Slideshow: 1888 Goodwin Champions

I did a little experimenting and created a slide show for 1888 Goodwin Champions in preparation of Upper Deck's retro-themed set. I'll have a gallery posted in the coming days.

Enjoy!

Moment in History Passes With Death of Millvina Dean, Last Titanic Survivor

Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the Titanic, has passed away at the age of 97. Much will be written in the coming hours and days about the fateful voyage of the 'unsinkable' liner and its place in history. While the sinking of the enormous ship and the tragedy that went with it is very saddening, I'd argue that the Titanic has become just as much a part of pop culture as it has become a part of history.

From T-shirts to books to 3D puzzles to the highest grossing film of all-time, Titanic-mania is a historical brand up there with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana. It's pretty creepy how tragedy solidifies our collective imaginations. Non-sport cards have not been immune to Titanic-mania, especially since teenage girls first fell in love with Leonardo Dicaprio.

It was only after the film came out and was a huge success that Inkworks produced a set based on the Titanic movie in 1998. Available only as a factory set, the 25 movie cards came in a fancy steamer trunk. The set was "limited" to 10,000 copies and included a certificate of authenticity. It turns out 10,000 isn't all that limited when it comes to card collecting so the set can still be tracked down. Buy It Now prices on eBay have it going for around $30-40.

Another closed non-sport producer, Dart Flipcards, went the historical route for their 1998 set. The 72-card base set features a mix of photographs and artwork on the card fronts and informational text on the back. Inserts included six die-cut gold-foil White Star cards inserted 1:18 packs. Two autographs, one from Dean (pictured above) and one from Ralph White, the late filmmaker who documented the discovery of the Titanic in 1985, were inserted at a rate of 1:246 packs (one in seven boxes). Factory sets also included four bonus cards. Dart made three promo cards as well as four show exclusive promos to help generate buzz for the set.

The Titanic hasn't escaped the pop culture craze that has invaded sports sets either. 2008 Topps Mayo Football included a card of the ship in their mini inserts dedicated to famous ships.

Random Pack Breaks: 2002 Donruss Originals

One of the things that really irks me about this hobby is that when one company strikes something that's a hit, everyone else soon follows. In the early part of the decade, Topps really struck gold with the full-on launch of their Heritage line (although there were hints of this before) so guess what? Everyone else started recycling their own "classic" designs. The thing with Topps is they have a long history. Fleer and Donruss didn't start making baseball cards regularly until 1981. That's way too early to be mining nostalgic designs.

2002 Donruss Originals really took the idea of recycling designs by including several from the 1980s. It led to a big checklist with very few original subjects as players were on multiple cards showcasing the variety of designs. Although I think Donruss was on a solid streak between 1982 and 1987 as far as designs go, none feel all that special to me. Yet here's a set dedicated to celebrating mediocrity.

This pack of 2002 Donruss Originals came in a three-pack repack - one of the few ways I can get baseball packs near where I live (although it's still a two-hour drive to the city). So let's tear in.

36. Adam Dunn, Reds

209. Harmon Killebrew, Twins

102. Mike Piazza

373. Vladimir Guerrero

68. Darin Erstad

The highlight for me is definitely the Vlad as it's an Expos card that I needed. Amazingly, the picture makes the 1988 design acceptable. A lot has to do with the colors on his jersey going well with the border.

What strikes me is how far a crisp photo goes in making Donruss' designs better. Like Fleer, they made a lot of ugly picture choices during the 1980s including a ton of boring portraits that were downright ugly. All five of the photos from this pack are solid but nothing fancy. But they're in focus and not blurry, something the Donruss team had troubles getting ahold of 25 years ago.

All in all, a good pack but nothing too fancy. Any hit off my Expos lists is always appreciated. If anyone needs any of these, give me a shout.

Unfortunate Names on Cards: 1888 Goodwin Champions "Glasscock"

 

1888 Goodwin Champions Glasscock

Preview: 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee Hockey

Even though the Stanley Cup finals don't start until later today, it's already time to start looking ahead to next hockey card season. Upper Deck appears to be taking an approach of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" with their base brand 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee Hockey. But that's not stopping them from making the base set a little nicer to look at.

