Filed under: Beckett Media | Tags: all-star rookies, austin jackson, Buster Posey, danny valencia, gaby sanchez, jaime garcia, Jason Heyward, Mike Stanton, Neftali Feliz, neil walker, Starlin Castro, Stephen Strasburg, topps all-rookie tea, topps all-star rookies
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
Topps created its annual rookie All-Star team in 1959. Since then 17 future Hall-of-Famers have been named to the team with players such as Willie McCovey, Joe Morgan and Cal Ripken Jr.
The company released this year’s edition with catcher Buster Posey and pitcher Stephen Strasburg highlighting the list.
The award is given to one player for each field position in addition to a right-handed pitcher, a left-handed pitcher and a reliever regardless of league.
See who made the team after the jump:
Filed under: MLB, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps, 2010 Topps Chrome, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Chrome, Ike Davis, Jason Heyward, lou gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Mike Stanton, MLB, Starlin Castro, Stephen Strasburg, Topps Chrome, Ty Cobb
Update: On Oct. 22, Topps announced that it will be adding autographs of Buster Posey and Jason Heyward to the program. There will be 100 signed versions of each card with Refractors numbered to 90 and Green Refractors numbered to 10 also to be found in the packs.
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Topps Chrome hasn’t yet arrived but there’s already an extra reason to pick up a hobby box — a wrapper redemption focusing on the best rookies of 2010 and the best players in baseball history.
The company announced on Thursday morning a program that will put an exclusive pack of three Chrome Rookies & Legends variation cards into the hands of any collector who sends in 24 2010 Topps Chrome hobby wrappers.
The cards are part of a 15-card set promotion that will run through Feb. 28. Every 1oth pack of the cards will include Refractors.
See the complete checklist and get the address after the jump.
Continue reading
Filed under: Beckett Media, Hall of Fame, MLB, Rippin Retail, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps 206, baseball, baseball cards, MLB, Rippin' Retail, Stephen Strasburg, Tobacco Cards, Topps, Topps 206, Topps 206 variations
Beckett Baseball‘s Chris Olds rips into a blaster box (and an extra jumbo pack) of 2010 Topps 206 baseball cards in this latest Rippin’ Retail video.
We’ll have a full Box Busters video here soon, but until then check this one out.
What will he find inside? Just watch …
Filed under: Beckett Media, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps, USA Baseball | Tags: baseball, baseball cards, Nationals, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, Strasburg autograph, Strasburg baseball cards, Strasburg Rookie Card, Strasburg surgery, Topps, Washington Nationals
By CHRIS OLDS | COMMENTARY
Anyone who doubts Stephen Strasburg‘s place in the hobby in 2010 hasn’t been paying attention to the stat sheets.
You know, his numbers on the field — and the sales of his baseball cards.
However, the biggest story in baseball in years got a little bit bigger on Friday morning as a Washington Nationals official said the highly touted hard-throwing right-handed rookie likely needs Tommy John surgery — ligament replacement in his right elbow. That means we may not see him on an MLB mound until 2012.
Cynics saw Strasburg’s high level of success on the field and predicted a downfall eventually — though one has to wonder where that particularly came from as he has been absolutely dominant in college and the minor leagues before becoming the spectacle of all spectacles in the big leagues this season. You can’t argue with his numbers — they were there and had been enough to justify his being the No. 1 pick, which came with a hefty $15-million record-setting contract.
However, one can never predict injuries — and the cynics got what they wanted; a quick downfall this season, an end to the biggest story MLB has had — especially when reflected on cardboard — in years. Some say Strasburg’s arrival challenges the impact of the arrivals of Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols in 2001, but I’d say it might surpass them both and go even further back.
Now what, though? Let’s assess Strasburg’s performance as we look forward …
Filed under: MLB, Rippin Retail, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: 2010 Allen & Ginter, 2010 Topps, 2010 Topps Baseball Value Box, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Cal Ripken, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, Topps, Yankees
Beckett Media’s Chris Olds rips into a 2010 Topps Baseball Value Box, a new item that hit retail shops this week.
What will he find inside? Watch and find out …
Filed under: First look, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: 2010 Bowman Draft, baseball, baseball cards, Jason Heyward, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps
After teasing a few card images on Thursday, Topps released the basic product breakdown for its forthcoming 2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects baseball card set on Friday morning.
Scheduled for release in mid-December, it will include one Chrome autograph per 24-pack hobby box and each 12-box case will include just one 16U USA Baseball team autograph card.
