Archive for December, 2007

First there was Ex-Rod, and now Upper Deck is taking shots at Barry Bonds and Topps in two cards released with 2007 Sweet Spot Baseball. The first is a “Michael Buysner” rookie card, an obvious caricature of Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO and the new owner of Topps.

The back of the card reads:

Upper Deck welcomes this season’s newest rookie, Michael Buysner. After humble origins as a page for a top TV network and stints that included crashing a hamboni machine at an Anaheim hockey arena, he is now the topp dog searching for a way to bring Bazonka Joe into the 21st century. As Big Cheese of his own cardboard kingdom, he is enthusiastically searching for the baseball cards his mom threw away and no one will be surprised to see a new big budget film titled, ‘Bazonka Joe and the Temple of Lost Trading Cards’ in the very near future. Upper Deck wishes Buysner well – in the candy business.

note: Bazooka Joe gum is a Topps Product

Upper Deck has stated the public release of the card was inadvertent and has even issued notices asking customers to return the product. Despite this, the card doesn’t seem to be extremely rare and several have been sold for around $20-$25 on eBay, except for one poor sap who paid $310.

The Barry Bonds asterisk “autograph” card is much rarer, with a few sales already in the $1,200-$1,300 range. It isn’t serial numbered and no information on print runs have been released.

Check out the 756 below the asterisk. This is an obvious shot at Bonds’ breaking of Hank Aaron’s home run record and shows just how Upper Deck feels Bonds should be remembered in the record books. Bonds has an exclusive deal with Topps, which is why there are no real Bonds autographs in Sweet Spot or any other Upper Deck products.

Personally, I find these “mistake” cards really gimmicky. Topps got a ton of press on the mistakenly released Alex Gordon rookie and the altered Derek Jeter card and now it seems like Upper Deck is trying to drum up some publicity in a similar way.

2007 Ultimate Collection Baseball, 2007 UD Black Baseball, and 2007 UD Exquisite Rookie Signatures Baseball will contain exchange cards for dual cut autos. Collectors will get to choose which card they want, based on availability. Check out this checklist!!!

• Ronald Reagan & Mikhail Gorbachev
• Robert Kennedy & Jimmy Hoffa
• Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin
• Albert Einstein & Thomas Edison
• Roger Maris & Babe Ruth
• John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh
• Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
• Marilyn Monroe & John F. Kennedy
• Johnny Cash & Elvis Presley
• Walt Disney & Charles Schultz
• Winston Churchill & Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Princess Diana & Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• P.T. Barnum & Charles Stratton (Tom Thumb)
• King George V & Queen Elizabeth I
• William Gilbert & Sir Arthur Sullivan
• Douglas MacArthur & George S. Patton
• Ozzie Nelson & Harriet Nelson
• Robert E. Lee & Ulysses S. Grant
• Jack Dempsey & Floyd Patterson
• Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz
• Al Jolson & George Burns
• Art Carney & Jackie Gleason

Each card is a 1/1 and they will be available on a first come, first serve basis. If you get an exchange card it will direct you to a website where you can see which cards are available and make your choice.

Three exchanges are seeded in Ultimate Collection, and ten are in both UD Black and Exquisite Rookie Signatures.

Upper Deck News Release

Lots of big names! So if you had first choice, which card would you choose? And would you keep the card or sell it, knowing you could probably get several thousand dollars for it?

If you find that the 2007 SP Authentic Alex Rodriguez card you just pulled is missing a few letters from his name, don’t get too excited. Its no 1990 Frank Thomas with no name. Upper Deck made an attempt at humor by including variants of the Alex Rodriguez base card with letters from his name missing so that EX ROD is spelled on the card. Instead of the SP Authentic Logo, logos of the teams that were in the running to sign A-Rod are gold stamped in the corner. Take a look at the difference between the original and the Dodger Variation:

Other team variations are Red Sox, Angels, Mets, and Cubs. Of course Upper Deck didn’t do a Yankees version, which is the team A-Rod ended up on.