The configuration of the set appears to be the same as last year: 600 cards including "Marquee Rookie" and "Legends" shortprints appearing at a rate of 1:2 packs. The look has a modern-vintage sort of feel to it. While I find there's still a whole lot of border, it looks a lot cleaner to me than the 2008-09 incarnation. Regular set Gold parallels will fall 1:4 packs.

Retro Variation and Retro Variation Rainbow parallels return, although Upper Deck hasn't announced what design they'll be paying tribute to. Retro variations will be one per pack, while collectors can expect to find one or two Retro Rainbows per box.

Upper Deck has announced that there will be a Canadian Heroes insert set with an average of one in every box. There's not much else to go with other than the fact that you won't find any European or American stars. My guess is they will replace the Winter Classic inserts from the 2008-09 set.

The emphasis on O-Pee-Chee is that it's for set builders, but even set builders like some hits. OPC Quad Materials return with four jersey pieces embedded. Look for lots of team combinations such as the Avalanche card below or a Penguins card featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury. OPC Quad Materials will be a moderately tough find at one-in-four hobby boxes, or three per case. The set will also have some tough-to-find autographs inserted at two per case, or one-in-six boxes. Besides the gorgeous Gretzky shown below, the checklist of signers also includes Gordie Howe, Crosby, Carey Price and Jarome Iginla.

Hobby boxes will hold 36 packs of six cards. Twelve boxes make up a case.

Upper Deck Channels the Heritage Spirit with Series Two Baseball SPs

This afternoon Upper Deck announced a quartet of shortprinted inserts for 2009 Upper Deck Series Two Baseball. The cards use the company's debut design from 1989 and, as Upper Deck puts it, ask "What If?"

There's Griffey in an action pose instead of a portrait and Randy Johnson as a Mariner instead of in his Expos garb. Surprise, surprise, the remaining two slots are reserved for a couple of Presidents: Reagan and George H.W. Bush, which pay tribute to the fact that politicians are over-used in today's sets.

The cards are numbered 801 through 804 so that, in theory, you could bookend your original 1989 Upper Deck Baseball set with them.

  

  

While this concept is mildly interesting, Upper Deck's recycled the 1989 design before as early as their Fifth Anniversary inserts. The Reagan card makes me think of Nixon getting on his chopper more than anything else. The Bush - something tells me there'd be little interest in any card featuring the elder matriarch other than maybe one where he's buddy-buddy with Saturday Night Live alumni Dana Carvey.

2009 Topps Baseball Red Hot Rookie Redemption #1 is...

Topps has announced that outfielder Fernando Martinez of the New York Mets is the first Red Hot Rookie Redemption from 2009 Topps Series Two Baseball.

A total of 10 subjects will make up the set. Topps will be staggering their announcements throughout the summer. This will allow them to add the latest call-ups as well as distract collectors from the fact that their cards will likely not be ready until late summer or the fall.

Gallery: 1991 Fleer ProVisions Baseball Factory Set Exclusives

While getting my gallery ready for 1991 Fleer Baseball ProVisions, I discovered there were four additional cards that were available only in factory sets. Thankfully the year was 1991 and the factory sets were plentiful. I didn't need anymore of the bright yellow borders and shipping costs for a complete Fleer set wouldn't have been worth it so I tracked down the singles. After a couple of purchases I was able to find them all for only a couple of dollars.

The base set ProVisions had black borders. These are white. The other difference is the numbering. Whereas the base set inserts are numbered 1 of 12 through 12 of 12, the factory set versions are 1 of 4 through 4 of 4.

 

1. Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh Pirates

This image takes on a whole new meaning now than it did in 1991. Back then I'd guess the bat symbolized danger to opposing pitchers and teams. Today you could read Bonds' steroid allegations leading to a poisoned bat.

 

 

2. Rickey Henderson, Oakland Athletics

Fast on his feet, here's Rickey Henderson posing as the mythic messenger Icarus. I dig the colors of the overall image and the attitude Henderson's giving, although the real Henderson seems even more smug in the sound bites I've heard.

