They're bringing Football Back (Word is still out on Sexy)

Topps announced today that their Football license has been...lesse, since it's not revoked...then it's been voked.

Ah, screw it. Topps Football is BACK, BABY!

With Drew Brees as their cover boy, Topps released an image of their new (and probably awesome) football product, and it looks to be pretty cool...actually, once again, it's the same as the Baseball Base set. They better have a Football version of the Yo Mamma cards...which would be great, since she did indeed throw all the football ones out

And Chicle...I know it's out, I just have to get some. And if I get one of those Chipper Ruths or Pilot Ichiros, You'll be the second to know...

you know...cause I'll be the first...

The Worst Autograph Tournament- Round one

This blog will be the homefield for the 2nd region of the tournament. The Jeter Region

Our Matchups-

One Seed- Jason Jennings

Uhh, okay. Jason looks to be in 1st grade, being optioned to write his name for the first time.

He'll be facing off against the 16 seed, Prince Fielder

Okay, that is not an autograph. It looks like a picture of a Picasso-esque banjo and guitar combo.

Our next matchup, the old 8 v. 9 battle. The 8, in this case, is Mike Minor

Simple, Mike. A little too simple. By the way, who are you?

His opponent in this matchup and our number 9, number 9, will be an ex-Philly prospect, Marlon Byrd.

Now we know a good reason why this Byrd has Flown...

(Crickets chirping...)

Moving onto another battle, The 5 seed, Melvin Mora

According to the graph, Melvin's nickname is MMMMMMMMMMMM!

His adversary? Gabe Kapler, our number 12 seed.

I didn't know Gabe was german...

Our next matchup features a promising prospect...Johnny Cueto, our #4.

Autograph, no. Elementary school lunchbox etching. Yes.

And providing a good clean fight is another prospect- the thirteenth seeded auto, Travis Snyer.

TS...S. I think we could guess what Travis' middle initial is. His name...not so much.

Our next battle pits together two strong men currently on Eastern teams. First, Luis Castillo, a current met, and seeded sixth.

Yeah...what is that?

And his nemesis for the round? None other than Migeul Tejada, seeded at number 11.

He must have really been in a hurry. Literally. His auto really wants to get the heck off the card!

Another battle for you- Current Yankee vs. former Yankee. Up first- the Current. Nick Swisher, our number three seed.

eJel? Is that your Hebreu name or something? Is that the name of the product you're selling?

And here's the former Yankee. Not many people know this, but Carl Everett started out with the Yankees in the early 90's. Yet somehow he wound up with the Marlins...and as our #14 seed.

From the looks of it, it is a turtle speeding away from a snake on a Segway.

What am I, an art geek?

Our penultimate matchup features two young stars in new uniforms. The Yankee goes first. Curtis Granderson, seeded seventh.

K...M. Okay, Curtis...who's KM?

And in the other corner of the ring, our Seattle Mariner, Chone Figgins who is our number 10.

All I see is a couple of big circles...what do you see?

And finally we have Former Prospect that never was great, and Former Prospect that never was. Bobby Bonilla could have been Bonds. Instead, he wound up being washed up and incredible. And he's number 2. Here's why.

I didn't know Bobby Bo was a pretzel lover! Who'da thunk?

Lastly, the failed prospect- here's Michael Burgess. I don't know either. But he's still our fifteenth seeded auto.

I'm too tired to make a comment about this one. Anyone think of one out there?

Well, those are our matchups. Polls are in the sidebar, so go on and vote. And if you want to see the other regions check out these three blogs.

This isn't your mother's tournament

(That ended 3 weeks ago)

This is the tournament everyone has been waiting for

The 2010 Tournament of Bad Autographs

I had to help out a fellow Yankee fan, so I stepped into the ring. Long story short, this blogger right here will be one fourth of the battleground for the deadly tournament.

And I do realize that I will be sharing the turf with a Red Sox fan and a Cubs fan. That's right, the three sports teams who have the largest followings (besides the Dodgers and the Phillies), and they're all being represented by the Region Anchors.

Stay tuned to this blog...it will be a tournament of epic porportions.

The White House meets Jeter's house.

I was at a restuarant tonight, and up until then I had no idea the Yankees were being honored by President Obama. So when I saw the President and the Yanks on the screen, I thought it was old coverage.

Well, old coverage it was not. And that's great. My team being honored by the president. That's just nice.

I was also watching the Sox game. It's a shame the Yanks are off tonight. Now I've gotta watch other teams that suck. Case in point- the only TV in the entire restuarant, and the friggin Red Sox game is on. Just unbelievable.

