Visiting the actual South End Grounds is no longer possible, but the Baseball Hall of Fame has the next best thing. Tom Shieber of the Baseball HOF has re-created the stadium in an interactive exhibit after years of scouring documents and poring over old newspaper articles. The results are a long-gone ballpark brought back to life. Read More
Launched at this year’ s National Sports Collectors Convention, Memory Lane’s Historic Rarities Auction generated $1.88 million in bids, paced by a 1916 M11-5 Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card and a complete, unopened cello box of 1959 Topps packs.
The auction wrapped up just after midnight Pacific Time Sunday after more than two weeks of online and phone bidding.
The Ruth card, #151 in the popular set of cards issued while he was still a pitcher with the Red Sox, sold for $59,500 which includes a 19% buyer’s premium. The blank backed card was given away as a premium by the popular sports weekly and has grown in interest significantly over the last year.
A second, scarcer Ruth rookie card from the same time, this one issued by Famous and Barr and in lower grade, sold for $39,792.
Full boxes of unopened packs from more than a half century ago are rare and there was intense bidding for the 1959 Topps Baseball cello box offered in the auction. The final realized price was $44,948—more than $1,200 per pack. Originally selling for a dime each, the 36 clear-wrapped packs were housed in the original counter display box.
A 1972 Topps Baseball cello box also generated attention from bidders around the world, bringing $9,926 while a ’72 wax box sold for$6,861 and a 1969 Football series two box sold for $6,237. Individual packs offered included a 1960 Topps rack with a Carl Yastrzemski rookie showing. It sold for $5,869.
In addition to the1916 Ruth cards, the Historic Rarities auction contained dozens of other items associated with the Bambino. Highlights included a 1933 Yankees team signed bat obtained by two men from the Midwest who journeyed to Yankee Stadium that year and secured the signatures while hanging out near the team dugout. The bat featured 24 autographs including Ruth and Lou Gehrig. It sold for $28,061.
One of the more historically fascinating items was a 1927 Ruth signed bank check, made out on the day he hit the first home run of his historic 1927 season, when he set the mark for single season home runs with 60 and the ‘Murderer’s Row’ Yankees took baseball by storm.
A 1933 Goudey Ruth #53, graded PSA 5, brought $8,803, an inscribed ball sold for $8,205 and a Type 1 photo from 1921 went for $3,643.
The auction also included a remarkable collection of over 1,100 first day covers, signed by famous athletes, historic figures and others issued in a long-running series by Gateway Stamp Company of St. Louis. The group sold for $38,998.
One of only 265 1909-1911 T206 cards ever to be awarded a ‘9’ (mint) grade by PSA was sold in the auction as well. The Piedmont Germany Schaefer changed hands for $6,614. A rare Broad Leaf back card from the T206 set sold for $6,455.
Memory Lane had a large group of vintage Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio cards available. Many sold for more than $10,000 each including:
1951 Bowman Mantle rookie card (NM/MT) $21,043
1938 Goudey PSA 8 DiMaggio $16,975
1958 Topps Mantle PSA 9 $15,991
1956 Topps Mantle PSA 9 $13,540
1960 Topps Mantle PSA 9 $9,684
1953 Topps Mantle NM+ $5,094
Bidding on a pair of scarce Ted Williams issues was competitive. A regionally issued ’54 Wilson Franks card, graded PSA 7, sold for $20,540 while an example of the hard to find ’54 Bowman pulled from production early that year, brought $9,040.
More recent vintage cards also generate numbers when they reach the highest grade levels. Case in point, a 1973 Topps Nolan Ryan, one of three to ever reach a gem mint 10 level in PSA’s history, sold for $12,581.
The 1969 Topps Lou Brock is legendary for its scarceness in mint condition. Just four reside in PSA 9 holders despite more than 540 submissions. MLI offered one of those four in this sale, though, and as expected, bidding was fierce. It was finally nailed down for $5,463.
