on January 29th, 2010 by gritz76
Posted in Baseball Cards
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on January 29th, 2010 by handcollated
JayBee has been all over the 2010 Topps Series 1 shortprints, and announced last night that there are even more Yankees with pie on their face, including some series 2 cards that are being pre-released. What’s the point of that? What is Topps scheming to take the place of those unannounced short prints in series [...]
Continue reading about 2010 Topps, the shortprints, and me »
Posted in Hand Collated
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on January 29th, 2010 by rosschrisman2003
Posted in Sports Card Info
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on January 29th, 2010 by chrisolds
While Upper Deck declined to comment to Beckett Media regarding its 2009 baseball card sets that feature MLB players in uniforms displaying MLB logos, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company sent a letter to its distributors on Friday defending its products after MLB Properties issued a statement that said it will “vigorously use all legal means to protect the intellectual property of Major League Baseball and its member Clubs.”
Continue reading about Upper Deck responds to Major League Baseball Properties in letter to distributors »
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on January 29th, 2010 by No Brainer Bargains
As of January 29th the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:
Highest Single Card Sale: 2008 A&G Barack Obama, $109.99
Highest Mult-Card Sale: 2009 T-206 Set #8/749, #288.88
Highest Graded Sale: 2001 Ladainian Tomlinson, BGS 9.5, $39.95
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2007 Adrian Peterson, $210
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: None
Other best sellers:
* 1955 Mickey Mantle reprint
* 2009 WBC Japan Patch Card
* 2007 A&G SB Champs Joe Montana
* 2009 A&G SB Champs Tom Brady
In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 2009 A&G SB Champs Peyton Manning, 9 bids
Listings with false print-runs included in title: 8
Number of sellers listing false print-runs: 2 (ebay id: iverson775, 1undercutter)
Continue reading about Friday Marketwatch – January 29 »
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Friday Marketwatch
Posted in Etopps In Hand
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on January 29th, 2010 by chrisolds
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on January 29th, 2010 by deal
Posted in Phungo
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on January 29th, 2010 by chrisolds
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on January 29th, 2010 by zman40
Posted in Auto Cards
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on January 29th, 2010 by Spiff
Posted in texas rangers
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on January 29th, 2010 by Devon
At the beginning of ’82, nobody viewed the Yankees as a team in need of talent. They either had it, or could buy it when they needed it. Of course, history tells us that ’82 was the start of the Yankees playoff drought and time for some rebuilding of the franchise during some dark years.
Continue reading about New York Yankees Future Stars »
Tags:
1B,
2b,
DH,
P,
rhp,
SS,
yankees
Posted in Baseball Cards
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on January 29th, 2010 by JRJ
Posted in Sports Locker
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on January 29th, 2010 by Tuff Stuff
While it came as a shock to nobody who pays attention to the sports
card business, Upper Deck released its 2009 Signature Stars Baseball
and Ultimate Collection Baseball products this week and the questions
concerning the sets are only outnumbered by the carefully selected
images used within them.
One of the first questions I had after taking a look at the unauthorized product was
why is the set designated 2009 when it’s released in 2010? My next question is why
did Upper Deck go to the pain-staking lengths of 
picking
player photos where the team name is covered and didn’t bother to take the next step
and blur or air-brush out the logos on the helmets and jerseys?
The five-card packs (Stars and Signatures) come with a disclaimer of “NOT authorized
by Major League Baseball or its Member Teams” peppered throughout the cards, packs
and boxes. I guess that’s UD’s way of letting us know they don’t have an exclusive
license because a quick look at the cards would have many begging to differ. In the
past when licensing issues permitted manufacturers from using MLB logos, the common
practice was to blur the logos to make them indistinguisable or air-brush them out
altogether. Signature Stars went as far as to make sure each player pose used has
the team name or nickname covered on the front of the player’s jerseys, but as you
can see in the image displayed, they didn’t use the available technology to hide the
team logos featured on helmets of jerseys. The cards also only display the team name
(eg. Atlanta/Pitcher on card displayed at right) with no mention of the team nicknames
displayed anywhere on any of the cards.
Why would UD only go halfway to ensure they stayed within the limitations you ask?
Won’t that force Topps, MLB or both to seek legal action against them? Well, if the
MLB’s statement regarding UD’s Signature Stars and Ultimate Collection products is
any indication, the litigation wheels are already in motion.
“We are surprised and disappointed that Upper Deck, a former partner of ours, would
violate our contract by clearly using our intellectual property without our permission.
“We will vigorously use all legal means to protect the intellectual property of Major
League Baseball and its member Clubs,” said the statement issued by Matt Bourne MLB’s
Vice President of Business Public Relations.
Another curious choice made by Upper Deck was why not do the typical promotional effort
in leading up to the release date? In fact, if you go to the UD website today, other
than a brief listing with the release date for Ultimate Collection being Jan. 26,
there is no mention of its new Signature Stars set at all and images from neither
product are displayed. Coincidence, not bloody likely.
Obviously the folks at Upper Deck were well aware that the two sets would be highly
scrutinized and likely challenged in the courtroom somewhere down the road. But by
designing the cards in the way they did, could UD have perhaps found a legal loophole
that would challenge the exclusive agreement and somehow render Topps’ exclusive with
MLB null and void and ultimately continue to produce baseball cards without ponying
up the huge dollars it takes to land an exclusive?
Got a “no comment” from the folks at Topps regarding the issue and UD said the
same. My guess is that the latest firestorm between the two card companies will likely
continue to build momentum and will not be extinguished until millions dollars have
been burned up in the courtroom. I’m also guessing that the millions of dollars it
will take to try and get the exclusive contract voided and the likely subsequent backlash
from the collecting public is viewed by the UD folks as a worthwhile battle. And let’s
not forget the old theory that any publicity is good publicity and the chance of these
products eventually being ordered fro the store shelves could lead to a collecting
frenzy and suddenly UD’s rule violation suddenly looks like a small piece of a well-crafted
plan. Because if that’s not the case and UD doesn’t have a legal loophole up it’s
sleeve, it appears they’re setting themselves for a huge, costly battle they have
very little chance of winning.
Not sure how this will all play out but one thing is for certain: it’s deja vu all
over again in the card-making business. Game on.
Continue reading about Upper Deck vs. Topps yet again: GAME ON »
Posted in 7th Inning Stretch
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on January 29th, 2010 by The Golden Age of Baseball Cards
Posted in Golden Age
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on January 29th, 2010 by 30-Year Old Cardboard
2000 Fleer – “Club 3,000″ – Rod Carew
Date of entry into “Club 3,000″ – August 4, 1985
The Story – Playing for the California Angles, Carew was at home in front of 41,000 fans waiting for him to make history. In his 19th and final season in the big leagues, Carew entered the game just 1 hit [...]
Continue reading about 2000 Fleer – “Club 3,000″ – Rod Carew »
Posted in 30 Year Old Cardboard
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