Card Show- Buck Bins, Dime Bins and1 Yo Mamma

Yes, there was another card show at the local mall this weekend. As usual, I embarked on the quest for swag, and I only ended up with 1 Yo Mamma cards- a 2004 Alfonso Soriano- regular back. I got it for a buck, and since I was relatively broke at the time, I couldn't get any more.

But still, I did get quite a bit of cards from one particular dealer (who sounded a hell of a lot like Jimmy Stewart). Here's my Dime Bin triumphs

2007 A&G Perez Sketch of Nick Markakis, Nick Swisher, Jermaine Dye, Mark, Teahen, Carlos Lee.
2004 Topps Greg Maddux
2005 Donruss Champions Travis Hafner (Rangers), Bert Blyleven (Twins)
1993 Topps Traded Barry Bonds
1998 Donruss Wade Boggs
2006 SP Authentic Carlos Zambrano, Scott Posednik, Erik Bedard, Jeff Francoer, Ramon Hernandez
2003 MVP Hideo Nomo, Andres Galaraga, Mike Cameron, Mark Grace, Ivan Rodriguez
2005 Fleer Authentix Paul Konerko
2007 Bowman Heritage Cliff Lee (sob)
2002 UD World Series Heroes Fred McGriff
1995 Donruss Jeff Conine
2002 Fleer Tradition Update Andres Galaraga
1986 Topps Don Sutton
2006 SPx Jeremy Bonderman, Huston Street, Alfonso Soriano, Torii Hunter, Jim Edmonds, Carlos Lee
1995 Upper Deck Ryan Klesko

Another dealer had buck bins filled with Yankees, Mets, old time stars. So I bit
2000 Topps Cal Ripken
2003 All Time Fan Favorites Monte Irvin, Ernie Banks, Mickey Rivers
2007 A&G Sketch Jose Reyes
2008 Masterpieces Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano

All in all, pretty decent show. Cool cards, and most of the cool sets I spoke about earlier.

Where have all the card companies gone?

As most of you bloggers may recall, 20 years ago there were 5 major baseball card brands (Topps, Donruss, Fleer, Upper Deck, Score). Ten years ago, there was still 5 (Topps, Donoff, Upper Deck, Fleer, Pacific). Now it seems that there's only one card company, and that's Topps. What happened?

Of course, most of the big card companies were driven out of business by lack of sales (Score), lack of granted license (Upper Deck, Donoff), Merging (Fleer) and silly mistakes (Pacific). And the fact of the matter is that with the exception of Score and Pacific, all of these brands were quite popular over their 20+ year runs.

Donruss, for instance, was very popular over time. With its cool designs and one of the first brands to go for full gloss, they had a bit of a following. Hell, they even had a few TV ads in there too. They've also put out some of my favorite sets (1992-93 Studio, 03-05 Diamond Kings, 1995 Donruss, 2005 Champions), and if they were still making licensed cards today, I'd buy them over Topps. But now they're stuck making unlicensed multi-sport cards that nobody likes. And it's a shame too.

Fleer was another company that met a sad demise. While they never were really a crowd favorite, they still managed to drive in sales with cool sets and cool products like Ultra and Tradition. In fact, in 2004 I ended up getting little packets of a few different products (Skybox, Flair, Showcase, Classic Clippings, etc) and I was hooked. Only in 2006 they were bought out by Upper Deck, and in 2008 the Fleer brand was completely discarded (except for Hockey cards).

The biggest example of how the last 20 years have made a difference is Upper Deck. I loved Upper Deck, mainly because they were always trying to be like Topps. And they put out some great designs too, like their 93 and 95 sets, along with great ideas like Goudey, Masterpieces, Goodwin, and many others. And things were going great until the license was yanked right under them. And their 2010 set was a lackluster offering that still showed logos even when they weren't supposed to.

It's sad. All we have now is Topps. Now Topps still puts out great sets, but there's no competition. There's no Diamond Kings, no Masterpieces, no Skybox Autographics to banter with Allen and Ginter and National Chuckle.

It's just Topps. And that's the sad part.

No Hitters and Shutouts

Phil Hughes has never been a favorite of mine.

I always thought he was gonna be overshadowed by Joba, and all the other pitchers.

But look at him go. He pitched a no-hitter into the 7th inning yesterday against Oakland (Okay, granted, it's pretty easy to strike out Oakland), and he just ripped them apart.

And on the other side of the world, Roy Halladay was rocking too, shutting the Braves out through 9 innings of complete mastery. He's 4-0, and the Phillies may have given people a reason to forget Cliff Lee.

Just not me.

