Has Razor Topped the Castro Autograph?

Somewhere out there is a Fidel Castro cut signature card from Topps that was defaced and has gone on to become something of a piece of hobby art. Apparently the guy who got it didn't bleed Commie red and proceeded to doodle all over the card. If Castro's controversial, I wonder what some will think of a dual autograph Razor has coming in their upcoming 2010 Cut Signature Edition.

It's a Gulf War grand-daddy: George Bush (Sr) and Saddam Hussein. This wasn't the only card that stuck out on the sell sheet. I'm immediately drawn to the name of my all-time hero, Jim Henson, whom I was surprised to see as a marquee name. Perhaps Razor owner Brian Gray is a huge Muppets fan like myself.

The sell sheet curiously lists the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi and Mark Twain in the same breath as Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt.

Like previous Razor Cut Signature releases and the recent Upper Deck Prominent Cuts, it's a mixed bag with some added intrigue.

More 2010 Topps Chicago Cubs Abraham Lincoln Variations

When Topps confirmed the Yankees pie-face variations a couple weeks ago, their announcement let word out that there were more variations to be found. They challenged collectors to figure out Abraham Lincoln's favorite team. I figured the answer might have something to do with the Nationals. It turns out Abe likes the Cubbies. JayBee announced earlier in the week that an Abe variant had been uncovered on Milton Bradley's card.

But it didn't end there. Since then, a total of four Cubs Lincoln variations have been uncovered.

2010 Topps Baseball 123. Jeff Samardzija 'Abraham Lincoln variation'

A cartoon Abe jumped out of the Mary Poppins sidewalk and went to watch a baseball game apparently.

2010 Topps Baseball 135. Ryan Dempster "Abraham Lincoln variation'

Abe wanted a better seat. He had some pull with Major League Baseball and landed himself a spot on the field.

2010 Topps Baseball 306. Milton Bradley "Abraham Lincoln variation'

Lincoln stopped the ball with his hat, the crowd went wild and he was plastered onto the field-level fence.

2010 Topps Baseball 326. Tyler Colvin "Abraham Lincoln variation'

Happy with his play, the Cubs took Abe on as a fielding coach. He took the job but insisted he remain true to his character and keep the hat and beard. The Yankees were also interested in Abe's services but when he refused to shave, they passed. Baseball card fans around the world (New York excluded) rejoiced because there's enough variation-love for the Yanks.

Initial prices for the variants are ridiculous but not surprising. The first three sold on eBay have all been in the $150 range. So you might want to scour your sets and extras because most of these variations are are extremely subtle.

Oh, and this is also a variation, but not a 'Lincoln variation' as some are describing on eBay. It's just one of the 20 Legends variants:

2010 Topps 90. Rogers Hornsby variation

I'll keep an eye out for any additional Cubs Abes. I suspect they'll pop up en mass in the next few days as word gets around. Topps will probably provide some confirmation soon as well. Insertion rates are also not known at this time and anyone taking a guess is speculating. Because it has taken a couple of months for these to be uncovered, many will probably go unnoticed for a while yet.

Connecting the Card With the Day

It's often a tough task figuring out the exact source of a photo from any given card set that doesn't deal directly with a particular show, movie or event. But it can happen.

Case in point, below is a card that arrived yesterday. It may show volleyball players Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, but I bought it for the yuckster in the middle. For whatever reason, I hold onto cards with presidents. I'd hold onto Canadian Prime Ministers too if they made more of them.

As soon as I saw this card, I recalled back to last year when some hilarious photos surfaced of Bush getting cozy with some soon-to-be Olympians. May-Treanor and Walsh were two of them. Here's a photo from the same day:

And another:

And one more for good measure:

(Source for all three: UK Daily Mail)

By now, most of you have probably seen these pictures. I've seen them several times but they're still worth a laugh.

And now back to the topic at hand. Check out the clothes: White bikini? Check. Red and black bikini? Check! Faux light denim collared shirt? Check!!

So the photo from the card in question was taken August 9, 2008. Thanks, Internets! You make sleuthing fun. And thank you Topps for creating a memento to commemorate one of Bush's final acts of unintentional hilarity.

2009 Topps Triple Threads Baseball is the Latest Set to Have Kennedy Content

Topps announced this morning that a triple relic card featuring Kennedy brother John, Robert and Ted has been added to 2009 Topps Triple Threads Baseball.

Entitled "Camelot," the card is limited to five copies. It features a piece of a sweater worn by JFK and pieces of the Capital Building floor in the other two slots.

