2nd Impressions: 2008 Topps Series Two.

Taking a second look at the sell sheet of Series Two Topps, a couple of items I never noticed before quickly piqued my interest.

ITEM #1) FIRST TIME! Every 36-pack HOBBY box contains 1 Autograph or Relic Card! ENHANCED CONTENT! Every 10-pack HTA box contains 1 Autograph and NOW 2 Relic Cards!

Topps announced this about a month ago, and I've been sitting on this for a while. So allow me to vent.

I don't mind pulling gamers. But is the lack of a gamer in each 2008 Topps Series One Hobby box (as Topps has claimed) the real reason why sales of Hobby boxes weren't as brisk as HTA boxes? HTA's have always sold well; long before Topps began stuffing them with autogamers. It's not all that hard to figure out why if you think about it.

A Hobby box has 360 cards which (you would think) should be enough for a full 330-card base set. But over 50 of those 360 cards are not base cards, (i.e. inserts, parallels, fake Japanese pitching "prospects," and the like) leaving Hobby boxes about 30 cards short of a full base set. On the other hand, a 500-card HTA box all but guarantees a full base set (not to mention a healthy stack of doubles, and a lot more inserts). When given the choice between one box type that delivers a full set and another that leaves you short, some collectors are willing to pay the extra $35-$40 for HTA.

The second (and probably most important) culprit are Blasters. More and more Topps collectors -- even those who would never be caught dead buying their cards retail -- are finding Blasters to be a viable option. Collectors who aren't able to invest either $100 for an HTA box, or even $60 for a Hobby box, find $20 Blasters more affordable. (The availability of Blasters, and Blaster-exclusive inserts doesn't hurt either.)

Topps' flagship product has always been a collector's set; a product where the main draw is, has been, and always will be, the base set. Yes, pulling an autograph or a gamer is nice; but base Topps has never about pulling autogamers. Topps has made HTA boxes and Blasters more attractive to the collector, at the expense of Hobby wax. The addition of a hit in each Hobby box will have little, if any, impact on series two Hobby box sales.

Item #2) NEW! Red Hot Rookie Program! Rookie redemption cards numbered 1-20 will be randomly inserted and guaranteed in every Topps Series 2 Hobby and HTA box.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Gimmicked "Rookies"? In FUCKING BASE LEVEL TOPPS? SURELY THEY CAN'T BE SERIOUS?

Sadly, they are serious. (And don't call me Shirley. Ba-Dump-Bump.) Whether you like it or not, gimmicked "Rookies" are coming to base Topps. (Whether you want them or not, is immaterial.)

The scheme is similar to what Topps already has in Finest. Each randomly inserted redemption card will have a number, and Topps will announce over the remainder of the year -- stretching it out to maximize the effect -- what player each redemption card will be good for.

On the original sell-sheets for '08 Topps series two, there are no mentions of these gimmicked rookies so I'm guessing that they are a late addition. Hopefully this gimmick will be a one year aberration.

It's Shenanigans, I Tell Ya! Shenanigans!

So yesterday, I got this press release from Upper Deck touting this particular Daisuke Matsuzaka card.



According to the press release, this rookie card (their words) has been selling for as much as $970.

$970? For an autographed "rookie" card of Dice-K? And serial numbered to only 18 copies?

HOLY SHIT!

There's just one teensy-weensy problem.

This "2007" Upper Deck Premiere "rookie card" of Dice-K was issued.....

... in packs of the recently released 2008 Upper Deck Premiere.

In other words, Upper Deck is trying to pass off a card issued in April 2008, as a card from 2007.

In UD's defense, this card was supposed to be in last year's UD Premiere. (Not wanting to pack it out as a redemption, they pulled it and saved for this year.)

That still doesn't make it a 2007 card, and nor is it a "true" rookie.

It is what it is: an autographed second-year card of a pretty damn good pitcher.

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Heritage (Hobby)

Part one...




Part two...