The Draft Picks & USA Baseball Stars checklist includes 110 cards each with Red and Blue standard Bowman parallels along with the full run of Chrome parallels as well (SuperFractor, Red, Orange, Gold, Blue and standard). The Rookies checklist includes 110 players with both standard and Chrome cards to be found.
The Chrome autograph checklist includes 43 players — 25 prospects and 18 members of the 16U USA team. Each of these cards will be found with the standard parallels, while a Stephen Strasburg Chrome autograph card is listed as a rookie variation card.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: 2010 Bowman Draft, baseball, baseball cards, Bowman, Bowman Draft, MLB, Nationals, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg Chrome RC, Topps, Washington Nationals
Topps is apparently taking a different approach with what could be the biggest Chrome autograph card in recent years — if not ever — as it teased the card image for Stephen Strasburg‘s 2010 Bowman Chrome Draft RC on Thursday.
Interestingly, it doesn’t feature an action photo — instead a curtain call from his big-league debut game on June 8.
That’s a move that might make some collectors cringe but is perhaps one that will stand out among the countless cards Strasburg has this season.
Does it help or hurt a card like this? Thoughts on this move? Let us know in the comments and take the poll below.
FOR A GALLERY OF IMAGES FROM THE SET, LOOK AFTER THE JUMP.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: Allen & Ginter, baseball cards, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, T206, Topps, Triple Threads
Topps‘ next baseball card release will be the always highly anticipated Triple Threads set, which will include the first game-used jersey cards of Stephen Strasburg — both standard swatches and patches — as well as on-card autographs of the highly touted Washington Nationals pitcher.
While Strasburg’s status on the field has slowed since his impressive debut, he’s still by far the story of 2010 regarding MLB’s rookie class and Topps recognized that fact in its discussion panel with collectors at the National Sports Collectors Convention. He’s probably had the biggest entrance into baseball from a collecting standpoint since the 1990s.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: baseball, baseball cards, MLB, Nationals, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, Topps, Topps Tribute
They aren’t immensely rare, after all.
Topps confirmed the quantity of Stephen Strasburg autographs in this year’s Tribute set on Wednesday, announcing that there are, indeed, 500 autographed cards of the Washington Nationals rookie to be found in the high-end product. The number was what Beckett estimated at the time of the product’s arrival.
However, there is a slight wrinkle to this year’s Tribute redemptions for the highly touted rookie. As many collectors have noticed, the redemptions don’t state which version of the four parallels the recipients will receive.
Topps said Wednesday that there are 250 copies of the single-piece Relic as well as the dual and that the redemptions will be randomly fulfilled.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, the National, Topps | Tags: baseball cards, Stephen Strasburg, the National, Topps
Beckett Baseball’s Chris Olds caught up with the buyer of the No. 1 Topps Heritage Stephen Strasburg card, which was sold to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore.
The Strasburg card has been the talker of the show and it started with the charity auction where it fetched nearly $900.
See what the buyer had to say about the card …
Filed under: Beckett Media | Tags: Allen & Ginter, Bowman, National Sports Collectors Convention, Stephen Strasburg, Topps
On Thursday evening at the 31st National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore, Topps officials (from left to right Clay Luraschi, David Reel, Mark Sapir, John Buscaglia and Michael Mader) sat down with a small group of collectors and media members to discuss the company’s products and more.
Beckett Media was there and captured the event on video. Over the course of several video segments, you’ll feel like you were there, too. Here’s a sneak peek.
See Part 2 and the rest of seven segments after the jump.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: National Sports Collectors Convention, Stephen Strasburg, topps baseball cards, Topps Heritage
By SUSAN LULGJURAJ | SPECIAL TO BECKETT MEDIA
BALTIMORE — The stampede was nearly heard across the floor of the National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) on Thursday afternoon. Collectors, flippers and baseball fans ran to get on line for an exclusive Stephen Strasburg 2010 Topps Heritage card, which can only be found at the NSCC at the Baltimore Convention Center.
Security tried to keep collectors back, but at 1 p.m., they rushed the line to get one of 225 cards given out that day.
Topps will hand out 998 of the Strasburg Heritage cards (the first was sold on eBay as part of a charity auction) as part of a wrapper redemption program at the NSCC. Ten packs of any 2010 Topps baseball products worth more than .99 cents will net a collector one of the Strasburg cards – while supplies last.