A 1963 Topps common of Floyd Robinson in a ‘10’ holder, sold for $2,576.
Other interesting pieces of baseball memorabilia that were sold included a program and ticket stub from the 1951 Giants-Dodgers playoff game in which Bobby Thomson hit the ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’. The lot sold for $5,155. A pair of Bob Feller’s MLB Lifetime Passes sold for more than $6,000 combined.
Memory Lane currently has over 2,300 items on eBay. Click here to see them.
To register for catalog auctions and the company’s upcoming I Own it Now sale event scheduled for next month, call 877.606.LANE (5263).
Each year, basketball’s finest gather in Springfield, Mass., to honor the hardcourt superstars chosen for Hall of Fame induction. Together with the enshrinement and reunion dinner, there’s another big event that has become a tradition during the weekend: Grey Flannel’s Annual Basketball Hall of Fame Auction.
This year’s auction – Grey Flannel’s seventh to date – includes 120 lots game-worn jerseys, championship rings and even an Olympic Gold Medal. Each lot entered in the sale is accompanied by a letter from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Leading the pack are ten game-used jerseys from the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, each accompanied by a letter of authenticity hand-signed by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Players’ game-used apparel includes jerseys from Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Both have already surpassed their individual reserves of $25,000. The jerseys were purchased at halftime during the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, with proceeds benefiting US troops overseas. “Impeccable provenance, to say the least,” said Grey Flannel Auctions’ president, Richard E. Russek.
Another big ticket lot is the game-used jersey of Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Jerry West. The jersey was worn by “Mr. Clutch” during the early 1960s and features a rare script-style “Los Angeles” on its front.
Walter Davis’ 1976 Men’s Basketball Olympic Gold Medal is also being sold at the Hall of Fame event. The United States defeated Yugoslavia to take home the gold during America’s bicentennial. The medal comes with a letter of authenticity from Davis. The reserve on this featured lot is $10,000.
Fans and collectors focused on the ABA have been checking out the 1967-68 Connie Hawkins inaugural ABA season Pittsburgh Pipers game-used rookie home jersey. Sourced from the team’s trainer, Grey Flannel says it has photomatched the inaugural season jersey to the season in which Hawkins won the ABA’s Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and 1967-68 ABA title with the Pipers. The reserve is $10,000.
Several iconic pieces from the personal collection of Minneapolis Lakers great and NBA Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelsen comprise a special section of the auction. The items include a 1951 NBA Western Conference All-Star game-used jersey from the inaugural All-Star Game and his early 1950s Minneapolis Lakers worn road shooting shirt with “10,000 Lakes” emblazoned on the back, an extremely rare style. Each has a $5,000 reserve bid. The collection comes to Grey Flannel from Mikkelson and, accordingly, each lot is accompanied by his letter of authenticity.
Championship jewelry is well represented by Robert Parish’s Boston Celtics Championship ring from 1983-84. The ring was presented to the Hall of Fame center after the fabled Beantown hoopsters defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and gave the Celtics franchise its fifteenth championship. The ring is offered with a letter of authenticity from Robert Parish and has a reserve of $10,000.
While on the subject of Boston Celtics legends, Sam Jones’ 1964-65 Celtics Championship trophy is also featured in Grey Flannel’s 7th Annual Basketball Hall of Fame auction. Accompanies by his letter of authenticity, the trophy was presented to the Hall of Famer by the team and carries a reserve of $5,000.
Additional lots include a photomatched 1974-75 Bill Walton rookie Portland Trailblazers game-used and autographed home uniform, a circa-1968 Dave Cowens Florida State University worn shooting shirt accompanied by a Cowens letter of authenticity, a photomatched circa-1966 Rick Barry rookie-era San Francisco Warriors game-used home jersey with Rick Barry letter of authenticity, and a 1977-78 David Thompson Denver Nuggets game-used and autographed road jersey attributed to his 73-point performance on April 9, 1978.
Absentee bidding is currently under way. Bidding will culminate live at the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 7, with each lot closing in succession beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Internet live bidding will be available during the sale.