The Pulls

Paid $69

Chiptopper: 1 J. Pierre, B. Molina, D. Murphy Advertising Panel

Base Set: 154 of 500 (30.8%)

short set: 146 of 425
Short Prints: 8 of 75 (1:3)

Black Backs: 25 (one-per-pack)

Parallels:
3 Chromes: T. Hunter, R. Oswalt, J. Francis (1:8, numbered to 1959)
1 Chrome Refractor: E. Byrnes (1:29, numbered to 559)

Inserts:
2 New Age Performers: D. Wright, J. Peavy (1:15)
2 Then & Now: E. Mathews & A-Rod, D. Drysdale & J. Peavy (1:15)
1 Baseball Flashbacks: O. Cepeda (1:12)
2 News Flashbacks: Dalai Lama, Hawaii (1:12)

Autogamers:
1 Clubhouse Collection: T. Hunter jersey (1:24)

My two cents on 2008 UD Goudey

Since everybody else seems to be doing "Second Thoughts" columns on UD Goudey, here's mine.

What I like about 2008 UD Goudey

• The size. It's 2008, not 1934. We like our cards 2.5" X 3.5". This was the main flaw of last year's UDG. We get the authenticity of the mini cards, but save 'em for the parallel.
  
• The larger size of the base set. The bigger the base set, the better. You can't complain about 42 extra cards.
  

What I don't like about 2008 UD Goudey

• More SPs. Unfortunately, all those extra cards were added short-prints. Now I wouldn't mind a set with 130 SPs. But the base set is only 330 cards, and the insertion ratio is only 1:2.571/packs. As it is, nearly 40% of the cards in 2008 UDG will be SPed.
  

Here's a rule of thumb for those of you at Topps and UD who are reading this (and I know you are), so you might want to take notes. 25%. No more than 25% of the cards in a base set should be short-printed.

• The Presidents and Sportkings Sports Royalty subsets. This is an instance of UD making cards that they think collector's want, instead of what collector's actually want. Yeah, we get it. It's an election year. But it's time to put this gimmick to bed already. As for the Sports Royalty, this is a subset that would work better as an insert.
  
• The $5 pack price. $5 seems a bit steep for a product like this. Heritage has been at the $3 since it's inception and TA&G has an MSRP of $4 -- although it rarely sells for that.
  

What I'm indifferent about 2008 UD Goudey

• The one-per-box autograph and gamer. Of course, this is the reason why UDG is $5/pack.
  

1st Impressions: 2008 UD Goudey

After the rousing success of 2007 UD Goudey, you knew it was inevitable that a sequel would be forthcoming. The sell sheets are out, and '08UDG looks just as good as the original.

There are two big differences in '08 Goudey and they both involve size. The base set will be a little bigger (330 cards), and with more SPs (130). The design is based on the '34 Goudey's, but with Derek Jeter instead of Lou Gehrig saying, something. The biggest change is the size of the cards themselves, as all base set cards will measure the standard 2.5" X 3.5." (Orignial-sized mini cards have been relegated to a parallel.)

The entire "Sport Royalty" insert -- which, in an Olympic year, has a noticeable Olympic feel to it -- has been folded into the base set and all 60 of them are amongst the SPs. Also short-printed are a '36 Goudey-influenced 20-card "Black & White" subset, 30 of the base cards, and a 20-card US Presidents subset. (Yeah, yeah. I'm sick and tired of President cards as well.)

Each 18 pack, eight-card waxbox should yield (according to UD), one on-card autograph, one game jersey, four Yankee Stadium Legacy mirrors, seven SPs, and seven mini parallels -- which works out to a "hit" in each pack. In addition, each 12-box case will have an original '34 Goudey buyback, one Yankee Stadium Legacy gamer, and one autographed Sports Royalty.

MSRP: $4.99/pack
Street Date: July

何がである"愚かな仕掛けのために日本語か。"

Remember that Topps card of Kazuo Uzuki that everyone forgot about when we all realized it was just another stupid gimmick? Guess what? It was all an April Fool's joke.

Really.

I'm not making that up.

It says so right in the press release.

I'll leave to the judgment of the reader to determine whether the joke is on you the collector, or on Topps.