It seems that Topps is riding the Kennedy wave since the passing of Ted. Although there have been numerous JFK and Robert Kennedy cards released in the past couple of years, between this and Ted Kennedy's eTopps card from last week, it looks like the trend is on the rise.

Masterpieces and More

Thanks to Eric at the Pettite Pursuit (who is partial to Andy Pettite) and Dan at Saints of the Cheap Seats (who cheers for Cleveland and pursues Omar Vizquel, amongst others), my set of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces is dwindling. Yay. Both sent packages northward during my hiatus that were waiting in the mailbox. Although not nearly as iconic as the 2007 set, this is still a beautiful set - usually.

Although I'm sad that it doesn't appear to be in the works as a full-fledged set in 2009, I know I wouldn't mind if Upper Deck limited it to an insert set like they are with their 2009-10 Upper Deck Basketball set.

Both packages also included other goodies. Eric sent along some Canuck-ian ball players. I don't know why, but 2008 UD X is kind of growing on me. Only a little. As in a smidge. 

Dan included hits from this set,

 

this set, 

 

this set,

 

and this set.

Thanks again Dan and Eric!

Another Week, Another Obama Card, This Time From eTopps

Last week there was the announcement that there'd be a Barack Obama Cut Signature in Sport Kings Series C. This week it looks as though there'll be another card featuring the President coming from eTopps. I logged in this morning to see if I was allocated the first three UFC cards the program offered (I was) and proceeded to check the message boards for this week's offerings. There I was directed to the following:

That'd be a card showing the first pitch from the All-Star Game. It's not a very exciting looking card but one that is likely to generate a lot of interest. Last year eTopps had four cards of Presidential candidates done in a shiny Allen & Ginter style. While the other three can now be found cheap, the Obama continues to trade for more than $85.

This week's other eTopps cards include Joe Mauer, Brett Anderson and Prince Fielder in his Home Run Derby garb.

A Few More Father's Day Delights

Here's a few more cards to celebrate Father's Day with.

 

 2006 Topps Co-Signers Baseball Dual Autograph Cecil and Prince Fielder

 

1991 Score Baseball "The Griffeys"

 
 

1985 Fleer Baseball "Super Star Special"

 

John F. Kennedy (Topps, 1964) #2

 

President Obama (Topps, 2009) #65

 

The Brady Bunch (Topps, 1969) #83

 

Family Guy: Season Two (Inkworks, 2005) #P1

  

  

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.

Really?

We all know Obama is still the man, but his own Beckett? Actually, I'm not really all that surprised. I do find it interesting that the cover makes "the U.S. Presidents" seem like a bit of an afterthought.

He does have his own set, cards in several sports sets, a $100 eTopps card and some Spider-man comic that kicked butt in sales over the "death" of Batman (sorry, comic fans, but someone dying in a comic has lost 99% of its impact seeing as how 99.9% of deaths are negated by aliens, clones and really bad writing).


Here's the link if you're an Obamaniac.

Stretching It: Obamna and Robinson Dual Cut Autograph

So Topps has announced they're including a dual cut signature card featuring Jackie Robinson, the first African American Major Leaguer, with Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States in their American Heritage set. While both accomplishment are and will be major parts of US history, I think featuring them both on a single card is stretching the connection a little bit. Personally I would've rather seen them on separate cut signature cards as either one would be "lifetime" pulls that any collector would have been ecstatic over. That being said, if I somehow manage to pull it, I'm not cutting off one side and sending the other back.

Pick a Card: 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Americana Signatures

Time for another new feature on the blog. Pick a card. The idea is simple: I'll post a gallery, link to a gallery or a checklist and you pick the one (or two if you have to pick two) you'd like to add to your collection.

Let's kick it off with 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Americana Signatures. Here's a few samples:

 

 

For a checklist of the set and many more images, click here.

My first choice is the John Cusack. Firstly, I like my baseball cards to have a license attached to them. Non-sport cards, it doesn't matter so much. Cusack is one of my favorite actors. Say Anything and Eight Men Out are in the regular-viewing rotation. Grosse Pointe Blank is an under-appreciated gem in my books.

Although Cusack has had his signature in Donruss Americana II earlier in the year, the dark color photo used meant the autograph was hardly visible. Cusack also had an autograph in Upper Deck's Igor a couple of months ago, but I don't want to attach him to an ugly cartoon character.