For additional information on any lot in the sale or to order a free full-color catalog, call 631-288-7800, ext. 223, or email info@GreyFlannelAuctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.GreyFlannelAuctions.com.
This week’s contest is for a Doug Flutie 2012 Elite Throwback Threads Jersey #’ed/199. I gotta go get me some Flutie Flakes!!! Good luck!!!
Contest Details:
This contest will end Friday, August 24, 2012 @ 8:00 p.m. EST
To enter, please leave a comment in this post
You can enter once per day
The winner will be selected at random
Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering
The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over
The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again
Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!
Legendary Auctions says it has set a new record price for a game-worn Mickey Mantle jersey. The company says it sold the shirt Mantle was wearing in Game 7 of the 1964 World 
Series for $675,000 via a private transaction.
It was the game in which Mantle hit his 18th World Series homer, which established the still-standing record. Mantle’s homer came off St. Louis ace Bob Gibson.
Legendary says the jersey was acquired directly from a Yankee clubhouse attendant “and then stowed away for the past nearly half-century…until now”.
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Stephen Shoemaker, the owner of Double Play Sports Cards in Elmira, N.Y., was beaten and robbed on Saturday…but there was a positive outcome.
According to the Elmira Heights Police Department, 35-year-old Robert R. Comfort of Hoseheads went to the shop around 1 p.m. Saturday, assaulted Shoemaker and stole money. He took off, but it didn’t take long to find him.
He went home.
According to The Leader newspaper in Corning, NY, Shoemaker’s injuries were minor and he was treated on scene.
Comfort is being held on $20,000 cash bail.
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A New Jersey shop was broken into on August 8. Stolen at Rookies and Stars in Woodbridge were some vintage cards including a PSA 7 1957 Topps Mantle, a PSA 9 1959 Topps#469 Banks Wins MVP, a 1952 Bowman Mantle PSA 2, wax boxes, mini helmets, baseballs and more. Call Detective Tina Small at (732)602-7396 if you have any information.
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Don’t forget..free listings on eBay for sports cards and memorabilia from now until the end of the year.
Anyone who watched Indianapolis Colts rookie Andrew Luck play during his decorated college career at Stanford can attest to the undeniable artistry he brings to the quarterback position. The accuracy. The precision. The ability to deliver one masterpiece after another.
All of that was on display once again last week during Luck’s first promising preseason performance. But if you really want to see a true artist at work, check out what Luck can do with a few Sharpies in his hand.
Last Sunday, just hours after Luck went 10-of-16 passing for 188 yards and two touchdowns during a 38-3 victory over St. Louis in his NFL debut, one of Luck’s original Panini America Sketch Cards from the 2012 NFLPA Rookie Premiere sold on eBay for the staggering sum of $1,500.
This particular Luck masterpiece — fittingly an accurate and overwhelmingly impressive rendition of Lucas Oil Stadium — created quite a buzz when it was unveiled earlier this month at the 33rd National Sports Collectors Convention. It probably didn’t hurt his handiwork that Luck earned a degree in architecture design from Stanford.
But that insane four-figure closing price is but one example of the crazy money being spent on Luck’s best Panini America trading cards these days. Earlier this month, a 2012 Elite Football Passing the Torch card autographed by both Luck and Peyton Manning sold for $830.99. His 2012 Elite Football Hard Hats Autograph changed hands for $548.08; his 2012 Elite Football Turn of the Century Autograph card bearing the sequential number 12/99 — his jersey number — sold for $450; and one of his Prestigious Picks signed prime-piece jersey cards from 2012 Prestige Football sold for $425.
Collectively, those staggering sales represent a sure sign that collectors are anticipating a banner season from the 2012 NFL Draft Class and, in this case, Luck has everything to do with it.
Take a look.
This should be fun! Here on All About Cards we will be participating in the 2012 edition of Panini’s very popular NFL Player of the Day program.
