Card of the Day: Ben Simmons 2017 Upper Deck SP Authentic Employee Exclusive Future Watch Auto

Card of the Day: Derek Jeter 2017 Topps Employee Exclusive #DJ-1996 Auto

Card of the Day: Susan Lulgjuraj 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Employee Auto

Card of the Day: Kris Bryant 2015 Topps Employee Exclusive RC Auto

“Pin-Up” of the Week: Levi’s Stadium Super Bowl 50 Employee Pin

Super Bowl 50 merchandise has been out since the last Super Bowl.  There is no hiding the fact that the NFL is going to market the crap out of this one.  Probably more than any other Super Bowl in history.  Certain Super Bowl 50 merchandise has been bringing in lots of money, such as pins.

From what I’ve found, there are (4) different Super Bowl 50 pins you can find right now:

• WinCraft Super Bowl 50 “On the Fifty”
• WinCraft Super Bowl 50
• Super Bowl 50 CBS
• Levi’s Stadium Super Bowl 50 Employee

All of these pins look very similar, but come with a wide range of prices.  The Levi’s Stadium pin comes in at the highest.  The last one sold for $230.00.  I believe that these were given to employees, staff, and other high ranking people who work for the 49ers.  It has a 3D look to it, and isn’t flat on the surface.  The CBS pin has a similar 3D look, but isn’t worth near as much.  Those other two pins are what you’ll find for sale the most.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: eBay Employee Baseball Pin

Can you believe that eBay will turn twenty this year?  It started out as a small website called Auction Web, and has grown into the beast it is now.  eBay has changed a lot of things, including the sports memorabilia industry.  Its made “book” value completely meaningless when it comes to cards.  Items that were thought to be rare, now may not be so difficult to locate.

I’ve been using eBay since March of 2002.  The first time I used it was to sell a Barry Bonds autographed baseball.  It was something I had picked up at a charity auction years earlier, and didn’t really need anymore.  Needless to say, I was able to sell it despite having a generic COA and no picture for the auction listing.

eBay use to make a lot of pins.  Many came from their annual eBay Live! events.  I don’t think they even hold those anymore.  They use to have a merchandise store where you could purchase items with the eBay logo on it.  That has been closed for a while.  You would think that eBay would make some 20th anniversary stuff, but I don’t see that coming.

This pin was issued to eBay employees in 2000.  It was given to those employees that reached specific monthly performance goals.  You can usually find them for $10.00.

Card of the Day: Hulk Hogan 2013 Upper Deck Precious Metal Gems Purple Employee Exclusive

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2013 Masters Tournament Employee Pin

As of this writing, Jason Day is currently leading the 2013 Masters Tournament.  But that will probably change quite soon.  There are a lot of souvenirs fans can purchase if they are lucky enough to actually be in attendance.  One of the key items collectors look for are pins.  For this year’s tournament there are a handful of different pins that have been made.  Most of them can be purchased from any of the souvenir stands located throughout the course.  As with major sporting events though, its the items not for sale which gain a lot of attention.  Take the above pin as an example.  This pin is what many of the employees are wearing during the 2013 Masters Tournament.  You probably won’t find these for sale at the gift shops.  The few employee pins that have found their way on to eBay have been commanding some major prices.  They have been selling for $75.00 to $100.00.

I’d like to see Tiger Woods win it, but after that two stroke penalty for a bad ball drop he sunk down the leaderboard a bit.  Another person that is getting attention is 14-year old Guan Tianlang from China.  He is the youngest player to ever play in the Masters.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Brian Gray of Leaf Trading Cards isn’t trying to get him to sign some cards for their next golf product.  They are always going after the young players.

Allen & Ginter Is A Card Explosion!

I don’t open a lot of Allen & Ginter, but I must admit it has been quite entertaining to watch and read all the breaks that have taken place this week.  When Allen & Ginter arrives, it almost reminds me of a giant card explosion.  This year’s set is probably one of the best I’ve seen since 2006.  I like the fact that Topps didn’t tell everyone what is included in the 2010 version.  Sometimes its good for collectors to discover things out for themselves.  It sure helps with the hype!

One of the biggest selling points to this year’s Allen & Ginter is the chance of pulling a Stephen Strasburg card.  Finding a Strasburg card in this product is extremely rare.  The only two cards you’ll find will be the base mini and the autograph redemption.  In fact, the first Strasburg redemption has surfaced on eBay and is already over the 1k mark.  The people buying his stuff are nuts!

One thing I don’t like about 2010 Allen & Ginter are the Topps Employee Edition autographs.  I really don’t see the point of having them.   They almost remind me of those Scout autographs that you could pull from Bowman a few years ago.

I don’t know what it is about Allen & Ginter, but gimmicks work in this product.  I like how on the back of the above card it states “The relic contained in this card is not from anything at all“.