---

Speaking of gimmicks, Mario over at Wax Heaven has the scoop on 2008 Topps Finest. Yes, the idea Topps ripped off of Dr. Wax Battle the cast of the Topps TV Rip Party is now a subject for an autographed insert. So for those of you patiently waiting for your boxes of Finest to arrive at the local Hobby shop, buyer beware. Your one-per-mini-box "hit" might be this.

Video Box Break: 2008 Upper Deck Series One Super Star Blaster.

EDITOR'S NOTE: After this video was taken, I discovered a Barack Obama Presidential Predictor insert buried in with the base cards.

Reason #423 Why Topps Moments & Milestones is a Joke.

Is this what Topps meant by "Added Value in Every Pack?"

Courtesy of the must-read Sports Collectors Daily:

"Topps is confirming that because of what it calls 'a manufacturing error' in the recently-released 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones Baseball, card numbers 145-189 feature more than one red parallel.

"By design, each of the Rookie Cards 145-189 should only have one Red Parallel (1 of 1), but because of the error the subjects have an additional 20 Red Parallels."

In other words, the only "true" ones-of-one in TM&M -- and the only ones-of-one that might actually be worth more than the price of a waxpack -- are actually 20s-of-one.

Congratulations, suckers!

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Heritage Target Blaster

We interrupt this Fleer tribute to present a video Blaster box break of 2008 Topps Heritage.

Seven packs + one "Bonus Pack" per box; eight cards per pack. (Paid $19.97 + tax)



Base Set: 46 of 500

short set: 43 of 425
Short Prints: 3 of 75 (1:3) K. Gregg; Snell, Capps, Maholm, Gorzelany; Verlander All-Star

Variations
7 Black Backs: B. Lidge, P. LoDuca, B. Penny, C-L Hu RC, M. Cameron, A. Lind, R. Ankiel

Parallels
1 Chrome: J.J. Putz (1:15, numbered to 1959)

Inserts
1 New Age Performer: Ichiro (1:15)
1 Then & Now: Aparicio & Reyes (1:15)
4 T-205: C-H Hu, R. Howard, V. Guerrero, W. Balentien

Autogamers
NONE

1st Impressions: Upper Deck series two

Second verse, is different as the first. Well not really, but the second series of 2008 Upper Deck is essentially the same as the first. Just replace the '69 OPC inserts with Team USA and add a parallel.

400 card base set with a parallel numbered to 99 copies

4 Team USA/Junior Team USA inserts per box
At least one Hillary Clinton Presidential Predictor

4 Yankee Stadium Legacy mirrors per box

1 Team USA autograph numbered to 375 copies per box
1 Team USA autographed gamer numbered to 199 per box
1 Team USA autographed patch gamer numbered to 99 per 12-box case
1 gamer of an actual Major League player per box

All that and Yankee Stadium Legacy gamers and buybacks, and cut cards of dead presidents to chase after.

16 packs per box, 20 cards per pack (MSRP $4.99)
Street Date: June 3rd

When Everything is Scarce, Nothing Is.

Just how much of a joke is Topps Moments and Milestones?

Number of days since it's gone "live:" 8

Number of "ones-of one" currently for sale on eBay: 181

Number of "ones-of-one" already sold on eBay: 168

1st Impressions: 2008 Fleer

According to Upper Deck's Fleer website, 2008 Fleer baseball will go live this week.

Ordinarily, when I do one of these product previews, I show some promos and give some details about the set's composition and inserts. But I can't. There's nothing on the Fleer website stating when exactly is in 2008 Fleer baseball.

No pictures.

No checklists.

Just a date, and a name.

(If anybody has any info on this product, I'd greatly appreciate it.)

I Take Back Everything I Said About 2008 Topps Heritage.

Just read the Cardboard Junkie's rant on the "super duper ultra whooper collectors take it in the pooper short print gimmick cards" in 2008 Topps Heritage.

Topps, you are officially "On Notice"

If you're ever going to catch for Houston, be sure to bring a towel.

This is just too easy.

Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Heritage

One Hobby box of 2008 Topps Heritage (Paid $62)
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99)

The Details

Chiptoppers:
One Stamped 1959 Buyback (1:2 boxes)
One of Advertising Panel (one-per-box)

Base Set: 500 cards

Short Set: 425 cards
Short Prints: 75 cards (1:3)

Variations
Black Backs: 110 cards (one-per-pack)

Parallels
Chrome: 100 cards (1:8, numbered to 1959)
Chrome Refractors: 100 cards (1:29, numbered to 559)
Black Bordered Chrome Refractors: 100 cards (1:315, numbered to 59)

Inserts
New Age Performers: 15 cards (1:15)
Then & Now: 10 cards (1:15)
Baseball Flashbacks: 10 cards (1:12)
News Flashbacks: 10 cards (1:12)

Autogamers*
Clubhouse Collection Relics: 40 cards (production varies)
Clubhouse Collection Dual Relics: five cards (1:5582)
Flashback Stadium Relic: 10 cards (1:162)
Dual Flashback Relic: five cards (1:55,000)
Real One Autograph: 46 cards (1:247)
Real One Special Edition: 46 cards (1:835)
Real One Dual Autograph: 10 cards (1:6869)
Flashback Autograph: 10 cards (1:14,900)
Clubhouse Collection Auto Relic: 10 cards (1:6875)
Flashback Auto Stadium Relic: five cards (1:22,100)
1959 Cut Signatures: 10 cards (1:98,200)

*Odds of finding an autograph or game used card: 1:24

The Pulls

Chiptoppers
1 1959 Harvey Kuenn Buyback
1 A-Rod, Huston Street, M. Grudzielanek Advertising Panel

Base Set: 156 of 500 (31.20%)

Short Set: 148 of 425 (34.82%)
Short-Prints: 8 of 75 (10.67%) R. Freel, J. Peavy, F. Lopez, B. Giles, M. Owings, J. Contreras, O. Husdon All-Star, J. Beckett All-Star

Variations
24 Black Backs

Parallels
3 Chrome: B. Penny, T. Hudson, M. Ordonez
1 Chrome Refractor: J. Isringhausen
1 Black Bordered Refractor: A-Rod

Inserts
24 sticks of gum
1 New Age Performers: M. Holliday
1 Then & Now: D. Drysdale & J. Peavy
2 Player Flashbacks: E. Banks, M. Mantle
2 News Flashbacks: Alaska, Antarctica

Autogamers
1 Real One: S. Podsednik (Redemption)




The Review

I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

Things I like about 2008 Topps Heritage

• The design
• The one-per-box every-other-box buybacks
• Fewer short-prints

Things I don't like about 2008 Topps Heritage

• Fewer cards than 1959 Topps
  
• The one-per-pack black-back variations
• The advertising panel chiptoppers

Things I really, really like about 2008 Topps Heritage

• No mirrors
• No Mickey Mantle overload
  

Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks (out of five)

Box Break and Review: 2008 Upper Deck series one

One Hobby box of 2008 Upper Deck series one (paid $69)
16 packs per box, 20 cards per pack (MSRP $5)

The Details

Base Set: 400 cards (no short-prints, no rookie redemptions)

Parallels: NONE

Inserts:
1969 O-Pee-Chee: 50 cards (1:2)
Presidential Predictors: eights (or nine) cards (1:8)
Buybacks

Mirrors:
Yankee Stadium Legacy: (1:4)

Autogamers:
1997 UD Jersey: 25 cards*
1997 UD Patch: 25 cards*
1998 UD Jersey: 20 cards*
1998 UD Patch: 20 cards*
1999 UD Jersey: 20 cards*
1999 UD Patch: 20 cards*
2008 UD Jersey: 25 cards*
2008 UD Patch: 25 cards*
500 Home Run Bat: two cards*
Milestone Memorabilia: five cards*
Signature Sensations: 20 cards+
Inkredible: 20 cards+
Upper Deck Autographs: 20 cards+
Season Highlight Signatures: 20 cards+
All Rookie Team Signatures: 20 cards+
1969 OPC Autographs: 31 cards+

* Odds of finding a game jersey card: 1:8
+ Odds of finding an autograph: 1:16

The Pulls:

Base Set: 268 of 400 (67.00%)
34 Doubles

Chiptoppers: Yankee Stadium Legacy pamphlet.

