“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.

Steelers Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest will be for a Lil’ Teammates Series 1 – Pittsburgh Steelers RB figure. It comes to you mint in box.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Sunday, March 25, 2012 @ 12:00 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 figure for FREE!!!

Contest – Help Save This Lil’ Teammate – NOW CLOSED

This little guy needs a home.  If nobody wants him, I’m gonna pop him in the microwave 🙂

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, April 22, 2011 @ 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
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this figure for FREE!!!

And The Winner Is…

Congrats to Josh on being the lucky winner of the Lil’ Teammates Miami Dolphins Series 1 Running Back figure.  Once Josh sends me his mailing address this figure will be shipped out for free!!!

Thanks to everyone that participated.  Be sure to stop back later this weekend for another contest announcement.

Lil’ Miami Dolphins Contest! – NOW CLOSED

In honor of the Dolphins playing their final game of the season, I think its a good time for a contest.  This time the prize is a Lil’ Teammates Miami Dolphins – Series 1 running back.  It comes to you mint in box.  Enjoy!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, January 7 , 2011 @ 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
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this figure for FREE!!!

Babe Ruth Sparked The Market

How many Babe Ruth bats are left?  This is a question that was brought up in a post over on A Cardboard Problem today.

This week Topps released one of its most highly anticipated products of the year, Topps Tribute Baseball.  After watching a few box breaks and browsing eBay, you’ll find a ton of collectors that have pulled Babe Ruth relics.  Of coarse whenever you have an abundance of people pulling relic cards out of one of the best baseball players in history, your automatically going to have skeptical people saying they don’t trust the possibility that there could actually be that many Babe Ruth bats left to hack up and insert into cards.  I’m a pretty skeptical personal myself, because I think we can all agree The Babe isn’t playing anymore games and his relics are limited.  When Babe Ruth was alive, there was no market for sports memorabilia.  But even though there was no real market for sports collectibles when he was alive, Ruth still had people lining up for autographs.  In my opinion, Ruth was one of the first major sports celebrities baseball had ever seen.  He was considered collectible before there was a market.  Thats why I think companies can still find relics of him.  You don’t see Babe Ruth relics in every product.  It seems like Topps is saving Ruth stuff for some of their bigger products.  Panini is doing the same with Jim Thorpe relics, except there are much fewer Thorpe pieces left.

This morning I put in my order in for one box of ’09 Topps Tribute and I can’t wait to open it.  I plan on giving it a full review once I’m done.

The Babe did sign a few items in his day.

Are Thorpe Relics Running Out?

I consider Jim Thorpe to be the Babe Ruth of football.  Its been almost 5 years since I opened up that pack of 2003 Leaf Limited and pulled a 2 color piece of jacket limited to only 25 copies.  Back in 2003, Donruss/Playoff purchased a jacket/sweater once worn by Thorpe so they could cut it up an include it with some of their products.  In 2005, Donruss/Playoff was able to obtain a baseball jersey worn by Thorpe too, which I’ve always thought was petty cool because I always considered Jim Thorpe to be associated only with football.  From 2003 to 2007, Donruss/Playoff used many pieces of that famous burgundy jacket/sweater for their cards, but none have been seen since.  Is it possible that there is nothing left for them to cut up other than baseball stuff?  I can understand the possibility of Donruss/Playoff running low and only saving pieces for their high-end products like National Treasures, but Thorpe relics haven’t been in that product either for the last two years.  This wouldn’t be the first time manufacturers have run low on relics for an athlete.  Larry Little hasn’t had any new relic cards made either within the last two years.  There will come a day when some of these older players just won’t have any relics for manufacturers to get their hands on.  Relics for Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Bobby Orr, and Jim Thorpe will all run out someday.  Its only a matter of time.

Anyone have a Jim Thorpe jersey they could sell to a manufacturer? 🙂

For more information be sure to check out the Blowout Cards Football Forum.