Card of the Day: Santa Claus 1993 Collector’s Edge #1

Product Highlight: 1995 Collector’s Edge Ball Park Franks

I love hot dogs.  They’re one of my favorite foods.  Mustard, ketchup, cheese, hot peppers, and salsa make great toppings.  There is nothing better than sitting at a ballgame or attending a nice card show while shoving a hot dog in your face.

Collector’s Edge may have died out years ago, but they were all over the place in the 90’s.  Today their old football sets receive more attention than anything.  This is due to them issuing numerous rookie cards of both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.  Basketball, baseball, and hockey would come next.

You don’t see it done as much today, but cards attached to food products at one time was a common thing.  Food premiums are an entire collecting niche.  In 1995, Collector’s Edge struck a deal with Ball Park Franks.  For (8) UPC codes, (4) UPC codes + $2.50, or (2) UPC codes + $5.00, you would receive exclusive autographed cards of Yogi Berra and Frank Robinson.  Both came with accompanying cards stating the authenticity of the signatures.  This promotion ended on May 31, 1995 or until they ran out.

If you’re in the market for a Frank Robinson or Yogi Berra autograph but don’t want to spend a lot of money, these might be for you.  They’re dirt cheap.  Lots were made.  You can easily pick them up for $10-$15 each.  The Yogi Berra tends to carry more weight.

Card of the Day: Bobby Valentine 1974 Topps Deckle Edge #11

Card of the Day: Edgerrin James 1999 Collector’s Edge First Place Pro Signatures Authentic

Card of the Day: Bill Pickel 1992 Collector’s Edge #124

Card of the Day: Akili Smith 1999 Collector’s Edge Odyssey Pro Signatures

LeatherBacks Lived Up To Their Name

Here is a card you don’t see very often.  This is a 2000 Collector’s Edge T3 LeatherBacks insert of Brett Favre.  These aren’t called LeatherBacks for nothing.  The entire backside of the card is covered with pigskin from an authentic game-used football.  LeatherBacks is a 20-card set and each card is limited to only 12 copies.  The backs of these cards look really cool compared to ones with just stats.

Front

Back

Card of the Day: Randy Moss 1999 Collectors Edge Game Gear Relic

This has to be one of the smallest relics I’ve ever seen.

The Way Cut Signatures Should Look

I could write up a whole blog post about how Topps lost their Player’s Inc license yesterday and probably won’t be able to produce football cards in 2010, but this being the “Year of the License” it shouldn’t surprise you that these things are happening.  I’m not going to repeat everything that has been said already.

Yesterday in the mail I received a copy of Insider’s Edge magazine and I came across an interesting article about Sean Broderick.  Mr. Broderick probably has one of the best cut signature collections The Hobby has ever seen, especially if your a hockey fan.  His collection doesn’t consist of cards that were pulled from packs.  Instead he purchases authentic documents signed by players such as Art Ross, Lord Stanley, and Georges Vezina.  For those collectors not familier with hockey, these players are equal to Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Alexander Cartwright, and Jim Thorpe.  In many cases these signatures are much harder to find.  With help from Garret Morrison, these rare signatures are inserted into custom made cards just for Broderick’s collection.  In the end they are slabbed and authenticated by PSA/DNA.  In my opinion, these are some of the best looking cut signatures I’ve ever seen.  You rarely see photography like this on cut signatures.  They have the perfect balance of photograph and autograph.  Take a look at the windows too.  Usually a cut signature is placed in a plain square.  These windows have unique designs and cater towards the signature themselves.  Mr. Broderick was nice enough to send over a few images for you to take a look.  He is constantly looking for more signatures of players and donors from this era.  If you have something you think he might need, please e-mail him at: seanieb21@hotmail.com.  For a closer look, click on each image.

Flashback Product of the Week: 1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Football

Who doesn’t love a product that has a huge sword on the front of the box?  1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Football went in the strange direction of a knight theme set.  Inside these boxes you can find inserts such as “Rookie Round Table” and “Dragon Slayers”.  I’m not sure why Collector’s Edge would produce a set based around knights, but some of the cards look kinda cool.  Boxes of this stuff can be found really cheap, usually for under $30.00.  Maybe if 1995 would have had a better rookie class this product might have caught on more.