Card of the Day: Kobe Bryant 1997-98 SkyBox Premium #23

CollectorCrate Announces December Exclusives

UPDATE

• This company is no longer in business.

I’m a big fan of CollectorCrate.  One day I hope it becomes as big as Loot Crate.  Tonight CollectorCrate announced it’s December exclusives.  Depending on which CollectorCrate you sign up for, your December box will have a sketch print card of Andrew Luck, Mike Trout, or Kobe Bryant.  These pencil sketches were done by artist Emily Tester.

If you’re looking to get that sports fan something for Christmas this year, and you haven’t been able to find that special something.  Give CollectorCrate a try.  Buy one, or sign up for a few months.  Its just like the Jelly Of The Month Club.  Its the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.

Card of the Day: Kobe Bryant 1996-97 Bowman’s Best Refractor #R23

Kobe Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to Matt Gilman on being the lucky winner of the Kobe Bryant 12-13 Totally Certified – Totally Red Jersey.  Once Matt Gilman sends me his mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Kobe Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Kobe Bryant 12-13 Totally Certified – Totally Red Jersey.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, December 14, 2012 @ 8:00 p.m. EST
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post
• You can enter once per day
• The winner will be selected at random
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

Card of the Day: Kobe Bryant 97-98 Skybox Premium Star Rubies #23

Card of the Day: Kobe Bryant 2010-2011 Totally Certified Patch

Panini’s 2010 Royale Crown Die-Cut National VIP Set

Today Panini announced they would include a card set within each VIP bag for this year’s National.  This Die-Cut Royale Crown set will feature Kobe Bryant, Evan Turner, Wesley Johnson, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and Brandon Jennings.  Even though I’m not much of a basketball person, you can’t go wrong with the die-cut design.

Truly An Honest Fake + My Panini Opinion

I know the big news of the day is that Kobe Bryant signed an exclusive deal with Panini.  I think its great that it happened.  For years he was with Upper Deck and for him to switch sides really stirs the pot of competition between the major manufacturers.  Hopefully the competition will lead to newer innovations for The Hobby.  I too wish Panini would embrace the card blogosphere, but for right now it seems like they’re sticking with Big Brother Beckett.  Perhaps someday Panini will come around and realize that collector blogs are the new media.  In my opinion, they make great products.  This year’s Absolute Football is one of my favorite products.

Thats enough about Panini tonight.  Here is something funny I found up for sale this evening.  Its a 2008 Topps Eli Manning Ring of Honor insert with a fake autograph.  What makes this so funny is that the seller writes in the description telling you its fake.  Sometimes you’ll see “custom” cards and various other homemade items up for sale, but rarely will you find one stating its fake right up front.  Believe it or not, but it has (1) bid on it for $0.10 which is probably what this basic unsigned insert is worth.  I guess you could give the seller credit.  At least their being honest 🙂

Card of the Day: Kobe Bryant 96-97 Topps Chrome RC #138