Pack Tease: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

 Have you ever seen better pack art?

This arrived in my mailbox today. And it's legit. I don't have time to bust it right away but sometimes it's okay to show off legends like Ron Burgundy, especially when they come in a faux wax pack.

Gorgeous Artwork Highlights Set From TCM

Throughout the month of August Turner Classic Movies will be airing their "Summer Under the Stars" festival, showcasing a different star for each day of the month. The cable network is also offering up 500 sets of gorgeous trading cards specifically for the event.

The cards feature the stunning artwork of Michael Schwab. The back of each card includes a quote from the movie and character featured, as well as a list of the star’s other films being shown.  For a chance to win a set of cards, visit http://tcm.com/summer (although the contest doesn't seem to be live yet).  Two sweepstakes drawings will be held, with 250 winners chosen in the middle of the month and another 250 chosen at the end of the month.

Topps Online Store Offers Five Exclusive UFC Cards

Topps struck gold with the launch of their UFC line. And they don't seem to be letting up. In about a year they've released three full-blown sets, some eTopps cards and a couple of other odds and ends. The latest cards are five that are only available through Topps' online store. They come free with the purchase of a store-exclusive TapouT T-shirt.

The picture of the cards are pretty small, but the names I can make out are Kimbo Slice, Thiago Alves, Keith Jardine, Kenny Florian and some other guy that someone might want to help out identifying.

Topps Online Store Exclusive UFC TapouT cards

The shirt costs $28 plus shipping. I know I wouldn't wear it, but I'm also not the type who displays MMA brands on any of my clothing. It must come with age or the fact that I'm not cool. However I did have one of those color-change shirts back in the early 90s. I think I was cool for a couple of hours. Then the shirt was uncool so I put it in the dryer and killed the color change effect leaving me with one ugly, gimmick-less shirt.

In all honesty, I don't understand the whole MMA culture that goes with these shirts. To me they all look very similar with the same logos. But I guess so are Levi's jeans. At any rate, if you want the shirt but not the cards that come with it, I'm certainly here.

2010 Topps Heritage Baseball Variations and Short Prints

Yeah, I know I'm a little behind. You've likely already heard, but to keep up with consistency's sake of running short print and variation info (I find I need it five years later quite often), here's the lowdown for 2010 Topps Heritage Baseball.

Short Prints:
Cards 426 - 500 are all short printed. They're inserted 1:3 packs.

Variations:

Dice Game
Based on a rare test issue from 1961 that added an interactive game element, the Dice Game variations in 2010 Topps Heritage are 1:72 packs. The checklist consists of 18 cards.

Image courtesy of Fielder's Choice

• Joe Mauer
• Victor Martinez
• Albert Pujols
• Mark Teixeira
• Grady Sizemore
• Justin Upton
• Adam Jones
• Vladimir Guerrero
• Matt Kemp
• Ichiro
• Daisuke Matsuzaka
• Tim Lincecum
• Chase Utley
• Ian Kinsler
• Derek Jeter
• Hanley Ramirez
• Alex Rodriguez
• Chipper Jones 

Color Variations
These appear to represent the "cute gimmick cards" of the series. Topps didn't say how rare the color variations are other than they're "extremely short printed."

• Albert Pujols - Black-Black
• Joe Mauer - Black-Black
• CC Sabathia - Green-Yellow
• Derek Jeter - Red-Yellow
• Grady Sizemore - Green-Red
• J.A. Happ - Orange-Blue
• Zack Greinke - Yellow-Blue
• Ryan Braun - Blue-Orange
• David Wright - Green-Yellow
• Pablo Sandoval - Yellow-Green

If there's going to be extreme short prints, this I don't mind so much. They don't scream as being a publicity stunt (Rudy G raising his fist to the heavens in a Red Sox celebratory scrum), nor do they insult the intelligence and allegiances of baseball fans ("Thom" Glavine, slapping rival logos on superstars). These are subtle variations that don't wreck havoc on a set.

Exclusives
Topps honors the 1961 home run chase by producing three 15-card subsets of exclusives that come together to make one 45-card insert set. Each will have a different player in the set:

Babe Ruth (hobby packs)
Roger Maris (Wal-mart exclusive)
Mickey Mantle (Target exclusive)

Among these are three short prints: Ruth (#60), Maris (#61) and Mantle (#56). Each will also have a relic parallel serial numbered to the player's jersey number (Ruth /3, Maris /9 and Mantle /7).

Autograph Note
Finally, Topps also announced that all of Juan Marichal's Real One Autographs were signed in red. None are sequentially numbered like the rest of the red ink variations in the set.

Paranormal Activity Cards Coming in the New Year

Breygent, the company behind the awesome Dexter set, is hoping to cash in on the surprise box office hit of the year, Paranormal Activity. Little information is available as of yet besides what's listed in the announcement below. Breygent will also be producing an exclusive film cel card that will be included with the online exclusive DVD special edition.

I'm curious to see how well this set does. I didn't see the film and I heard mixed things. Some loved it, others saw it is being a boring, over-hyped piece of crap. Still, something that costs $11,000 to make and rakes in $107 million is intriguing. When I contacted Breygent directly, I was told that this is all that is approved at this time. I'll be sure to post more details as they become available.

Topps Gets Exclusive Rights for Minor League Baseball

Another license awarded, another exclusive. This time Topps has got the exclusive right for Minor League Baseball. Because I'm pretty busy right now and don't have a lot of time (some may call it lazy), here's Topps' press release in all of its glory:

Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP) and the Topps Company, the leading creator and marketer of sports cards, today announced an exclusive multi-year licensing deal to make Topps the Official Baseball Card of Minor League Baseball.
 
The agreement makes Topps the only trading card manufacturer licensed by MLBP to produce nationally-distributed trading cards of top draft picks and prospects within Minor League Baseball, and will give Topps the rights to names & logos of the 160 affiliated Minor League clubs and current Minor League players in uniform on baseball cards and stickers beginning on January 1, 2010.  In addition, Topps will now have the exclusive use of the Pro Debut logo.  Its first product will be its 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 1 to be unveiled in early March 2010.
 
“Topps is excited to become the official baseball card of Minor League Baseball as many of the young players today will be stars in the Major Leagues tomorrow,” said Warren Friss, Topps. “Now we’re the only trading card licensed by both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball and we look forward to a lasting relationship with both Leagues.”

“Topps continues to differentiate itself as the leader within the industry creating superior products for our fans,” said Howard Smith, Senior Vice President, Licensing, Major League Baseball.  “Many fans begin to follow their favorite players as they become standout stars in the Minor Leagues, and a major avenue to build this connection is through collecting their Minor League cards.”
Minor League Baseball and Topps annually recognize the top prospects in baseball with the Topps Player of Month Awards and year-end classification all-star teams.   “We are pleased to extend our long-standing relationship with The Topps Company into licensed trading cards,” said Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Conner. “This provides us with a unique opportunity to continue recognizing the best and brightest minor league talent while providing our fans and collectors high-quality trading card products.”

Earlier this year, Topps became the first exclusive baseball card company of Major League Baseball in nearly 30 years.  The company looks to expand its ongoing efforts to invigorate the category, continue launching ground-breaking products, improve the retail and collecting experience and make cards more relevant to children.

Some initial thoughts:

• Another exclusive. Why am I not surprised?
• Wait a sec, the combination of Major and Minor licenses could be interesting.
• Pro-debut logo? Puh-lease. Just give me the dang rookie card so my easily confused mind is less confused.
• Re-brand Bowman as a minor league set.