Topps distributed cards to attendees at the 2007 McDonald’s All-American Games being held in Louisville, Kentucky.  There will be 24 cards for the boys teams and 24 cards for the girls teams.  The set includes cards of hoops stars O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon.

[tags]Topps, O.J. Mayo[/tags]

Upper Deck inadvertently issued 2 rookie cards of Minnesota Wild first round pick Benoit Pouliot in it’s 2006-07 Hot Prospects hockey set.

Upper Deck came to an agreement on a signature deal with Pouliot late in the process and added an autograph patch rookie card (#126) which is numbered to 599.  They forgot to pull his non-autographed card from the set (#163), which is numbered to 1,999.

Since both cards are part of the base set, they are both considered to be rookie cards.

Note: The card on the right is not from the Hot Prospect set.  It is a 2006-07 Upper Deck Young Guns #475

[tags]Upper Deck, Rookie, Error, Benoit Pouliot[/tags]

First year product Playoff National Treasures has been chosen by the readers of Beckett Football as the 2006 Football Product of the Year. 

“For years Donruss Playoff has done a phenomenal job delivering rare retired player memorabilia cards to the hobby, but what we saw in Playoff National Treasures blew us away,” says Beckett Football editor David Lee. “With memorabilia and/or autographs from just about every vintage player that matters, National Treasures is the most comprehensive retired player product ever produced, and it shows with the awards it claimed. Congratulations to Donruss Playoff on a well-deserved Readers’ Choice Product of the Year Award.”

[tags]Donruss, Playoff National Treasures, Beckett[/tags]

There are many different opinions as to what criteria should be used to determine what is a players rookie card.  Is it the first card ever issued for the player, the first card in a professional uniform or the first card by a major, licensed trading card company?

Take for example Mark McGwire, his 1985 Topps Olympic card is not considered a true rookie card and many of his cards issued in 1987 are.

A great discussion of this topic has been posted on the CardPricer.com blog.

[tags]Rookie Card, Rookie[/tags]

It started with a $2 card of Portland Forest Dragon Oronde Gadsden and now has evolved into the publication of the 2nd edition of the Official Indoor and Arena Football Trading Card Guide.

Bob Garcia’s book focuses on nationally-issued Upper Deck Arena Football League trading card sets familiar to most football card collectors and over 100 regional sets distributed over past 15 years.

For more information, Bristol Press Article.

[tags]Arena League, Upper Deck, Price Guide[/tags]

Topps has added a new video to their new Topps TV section.  It is a report done by Fox News reporter Brian Kilmeade.  The video is also found on YouTube.

Kilmeade visits Topps and they create a “Used Suit” card. 

[tags]Topps, Topps TV, YouTube[/tags]

Topps has launched an online video section on their website titled TOPPS TV.  According to Topps, the objective of TOPPS TV is to deliver interesting, engaging and up-to-date video that will educate and excite sports fans and collectors.

Currently listed videos include:

• Topps Case Breaks
• Atlanta Braves Photo day featuring Topps Photographer Mikey Palmer

Keeping inline with the Web’s movement towards social, sharing sites, Topps will allow visitors to submit their own videos.

In the future, they plan to show monthly hobby reports and footage of major sporting/hobby events such as the 2007 MLB All-Star Fanfest.

[tags]Topps, Topps TV[/tags]

Donruss has announced that they will be teaming up with the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League to produce an 8 card set that will be available at Desperado home games.

One card will be available at each of the 8 home games to the first 5,000 attendees at the American Airlines Center.

The first card, picutred, will be of Clint Dolezel who is the starting quarterback.

Some of the other cards to be distributed include:

[tags]Donruss, Arena League, Dallas Desperados[/tags]

 It was announed today that Topps, which has been run by the Shorin family for nearly 60 years, is in the process of being sold to Tornante Company LLC and Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC.  Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, is the head of Tornante.

Topps which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange is being sold for $385.4 million.  Each Topps stockholder will receive $9.75 in cash per share of  stock they own.

Michael Eisner said, “Topps is a wonderful company with a powerful brand portfolio and a rich history. Topps’ management team and employees are the best in the business, and we look forward to working with all of them to grow the company in new and exciting ways.”

The transaction is subject to the approval of stockholders and is scheduled to be completed later in 2007.  It is not a sure thing though as Topps intends to solicit higher bids over the next month or two.

[tags]Topps[/tags]

Topps has released the list of variations and shortprints to Beckett.  The list is as follows:

