The 35th National Has Begun!

Its official.  The 35th National Sports Collectors Convention has begun.  Autographs, cards, and promos are flying all over the place.  Every single collector in the world should be in Cleveland right now.

I arrived in plenty of time to obtain my VIP and Guest/Media credentials.  Then off to the VIP Party I went.  After eating some pizza and a cookie, the show opened to VIPs at 3:30pm.  Take a look!

7x All-Star Dale Murphy signing at the Freedom Cardboard booth.

Now for the pickups.  While waiting in line for Dale Murphy, I just happened to be standing next to the Topps booth.  I decided to pickup a box of 2014 Topps Minis.  With every purchase of a Topps Minis box, you get a jumbo card made just for the show.  I picked Mike Trout.

These OYO minifigures were actually the first promos I got upon entering the show.

I stopped by Marty’s Sports Card Exchange and bought a box of 2014 Allen & Ginter.  The I went to Blowout Cards and bought another just so I could get the Johnny Manziel Beckett Cover card.  Both boxes were unwrapped at the Topps booth and I got my Abreu and Tanaka exclusive National mini promos.  I still need to go through my boxes to see what I got.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: Stan Musial 2/15/11 Medal Of Freedom Award Pin

Last night the Cardinals won the NLCS and have paved their way into the World Series once again.  I was really pulling for the Dodgers because its been awhile since they’ve made it to the World Series.

The Cardinals have been around for 131 years and have had a slew of great players.  But one of them will always rise above the others, and that’s Stan Musial.  To commemorate Stan Musial receiving the Medal Of Freedom Award from President Barack Obama at the White House, the Cardinals made this pin.  It wasn’t distributed as a stadium giveaway or sold at their gift shops.  These were handed out to front office employees and other members of the Cardinals organization.  That makes them quite rare.

A few examples of this pin have surfaced on eBay.  One recently sold for $100.00.

Card of the Day: Osama Bin Laden 2001 Topps Enduring Freedom #19

PHOTOS: The 2010 National Sports Collectors Convention

The National is by far the greatest show of the year.  I saw a lot of people, opened a ton of packs, and participated in many of the wrapper redemption programs provided by the manufacturers.  I even had time to watch the Orioles take on the White Sox Friday night.  The marketing was much better this year, not only for The National, but for other companies too.  There were T-shirts, cups, and all sorts of promos flying around the Baltimore Convention Center.  Check out some of my photos.

Panini

Press Pass

Sportkings

Upper Deck

TRISTAR

Topps

Brian Gray plans to bring the Leaf brand back starting with 2010 Leaf MMA in Sept.

D & A Card World

Blowout Cards

FreedomCardboard.com

This was one of the coolest artifacts on display at The National.  This is the bat Cap Anson used in 1897.  I had never seen anything of Anson’s before.

Former Baltimore Colts running back Lydell Mitchell

Member of the Miami Dolphins Perfect Season team, Earl Morrall

1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier

Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer

This has nothing to do with The National, but Pickles Pub was right next to the hotel I stayed at.  Every night the place was packed.

FCB Adds Third Autograph Guest For The 2010 National

Baltimore Orioles prospect Josh Bell will be the third autograph signer at the FCB booth during this year’s National.  Tazawa will also have the same design as Bell.

Here is the final card set collectors can look for.  Bell, Tazawa, and Hayhurst will also be included since they are the autograph guests.

FCB Announces Second Autograph Guest For The National

Chris Gilmore of FCB announced last night that Blue Jays relief pitcher Dirk Hayhurst will be signing autographs at their booth Saturday afternoon during the National.

Hayhurst is part of the FCB promotional card set too.  The base set featuring the baseball diamond is limited to 1,500 copies.  The second rarest features a night scene of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and is limited to 100 copies.  The autographed version is limited to only 25 copies.

I think FCB should get into the card making business.  These things look great!

FCB 2010 National Promotional Set

Chris Gilmore of Freedom Cardboard announced today that they will have a promotional card set made for this year’s National in Baltimore.  The set will feature Red Sox top prospects Junichi Tazawa and Casey Kelley, Orioles Catcher Matt Wieters, Milwaukee Brewers infielder Brett Lawrie, Pittsburgh Pirates Third Baseman Pedro Alvarez, and Toronto Blue Jay reliever and author of “The Bullpen Gospels” Dirk Hayhurst.  The set has a bit of a twist this year, as the cards are done as tobacco style mini cards, and will all feature at least 1 background variations.

Junichi Tazawa will be signing autographs at the FCB booth for free on a first come first serve basis.  The signing is scheduled for Friday, August 6, 2010 from 4-6 p.m.

FCB Tazawa 2010 National Promo Mock-Ups

FreedomCardboard.com shared the following mock-up card images of Boston Red Sox prospect Junichi Tazawa.  Tazawa will be signing autographs at the FCB booth during this year’s National in Baltimore.  The following cards will be made available as promos.  Granted these are just mock-ups, and there is a lot of time for things to change, I think they look really good.  I like how each background features some element of Baltimore.

Click to enlarge

The Press Plate Winner Is………………….

Congrats to 69MetsFan for being the lucky winner of the Freedom CardBoard.com 2009 National Tim Beckham and Matt Wieters press plates.  Would 69MetsFan please send me an e-mail containing their mailing address so I can get these plates shipped out ASAP.  Thanks to everyone that took part in the contest.  Please check back for more.

I should be receiving a package from Upper Deck soon containing a few products for me to break and review.  Hopefully it comes this week and I’ll be able to run some more contests.

Freedom Cardboard & Blowout Cards National Promos

Last night I received an e-mail from The National stating that Freedom Cardboard will be providing collectors with a few promos at this year’s convention.  Freedom Cardboard will be producing a 5-card prospect set that includes Matt Wieters, Justin Smoak, Tim Beckham, David Cooper, and Brett Wallace.

According to The National, the Wieters and Beckham cards can be obtained by registering at the Freedom Cardboard.com booth in the Corporate Pavilion.  The Smoak can picked up with a purchase at the Blowoutcards.com booth.  Wallace is available with a purchase at the DACardWorld.com Corporate Booth and Cooper will be available with a purchase at the Atlanta Sports Cards Corporate Booth.  Each card has a stated print run of 1,500 copies.

Blowoutcards.com will provide free autographs at their corporate booth of MMA star Rich Franklin for FREE on July 31st from 3:30 – 5:30 PM and August 1 from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.  Blowoutcards.com will also distribute free Topps UFC promo cards to random booth visitors.