From September through to November we will be providing information about the local card shops in your area that will be running the NFLPOD program. By opening packs of Panini NFL cards that you have purchased at these exclusive shops in front of a store employee, you can win prizes just for pulling the highlighted Panini NFL Player of the Day or the Wild Cards, Andrew Luck or Robert Griffith III. These shops will select daily and weekly prize winners who then become eligible to be selected as the shop’s NFLPOD grand prize winner. All of the grand prize winners will be entered into a national sweepstakes for the overall national grand prize winner. That lucky collector will get to spend the day with an NFL player.
In addition, Panini has been generous enough to supply All About Cards with some prizes, just like the ones that will be given away at local card shops. This means everyone, regardless of whether or not you have a participating card shop in your area, will have a chance to win some great prizes.
If you have participated in any of our prior contests, you know I try to make giveaways as entertaining as possible so that it becomes more than just a random off of “I’m in” entries. There will be a large mix of ways to enter to win. Some prizes will be given away based on overall participation during the entire program period and some will be given away base on a limited time period. I will also be spreading the giveaways across this blog, our Twitter account, Facebook page, our YouTube channel and by email updates. Some entries I will direct you to, some you will have to find on your own. So if you haven’t done it already, make sure you are following All About Cards on all four sites and that you are on our email list.
I will also be adding to the prizes from my own personal collection based on the amount of participation and enthusiasm received. The more you give, the more I give back.
I’ll have additional details as we get closer. I hope this winds up being fun for all. Thanks again to Panini for providing this opportunity.
There was a brief discussion on Twitter Sunday morning about the declining quality of player signatures as a whole. It started when collector Rob Bertrand posted this about a hockey patch card signed by Marcus Kruger.
I responded:
Topps joined briefly…
Yes, it is a somewhat complex problem. Quantity, of course, is an issue. Card companies demand it to satisfy collectors and the quality of signatures is bound to suffer when players sit and sign hundreds or even a thousand cards at one time for future releases. It’s human nature to get tired after a while.
Some would argue that’s just how signatures have evolved.
There are fewer things that require actual hand-written letters these days. We don’t write letters anymore but when we do, we type them. I learned to type in middle school. Now, elementary kids are learning. There is far less emphasis on the old cursive writing style we all use to sign our names. A sloppy signature is seldom grounds for holding a kid back in school.
But is that really how a player normally signs his name on a more important document like a mortgage, personal check, bank account, driver’s license or credit card application? Maybe.
It could be that signing thousands of autographs has led to the downfall of neatness—or at least legibility.
But it has to start somewhere. I don’t buy that players don’t know how to write legibly or “that’s just how they write”. Players know how to form the letters in their names. My guess is that if you got ahold of their senior yearbook, you’d be able to read their signature.
Signing a huge box of trading cards or a stack of sticker sheets is probably not a player’s favorite task. They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t get paid. They want it over with as soon as possible.
Taking three more seconds to write neatly equates to 50 more minutes per 1,000 autographs. To most players, that’s wasted time. If they can get the job done and still get paid, why worry about it?
Complaining about it puts the card companies at risk that players won’t want to sign anymore if it becomes a time-consuming hassle where they’re autographs are judged and maybe even rejected for lack of quality.
You would hope that players are at least strongly encouraged by their leagues, their union and by the card companies (or at least one of the three) to make their autographs readable. It shouldn’t just be about the money or getting it done in record time. All rookies should get a lecture from someone to at least make an effort.
When bulk signings are done, players are usually sitting down. They’re not on the move, trying to sign for fans like they are after a game. Taking pride in their signature should be no different than taking pride in their work on the field or their community service.
What about simply not including bad autographs in products? If player ‘A’ signs one letter and a straight line, maybe he gets paid but he’s not asked to sign again. Can the card companies live without signatures from, say, 50 average or below average players with the poorest penmanship? I would think so but I don’t manage their product lines—or their bottom line.