2010 Topps- Insert Rally

I got a box of Topps tonight, and because I have most of the base set, I thought it would be fun to rally together how many different inserts I got in the end

Pack 1-
Tales- Babe's called shot
Peak- RAAAUUUUUUUULLL!
(I got a friggin YOOOOOOUk in this pack)

Pack 2-
History- Bench is in the first draft
Turkey- Tommy Hanson

Pack 3-
Yo Mamma- Ryan Howard/Cole Hamels 2005
Lineage- McCovey, Howard

Pack 4-
Code- I redeemed...1968 WILLIE MAYS!!!! YEAAAHHHHH!

Pack 5-
Peak 2- Stan Musial
TT Copper- Adam Dunn

Pack 6-
Yo Mamma 2- 1999 Pudge
Turkey Red 2- Evan Longoria

Pack 7-
Lineage 2- Schmidt/Longoria
Tales 2- Cal passes Gehrig

Pack 8-
Yo Mamma 3- 1966 Jim Palmer
YO MAMMA 4- 1954 ERNIE BANKS...ORIGINAL BACK! WAHOOOO!
Peak 3- REGGIE! REGGIE! REGGIE!

Packs 9 and 10 were a bunch of doubles

GUARANTEED PATCH- 1950 World Series Johnny Mize. Nice

AWESOME RIP. I got a lot of stars (even in my redemption), and I got 4 Yo Mamma Cards.

Out of the cave

So my busy schedule has halted production on the custom cards (don't worry, they will be back. Am taking requests now BTW), and I might buy some packs this weekend. Not a lot to talk about in the past week, which would explain the lack of posting on my part. Yankees are playing pretty well, tacky stadiums and rings aside. Phillies are pretty good too. You know, just another boring week.

I will get back to regular posting though. Just when I have more to post about.

Well, there goes my consistent April

Yeah, sorry about that. I've had a pretty busy week, and I haven't had enough time to crank out any more customs. I just made this Wagner above about 5 minutes ago, and I might make a few more tonight, so I can get that out of the way. But I'll try and resume my consistent-ness, and give you more Customs.

Tomorrow- I don't know yet. You guys out there have any requests?

Custom Card of the Day

This guy used to be a sweet, innocent player for the Angels...that is, until the Boston cheaters got him. Now he's throwing smoke for them against the Yankees, mainly used as a weapon against Burnett. But I still tolerate the guy, mainly for being able to stand down and let the Yankees go to the World Series.

Tomorrow- I owe this one to a friend of mine (a non blogger). A certain Cleveland outfielder is getting his custom fix...again.

Back in the AL East

Every year, a friend of my dad's (who lives in Virginia) takes me and my dad to an Orioles game (cause the tickets are cheap), usually sometime in August or September. Last year, they were playing the Red Sox- it was very hard to see any orange in that crowd. This year, it'll be great to see this guy again, mainly because he's pretty fun to watch, unless he's playing against you. Tejada better not be outclassed by Wieters though.

Tomorrow- The first of what may be many Red Sox customs. BOOOOOOOOOO!

Custom Card of the Day

This guy may be quite a fixture on the Cards. He me take Yadda Yadda Yadier Molina's place as Pujols' seconds banana. At least he was successful beforehand, because if he wants to prove that the Colorado days are behind him, he has to start making people forget his OAKLAND days.

Tomorrow- Straight from Texas, this player is returning to the team where he made himself famous- let's just hope he's not upstaged by Adam Jones.

POLAAAANCOOOOOO!

When Mr. Polanco over here hit a homer off of John Lannan yesterday, my day got a whole lot better. I mean, it's great for somebody to homer in their team debut (Right Curtis?), but it's even better when they actually win the game! Come on, Yanks. Hey, at least Marco Scutaro was nice enough to screw up last night so that the Yankees could win. History repeats itself, Mr. Buckner- I mean Scutaro!

Coming Tomorrow- The 2nd person to play the game (1st after Howard Johnson) to be named after a hotel chain (only if you add "Inn")

"Honey, I broke the Topps design!"

Yeah, I completely butchered the 1998 Topps design. Let's just think for a moment- would it be easy for a teenager to customize a design where adding in the title without harming the design is frickin impossible? No, not at all? It was very frustrating, and then I just figured that for the Rays and D-Backs, I might just make my own design, a design that works, is cool, and won't get all the bloggers on my case about.

Case in point- 1998 Topps- the Better Version.

And Pat...it looks as though he's still truckin'

Coming up tomorrow- This guy hit a HUGE home run yesterday for my Phillies. For that, you will get a custom.

Custom Card of the Day

Sorta like Donovan McNabb in Washington, here's another guy who might have trouble fitting in in his team's town. Sheets over here spent about 9 years being loyal to the Cheeseheads, and now he's right in the middle of the Valley of the Black War Paint. It must be really weird for him to try and return to form all the way over in Oakland- but hey, he'll be taking the top starter rains from Justin Duchduchduchduchduchduchduch, so he'll be just fine adapting.

