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.

Random Pack Breaks: Pondering 2009 Topps Allen and Ginter Baseball

I think it's safe to say that there's at least a two hour drive between my home and the nearest place where I could find a pack of 2009 Topps Allen and Ginter. So I was pretty stoked to come across four packs in my travels back home. While I may be missing out on the Gint-a-Cuffs goodness, I still offer everyone this single patriotic pack.

 

147. Coco Crisp pondering why he hasn't Tweeted on Twitter in a while.

 

229. Mark Ellis pondering why he has to pose for this friggin' card. 

 

195. Kevin Kouzmanoff pondering tonight's finale of So You Think You Can Dance (yes, when this photo was taken months ago he was future pondering).

 

32. Jeremy Bonderman pondering how he's going to spend the shiny quarter promised to him by Jim Leyland for hitting the side of the big red barn with the ball in his hand. Little did Bonderman know that the ball was rigged by that prankster Miguel Cabrera with a remote control device, ensuring that Bonderman will indeed miss the big red barn, miss out on Leyland's shiny quarter and lose all confidence in his pitching.

 

27. Chien Ming Wang pondering why he'd score -1 in Gint-a-Cuffs.

 
 

 251. Carl Crawford pondering pounding someone in the head with this bat if they don't hurry up and paint this darn picture.

 

161. Lil' Justin Morneau pondering the meaning of pondering. And what to have for a snack. 

 

NP19. Erik Bedard pondering Mitsou.

I'm pondering what a cool pack this was - two Canadians out of eight cards. No unicorns or William Wallaces, though.

Random Pack Breaks: 2009 Bowman Jumbo

I'm a sucker for the jumbo pack. It's probably because I'm more into building sets than anything else so they offer me a lot of bang at a somewhat reasonable price. When I was in the city last weekend I had very little interest in 2009 Bowman Baseball, but without any Topps Series Two available in my neck of the woods and an opportunity to buy some new packs as opposed to Walmart repack leftovers, I jumped. Here's a jumbo pack with my random thoughts.

174. Collin Balester, Nationals
114. Aaron Rowand, Giants
46. Brian Roberts, Orioles
17. Ted Lilly, Cubs
130. Josh Johnson, Marlins

Five cards in and I'm not overly enthused. Generic pictures, pretty tame players. Let's continue.

213. David Price (sort-of) RC, Rays

I got a Price out of my only purchase of Bowman last year, except that one was had Chrome, Refractor and autograph goodness going for it. Still, I'll take it.

57. Johan Santana, Mets
102. Chris Iannetta, Rockies

Orange 29. Russell Martin, Dodgers (065/250)

It's always nice to get a card of someone you collect. Inserts make it a little sweeter.

The second half of the top-half veterans were nice. Now onto the guys I've never heard of, 90% of whom I'll never hear of beyond this pack. I've put their draft year and round in brackets, not that that's really any indication of the prospect status, although it helps.

BP79. Will Atwood, Nationals (12th round, 2008)
BP47. Jon Mark Owings, Braves (17th round, 2004)
BP45. Wilson Ramos, Twins (Free Agent, 2004)
BP75. Brett Oberholtzer, Braves (8th round, 2008)
BP63. David Genao, Rays (18th round, 2008)
BP40. Cristian Beltre, Diamondbacks (Free Agent, 2006)
BP88. Jose Barajas, Orioles (26th round, 2008)

The guys who were actually drafted average out around the 16th round. I'm not holding my breath that any Mike Piazza-types will emerge from the Prospects portion of the pack.

And now for a little juicing of the World Baseball Classic:

BW7. Gift Ngoepe, South Africa (Pirates) (Free Agent, 2008)
The WBC subsets are starting to grow on me, but only when I get a Canadian.

Gold BP58. Wilin Rosario, Rockies (Free Agent, 2006)
I saw the purpose of the gold parallels when they were decoy cards. Please retire them or switch back to International Foil.

The time has come for some Chrome.

BCP76. Pat McAnaney, Diamondbacks (8th round, 2008)
BCP42. Marc Rzepczynski, Blue Jays (5th round, 2007)
BCP25. Jeremy Hamilton, Phillies (5th round, 2008)
BCW9. Nicholas Weglarz, Canada (Indians) (3rd round, 2005) - another Canadian!
BCP80. Tommy Johnson, Mariners (27th round, 2008)
BCP3. Greg Veloz, Mets (Free Agent, 2006)

Other than the illustrious 27th rounder, the average round of the Chrome Prospects is definitely a little better. Time to finish with a few more vets.