The quality of autographs has been on a steady decline for the last decade or so and it’s not a problem restricted to trading cards. The issue isn’t that a few players can’t write well. It’s that a very large number of them now can’t—or won’t. Take a look at the gallery we published last month.
[View the story "Gallery of awful autographs" on Storify]
Gallery of awful autographs
Gallery
Storified by Sports Collector · Sun, Aug 19 2012 09:54:25
Gallery of Awful Autographs | Sports Collectors Daily|Sports collecting newsYou try to picture the scene in your mind. A giant box of trading cards shows up at a player’s home. He opens it up and his first express…
Look at signed balls from an earlier time. You can read most of the autographs if you know the team. Now take a look at a ball autographed in the last five or ten years. The difference is startling. I don’t know how the uthenticators can do it, frankly. Look at the pre-printed signatures on your vintage cards. They’re vastly different.
Many of the cards produced these days are beautiful. The card companies go to tremendous lengths to design little works of art. Sometimes the autographs that go with them look great. Many times, they almost detract from the piece. Sticker autographs, a bane to many collectors, are even worse when the signature can’t be read.
The whole thing is embarrassing. The player, league, card companies and collectors, who must explain why they bother to save or chase such nonsense, all look bad.
Sales may not be suffering because of scribbles but if I were a collecting newcomer or one getting back into it after a long hiatus, pulling one of those nasty autographs out of a $100 box would turn me off.
If autographed cards are what are driving the trading card industry, don’t collectors deserve better?
There was a brief discussion on Twitter Sunday morning about the declining quality of player signatures as a whole. It started when collector Rob Bertrand posted this about a hockey patch card signed by Marcus Kruger.
I responded:
Topps joined briefly…
Yes, it is a somewhat complex problem. Quantity, of course, is an issue. Card companies demand it to satisfy collectors and the quality of signatures is bound to suffer when players sit and sign hundreds or even a thousand cards at one time for future releases. It’s human nature to get tired after a while.
Some would argue that’s just how signatures have evolved.
There are fewer things that require actual hand-written letters these days. We don’t write letters anymore but when we do, we type them. I learned to type in middle school. Now, elementary kids are learning. There is far less emphasis on the old cursive writing style we all use to sign our names. A sloppy signature is seldom grounds for holding a kid back in school.
But is that really how a player normally signs his name on a more important document like a mortgage, personal check, bank account, driver’s license or credit card application? Maybe.
It could be that signing thousands of autographs has led to the downfall of neatness—or at least legibility.
But it has to start somewhere. I don’t buy that players don’t know how to write legibly or “that’s just how they write”. Players know how to form the letters in their names. My guess is that if you got ahold of their senior yearbook, you’d be able to read their signature.
Signing a huge box of trading cards or a stack of sticker sheets is probably not a player’s favorite task. They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t get paid. They want it over with as soon as possible.
Taking three more seconds to write neatly equates to 50 more minutes per 1,000 autographs. To most players, that’s wasted time. If they can get the job done and still get paid, why worry about it?
Complaining about it puts the card companies at risk that players won’t want to sign anymore if it becomes a time-consuming hassle where they’re autographs are judged and maybe even rejected for lack of quality.
You would hope that players are at least strongly encouraged by their leagues, their union and by the card companies (or at least one of the three) to make their autographs readable. It shouldn’t just be about the money or getting it done in record time. All rookies should get a lecture from someone to at least make an effort.
When bulk signings are done, players are usually sitting down. They’re not on the move, trying to sign for fans like they are after a game. Taking pride in their signature should be no different than taking pride in their work on the field or their community service.
What about simply not including bad autographs in products? If player ‘A’ signs one letter and a straight line, maybe he gets paid but he’s not asked to sign again. Can the card companies live without signatures from, say, 50 average or below average players with the poorest penmanship? I would think so but I don’t manage their product lines—or their bottom line.
