Card of the Day: J.R. Richard 1976 Topps #625

Card of the Day: Mickey Mantle 1958 Topps #150

Bowie Kuhn’s 1969 Topps One-Hit-Wonder

Commissioners are like presidents.  They have to deal with a lot of stuff leftover from the last one while trying to handle new situations.  Based on the decisions they make, some commissioners are liked a lot more than others.  Major League Baseball has had ten different commissioners over it’s history.  Each one has their pluses and minuses.  Thanks to the famous Black Sox Scandal, baseball now has one appointed commissioner.

Bowie Kuhn was baseball’s fifth commissioner (1969-1984).  During his reign, baseball saw the disappearance of the reverse clause, labor strikes, and a firm stance on drugs and gambling.  Its funny to think about, but at one time Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were barred from baseball thanks to Bowie Kuhn.  After Mays and Mantle retired, both were still involved in baseball.  But they each went on to promote casinos too.  Kuhn wouldn’t allow them to work in baseball, and be part of a casino at the same time.  So they each had to cut their ties with baseball for a while.  Kuhn’s successor would eventually reinstate both of them.  Its very common for one commissioner to redo or undo the actions of another.

Baseball executives like Kuhn do have their place in the hobby.  Topps made this card just for him in 1969, and its not part of the standard 1969 Topps Baseball set.  From the information that collectors have gathered, it sounds like Kuhn would hand these out at his discretion.  Its rumored that only a few hundred were printed.  That dark colored border easily allows for chipping.  You don’t see them often.

Card of the Day: Willie Mays 2019 Topps Gallery Masters #196

Card of the Day: Fred Cox 1968 Topps #107

Card of the Day: Bryce Harper 2019 Topps Brooklyn Collection #29

I Joined The Topps 582 Montgomery Club

On November 14th Sports Card Info became a member of the very exclusive Topps 582 Montgomery Club.  With this membership I will receive the following starting in December 2019 and throughout 2020:

• Gift with Membership: 20-card Set + Autograph
• (2) 20-Card Sets
• (1) 20-Sticker Set
• (1) 20-Card “Members Vote” MLB Set + Autograph
• (1) “582 Montgomery” stamped Topps Baseball Complete Set
• Exclusive access to purchase “2019 Topps Brooklyn Collection” featuring all-new configuration on Topps.com
• NEW!  Collectible Pin
• NEW!  Exclusive Access to Pre-Sale window for select Topps 2020 Online Exclusives including Sapphire, Ginter X, and Archives Snapshots.
• First option for membership renewal

On 11/27 I received the following e-mail from Topps:

Next week will be the first pre-sale for 582 Montgomery Club Members; the online exclusive 2019 Bowman Heritage Baseball.  This product includes one guaranteed autograph per box.  You will receive an email on Tuesday notifying you when the pre-sale begins.

Your 582 Montgomery Club gift with membership is in production and will be shipped out in December.  It’s a 20-card set that features a lost design from the Topps Vault with a guaranteed autograph!

Have a happy Thanksgiving from your friends at Topps!

The communication Topps has going here is great.  Not only was I given an update to my membership, but I was made aware that on Tuesday 12/3 a new online exclusive product (2019 Bowman Heritage) will be available for pre-sale before the general public gets the chance to buy it.

I’m not sure how many pre-sale products I’m going to buy right now.  Personally, I think I’m going to wait until 2020 to start doing that.  I might try a couple of them.  Sometimes these online exclusive products can seriously jump in price once they hit the secondary market.  But I didn’t join this club just to try and flip cards.  I joined because it looks like a lot of fun.  I even bought a nice album to store them in.  It has a stitched baseball cover with a black felt liner.