 

3. Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs

This card's a mystery to me. It looks like a painted portrait version of a mid-1990s Studio card. There doesn't seem to be much deeper meaning. Maybe Sandberg's just supposed to be classy here. Wait a second. Is Ryno giving the finger?

 

 

4. Dave Stewart, Oakland Athletics

This card is supposed to pay tribute to Stewart's fastball. What I see is Stewart giving Todd Van Poppel the evil eye whilst playing a nasty game of Murderball. Stewart would go on to cuss the then-phenom out, messing with the lad's head and causing him to lose his cool and be out of baseball a couple of years later. Or not. But, man, that's a nasty stare.

Chuck Norris Can Save the World - and Your Collection

It's going to be forever before you see that Delta Force set. I wouldn't hold your breath for Sidekicks either. So if you need a Chuck Norris card fix, you might want to try and track down this card from Breygent's Classic Vintage Movie Posters: Stars, Monster, Comedy:

 

Wait a sec, that's not Chuck, that's Bruce Lee. 

Patience, young grasshopper. Flip over the card and see what glory awaits.

 

Who the heck is Chuck Noris?

Well, that's an embarrassing error that I'm sure has someone on the lamb in case Walker, Texas Ranger goes on the hunt and seeks retribution.

For you viewing pleasure, here's classic Bruce and Chuck Norris' cracking knuckles in Way of the Dragon.

And in case you haven't read it, I can't more highly recommend the book The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 Facts About the World's Greatest Human, containing 400 Norris facts. Here's a couple to get you excited:

Chuck Norris went as Chuck Norris for Halloween. He got twice as much candy as anybody else.

and

Chuck Norris once broke a mirror on a black cat under a ladder on Friday the 13th. He won the lottery later that day.

I Broke Down and Bought My First Razor Cut Signature Card

After swearing I'd not buy a Razor cut signature card, I ended up going and doing just that when I spent $25 (about 25% of the original pack price) on a single from a legendary actor/director from 2008 Razor Cut Signature: Encore Edition.

The card in question:

 

That'd be Warren Beatty, star of this

this

  this

 

and this

The card features a check for $12 and change from 1975 with a clean and full signature. I love Bonnie and Clyde and Bugsy and look up to Beatty for being a part of the anti-establishment film movement that revitalized Hollywood in the late 60s and early 70s. To that end I've wanted his autograph for a while. At $25 and little question about the authenticity given its being a check and I thought this was quite a little bargain, even if it was from a product I didn't want any part of.

Looking at the card and it's easy to see how Razor gets around licensing. Not only is Beatty's picture not on the card, there's not even any mention of the name. That's saved for the Beckett holder that jails the card, not allowing anyone to even handle it.

So while it's not my first choice for autographs, this is an exception I don't at all mind making if it means I can have an affordable Beatty autograph in my collection.

Random Pack Breaks: 2007 Topps Turkey Red Baseball

I made a trip to the city over the weekend and was able to find one three-pack re-pack thingy that caught my attention (the front pack in the blister cannot be Topps Opening Day if they want me to buy it): 2007 Topps Turkey Red. I haven't gotten into the Turkeys much, but when packs are rare it'll fix a fix.

Let's tear in:

 

77. Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees

The portrait presents a classy look for the legend, although Mantle looks a lot like a sad clown with the thick lines used to paint his face.

 

 

Next up, we've got a former Expos great sighting:

 

185. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels

Is it weird to still think it's strange seeing him in an Angels uniform?

 

140. Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs

Aesthetically, this card and the Guerrero get my vote for the nicest looking cards in the pack. I especially like the warm autumn vibe I get with this one.

 

 

155. Alex Rios, Toronto Blue Jays

The only thing that stands out to me on this card is how strange a stance Rios has. Looks like it's in a Little League park. More of that to come.

 

93. Carlos Gomez, New York Mets

Umm, was Topps low on paintings where they couldn't find one where Carlos wasn't obstructing part of his face?

 

149. Joe Smith, New York Mets *Chrome* (1356/1999)

Plain name, plain card. But shiny! I normally like shiny, but it doesn't work so much with the artsy feel of the base set.

 

 

37. Edgar Renteria, Atlanta Braves

Another simple and relatively bland card. Is that a blurred out spaceship in the background? The mysteries of Turkey Red.