The quality of autographs has been on a steady decline for the last decade or so and it’s not a problem restricted to trading cards. The issue isn’t that a few players can’t write well. It’s that a very large number of them now can’t—or won’t. Take a look at the gallery we published last month.
[View the story "Gallery of awful autographs" on Storify]
Gallery of awful autographs
Gallery
Storified by Sports Collector · Sun, Aug 19 2012 09:54:25
Gallery of Awful Autographs | Sports Collectors Daily|Sports collecting newsYou try to picture the scene in your mind. A giant box of trading cards shows up at a player’s home. He opens it up and his first express…
Look at signed balls from an earlier time. You can read most of the autographs if you know the team. Now take a look at a ball autographed in the last five or ten years. The difference is startling. I don’t know how the uthenticators can do it, frankly. Look at the pre-printed signatures on your vintage cards. They’re vastly different.
Many of the cards produced these days are beautiful. The card companies go to tremendous lengths to design little works of art. Sometimes the autographs that go with them look great. Many times, they almost detract from the piece. Sticker autographs, a bane to many collectors, are even worse when the signature can’t be read.
The whole thing is embarrassing. The player, league, card companies and collectors, who must explain why they bother to save or chase such nonsense, all look bad.
Sales may not be suffering because of scribbles but if I were a collecting newcomer or one getting back into it after a long hiatus, pulling one of those nasty autographs out of a $100 box would turn me off.
If autographed cards are what are driving the trading card industry, don’t collectors deserve better?
ESPN pins are very popular during the Little League World Series. They are some of the most sought after and valuable pins you can get. These pins aren’t the easiest to obtain either. A few years ago when I was in Williamsport, I passed an ESPN camera man with a ton of pins. I asked him how you can get them, and he refused to talk to me. I’ll have to try again this year. When I talked to that camera man, Sports Card Info was only a couple of years old. Its much more famous now, ESPN should know who I am this time around… haha! :-)
This pin is kinda cool as it features the ESPN 3D camera men as members of the Ghostbusters. I’m not sure why they would associate them with the Ghostbusters. Perhaps the equipment they use looks like their proton packs. Its limited to 100.
MLB’s exclusive trading card partner will shift its focus away from diamond and gold themes next year. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a theme, though. Topps 2013 baseball got its first push on Friday with the announcement that the company’s flagship brand would be celebrating “The Chase”, as in chasing records, pennant chases and the chase for special insert cards that has become such a big part of collecting cards in the modern era.
The 2013 Topps checklist will include several chase-themed inserts, but collectors can expect much of the same in terms of the overall set design
and concepts.
Packs will contain 10 cards with 36 packs in a box for a dealer cost of around $44. Jumbo boxes will be produced again as well. Each jumbo pack will contain 45 cards including one online code card, which indicates the company will again have an internet redemption component in 2013.
Again, Topps will produce a 330-card first series base set, with white borders and foil stamped lettering. In fact, the font is similar, perhaps identical, to what was used in 2010. There will again be several levels of parallel cards including gold bordered versions numbered to 2013, blacks numbered to 62 and printing plates and platinum (1/1). New this year will be pink numbered to 50 (breast cancer awareness, we assume), desert camo (# to 99), emerald foil (one card in every six packs) and a 100-card partial parallel “framed mini silk” set.
The ‘chase’ theme pops up in many of the low pop relic and autograph theme cards. ‘Chasing History’ will offer cut signatures from baseball ‘and beyond’, according to the company. Cut to the Chase will consist of five different 
historic cut signatures numbered to 10.
Major hits will include ‘The Greats’ relic cards numbered to 25 and ‘Cut to the Chase’, numbered to 10.
The big prizes, though, will be ‘Ultimate Chase’ cards — 1 of 1′s featuring 30 current and former superstars on cards containing a relic and autograph. The Babe Ruth card will be the major prize with a bat card along with a clean Ruth cut signature according to the sell sheet. Roberto Clemente, Stan Musial and Willie Mays are also part of the set.