Inserts:
6 1969 O-Pee-Chee: M. Cabrera, M. Holliday, M. Ordonez, Man-Ram, M. Teixeira, N. Lowry, P. Fielder, B. Phillips
2 Presidential Predictors: R. Giuliani, J. Edwards
1 OPC Buyback: 1988 Wally Joyner

Mirrors:
4 Yankee Stadium Legacy: #3128 (W. Ford), #3153 (Y. Berra), #5193 (Mattingly), #5218 (K. Maas)

Autogamers:
1 1997 Jersey: X. Nady
1 1998 Jersey: B. Hall
1 Inkredible: J. Sosa

The Review.

When I ripped open my first pack of 2008 Upper Deck and looked at the cards, I had a strange sense of deja vu. Didn't I collect this set 13 years ago?


Yes '08UD is a dead-ringer for the 1995 UD set. However, whereas the bronze-colored foil on the '95s accentuates the design, the silver foil on this year's model makes it very difficult to make out the player and team name.

As for the set's structure, '08UD is 400 cards divided between 300 individual players (cards 1-300), fifty MLBPA-approved "Rookies" (301-350), thirty team checklists (351-380), and twenty season highlights (381-400).

Again, like I've said the last couple of years, for the life of me, I still can't figure out why Upper Deck insists on including team checklist cards in the first series of a multiple series set. But what I still can't figure out, is which cards are the team checklists? Can you figure out which B.J. Upton card is the regular player card and which is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays team checklist?

One thing in the base set that (thankfully) was dropped from last year are the rookie redemptions. Although originally on the sell sheets, Upper Deck wisely decided against a repeat of last year's rookie card debacle. What does this mean for you the collector? There might actually be more than two true rookie cards in the second series.

Inserts include a 50-card Hobby-exclusive set done in the style of the 1969 O-Pee-Chee set -- which suspiciously looks a lot like the 1969 Topps set. (I don't happen to have a '69 Topps common, but I did pull a 2008 Topps insert of Jacoby Ellsbury made to look like a '69T.) See for yourself.

Unfortunately (just like the base set) the silver text camouflages itself into the lettering of the player's jersey, making the player's name virtually unreadable.

The Bottom Line:

This box yielded two-thirds of the base set with a healthy stack of doubles -- all of which came from the subsets. In fact, in one particular pack I found the same Clay Buchholz Season Highlight on back-to-back cards. Ideally one box should be enough, but you may have to buy a second (or a couple of Blaster boxes).

The inserts ran as scheduled: six '69OPCs, two Presidential Predictors, and four Yankee Stadium Legacy mirrors -- all of which will gladly be donated to The Bench's V Foundation charity drive.

Each box also promises three autogamers, and this box delivered. I pulled an autograph of Mets pitcher Jorge Sosa, a Xavier Nady jersey done in the style of the 1997 gamers, and a Bill Hall gamer which Upper Deck says is based on the non-existent 1998 Upper Deck game jersey set -- but is actually from 1999.


Xavier Nady, Bill Hall, and Jorge Sosa? Not exactly anything to get excited about, but it's hard to think of Upper Deck's flagship product without autogamers.

Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks (Out of five)

... and another thing.

In the very last pack of this box, I pulled a buyback card.

"Congratulations! You have received a trading card that was originally released in a previous product and is now being re-released for your collecting pleasure."

Then I flipped it over. A 1988 Topps Wally Joyner? Inserted into an Upper Deck pack? Wha-wha-what?

I then took the card out of it's slickie-sleeve and immediately noticed the French text. It was a 1988 O-Pee-Chee Wally Joyner -- diamond cut and severely off-center no less!

It should be noted that, unlike the off-center 1980 Topps Eddie Murray I found in a pack of Topps Traded a few years back, there is nothing on this '88OPC Joyner (i.e. a stamping or an embossing) to signify that this card was re-purchased.

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps series one. (Part Deux)

NB: The 2008 Topps drinking game was not played during the filming of this box break.

