards XL has focused primarily on individual card releases that center on autographs from both classic horror icons and faces familiar to those who follow the current indie horror scene. Past and current offerings include reasonably priced signatures from Kane Hodder (Jason from the Friday the 13th series), Ben Chapman, Joe Bob Briggs, Gunnar "Leatherface" Hansen and Debbie Rochon.

The company ventured into sets and packs with the aptly titled Terror Cards. The 50-card set focuses on more than a dozen indie feautres and includes autographs. You can order all available Terror Cards XL items directly from their website via Paypal.