There will also be case hits featuring MVP, Cy Young cards featuring little trophy replicas and ‘Proven Mettle’ cards with commemorative coins embedded into them with copper, iron and steel variations.
Minis return–this time in the form of a 1972 Topps design. There will be 50 in the first series with 10 relic versions numbered to 25.
Topps 2013 baseball is scheduled to be released in late January. See the image gallery, preliminary 2013 Topps checklist and sell sheet below. 2012 Topps Series 1 and 2 boxes are still selling fairly well on eBay with prices holding steady at about $35-40 for Series 1 hobby boxes and about $50-55 for Series 2. Click here to see what’s available.
2013 Series 1 Baseball Checklist – HOBBY
2013 Topps BB Series 1 Sell Sheet
[Show as slideshow]
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In 2012 Topps Football, there are a lot of different autograph cards, many of which have a pretty large checklist. The majority of the autos in a box are of the prolific playmakers variety, but when you pull a big hit out of the product, its going to be pretty cool. Topps even surprised me with on card autographs for HOF players in their QB immortals set program running throughout the release
. Outside of that, and of all the autos available in the set, I have been smitten with the design for the 2012 Rookie Auto Patches. I think the cards are incredibly well done – sticker or no sticker – and from some of the prices I have seen, im not the only one.
Check these out:
2012 Topps Andrew Luck Rookie Patch Auto /10
2012 Topps Robert Griffin III Rookie Patch Auto /10
2012 Topps Trent Richardson Rookie Patch Auto /10
2012 Topps Ryan Tannehill Rookie Patch Auto /10
Ever since the 2008 season, rookie patch autos have been included in Topps or Topps Chrome football, but for the most part they have been a ridiculous disaster. Topps always had enormous problems fitting the patch and sticker into their normal design, as most of the time, there just wasnt enough room to make it all look good
. Last year’s was the exception, which for the first time had their own design as a box hit.
They were cool, but the card still looked relatively packed in.
This year, as a sucker for the full bleed borderless design on the top 3/4s of the card, I think Topps has done an incredible job bringing this set to the masses. Although the cards are super rare in a huge production run, they look better than I ever expected them to be. So many times, we have seen vertical patch auto cards run into major issues with structure and composition, if not only because its so difficult to make it all fit. These just find a way to keep it vertical and not looking busy.
I assume these cards will be making their way into Topps Chrome as well, which should be pretty cool to see how they turn out on that stock. Although by that time there will have been a lot of cool cards released in other sets, they should continue to stand up as bigger hits. With Topps Finest on the horizon, its going to be interesting to see what kind of surprises they continue to employ.
“It’s time to play the music
It’s time to light the lights
It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight”
Oh the things manufacturers have tested with collectors 
Don’t you think these little guys look like Muppets? This is suppose to be Tim Hudson.
Topps teamed up with WizKids to create a collectible miniatures game (CMG) based on baseball. It didn’t catch on. I know, I was shocked too. The game is played using special dice and the statistics located on each figure’s base. I never played the game, so I’m the last person you want to ask when it comes to the rules. They issued various starter sets that contained a handful of figures, and booster packs usually came with (3) figures. Collectors could look for different colored bases and unique figures. All of course had various levels of rarity.
SportsClix ended their run in 2005. Some of these figures still hold their value, but they’re far from what they use to be worth 7-8 years ago. One of the rarest figures is of Babe Ruth in a Red Sox uniform. This one comes from 2005 and is limited to only 50 copies.
Filed under: Flashback Product of the Week 
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Things took a decidedly high-brow turn for Panini America during Friday’s second day at the 2012 NBA Rookie Transition Program. Such is the case when 6-10 sensation Anthony Davis enters the room sporting the hippest, highest-altitude unibrow in the history of sports.
Much has been made of Davis’ trademarked solitary brow, and on Friday he continued having fun with it by devoting two of his three Panini America Sketch Cards to his foremost facial feature. The result? Two hair-praising pieces of handiwork — one featuring the inscription “Fear the Brow!!” and another urging readers simply to “Brow Down.”