The Pulls

---

Base Set: 301 of 330 (91.21%)

Variations: NONE

Parallels:
18 Gold Foil
4 Gold: E. Bedard, J. Lackey, K. Youkilis, J. Santana
1 Black: A-Rod

Inserts:
6 Own the Game: A-Rod, C. Pena, L. Berkman, R. Howard, B. Penny, F. Carmona
6 Trading Card History: J. Ellsbury (69T), JOBA!!! (55B), P. Martinez (51B), C-M Wang (75T), Ichiro (50s-era Menko), G. Sizemore (48 Swell Sport Thrills)
2 Mickey Mantle Story
7 All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary: G. Carter, L. Piniella, H. Ramirez, R. McDowell, R. Oswalt, F. Liriano, M. Ordonez
4 Campaign '08: J. Edwards, RUDY!!! The Huckster, D. Kucinich
1 Kazuo Uzuki Future Star

Mirrors:
6 Year in Review: I-Rod (4/16), D. Young (4/17), M. Buehrle (4/18), A-Rod (4/19), J. Saunders (4/20, (heh-heh 4/20!)), R. Martin (4/21)
4 Mickey Mantle Home Run History: #515, 516, 517 & 518

Autogamers: NONE

Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)

...and another thing.

Despite being on the sell sheet, Barry Bonds is nowhere to be found in '08 Topps. (Geez, I wonder why?) Will the last six cards of the Barry Bonds Home Run History mirror set ever be released? Does anybody even care?

However, it should be noted that Roger Clemens, Rick Ankiel, Miguel Tejada, and Paul Byrd are all in the base set.

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps series one. (Part I)

And now, courtesy of The Backstop's Dr. Wax Battle, my first ever video box break!

But first, you know the drill.

---

One Hobby box of 2008 Topps series one (paid $58.85)
36 packs per box, ten cards per pack (MSRP $1.99)

The Details

Base Set: 330 cards (no short-prints)

Variations: one card of Rudy Giuliani Photoshopped in with the Red Sox (1:70)

Parallels:
Gold Foil* (1:2)
Gold (1:9, numbered to 2008)
Black* (1:95, numbered to 57)
Platinum (1:16,500, one-of-one)
Printing Plates* (1:1348)

Inserts:
Own the Game: 25 cards (1:6)
Trading Card History*: 25 cards (1:6)
Mickey Mantle Story: 10 cards (1:18)
All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary: 55 cards (1:5)
All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary Gold: 55 cards (1:1290, numbered to 99)
Campaign '08: 12 cards (1:9)
Kazuo Uzuki Future Star: one "stealth" insert (odds unknown)

Mirrors:
Year in Review: 60 cards (1:6)
Mickey Mantle Home Run History: 35 cards (1:9)

Autogamers:
Presidential Stamps: 15 postage stamps mounted on cards (1:1950)
Highlights Autographs: 48 cards (production varies)
All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary Autographs: 40 cards (1:7194, numbered to 25)
World Champion Autographed Relics: 10 cards (1:14,417, numbered to 50)
World Champion Relics: 15 cards (production varies)
All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary Relics: 20 cards (1:7178, numbered to 50)
Mickey Mantle Home Run History Relics: 35 cards (1:29,331, numbered to 7)
1955 Mickey Mantle Reprint Relic: one card (1:400,000, numbered to 55)
Campaign 2008 Cut Signatures: five cards (1:125,000, numbered to 15)
In The Name Relics*: 312 cards of 52 subjects (1:17,980, one-of-one)
Mini-Jersey Patch: 35 cards (1:412, numbered to 499)

* Hobby Only

The Curious Case of Kazuo Uzuki.

Twenty-three years after George Plimpton and Sports Illustrated gave us Sidd Finch, Topps has issued a "Future Star" card of a Japanese teenage pitching sensation named Kazuo "The Uzi" Uzuki.

He's only sixteen and has a fastball clocked at 104 MPH!

Two years ago, as a fourteen-year-old, he was invited to tryout for Japan's World Baseball Classic team.

And, according to the back of his short-printed 2008 Topps card, one scout says he's the best pitching prospect he's seen in three decades!

