Picking up a Michael Sam autograph

Football is working its way back into the minds of collectors.

Press Pass, SaGe, Leaf and Upper Deck have released most of their pre-draft products, collecting on the hype of Johnny Football. Right before the first 2014 releases were to come out, Missouri defensive end Michael Sam announced he was gay.

So, card companies jumped on the national media attention surrounding him to get his autographs in products.

Press Pass came out too soon, but it did allow customers to send in a UPC from a hobby box to redeem a Sam autograph. Since I bought a box, I figured, why not?

I got the Sam autograph back in about a week – talk about a quick redemption time.

Sam’s base autographs are selling for about $10 to $20 oneBay. So there are easier ways to pick up one of his cards, if you are interested. 

Chatting with ESPN Mint Condition

I got the opportunity to be on ESPN's Mint Condition on Thursday. We talked about the 2013 football season and the lack of cards for the Legion of Boom.

This is the third or fourth time I got to be on ESPN Mint Condition. I get a kick out of it every time too.

Hope you enjoy the video.

For the fan that has everything

It's almost October and that means Christmas is rapidly approaching. While I can't say I have given much thought to presents yet, I stumbled across something entertaining on eBay that would be great for a football fan/dog owner. How many of you are trying to think of something that has both things in common?

Now the only reason I even know this item exists is because I was doing a search for a something for my puppy and it was one of the items. I'm done laughing about it and wanted to share this item with all of you.

Please tell me you think it's awesome. I may even buy one for my dog.

Even without playing, Tim Tebow gives collectors a reason to chase

The Denver Broncos quarterback controversy is giving collectors reason to swoop up cards of Tim Tebow.

Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner during his colllege career with the University of Florida Gators, is currently listed as the team's third-string quarterback, behind Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn.

Orton has struggled so far this season, throwing an interception and losing a fumble in a week one Monday Night loss to rival Oakland. Orton led Denver to a 24-22 win over Cincinnati Sunday, throwing two touchdowns. 

But the calls for a new QB persist.

Quinn, a star during his Notre Dame days, has started 12 NFL games, most recently for the Cleveland Browns in 2009.

Tebow started three games last year, throwing five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Cam Newton loses, but his card owners are the big winners

Of all the impressive quarterback performances we saw this weekend, one really stood out to card collectors on eBay.

Cam Newton shredded the Arizona Cardinals in a loss, throwing for 422 yards and two touchdowns. The Carolina Panthers still lost 28-21, but people are mostly talking about Newton's performance in that game. He just made it look easy at times.

Even though he lost in his debut, the big winners are the people owning his cards right now.

False Hope in the Mail

Today I went to my mailbox and discovered 3 envelopes from Topps fulfillment and was instantly excited. Honestly, I had no idea what the heck I redeemed or even remember doing so for that matter. I ripped open the envelopes and found the following:


Sam Bradford

C.J. Spiller

Max Hall


Oh... those cards...



Yeah, so I remembered how I ended up with these cards. A while back the card shop had some redemption's to give away so they snuck me a couple. Gridiron something or other. All I know is, I want to trade them to someone who likes football cards or collects any of these dudes.

Hobby Box Break and Review: 2010 Topps Supreme Football

The good folks over at Topps sent me a box of 2010 Topps Supreme Football to break and review. I normally do not collect or buy football so I thought this would be an interesting product to open. I really liked the box they came in... I like the fancy boxes cards can sometimes come in.

I decided to open the box live on UStream last night and you can view the video here, or you can just see the hits now. I am not that entertaining so you didn't miss much.

Each box of 2010 Topps Supreme Football yields one pack containing 4 cards and retails around $100. As one of Topps high end products the cards do not disappoint. The base cards are a thick heavy card stock and are all serial numbered. I really like the design of this set as well, the base red and gold are nice on the eyes, while the black and gold makes the /25 serial numbering easily distinguishable.

Take a look:

Dan Marino /200


Vernon Davis /200


Larry Fitzgerald /25


Golden Tate Quad relic /15 (with 4 of the same color jersey pieces...)

Here is what I think of the product:

Design: B+/A-

Overall I really like this design, it is sharp and crisp and the action shots on a plain background work for me. The reason I won't give it an A is because this isn't a big enough sample to be an effective judgement of the other relics. I don't like that the hit in the box is a plain blue jersey that appears to be the same piece through the two center panels. I am sure there are other relics out there with multi-color swatches, but this card should have had one being a very low serial numbered card.

Base cards and parallels: A

The colors on these cards are great, and for a high end product like this I would expect each card to be serial numbered. The base cards are a thicker card stock as I mentioned earlier.

Value: C-

This grade is solely based on this box. For me personally, if I had spent $100 on this box and pulled that jersey card as my hit I would have cried. However, had I pulled a Tebow auto, Brady auto, Manning auto or relic, or dual/quad auto etc. I would have thought it was well worth the money spent.

Quality: A

All of the cards in the pack were mint, no slight creases near the swatch panels, no dinged corners and no chips in the edges.

Overall grade: B

This is the type of product that you gamble on the hit, and there are products like this across all brands and sports. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but that is the risk involved so you can't go blaming Topps when you get a "dud" hit. Remember, your "dud" could be someone elses "mojo" hit.

What do you guys think of the design of the cards? Do you agree with me about the GU materials on the card or do you think that it's fine either way because you get 4 pieces?

If I had money and collected football cards ... I would get this

Topps is slowly leaking photos of what could be its highest end football product, Topps Five Star.

We're talking about a box, which really just contains one pack of cards, for more than $400 a pop.

Topps put out just two cards in a little sneak peak today, but you have to admit, on-card makes everything prettier.

Brett Favre

Ohhhh ... and inscriptions. Fun!

