I was surprised not to see 2003 Upper Deck Play Ball return.  With all the popularity around retro sets, I thought this was one that surely would stick around.  Maybe it was just ahead of its time back in ‘03.  Play Ball was Upper Deck’s first all painted base set.  Along with autographs and relics, you could pull original cards from 1941 Play Ball.  The biggest rookie in this product at the time was Hideki Matsui.  I know a lot of collectors were after his red and black back cards.  Matsui is still a popular player, especially after being named the World Series MVP last year.  Today his Play Ball rookies can be found for very cheap.

What surprises me the most about this card is how expensive it can get since its not a rookie.  Second year cards of a player rarely sell for as much as Favre’s ‘92 Topps Stadium Club.  The most likely reason for this is because its one of the first cards to feature Favre as a Packer.  I know Favre is most known for playing with the Packers, but with all his success so far this year in Minnesota, I wonder how it will will effect the value of this card?  It probably won’t hurt its value much at all because Favre won’t be playing for the Vikings as long as he did for the Packers.

I think we can all agree that 2009 could be considered “The Year of the License” within this great hobby of ours.  With Upper Deck and Panini having a license to make NFL cards and UD having an exclusive license to make college football cards, some companies are going to be left out in the cold.  One company in particular that won’t be making college cards is TK Legacy.  You don’t hear a lot about TK Legacy, but they do seem to have quite the following online.  I couldn’t believe when I saw this completed auction for one of their Troy Smith autographs limited to only 10 copies.  Smith hasn’t had the best NFL career since he was a rookie back in 2007, but that doesn’t seem to matter for some of his fans.  Autographed cards of his numbered to 10 haven’t sold for that much in a long time.  Not even cards made by Topps, Upper Deck, Donruss/Playoff, Press Pass, or SA-GE have come close to that kind of money.  Perhaps the exclusive college license should have been given TK Legacy based on the sale of their cards.

Ten years ago at this time I guess people realized the world wasn’t going to come to an end.  People made too much of a big deal out of Y2K.  In 1999 there were companies left and right trying to make a buck off the year 2000.  Card manufacturers even had products featuring the Y2K craze.  Below are my two favorite Y2K cards which were made well after 2000.  I wonder if they have any plans for 2012?

Most collectors should be familiar with Upper Deck’s 20th Anniversary set which features many events in history over the past 20 years.

This is the best picture I could find of this card.  It features the Griffin family in their Y2K bunker.  Inkworks created this set back in 2006.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I THINK NOT!!!  Every now and then I search to see if there are any scams up for sale or have been up for sale.  This afternoon I came upon this little beauty which I unfortunately didn’t find in time to report.  Looks to me like someone took a regular Jose Reyes A&G mini and gave it a haircut.  I think it looks like a postage stamp.  Somebody thought this was a real die cut insert and paid $10.51 for a card that normally would sell for only $0.99.

Products such as Topps Sterling and Triple Threads have introduced collectors with autographed and/or game-used booklets.  These cards fold open to reveal some great looking cards for collectors to ad to their collection.  One of the biggest problems with these cards is that its difficult to find a holder that will protect the card, and at the same time be able to display it.  In the past, you might have been able to find a holder that could display the card, but in order for it to fit that card might have to be closed.  Browsing eBay, I found a collector who has designed his own holders that will hold both sizes of booklets while they are opened.  Judging by his feedback, a lot of collectors have been pleased with his work.  Unlike old screw down holders in the past, these holders do not press directly up against your cards.  Each holder costs $20.00 which is getting a little expensive, but you have to remember he isn’t a large manufacturer like Pro-Mold or Ultra Pro.  A lot of those booklets are worth a $20.00 holder because they can be so nice.  Be sure to check out his auctions if you have a nice booklet you’ed like to protect and display.

Topps National Chicle Football plans to include autographed cards by the actual artists that painted many of the cards in the set.  Autographs will be featured on the cabinets and parallel versions of the base set.  The mini parallels are the same size as the 1935 National Chicle cards.  There are 10 artist autographs for each card in the mini parallel set.

According to Monty Sheldon, there are 50 of these DeSean Jackson cabinets he signed for Topps.