Tomorrow- Pat the Bat...batting DH.

Philadelphia Weeps Once More

The hero of my decade in football, Donavan McNabb, has been sent away to the holy land (otherwise known as Washington). Oh, man. It was a smart move to the execs- he's been playing poorly the last few years, and we needed Michael Bip- sorry, Michael Vick to fight with Kevin corn on the Kolb. They just wanted McNabb to disappoint people elsewhere.

The fans, however, think that's a load of crap. McNabb has been that city's football savior for over a decade, leading them to (lose) a Super Bowl, and to (lose) the NFC championship game against the (sigh) Giants. The bloodthirsty Philadelphia fans that I, myself, have become to comfortable with, will not take this news easily. All I know is half the Eagles fans I know will be wearing a Green #5- everyone else will just exclaim they forgot, and move on.

I know people (specific people) who will disagree me, but McNabb would have been great to stay an Eagle, instead of just going to the Land of the Playoff Squandering Bleeping Redskins.

Football is a sad sport- Especially in Philadelphia.

The Kid

I had to make a Griffey- mainly because if he retired today, he'd be going to Cooperstown in 2016. Also, because the guy's just a great player, and from what I've heard he's a nice guy. So he really deserved a creation of mine.

Coming tomorrow- A veteran pitcher stranded in Raider Country.

Easter Rack Pack A Thon

For Easter today, I got 4 rack packs- 1 206, 1 Heritage, and 2 Topps. I'll rip 'em in that order

206-

292- Jeremy Guthrie
277- Andy Pettite
155- Adam Dunn
210- Pat the Bat Burrell. Such a shame they used the same photo for A&G, Heritage and 206.
Holliday Mini
193- Jake Peavy
252- Ryan Braun
269- Russ Martin
238- Mark Buehrle
120- My Man Derek Jeter Bronze
251- Francisco Cordero
141- Prince Fielder

Onto the Heritage-

362- Brandon Allen
245- Ryan Howard
179- Chase Utley...2 Phillies in the same pack!320- Priates
173- Boston Team Card
297- A's
374- Brad Hawpe
349- Jose Guillen
9- Albert Pujols New Age Performers
161- Madison Bum
104- Jorge Posada!
Leaders
259- Jose Reyes
Manny Ramirez MVP.

And now the Highlights (or the things I didn't have) from the Topps rip.

Code Card- Redeemed as 1999 Tino Martinez, cool a Yankee!
Miguel Cabrera Copper Topps Town
Ryne Sandberg 1983 Yo Mamma- which I already had
Manny Ramirez Turkey Red
Manny Ramirez Legendary Lineage
Albert Pujols Peak Performances
A-rod at a point where he wasn't on roids
History- Frank Robinson's Triple Crown
95- Carl Crawford
CYMTO- 2000 Randy Johnson- Not only did I not have this one, but she did indeed throw it out.
Cole Hamels Turkey Red!
Tales- Ty Cobb
OH CRAP! CARL YASFNSDOGJDFJ AND YOOOOOOOOOOOUK!


Good rip -Finally a new Yo Mamma card, and a bunch of Phillies

Custom Card of the Day

Yeah, my opinion of vintage is not 93 Topps, but could YOU think of a way for a post-vintage expansion team to be customized? Me either. So we get 93/94 for the Rockies and Marlins, and 98/99 for the D-Backs and Rays. Still, some chances to see some never-before-customized guys, like Giambi over here, who used to be a Yankee, but was thankfully not picked up due to the Teixiera deal. Still, great player.

Coming tomorrow- The Kid. Nuff said.

Big Jim

The Twins played their first game in Target Field today, and somehow this guy wasn't on the roster. A shame, too. Still, Jim has had a great career, and I would say he has a legitamate shot of getting into the Hall of Fame. I know that fans of the two other teams in the AL Central will disagree, unless Jim ends his career with the Royals or the Tigers. Still, a great player, and an ex-Philly. Great resume

Up next- the only shot a pre-vintage expansion team has at being customised. Jason Giambi is tomorrow's custom of the day, and he's playing for one.

The End of the Road

After about a year, this blogger is hitting the road. Please, don't beg me to come back, for that would be ridiculous. Really, my life has been really hectic lately. I have been posting inconsistently, and I really haven't been attracting that many people. Let's not dwell on the past, though.

For a while, I thought baseball card collecting was my pride and joy. On Tuesday, I had to get rid of everything. Oh, how I hated doing that. Lesser a man couldn't do such a thing.

I guess this is what it might be about...beginnings.