How to keep a rumor going on the Internet - Leaf baseball edition

This is how a rumor starts.

As I continue my love fest with the fellas over at Freedom Cardboard, I came upon a thread where Leaf’s Brian Gray left a cryptic message. The OP mentioned how he wished Panini had baseball license.

Essentially, the OP wanted there to be more than just Topps. NO MONOPOLIES!

Gray's first response on the thread was this:

It says: "You may well get your wish for competition imminently ...
BG"

Does that mean there will be competition in the baseball world again?

Perhaps, but certainly not of the likes of the Topps and Upper Deck competition. Topps still has an exclusive license for at least the next four years – I believe – with the MLB. The only way there would be a new license is with the MLBPA, which means faces but no uniforms and logos.

Gray also posted there should news in about 2-3 weeks regarding this matter. So, I will sit here and twiddle my thumbs in the process.

This blog post is how you keep adding fuel to the fire.

Something extra with Razor Rookie Retro

There was some news that came out about Razor Rookie Retro on Tuesday. Razor Rookie Retro, which is supposed to be the last Razor product Brian Gray is involved with, will have a little something extra inside.

Every pack will contain a 2010 baseball prospect autograph along with the graded rookie card. These aren’t basic autos either. There will be Metal prismatic autographs, Metal base and colored parallel autos, Gray wrote on Freedom Cardboard.

The Razor Rookie Retro checklist should be released sometime today and I will have that posted as soon as possible. However, Gray also said it could come as late of Thursday. Since the product ships out next week, collectors are anxiously awaiting to see it.

The reason the checklist is not available yet is because there is still tweaking being done to it. As market values change on cards, different cards are being included in the product while others are being taken out.

One of the cards we know that could show up is the 2010 Bowman Chrome Stephen Strasburg Superfractor. Gray paid $21K for the card to include specifically in this set.

Update: View the checklist here.

Razor Rookie Retro checklist coming together

The last Razor branded product should be coming out at the end of August, if not sooner, Brian Gray said on Twitter. Razor Rookie Retro is a set of some of the most popular graded rookie cards of the top players over all sports.

Gray bought the 2010 Bowman Stephen Strasburg superfractor when it was re-listed and bought it for $21,403 exclusively for this set.

Razor had success with a similar product, Legends of the Diamond, where every card is slabbed by PSA. The boxes go in the $200-plus range and include one pre-1970 vintage card.

There is no checklist yet for Razor Rookie Retro, probably because cards are still being bought. However, if you look at this eBay account (hint, hint), you will get an idea of what cards will be included. Some of the rookies include Alex Rodriguez, Michael Jordan, Lebron James and 2007 Jason Heyward superfractor.

Like every hobby box, these boxes are a gamble. While at the National, I saw two Legends of the Diamond breaks. One had a card that was immediately sold for $60 (after paying $200) and another had a 1969 (I think) Nolan Ryan.

Gray has said the average return on the Rookie Retro boxes will be around 80 percent of factory cost across the print run. As of Monday night, pre-order boxes are going for $219 on Atlanta Sports Cards.

Gray has purchased money cards from collectors to fill this as well. At the National, many sold graded cards of well-known players and some of today’s hottest prospects. Imagine if they opened this product and got their own card back. Ha!

In other good news, Gray also said the boxes will have security stickers in hopes of preventing tampering.

While this set is out of my price range, I am looking forward to seeing some of the breaks of this product.

Update: View the checklist here.