It;'s only two cards, but what do you guys think?

Sunday Question

Do we forgive or forget?

Last season, Michael Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as potentially the third-string quarterback. He had Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb in front of him. Then, the Eagles amazingly shipped McNabb to the Washington Redskins and proclaimed Kolb king for about a week.

Then, Vick took over.

And he was fantastic.

In seven games with the Eagles, Vick has completed 62.8 percent (120-for-191) of his passes, the best completion percentage of his career, has thrown for 1,608 yards and 11 touchdowns, and ran for 375 yards and four touchdowns. Remarkably, he has yet to thrown an interception.

Vick has led Philadelphia to a lead in the NFC East with a 7-3 record. Before the season, no one predicted the Eagles would have such a good record or that Vick would become an even better quarterback than he was when he played for Atlanta.

There was no way to know how a guy would play especially because he was in jail for about 18 months (I didn't look up the number).

When it comes to trading cards, Vick is king there too.

His 2001 SP Authentic Jersey/auto Rookie Card is on fire (ebay link). Right now, this card is selling far and above $1,000. Once upon a time, you could have gottten this card for less than $100.

Vick paid his debt by spending time in jail. He seems reformed by saying all the right things as he has become the center of attention again for this remarkable play on the field.

So the question is, have collectors forgiven or forgotten his past deeds?

Sunday Question

Are you ready for some football?

(Sorry, I had to do it.)

2010 Panini Threads - Football style - live on eBay

Football is almost here … almost. It’s so close, Just a few more days. Of course, with the start of football season means the release of many football products.

The newest release to hit the market is 2010 Panini Threads.

Here’s a look at some of the cards.

Brett Favre

Nate Allen

Triple threat insert: Jake Cutler, Matt Forte and Johhny Knox

C.J. Spiller auto letterman

Here are some of the more interesting hits to land on eBay:

- Tim Tebow auto letterman card
- Jimmy Clausen/Brandon LaFell dual jersey card
- Joe Flacco GU jersey/auto /10
- Ryan Mathews patch /50

It's official: Topps has football back

You don't have to our word for it anymore. Topps officially announced today it was back in the football game and released a photo today to show what the newest product will look like.

Our sources were correct when we wrote about this on Tuesday.

This is good news for card collectors when it looked as though they would be left with just one card company creating football product. However, Topps is back in the game and will likely produce some of regular football sets such as the flagship set, Bowman and Topps Chrome.

I'll show you what a mistake is

I could not have asked for a better weekend to be away from home. I’m at my parent’s, but anything has to be better than being in the Philadelphia region right now.

Of course, all the talk is surrounding the fact that the Eagles have signed Michael Vick. I was one of those people who thought he deserved a second chance. I thought, he paid his time and he should be allowed to play.

I think it was easier to base my decision on this because I just assumed he would end up with a team with known criminals. That’s the persona of the NFL anyway, right?

I’m not an Eagles fan, but covering Philadelphia sports makes situations going on there close to me. I don’t cover the Eagles, but they still affect my life. Now, that Vick has been signed by Philadelphia, I can’t help but wonder if he really did deserve to come back.

Athletes have abilities that everyday people do not have. I will probably never be able to hit a 90-MPH fastball or take a hit from a middle linebacker. There are reasons these guys get paid millions of dollars for what they do (though I don’t fully understand that).

The argument that shouldn’t Vick be allowed to pursue a job in his chosen profession shouldn’t even be valid. He has abilities that others do not posses, but I feel like he gave up the opportunity to pursue his profession when he started killing dogs for sport.

You’ll hear people say he’s made a mistake.

A mistake isn’t something you do repeatedly. Mistakes, of course, happen. But they happen for two years?

You’ll hear people say he’s paid his debt to society.

Where? Serving time in jail didn’t pay me anything. In fact, my tax dollars went to paying for his imprisonment. So, right now, he owes me.

You’ll hear people say he deserves a second chance.

Why? Because he got caught? He should have stopped the situation on his own rather than feel sorry about it until he was caught.

So, I’ve jumped off the “Give Vick another try band wagon.” THAT was a mistake. Once you use sound reason and judgment, the mistakes usually show themselves.

Looks like Upper Deck is fighting back

Upper Deck had its own announcement today that it won the exclusive agreement with Collegiate Licensing Company.

According to the Facebook note (that's where I read the news), these cards feature former student athletes in their college uniform. Initially, I think this will effect football cards more than baseball cards.

There aren't as many baseball players passing through college. So many of them get drafted out of high school. It seems as though football products such as Press Pass will be greatly effected. I don't college football cards and hope that someone out who does can chime in on this. I would like to hear more about what this is going to do.

Upper Deck says it go beyond just football and basketball and include other sports such as baseball, lacrosse, swimming and women's basketball. (It all sounds so thrilling), as well as feature mascots, stadiums and other institutions.

“Many of the best athletes in the world were leaders in college sports, and fans of those colleges passionately support their former players,” said Richard P. McWilliam, Upper Deck’s founder and CEO in a press release. “Upper Deck shares that commitment to the college market, and we plan to put the marketing resources in place to support both our trading card program and the college sports market overall.”

My baseball season has started

Winning the Super Bowl two years in a row is incredibly difficult. That's not to say I didn't have hope for the Giants, but they lost today.


That means baseball season officially starts for me right now.


Let's go preseason talks. Tell me how the Yankees are buying all the players, yet still playing within the rules of the game.


Tell me how the Mets are not choke artist and will beat Philadelphia this year and not cave at the end of the season.


Tell me how baseball players aren't really in it for the money and for the love of the game.


Tell me how many Jeter cards I'm going to crave in 2009 and not get.


By the way, the New York Gaints are still Super Bowl champs until Feb. 1.



When does 24 start?