The Beckett Blog

TRISTAR released preview images and basic information on Thursday for its set of Obak preview cards that will be produced for this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, later this month.

Obak is a standalone baseball product based on early 1900s tobacco cards of the same name. The set, which will feature current and past players, will arrive in hobby shops in August.

The preview set will consist of eight cards — five baseball players as well as TNA Wrestling stars Kurt Angle and The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) and President Barack Obama.

All VIP Club members at the show will receive five random Obak cards from the set in their VIP gift package. To obtain the other three cards, collectors must purchase a pack of Prospects Plus, PROjections ‘09, TNA Cross The Line or TNA Knockouts cards from a show dealer and open it at the TRISTAR booth. Each pack opened is good for one card. Additional details will be provided at the booth.

Here’s the checklist:

1.           Ted Williams San Diego Padres
2.           Satchel Paige Miami Marlins
3.           Carlos Santana Akron Aeros
4.           Bo Jackson Memphis Chicks
5.           John Heisman Atlanta Crackers
6.           Kurt Angle TNA Wrestling
7.           The Beautiful People TNA Wrestling
8.           Barack Obama U.S. President

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.