While there are many who like to grab the cards for their own collection, the common idea on the show floor this week has been to throw the Strasburg Heritage card on eBay and try to make money.
“Moving it is a no-brainer,” said Wes Yee, a prospector from San Francisco attending his first National. “It’s a cool card, but I would rather have the money to spend on stuff I really want.”
The Strasburg card was an instant hit with collectors from the moment Topps announced the redemption program. Early eBay sales have the National exclusive card selling between $80-$100.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: 2010 Bowman, baseball, baseball cards, Bowman, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, Strasburg autograph, Topps
The premiere Stephen Strasburg card from 2010 Bowman — his 1/1 Red autograph — sold for $17,000 (not including any additional fees) after 10 bids Wednesday evening in an auction that ran for a good portion of this month with Huggins and Scott.
The Silver Spring, Md.-based company’s auction of the card opened at $9,000 after it was found by a collector in Florida who initially opted for an eBay auction that ended with plenty of bad bids.
The card jumped from $12,000 to $17,000 on its final day, prompting overtime in the auction. It had been set to end at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time but ended at 11:30 p.m. Eastern as interested bidders were allowed extra time if they remained interested if a bid was placed late.
The card came up short of the highest price paid for a Strasburg card from 2010 Bowman, though this card’s status as a 1/1 autograph clearly trumps the other card.
The Strasburg SuperFractor from 2010 Bowman has been sold twice since it was discovered — on eBay for $16,403 and to Razor Entertainment’s Brian Gray for $21,403.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Filed under: Hall of Fame, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps Tribute, Albert Pujols, baseball, baseball cards, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg autograph, Topps, Topps Tribute
Join Beckett Baseball’s Chris Olds and Brian Fleischer as they rip into boxes of the high-end 2010 Topps Tribute baseball card set in this latest edition of Box Busters.
What will they find inside these boxes?
Watch and find out … and you can find out how to win the sweetest cards from these boxes in future issues of Beckett Baseball.
Filed under: charity auctions, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, the National, Topps | Tags: baseball, baseball cards, MLB, Nationals, NSCC, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, the National, Topps, Topps Heritage
Update: The card sold for $869.
The first copy of the 2010 Topps Heritage National Sports Collectors Convention card of Washington Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg has hit the auction block benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes foundation.
The card, No. 1/999, is available on eBay right now.
The other 998 copies of the card will be available during limited times at the Topps booth during the NSCC, which starts next week in Baltimore, Md. There is a limit of one card per person per day if they open packs of cards at the company’s booth during the show.
The winner also will receive a VIP Pass to the National, which includes 12 free VIP celebrity star autographs, all promotional cards given to VIPs as well as entrance into the private VIP Party among other benefits.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Filed under: MLB, Topps | Tags: Allen & Ginter, baseball, baseball cards, Bustin Blasters, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Stephen Strasburg Ginter Mini, Strasburg, Topps
Beckett Baseball‘s Chris Olds rips into some 2010 Allen & Ginter boxes in search of the elusive white whale … err, the Stephen Strasburg mini.
What will he find inside? Watch and find out.
Part 1 is above… Part 2 is after the jump.
Filed under: MLB, Stephen Strasburg, the National, Topps | Tags: baseball, baseball cards, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, the National, Topps, Topps Heritage
Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg will be at this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention next month in Baltimore, Md.
On cardboard, that is.
Topps revealed on Wednesday that collectors who open 10 packs of 2010 Topps or Bowman packs (except Attax, Opening Day and 99-cent cello packs) at the company’s booth during the show will receive a Strasburg 2010 Topps Heritage card (No. NCC1).
The card will be limited to just 999 copies and will be available in limited quantities at certain times during the show, which runs from Aug. 4-8.
Collectors will be limited to one card per person per day.
Filed under: Beckett Media, First look, Hall of Fame, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps Sterling, baseball, baseball cards, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Sterling, Strasburg autograph, strasburg memorabilia, Topps, Topps Sterling
Topps Sterling baseball returns for yet another season, arriving in early November with one autographed Relic or Relic limited to 10 or fewer copies along with a second Relic numbered to 25 in each and every box.
The company released the basic preview information — product checklist, images and breakdown — on Saturday.
Last year, the product introduced theme boxes, rather than player-focused assortments, and this year Topps has two new themes to be found among the various mixes — one for the first Hall of Fame Class, one for “The Five Ring Club” and one for “Rookie Phenoms.”
That last one includes a teaser … “you know who” … in the sales materials.
The Beckett Blog 