SHORT PRINTS
4 Ronny Paulino
5 Derek Jeter
13 Wilfredo Ledezma
14 Bobby Abreu
22 Jason Kendall
23 Mark Kotsay
31 Beltran Perez
32 Brad Hawpe
40 Francisco Cordero
41 Anthony Reyes
49 Willy Taveras
50 Mark Buehrle
58 Nick Swisher
59 Kevin Millwood
67 Melvin Mora
68 Jason Jennings
76 Cole Hamels
77 Rafael Furcal
85 Omar Vizquel
86 Fred Lewis
94 Xavier Nady
95 Bill Hall
103 Carl Crawford
104 Mike Lamb
112 Marcus Thames
113 Brian Burres
121 Jay Payton
122 Jacque Jones
130 Manny Ramirez
131 Howie Kendrick
139 Ryan Braun
140 Johnny Damon
149 Jose Vidro
150 Alex Rodriguez
158 Cleveland Indians
159 Chris Ray
167 Brian Stokes
168 Albert Pujols
176 David Weathers
177 Jermaine Dye
185 Aaron Hill
186 Scot Shields
194 Derek Lowe
195 Russell Branyan
203 Kendry Morales
204 Rafael Soriano
212 Ty Wigginton
213 Brandon Inge
221 Josh Fields
222 Pat Neshek
230 Chase Utley
231 John Nelson
239 Doug Davis
240 Jason Giambi
248 Adam Wainwright
249 Matt Thornton
257 Aaron Cook
258 Cliff Lee
266 Andy Pettitte
267 A.J. Pierzynski
275 Jorge Posada
276 Jeff Conine
284 Doug Mientkiewicz
285 Ken Griffey Jr.
293 Ryan Garko
294 Miguel Batista
302 Angel Sanchez
303 Freddy Sanchez
311 Aaron Harang
312 Boston Red Sox
320 Kenny Lofton
321 Vladmir Guerrero/Ivan Rodriguez
329 Craig Monroe
330 Paul Lo Duca
338 Todd Walker
339 Jarrod Washburn
347 Boone Logan
348 Jimmy Rollins
356 Bernie Castro
357 Eric Stults
365 Fernando Rodney
366 Chris Duncan
374 Jose Mesa
375 Michael Young
383 Eduardo Perez
384 Scott Moore
392 Shane Youman
393 Melky Cabrera
401 Jose Reyes
402 Juan Encarnacion
410 Francisco Rodriguez
411 Ian Kinsler
419 Scott Kazmir
420 Norris Hopper
428 Cincinnati Reds
429 Ramon Hernandez
437 Vernon Wells
438 Vladimir Guerrero
446 Franklin Gutierrez
447 Mark Redman
455 Chien-Ming Wang
456 Shawn Riggans
464 Jose Garcia
465 Pedro Martinez
473 Lastings Milledge
474 Brian Sanches
482 Edgar Renteria
483 Derek Jeter
491 Ivan Rodriguez
492 Brad Penny

YELLOW PLAYER NAME VARIATIONS

8 David Eckstein
23 Mark Kotsay
24 Yadier Molina
30 Ichiro
46 Joel Zumaya
53 Jose Valentin
57 Kelvim Escobar
60 Preston Wilson
61 Mariano Rivera
65 Chris Narveson
70 Magglio Ordonez
78 Ryan Theriot
87 Shawn Chacon
92 David Wright
97 Jeff Suppan
98 Ryan Zimmerman
101 Miguel Cairo

 YELLOW TEAM NAME VARIATIONS

2 Roger Clemens
11 Rob Mackowiak
13 Wilfredo Ledezma
20 Robinson Cano
33 Jim Thome
35 Woody Williams
50 Mark Buehrle
52 Jason Bay
58 Nick Swisher
76 Cole Hamels
77 Rafael Furcal
79 Corey Patterson
81 Stephen Drew
85 Omar Vizquel
100 Jose Contreras
108 Hanley Ramirez

[tags]Topps, Heritage, SP, Short Print[/tags]

Upper Deck has secured the rights to the O-Pee-Chee brand name and will release a 700 card set later in the hockey season.

O-Pee-Chee cards dates back to 1933 and over the years contained some of the most sought after rookie cards including the 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky rookie card.

The 2006-07 set will consist of the following:

• Industry’s most comprehensive hockey set
• An average of one themed subset card in every pack
• One memorabilia card per box
• O-Pee-Chee autograph cards

Signature and Memorabilia Cards

• O-Pee-Chee Swatches - game-used jersey cards - inserted 1:36
• O-Pee-Chee Autographs - signature cards - inserted 1:36

Parallel cards and inserts

• Regular Cards - Rainbow Parallel (#’d to 100)
• Hall Worthy - Rainbow Parallel (#’d to 100)
• Team Checklist - Rainbow Parallel (#’d to 100)
• Stat Leaders - Rainbow Parallel (#’d to 100)
• Rookie/Sophomore Showdown - Rainbow Parallel (#’d to 100)
• Marquee Rookies - Rainbow Parallel (#’d to 100)

Regular Set

• 500 Regular Cards
• 25 Hall Worthy
• 30 Team Checklists
• 15 Stat Leaders
• 30 Rookie/Sophomore Showdown
• Marquee Rookies

 
1979-80 Wayne Gretzky O-Pee-Chee Rookie Card

[tags]O-Pee-Chee, Upper Deck[/tags]

According to Beckett’s latest pricing release, the 2006 Reggie Bush Exquisite Autographed Jersey Rookie Card which is numbered to 99 is now the highest priced modern card in Beckett.  The card lists for $4500.

The card is also has the second highest book price of any Rookie Card, just behind the 1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski rookie which books for $5000.

Other High-Priced Rookie Cards:

1998 SP Authentic Peyton Manning (Non-Autograph - $800)
2001 SP Authentic Ladainian Tomlinson (Non-Autograph - $800)
1969 Topps Joe Namath (Non-Autograph - $1600)
2004 SP Authentic Ben Roethlisberger (Autograph, Jersey - $600)
2005 Exquisite Cadillac Williams (Autograph, Jersey - $1500)

[tags]Reggie Bush, Exquisite, Upper Deck[/tags]