Card of the Day: Willie Mays 1999 Upper Deck – A Piece Of History 500 Club Game Used Bat Auto

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2015 Daytona 500 Official Event Pin

The Super Bowl of NASCAR took place on Sunday, and Joey Logano came out the winner.  Out of all the merchandise that was for sale, the official pin was one of the top items to buy.  I gotta say that the creativity level of the pins this year really took a nose dive.  There are at least three different types of 2015 Daytona 500 logo pins that they made.  All of them look extremely similar to each other.  Take a look.

The pin pictured all the way at the top of this post is the official pin.  Don’t let the others fool you.  That “57” on the bottom pin doesn’t even look right.  The 7 looks like a J.  The main difference between them all is that the word “DAYTONA” on the official pin is raised up, and on a level of it’s own.  On the others it is flat.  Prices aren’t all that high.  The official pin has been selling for $15.00 – $25.00.

Still no word yet on who will be producing the next generation of NASCAR cards.  Its only a matter of time until Panini announces a deal with NASCAR though.  Panini looks to be the only manufacturer with enough money to take on NASCAR.  Plus one of their head guys, D.J. Kazmierczak, use to run Press Pass.  I personally would like to see Upper Deck get back into making NASCAR stuff.

Card of the Day: Jim Thome 2008 Upper Deck – A Piece Of History 500 Club Bat Relic

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 97th Indianapolis 500 May 26, 2013 Bronze Badge Pin

Tomorrow is the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500.  Throughout the month of May, all kinds of activities have been going on at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  For those die hard race fans that got to attend, this pin was probably your best friend.  For a cost of around $100.00 this pin would get you access to all of the events (except the actual race), plus garage access.  Over the decades these pins have become quite collectible.  Some of the old ones can sell for well in the hundreds of dollars.  Dubbed The Greatest Spectacle In Racing, the Indianapolis 500 has come a long way since Ray Harroun won the first race back in 1911.  Its funny to look at the lineup that day because everyone that raced was a rookie.  Harroun won $14,250 for coming in first that day.  Last year, Dario Franchitti snagged first place and won $2,474,280.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2013 Daytona 500 55th Running The Great American Race Pin

Tomorrow is the 55th running of the Daytona 500.  Hopefully they can get the track repaired after that crash which took place there earlier today.  I’m sure by now you’ve heard that Danica Patrick will be starting in the pole position.  She is the first woman to do so in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.  Her cards have always carried a premium, but prices spiked once she won the pole for Daytona.  If she were to win tomorrow, I can’t even imagine what her cards will do.

As for this pin, its one of the new ones floating around the track this year.  I’ve heard they’ve sold out and can only be found online.  That’s probably why they are selling for $25.00 in some cases.

Its just a scratch.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2011 Indianapolis 500 100th Anniversary Silver Pit Pin

This year was the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.  The pin pictured above was given to team members and certain sponsors.  As you can see, the front depicts Ray Haroun driving the Marmon Wasp just like he did in the first 1911 Indy 500.  If your looking to add one of these bad boys to your collection, be ready to open your wallet.  These can sell for $50.00 to $100.00.

Dig Out Those Trevor Bayne Cards

Trevor Bayne became the youngest person to ever win the Daytona 500 on Sunday.  As you can imagine, being such a new driver his cards are taking off in popularity.  His rookies can be found in the following 2010 Press Pass products:

• Element
• Stealth
• Press Pass Racing
• Main Event

Between 2010 and 2011, Bayne only has 48 different cards.  Believe it or not, but 26 of those are autographed.

I’m really glad to see someone new win the “Super Bowl” of NASCAR racing.

The Triple Threat

This has to be one of the most valuable non-autographed modern day relic cards to hit the market.  It is a 1999 Upper Deck 500 Home Run Club Triple Bat Relic of Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays.  Currently this card is selling for $5,600.00 and has amounted over 30 bids.  The standard 500 Home Run Club cards from that set are rare to pull alone, but this triple relic is next to impossible to find.  This is the only one I have ever seen for sale, and is one of the coolest relic cards I have ever seen.