And finally...

 

164. Jorge Posada, New York Yankees

Ole' Jorge is hanging at the Little League diamonds with Rios it appears. A little less field would have done wonders for this card. The horizontal layout really works with the extended swing but there's so much genericness about the card it makes me sleepy. The lack of face and discernible jersey makes it look like it belongs in a Donruss baseball product, don't you think?

The Genius of Jenkins

Last week Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius sent over an unexpected package of Canadian Hall o' Famer Fergie Jenkins. And what a treasure trove they were. I've long been a fan of the weird and strange things that oddball sets bring. They're something different and out of the ordinary. Make said oddball joys of a more vintage variety and I'm all squealy with cool card goodness.

The first work of cardboard art is this 1972 Kellog's card. It measures right in between a regular card and a tobacco card so it's a little smaller, but man does this set pack a lot of info. The front shows a happy Ferg chilling in front of some empty bleachers. Wait a second. The bleachers have depth. They're in 3-D! On the backside you get the best of all worlds: headshot, full name (Ferguson Arthur Jenkins), career stats, 100-word biography, important biographical info and licensing. Now why can't a lot of modern sets offer that kind of information?

Skip ahead one year and you've got the next card in the package - 1973 Kellog's. The cereal folks have another keeper of a design, although this set is noteable for not having the 3D backdrop. It's a pity too because the sky would have worked well with it.

Matt also included another more mainstream addition from the same year. It's a 1973 Topps Fergie. Here he's in a posed wind-up position looking like he's just been told to look at the birdie the photographer's holding to the side of his shoulder.

Jumping ahead in time we arrive at the over-sized 1985 Donruss Champion set. It measure's 3 1/2" x 5" and looks a lot like a postcard size-wise. I hadn't seen this set before but I like it from first glance. Fergie's looking strong on a distinctly Donruss frame. On the back his stats are matched up with Cy Young. While I get the point of comparing then "new" guys with old timers, comparing the strong Jenkins with the legendary Young makes the Canadian look bad.

The lone "modern" card MAtt sent over was an insert from 2001 Upper Deck Decade 70s - Arms Race. I like the foil front but the American patriotic color scheme doesn't really work when the subject isn't an All-American. I didn't bust any packs of the set so I'm not overly familiar with it, but them more I see of Decade 70s the crazier I think it is - in a strangely good way.

So thanks again, Matt! All Fergies are good Fergies and these are some stellar Fergies!

In-Depth Looksie: 2009 Bowman Chrome or The Set Where the Set Didn't Matter

The Bowman brand has long been about the rookie card. But ever since the MLB Players Association changed the rules for rookie cards, the brand has been in limbo. As a result sales have struggled and the idea of what's a rookie and what's not has been blurred to a point where I know I'm confused.

The long-standing rule was that the first card of a player in a mainstream licensed set was the rookie. So when Ken Griffey Jr. cards came out in the 1989 sets, all his 1989 base cards were rookies. Or something like that. But insert cards couldn't be rookie cards. It sounds a little odd but within a couple weeks of joining the hobby, most anyone could figure it out. The insert "rule" didn't matter much 20 years ago because there weren't many inserts aside from Donruss puzzle pieces and some various rack and jumbo pack exclusives.

The MLB Players Association tried to make discerning a rookie card easier by introducing a rule with its licenses that basically said a player couldn't have a base card until they played a Major League game. I might be off a little, but that's the basic idea. Rookie cards would then be signified by a simple logo. While the idea is sound, in principle, Topps works a little differently because they've been around so long and they sign players to individual contracts.

So what's happened is Topps has continued to insert prospect cards in their Bowman sets as inserts by technicality and numbering but in Major League uniforms on cards that look a lot like the regular base cards. So are the Bowman Prospect cards rookies or not? Therein lies the confusion and one of the major reasons the brand doesn't carry a lot of weight anymore.

But that's not stopping Topps from showcasing the young bucks more prominently than anything else in 2009 Bowman Chrome Baseball. Based on the sell sheet the base set comes across as more of an annoyance than anything else. On the four-page promo flyer, the base set isn't mentioned until page three. Go to the checklist on the back page and you won't find the base set until all the inserts are listed. Gee, I wonder what the focus is here?

