I have never been a huge fan of the Autographed Manufactured Letter Patches in sets like SP Authentic and Donruss Threads.
In order to even out the checklist, the card companies thought it would be smart to spell out all sorts of whacky things, in addtion to players’ last names. So you end up with cards like this (no K in Lincecum, Tim, Giants, or even San Francisco) and this (Letters with Yankee pinstripes?! Blasphemy!).
Well Donruss has upped the ante and included Autographed Letters in Donruss Celebrity Cuts, the follow up to Donruss Americana.
So now we have jersey patch cards of people who don’t wear jerseys. The letters spell out “Hollywood”, but are people really that desperate for Letter Patches? The auto’s aren’t very clean and bleed into the fabric and the patches are bland white on black. I don’t see real incentive to try and collect all the letters. At least with the sports letters you have the appeal of spelling the player’s name.
Who knows, maybe they will turn out to be a big hit, but it seems to me like Donruss ran out of ideas for possible sets and took the gimmicky, easy way out. End Rant.
On the whole, Donruss Celebrity Cuts actually looks like a really nice product. If you are interested in seeing the Dealer Brochure for Donruss Celebrity Cuts check out this thread on TCC.
Topps is at it again. The Boston Red Sox team card in 2008 Topps Series One has two variations, a normal card and a version with Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani digitally added. Giuliani, a self proclaimed lifelong Yankees fan, said that he was rooting for the rival Red Sox to win during the 2007 World Series, and those clever boys at Topps have added him to the Red Sox on-field celebration.
I really hope Topps isn’t going to make this a tradition in their Base Sets. I don’t like the idea of digitally altered cards becoming a regular hobby trend.
As a marketing ploy, it seems to be working really well. The Giuliani Red Sox cards are already selling for around $50. I wouldn’t expect those prices to hold up though. Like the Jeter/Mantle/Bush card, prices should come down a lot as more cards hit the market.
I found this video by Donruss TV showing some of the Cut Autos from 2007 National Treasures Football. These are the big money cards from a super high-end product. Some of the subjects include Football Hall of Famers, Boxing Legends, former Presidents, and entertainers. Most of the lower numbered cards should sell for over $1,000 a pop.
Here’s a list of the cards in the order that they were shown:
This is a busy year for Nixon. He’ll also be featured on a Dual Cut Auto with John F. Kennedy in Topps Series II Baseball.
Despite my obsession with Presidential Cut autos, I’ll be sitting on the sidelines for these auctions, unless the lottery ticket I bought today is winner…
My regular readers (all 3 of you) know by now that I’m pretty obsessed with Topps Sterling. Exhibit A and Exhibit B (Exhibits C,D,E and F coming soon!). So I finally decided to put my money where my mouth is and pick up a box. [Read more…]
Here’s an interesting interview with a Topps Representative about the process of making a Relic Card. He takes you inside the Topps Relic Room where the Game Used relics that Topps uses to make cards are stored.
The Topps Sterling Barry Bonds Jumbo Swatch Card with the hat logo seen in the video has turned up on eBay. Click the picture below to see the auction. [Read more…]