My honorable mention is Hank Aaron. Although this set isn't licensed, I can overlook it due to the fact that he's pictured as a kind old soul, decked out for a night of dancing. There's no airbrushed logos, carefully angled shots or other cover-ups. It's just a happy guy looking like he's reminscing about the old days.

So what card would you pick? Here's the gallery (minus a couple of super-rare ones I haven't seen pop up yet).

Donruss Americana II Blaster Box Break (with a twist and a game)

Like most every other box I get, this retail blaster box of Donruss Americana II is not exactly a new release. The set's been out for a handful of months now. But like the blaster box of Upper Deck Masterpieces Baseball, this was another spotaneous $9.99 eBay purchase bought with combined shipping in mind.

The retail version of Americana II is meant to appeal to set collectors. They don't have the shiny finish like the hobby release, and nor do they have the price tag. A hobby pack seems to run in the $25 range. Sure, it guarantees you a hit, but I'm pretty sure my blaster box was almost guaranteed a hit as well.

Going in I knew that there'd be a lot of has-been stars and some who never were stars in the first place. I've seen a lot of the images. Yet it's hard to truly appreciate the horrendous checklist of this set until you line up all the cards together.

With that in mind, I'm going to introduce a game element to this box break. I'm going to post a picture of each card, pack by pack. Give yourself a point if you can name the "star." At the end, post your score in the comments. Don't cheat, though. No reference materials, checking of checklists and the like allowed. I was thinking of going in and Photoshopping the names out but that'd take too much time. Maybe if the set was a little nicer the effort would be worth it.

The person with the highest score by the time I wake up on Wednesday morning wins a virtual high five. There might be a little something else, there might not be.

Pack One

So the "hit" came right off the bat. No serial number like the box suggests there should be. Interesting.

At any rate, I recognize two sitcom stars and a dad from A Nightmare on Elm Street. 3 points for me.

Pack Two

1 point

Pack Three

2 points.

Pack Four

1 point.

Pack Five

3 points if you count me referring to one as "That guy from the ping pong movie." Two points if not.

Pack Six

3 more points.

Pack Seven

3 points. The Proof card is one of many parallels. This one's numbered /250.

Pack Eight

2 points.

My total score: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2= 18

So I consider myself a bit of a pop culture geek and yet I couldn't identify more than half of the faces on these cards of "pop culture icons." Yikes. So either a) I need to read more Perez Hilton and The National Enquirer or b) This set isn't what it claims to be.

While I like the idea behind the Americana line as it enables cards to exist without the limits of a particular license, there's a long way to go before I could back this brand as a whole. Sure, there's some fun cards like the Diff'rent Strokes dual autograph I picked up as a single and a handful of other autographs. But there's also way too many Dancing With the Stars candidates.

Here's a couple of suggestions on how the Americana line can be made better:

1) Make it simpler.
I like that Donruss is trying to create mass appeal by offering both hobby and retail versions. Limit the differences in cards to the base cards. As it stands all inserts are different based on their foil finish. When you get all the different levels of parallels together, it's just too much. If you want to keep the parallels, that's fine. Just spread them across both versions. Make them easier to find in hobby packs if you must. But when you have a bronze hobby version numbered out of 250 and a bronze retail parallel numbered out of 250, confusion's going to set in, especially when not everybody knows there's hobby and retail versions.

2) Use more costumes, not just street clothes.
The guarantee on the back of the memorabilia card I received reads that the swatch was cut from the star's own clothing. Unless you're an icon like John Wayne, Humphrey Boggart or Marilyn Monroe, nobody's going to care. Instead, let's see some costumes. Sure, this would make the pool of potential memorabilia cards much smaller, but who really wants to pay premium pack prices for the shirt from the guy who co-starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street?

3) Get better photos.
Most of the cards appear as though they were shot at public premieres. They're far from flattering. I mean Supergirl has the half-blink happening. But look at the publicity shots, particularly of the older stars. They're quite attractive. Give us more of those. Plus, those subjects who were in Donruss Celebruty Cuts have the same photos. Let's get some variety happening.

4) More genuine stars.
If the cards are going to be ugly, it'd be nice to at least know who you're looking at. I apprecaite the angle of having guys like Gary Coleman who never were huge stars outside of a single role, but American Idol rejects from several years ago?

5) More Mr. T.

So remember to get your scores in to the comments section. There's a virtual high five in it for the winner. But don't cheat by clicking on the cards and reading the names. Go by who you recognize off your initial impression.