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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In Case You Were Sick of Obama and Presidents in Your Baseball Cards...

Topps is tossing out a set dedicated to just Barack Obama. The 90-card set will be a biography of sorts, going back to his childhood and moving forward to his election as president.

Topps makes it sound a little sexier in their press release:

Each of the 90 cards comprising the Barack Obama Inaugural Edition will tell a different and compelling story of his life—from his childhood in Hawaii to his college days at Columbia and Harvard…from his job as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side to his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004…from his whirlwind presidential campaign to his rousing victory speech on election night. Poignant relationships with his parents, grandparents, wife, children and other family members are featured, as well as those with political figures and global leaders, in dozens of photos and words, many culled from Obama’s own speeches and writings.

Each pack will have six cards and a sticker. Yes, Obama stickers that you could very easily sticker on the bumper of your Republican co-worker who still might be licking their wounds come April Fool's Day.The set will release in January.

The "Other" Topps Sarah Palin

With the first breaks of 2008 Topps Update hitting, here's the "other" Tina Fey Sarah Palin that fits in nicely with the rest of the set:

as opposed to the "Beauty Queen":

I still don't get why we couldn't have just had the first one. Oh, wait. The non-gimmicky one is too plain given all the politico cards this year. The stakes had to be raised to get the attention of the media. Wait a sec, are blogs media? If so, I just fell for it. Crap.

Good night.

Gimmick Card du Jour: Topps Campaign 2008 Sarah Palin

Topps announced today their latest gimmick card: beauty queen Sarah Palin.

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights will expand on the politically themed Campaign 2008 inserts with two different cards of the Republican vice presidential candidate. The first, more common, card shows Palin as the hockey-loving mom she is today.

The second is filled with all sorts of gimmicky goodness: Palin as an 80s beauty queen. Gimmick lameness aside, politicians shouldn't have ANY attempted sex appeal. It also goes to show how seriously her running is being taken.