Topps Continues to Let the Strasburg Hype Build by Making Jose Tabata Red Hot Rookie Redemption #2

Another 2010 baseball rookie redemption announcement from Topps, another person other than Stephen Strasburg given the slot. 2010 Topps Baseball Red Hot Rookie Redemption #2 is Jose Tabata, outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Through his first ten games, Tabata was batting .225 with one home run and a couple of stolen bases. He might end up being decent, but I bet there's going to be a lot of disappointed folks when they realize the redemption card they pull with a giant #2 on the front does not equal Strasburg.

Trader TV: Toy Story Fun Packs Two-Pack Blister Break

This was supposed to go live last night but for whatever reason, it didn't upload right. Below you'll find a two-pack break of Topps' new Toy Story Fun Packs. They combine elements from all three films, offering cards, stickers and other goodies like magnets and motion cards. Because they're aimed at kids, I recruited a couple of very excited helpers.

As you can tell, Evelyn and Ethan were very excited about these cards. Within ten seconds of finishing filming, the magnet was on the fridge and the pop-up Buzz was put together. Ethan had to be stopped from putting a sticker on his hand (these stickers belong in a book).

When you hear the chatter about bringing kids back into the hobby, this is the way to do it. The emphasis is on playing with the cards and interacting with them rather than hoping for a valuable hit. I got into the hobby by ripping packs and sorting through them. "Collecting" came later. But without the initial fun I would have never continued.

Big-Time Autograph Checklist Announced for Topps' Avatar 3D Widevision

As soon as it was announced, I was very interested in Topps' Avatar 3D Widevision. The base set alone put it on my radar as the strong visuals of the film promised a gorgeous set. Now that Topps has announced the preliminary (as in, it might change but likely not) autograph checklist, I'm really looking forward to the October release. Basically, every big name (and a few not so big) involved is committed to signing those shiny stickers for Topps:

James Cameron	Director
Jon Landau	Producer
Sam Worthington	Jake Sully
Zoe Saldana	Neytiri
Sigourney Weaver	Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephen Lang	Col. Miles Quaritch
Joel Moore	Norm Spellman
Giovanni Ribisi	Parker Selfridge
Michelle Rodriguez	Trudy Chacon
Laz Alonso	Tsu' Tey
Wes Studi	Eytukan
CCH Pounder	Moat
Dilpeep Rao	Dr. Max Patel

More than half of those I'd be ecstatic with pulling. While I want to save for a case, the x-factor is going to be the insertion rates. The larger checklist makes me think that they'll be fairly common, however Topps' recent Empire Strikes Back Widevision 3D had autographs at insane odds.

Avatar 3D Widevision is scheduled for an October release. The base set will have 48 cards. With just three cards per pack, putting together a set should be more challenging than most non-sport releases. The only other announced inserts are sketch cards, although early sales materials aren't offering too much on them as they're pending approvals and such. Given the CG nature of the film, I'd think this could be a tough license to pull off in sketch form.

Carlos Santana Named 2010 Topps Baseball Red Hot Rookie #1

Topps has announced Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana as the first Red Hot Rookie Redemption from 2010 Topps Series Two Baseball.

Although the pop culture cards in baseball products seem to have slowed, seeing this card makes me wonder how long it'll be before there a dual Carlos Santana autograph with the baseball player and the guitarist. At least there's a connection there unlike a lot of the other random pairings that have been made over the years.

Mike Stanton Named 2010 Topps Finest Baseball Rookie Redemption #5

Today Topps named Florida Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton as their fifth rookie redemption for 2010 Topps Finest Baseball. So while Stanton has been a standout for the Marlins this year, this announcement has just driven up the secondary value on redemptions 6-10 as speculators try and guess which one is going to be that pitcher from Washington a couple of people are talking about.

Custom Sketch Card Collection: The A-Team by Chris Henderson

Over the weekend I snuck away to the city to catch the new A-Team movie. I went in with zero expectations seeing as how it obviously wasn't the cheesy 80s show I followed. And Mr. T was nowhere in sight. But you know what? It wasn't bad - a cartoon take on a cartoon TV show. Some parts were a little too over the top, but others were great fun.

The movie gives me an excuse to post the first custom sketch cards I had made some years ago, a four-card set done by Chris Henderson.

Henderson really nailed it with these. From the detailed drawings to the little things like the deep red background. There'll never be another set for the show so I'd have to say these are the best A-Team cards I've seen.