Leaf’s Legends of Sport Is Live

This week Leaf released its newest product Legends of Sport.  Inside each box you will find three cards, each one autographed.  Every card in the set is autographed and limited to 50 copies or less.  Legends of Sport is one of Leaf’s higher-end products and is currently selling for $155.00 per box.

I think the cards look good, but I do have a few suggestions.  To start off, I love the thick card stock Leaf used.  Thick cards are always better than flimsy ones that could easily be damaged.  Just like other Leaf products, the cards come in their own top loaders.  I like cards that come with their own supplies.

Leaf did a good job making use of the color white in the design of these cards.  I do think that they could have done a little more with the design when it came to the “Moments of Greatness” cards.  I was also surprised to see Leaf use sticker autographs.  They usually are the poster child for on-card signatures.

Charlie Sheen signed a bunch of cards for this product.  I’m digging the painted look which features Sheen as Rick Vaughn from the movie Major League.

This Ichiro/Pete Rose dual autograph is just amazing.  Two of the biggest hit kings baseball has ever seen.

That is one used Bench/Piazza printing plate.  It looks like something I drew in 1st grade.

Guys like Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro have autographs in here too.

A Closer Look At Leaf Legends of Sport

Here is a closer look at Leaf Legends of Sport, which will be released later this year.  Every card in the set is autographed and is serial numbered to 50 or less.  Three autographs per box.

Flashback Product of the Week: 1997 ScoreBoard All Sport PPF Plus

You can’t talk about the 90’s without bringing up the now defunct sports card manufacturer ScoreBoard.  I think many of us remember waking up early on a Saturday morning, turning on the Shop At Home channel and seeing Don West and Kenny pitching some kind of sports related product.

Like a lot of products made at the time, All Sport PPF Plus was extremely overproduced.  Each (36) pack box guarantees (2) vintage cards, plus you can look for redemption cards that are for autographed memorabilia.  I wouldn’t trust the authenticity of any of the memorabilia that came from ScoreBoard.  Their COAs are way too easy to fake, plus when someone is throwing around that amount of “high-end” memorabilia it really makes you wonder.

ScoreBoard is one of the worst card companies of all time.  It wouldn’t surprise me if most of their memorabilia is fake.  Their cards are barely worth a thing in today’s market.  That’s why watching their infomercials are so much fun.  Enjoy!!!

Card of the Day: Gino Torretta 1993 Classic Four Sport Auto

The Philly Show – March 5, 2011

Its been almost a year since I’ve been to The Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show, which is held at the Valley Forge Convention Center.  I noticed a few less dealers, but I had fun.  I got some autographs, busted a few boxes, and did what your suppose to do at The Philly Show.  Let me tell you something.  There are two dealers at this show that do extremely well.  One is Marty’s Sportscard Exchange and the other is ESE Supplies.  Marty Davis of Marty’s Sportscard Exchange always has the best deals on wax, and Eddie of ESE Supplies has any type of holder you’d need.  I even stopped by the Louisville Slugger booth.

FYI – a few vintage sets were stolen at the show.  The announcer said the sets came from 1961 and 1971.  They did not state which sport.

Phillies Fan Favorite Jamie Moyer – Moyer made his MLB debut the day I was born

Art Mahaffey was the 1st Philly to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.  You can see Lenny Dykstra (my personal accountant) in the background wearing the hat.

Former Boston Red Sox Manager and Phillies Pitching Coach Joe Kerrigan

Hunt Auctions had an impressive display of memorabilia.  This old “Casey at the Bat” book really caught my eye.

In the top right corner, you’ll see an issue of Beckett Baseball with Ryan Howard on the cover.  I’m actually in that issue for when I wrote a little piece on Victor Martinez’s first card.

More memorabilia from Hunt Auctions

One of my first stops of the day was at the Louisville Slugger booth.  I purchased a new bat with the Phillies logo and “SPORTS CARD INFO” engraved on it.  Then I got Moyer and Mahaffey to sign it.

Card of the Day: Bobby Jones 1933 Sport Kings Gum #38

Press Pass Ventures Into Baseball

In all my years of collecting, it never occured to me why Press Pass didn’t produce baseball cards.  I guess I’ve always thought of them for making college football, basketball and NASCAR stuff.  I’m sure by now you’ve heard that in November they plan to release a new Multi-Sport product called Fusion.  It will cover baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR, MMA/wrestling, and the Olympics.  The price is what stands out to me with this product.  Each pack costs $9.99 and you’re guaranteed (2) hits inside.  Usually when your guaranteed a hit or two per pack the price is a lot more.  It sounds like an interesting product that I hope I can try.

Even though Upper Deck received an exclusive license to produce college cards, it doesn’t go into effect until April 2010.  Even after talking to my contact at Press Pass, they said Press Pass plans to produce college cards after the Upper Deck agreement goes into effect.  I have a feeling some airbrushing will be going on after April 2010.  Perhaps Press Pass plans to use this new $9.99 pricing strategy for other products next year.  That would be a good start to compete against Upper Deck.  When was the last time Upper Deck made a product that guaranteed (2) hits per pack and only cost $9.99?

Card of the Day: Pele Sport Kings Series B Base

Mr. or Mrs. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson?

This morning I received an e-mail from Sport Kings informing me to check out the checklist for their new cut signatures which can be found in Series C.  Going through the list, one name stood out more than anyone – “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.  Knowing that Jackson has never had a cut signature made because he didn’t learn how to read or write until later in life, I e-mailed Sport Kings to see if the autograph is really Jacksons’ or his wife’s signature.  I got the following response:

As was the case back then the cut signature is done by Mrs. Joe Jackson, this information is on the back of the card.  Sorry this will disappoint you.

Sport Kings LP

This doesn’t surprise me because its very rare to find an artifact signed by Jackson himself.  Sport Kings doesn’t have an image up of what the card will look like, but the signature probably will look something like this:

The above picture is an example of what Jackson’s signature would look like when his wife would sign for him.  Pictured below is an example of an authentic signature of Jackson.  As you can see, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson had a hard time connecting the letters “J” “A” and “C” in his last name.

Sport Kings ’09 National VIP Promos

Sport Kings is producing 7 different cards that will be included in this year’s National VIP package.  Each package will contain one of the seven cards depicting various athletes from Series C.

Sport Kings plans incorporate their Redemption Program at this year’s National too.  Collectors who open a box of the new Series C can redeem the box tops for special memorabilia cards made just for the National.  In exchange for the box top you will be given a redemption card which will be for one of the special relics.  These cards can contain 3-6 pieces of memorabilia.  Each card will have 9 silver versions and a 1/1 gold version.  If you stop by the Sport Kings booth you’ll see an entire checklist of the cards in the Redemption Program.