Tracy Hackler
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Tim TroutFiled under: Autographs, BSCM, Beckett Baseball, Beckett Media, MLB, MMA, Memorabilia, Topps, UFC | Tags: Allen & Ginter, Beckett Media, Call Collect, Clay Luraschi, MMA, Sports Cards, Topps, Tracy Hackler
Beckett Media publisher Tracy Hackler likes calling collect — calling those who influence how we collect, that is.
See what Topps’ Clay Luraschi says in the first episode of Collect Call.
Watch the video here.
Filed under: Autographs, BSCM, Donruss, Hall of Fame, Memorabilia, Non-sport, Topps, Upper Deck | Tags: celebrity autographs, non-sport autographs, Political memorabilia, Topps, Upper Deck, Walter Cronkite, Walter Cronkite autographs, Yachting
Walter Cronkite, the influential journalist who delivered the news on CBS television for two decades, died on Friday. He was 92.
For millions of Americans, he was the voice of their history highlight reels as he brought the Apollo moon landing, President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas and coverage of the Vietnam War into living rooms around the country on the “CBS Evening News.”
Many will remember him as one who signed off his newscasts with “and that’s the way it is” and many more will remember him for his countless moments on the screen, whichever one applies most finely to their lives.
For collectors, Cronkite will be remembered on just a handful of trading cards like the 2008 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Mystery Cuts autograph card above, a one-of-a-kind card that has a signature from a signed CBS promotional photo embedded into the cardboard.
In fact all but one of Cronkite’s cards are made up of this fashion. He also had cut signatures in the 2005 Topps Power Brokers Cut Signatures set, the 2007 Playoff National Treasures Historical Cuts set and this year’s Upper Deck Spectrum Celebrity Cut Signatures set. Each of these cards are one-of-a-kind, name-your-price pieces of memorabilia.
His lone non-autographed card cataloged in the Beckett Media database comes in the 1977-79 Sportscaster Series 103 set, which shows him doing one of his favorite things beyond a studio. That card is valued at $20.
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.
Filed under: Autographs, BSCM, Beckett Blog, Beckett Media, Beckett.com, In The Game, MLB, Non-sport, Sports Cards | Tags: Albert Pujols, All-Star Game, Autographs, barack obama, baseball, baseball cards, Beckett Media, First Pitch, President, Sportkings
Less than two weeks before the product hits, Sportkings officials announced late Friday afternoon that they have added a Barack Obama cut autograph to Sportkings Series C’s First Pitch Cut insert that honors American presidents who have thrown out ceremonial first pitches.
Obama’s highly publicized heave to Albert Pujols in Tuesday’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game provided Sportkings with the photograph it needed to add the country’s 44th president to an already-loaded insert set. Obama joins an absolutely history-drenched First Pitch Cuts checklist that also includes Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding, Woodrow Wilson, George H. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and the originator of the first pitch, William Taft.
First Pitch is one of five cut signature sets in Series C (the others are PaperCuts, Vintage PaperCuts, Eight Men Out and Owners’ Box). Sportkings Series C releases July 29 at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland.
– Tracy Hackler
Filed under: Autographs, BSCM, Beckett Football, NFL, Panini, the National | Tags: autograph wrapper redemptions, Autographs, Donruss, football cards, Free stuff, NFL rookies, Panini America, the National
Panini America released the following images of autograph cards that will be found only in wrapper redemption packs at this year’s National in Cleveland.
Check ‘em out after the jump.
Filed under: BSCM, Beckett Baseball, MLB, Topps | Tags: baseball cards, Colby Rasmus, MLB, St. Louis Cardinals, Topps, Topps Finest Rookie Redemption
Topps announced the fifth player in its 2009 Finest Rookie Redemption set on Friday and it’s St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus.
In 82 games this season, Rasmus is hitting .278 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI.
Topps will announce the rest of the 10 rookies throughout the remainder of the season. Each master box of Finest includes one Rookie Redemption, which can also be found in Refractor (#’d to 199) and Gold Refractor (#’d to 50) versions.
The previous rookies:
- Matt LaPorta, outfield, Cleveland Indians
- Tommy Hanson, pitcher, Atlanta Braves
- Andrew Bailey, pitcher, Oakland A’s
- Julio Borbon, outfield, Texas Rangers
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.
Filed under: Autographs, BSCM, Beckett Baseball, Beckett Basketball, Beckett Football, Beckett Hockey, Beckett Media, Hall of Fame, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Upper Deck | Tags: baseball card, Cut Autographs, Legendary Cuts, MLB, Upper Deck
Upper Deck announced on Friday that it will award a single quad cut autograph card of Abner Doubleday, Dr. James Naismith, Knute Rockne and Frederick Stanley, a.k.a. “Lord Stanley” to the first collector who completes this year’s Legendary Cuts Cut Signature set.
No more than five of each cut card in the set was produced, so winning the card featuring autographs of the four sports pioneers will be a challenge. If no collector finishes the set by Dec. 15, the card will be awarded to the fan who comes closest.
“We know collectors who used to attempt putting this set together, but they were put off by the fact that so many of the extremely limited cards would end up in personal collections and usually never see the light of day again,” said Grant Sandground, Upper Deck’s baseball brand manager. “To entice collectors to try to put this set together, we came up with a very special promotion.”