151. Howie Kendrick, Diamondbacks
4. Chase Utley, Phillies
163. Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
88. Zack Greinke, Royals
179. Nick Markakis, Orioles
111. Nelson Cruz, Rangers
124. Nick Swisher and his ball balancing on the end of the bat trick, Yankees
131. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs

Overall, I think the design of 2009 Bowman Baseball is solid but not spectacular. It reminds me of a mix between 2008 and 1997. The black borders are clean and I definitely like that the design of the veterans and prospects are the same rather than the black and white designs from last year. Let's face it, although the numbering may differ, a true set of 2009 Bowman Baseball includes both the base set veterans and the prospects.

Getting two Canadians in the pack was a definite bonus. Interestingly, in getting Greinke, Lilly and Price, half of my starting rotation for my baseball pool were there to represent.

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!

Mega-Box of Joy from gcrl

From the on-going journey of catching up and checking in comes some highlights from the Mega-Box of Joy sent my way from gcrl.

There were

Expos looking to make the catch,

 

and others making the catch.

There was

 

 

Matt Stairs making a fool of himself and

 

Matt Stairs making a fool of himself (I think someone at Pinnacle Brands in 1998 hated him).

There was

 

famous Canadians and

 

not-so-famous Canadians.

Finally, there was

old set needs and

new-ish set needs of old guys.

Thanks, GCRL!

A Day at the Movies: King of the Hill featuring Fergie Jenkins and the Chicago Cubs

King of the Hill

Filmed over the course of the 1972 and 1973 seasons, King of the Hill is a laid back yet informative look at Fergie Jenkins, the only Canadian in the baseball Hall of Fame, and baseball in general as it was at the time. Interestingly, there's lots of talk of big contracts and baseball becoming a big business, just as we talk about them today. Perhaps it's a timeless thing. Yet there's still lots of nostalgia and history in the documentary.

If you have an hour to spare, check out this little slice of Canadian filmmaking.

In the Game's Special Offer With a Handful of Autographs From Canada's World Junior Champs

In the Game has announced a special "Super Box" offer to coincide with Canada's five-peat at the World Junior Hockey Championships on Monday.

For $79.95 you get 30 packs of 2008-09 Heroes & Prospects Hockey and one of nine specially stamped autographed cards from Canada's gold medal-winning roster. Here's the autograph breakdown:

• John Tavares (30)
• Thomas Hickey (50)
• Alex Pietrangeo (50)
• P.K. Subban (50)
• Jordan Eberle (40)
• Tyler Ennis (50)
• Angelo Esposito (50)
• Zack Boychuk (50)
• Cody Hodgson (30)
  

A rundown of the math shows a total of 400 Super Boxes will be produced.

Here's a link to the order form.

Welcome Home, Fergie Jenkins

As of right now, Fergie Jenkins is the only Canadian player with a spot in Cooperstown. While a small argument could be made for Larry Walker to sit alongside him in a few years, I suspect it's going to be another couple of decades before another Canuck makes it, namely Justin Morneau. But he's still a young buck and lots can happen.

At any rate, below are a trio of Fergies sent to me by Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius who is very busy today.

The first is a 1972 Topps "NL Pitching Leaders" card featuring Jenkins alonside Steve Carlton, Al Downing and Tom Seaver. Fergie has a great pose, albeit the picture is cropped very tightly. Although I did already have this card, the one Matt sent is an excellent upgrade from the one I previously had. The colours are much more vibrant compared to the old faded one and the corners look very nice too.

The second card is a 1974 Topps card in which Fergie looks like he just rolled out of bed. His eyes look very sleepy and his hair appears as though its had a hat on it for a while. That said, I do like the portrait set against a blue sky with the flag design Topps used that year.

The final card shows Jenkins as a grizzled veteran [I love that term] on the mound for Texas. He's clearly been in better shape but marching on to finish his career with 3,000 strikeouts.

 

Thanks, Matt, for the awesome additions to my Canadian-born player collection!