But Davis — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and an NCAA and Olympic champion — was far from alone in making a positive impression Friday. In all, more than 45 players from the 2011 and 2012 NBA Draft classes made their way through the Panini America room on Friday, including fellow Panini America exclusives Austin Rivers, Doc’s son and Davis’ New Orleans Hornets teammate, John Henson, Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond.
Panini America officials punctuated the day-long cavalcade of NBA talent by sitting down with each player to secure autographs and other content for the company’s upcoming 2012-13 NBA products. Much of the action is captured in the revealing Day Two gallery that follows.
Next up? The 2012 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot that tips off bright and early Tuesday morning. Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance next week for complete coverage of that star-studded event. But for now, simply enjoy the entertaining sights from Panini America’s Friday at the 2012 NBA Rookie Transition.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Things took a decidedly high-brow turn for Panini America during Friday’s second day at the 2012 NBA Rookie Transition Program. Such is the case when 6-10 sensation Anthony Davis enters the room sporting the hippest, highest-altitude unibrow in the history of sports.
Much has been made of Davis’ trademarked solitary brow, and on Friday he continued having fun with it by devoting two of his three Panini America Sketch Cards to his foremost facial feature. The result? Two hair-praising pieces of handiwork — one featuring the inscription “Fear the Brow!!” and another urging readers simply to “Brow Down.”
But Davis — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and an NCAA and Olympic champion — was far from alone in making a positive impression Friday. In all, more than 45 players from the 2011 and 2012 NBA Draft classes made their way through the Panini America room on Friday, including fellow Panini America exclusives Austin Rivers, Doc’s son and Davis’ New Orleans Hornets teammate, John Henson, Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond.
Panini America officials punctuated the day-long cavalcade of NBA talent by sitting down with each player to secure autographs and other content for the company’s upcoming 2012-13 NBA products. Much of the action is captured in the revealing Day Two gallery that follows.
Next up? The 2012 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot that tips off bright and early Tuesday morning. Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance next week for complete coverage of that star-studded event. But for now, simply enjoy the entertaining sights from Panini America’s Friday at the 2012 NBA Rookie Transition.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Things took a decidedly high-brow turn for Panini America during Friday’s second day at the 2012 NBA Rookie Transition Program. Such is the case when 6-10 sensation Anthony Davis enters the room sporting the hippest, highest-altitude unibrow in the history of sports.
Much has been made of Davis’ trademarked solitary brow, and on Friday he continued having fun with it by devoting two of his three Panini America Sketch Cards to his foremost facial feature. The result? Two hair-praising pieces of handiwork — one featuring the inscription “Fear the Brow!!” and another urging readers simply to “Brow Down.”
But Davis — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and an NCAA and Olympic champion — was far from alone in making a positive impression Friday. In all, more than 45 players from the 2011 and 2012 NBA Draft classes made their way through the Panini America room on Friday, including fellow Panini America exclusives Austin Rivers, Doc’s son and Davis’ New Orleans Hornets teammate, John Henson, Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond.
Panini America officials punctuated the day-long cavalcade of NBA talent by sitting down with each player to secure autographs and other content for the company’s upcoming 2012-13 NBA products. Much of the action is captured in the revealing Day Two gallery that follows.
Next up? The 2012 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot that tips off bright and early Tuesday morning. Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance next week for complete coverage of that star-studded event. But for now, simply enjoy the entertaining sights from Panini America’s Friday at the 2012 NBA Rookie Transition.
First it was Starling Marte, then it was Brett Jackson, now Topps has announced that the card redeemable for the 2012 Topps Finest Baseball Autograph Rookie Redemption # 3 is Mike Trout.
Trout is having a spectacular season, hitting .340 with 22 home runs and 38 steals in 95 games.
There are two more redemptions remaining to be revealed. Stay tuned for the next Finest Autographed Rookie Redemption announcement.