It's not that I blame Topps. Bowman has long been about the rookie card. That's what sells the product, even if it isn't as mighty as it once was. But when they stick it to the MLBPA's rules in such a blatant way, it undermines the reasoning in the first place and ultimately hurts the hobby as a whole. The marketplace is already confusing enough. This drives collectors away or causes many to leave prematurely. Upper Deck isn't immune either. They've got pimply high school kids wearing their National duds in pretty much all of their current products (which will likely rise to all now that Strasburg fever has hit).

So if it's prospects and sort-of rookies that you want, here's what's in store for 2009 Bowman Chrome (here's a hint: it looks a lot like 2008 Bowman Chrome from what I can gather).

Base set:
220 cards (190 veterans, 30 rule-abiding rookies)

Base cards are inserted at a rate of two per pack. So five boxes will be the minimum it's going to take to get the set you might be lucky to sell for $25. But wait a sec', Topps doesn't want anyone to care about this part.

Autographed Prospects:
22 cards

Numbered BCP91 through BCP112, none of the prospects featured on the autographs appeared in 2009 Bowman. These mark the first cards they've appeared on in the Major League uniforms. Each autograph card will be hard-signed, so no sticker autographs here. Autographs will fall at a rate of one per box.

Here's the list of autograph signers:

BCP91. Rinku Singh, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP92. Dinesh Kumar Patel, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP93, Randall Delgado, Atlanta Braves
BCP94. Pat Venditte, New York Yankees
BCP95. Zack Putnam, Cleveland Indians
BCP96. Robbie Grossman, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP97. Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves
BCP98. Gift Negope, Pittsburgh Pirates
BCP99. Dylan Lindsay, Kansas City Royals
BCP100. Chris Marrero, Washington Nationals
BCP101. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
BCP102. Chris Johnson, Houston Astros
BCP103. Jefry Marte, New York Mets
BCP104. Ernie Banks, Florida Marlins
BCP105. Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics
BCP106. Juancarlos Sulbaran, Cincinnati Reds
BCP107. Ryan Perry, Detroit Tigers
BCP108. Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
BCP109. Brad Emaus, Toronto Blue Jays
BCP110. Dayan Viciedo, Chicago White Sox
BCP111. Tim Federowicz, Boston Red Sox
BCP112. Allen Craig, St. Louis Cardinals

Prospects:
70 cards (#BCP128 - BCP197)

Like the autographed prospects, none of the regular prospect cards appeared in 2009 Bowman Baseball. Prospect cards will be inserted at a rate of two per pack combined with World Baseball Classic cards.

World Baseball Classic:
40 cards (#BCW21 - BCW60)

You didn't think Topps was done with the World Baseball Classic did you? Of course they're not. There's still some players to be mined that will continue to play international ball for a few more years. Chances are one or two of these players might make the jump to the Majors. Consider these for country collectors primarily. I know I'll be tracking down the Canadians at some point.

There's no repeats in the WBC cards from 2009 Bowman (so that means Topps appears to be showing some restraint on the Yu Darvish train). As noted above, WBC and regular prospect cards will fall at a rate of two per pack.

Parallels

Like all Bowman Chrome sets, you'll have the chance to chase a rainbow with the multiple tiers of refractors. All cards in the set (base, prospect, autographed prospect and World Baseball Classic) will come with the following levels of refractors:

Refractor.
X-Fractor: Numbered to 250.
Blue: Numbered to 150.
Gold: Numbered to 50.
Orange: Numbered to 25.
Red: Numbered to 5.
Super-Fractor:  1/1 (Hobby Exclusive)

I do have to say, I like the design of the cards. The lines are very clean, offering a nice balance between border and image. The on-card autographs are also a huge plus.

But still, there's this major annoyance that extends to both Topps and the MLBPA - the damn rookie card rules. Make it matter. While I'm not a big fan of the idea of an exclusive license for 2010, if it ends up at Topps I hope that part of the terms include Topps laying off the prospects for the duration of the contract and a "catch-up period" so that there's eventually no dispute over what a player's true rookie card is.