But wait a sec. If there really was a 16 year-old in Japan who could hit 104 on the Jugs gun, and was invited to try out for the Japanese World Baseball Classic team at 14, don't you think he'd be a household name on this side of the Pacific already?

And besides, don't they use the metric system in Japan?

Does Topps really, really, think we're this stupid?

(h/ts to Short Printed and Wax Heaven)

The 2008 Topps Drinking Game.

2K8 Topps dropped today, and yes, There Will Be Blood Milkshakes Gimmicks.

More airbrushing! More parallels! And this year's version of "Generation Now!" It's the first Topps baseball set of the Michael Eisner era! Can't you just feel the excitement?

No? OK then. Here's a little game I came up with. Some of you may be familiar with "Hi Bob!" It's a game in which you watch an old episode of "The Bob Newhart Show," and for each time someone on the show says "Hi!" to Bob, you drink.


Well, welcome to "Hi, Topps!" the 2008 Topps drinking game.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO PLAY:

One (1) unopened waxbox of 2008 Topps Baseball. Hobby is preferred, but HTA or Blasters will do.

One (1) twelve-pack of beer. The higher the ABV, the better.

RULES:

Open each individual pack, until you're finished with the whole box.

TAKE ONE SIP -- for each David Wright "TOPPS OF THE CLASS" or "ROOKIE CUP" promo card.

TAKE ANOTHER SIP -- for each overtly airbrushed card.

TAKE TWO SIPS -- for each meaningless "gold foil" parallel pulled.

TAKE ANOTHER SIP -- for any other parallels.

DRINK ONE BOTTLE/CAN -- for each similarly meaningless Mickey Mantle Home Run History mirror pulled.

DRINK TWO BOTTLES/CANS -- for each mind numbingly stupid Year in Review (a.k.a. "Generation Now" version 2.0) mirror card.

DRINK THE REMAINDER OF THE 12-PACK -- if you pull the Giuliani/Red Sox card.

The greatest insert set ever!

UPDATE #2 2/7: I stand corrected on the Hillary/Morganna card. It appears that the card was "pulled" at the last minute, but some of the cards somehow managed to make their way into packs. (wink, wink; nudge, nudge; knowwhatimean?)

Meanwhile, Beckett is reporting that UD2 will have a Hillary. Maybe they can throw in Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul?

---

UPDATE #1 2/7: UD set up a website where you can see the whole set.

Apparently "Hillary Clinton as Morganna The Kissing Bandit" has been pulled. (Damn political correctness.)

The Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly "Wild Card" is not shown, but is still on the checklist.

Still no card of Ron Paul.

---

I guess it's a shot at Topps "Campaign 2008" insert. Maybe not, but Upper Deck's "Presidential Predictors" -- a nine-card "stealth" insert in '08 Upper Deck series one -- is the funniest thing I've seen, like, ever.

2008 UD1 dropped today, and I haven't seen any on eBay (yet), and nor do I know what the pack insertion ratios are.

Here's the complete checklist:

Card #	Player	Print Run	Team
	2008	PP-1	Rudy Giuliani (as Jeffrey Maier)
	2008	PP-2	John Edwards (as Moonlight Graham)
	2008	PP-3	John McCain (as Ted Williams)
	2008	PP-4	Barack Obama (as Steve Bartman)
	2008	PP-5	Mitt Romney (as Carlton Fisk)
	2008	PP-6	Fred Thompson (as Babe Ruth)
	2008	PP-7	Hillary Clinton (as Morganna the Kissing Bandit)
	2008	PP-8	Al Gore (as Jose Offerman) with a cameo by George W. Bush (as Chuck Knoblauch)
	2008	PP-9	Wild Card

Yes, that's Bill O'Reilly playing the "Robin Ventura" to Jon Stewart's "Nolan Ryan."

An absolute stroke of genius! +1 goes to UD

Another year, another gimmick.

For those of you who had "Rudy Giuliani on the Red Sox team card" in the "2008 Topps base set Photoshop gimmick" pool, congratulations.

You're going to the pay window.

(image courtesy of the New York Post)

1st Impressions: 2008 Topps Series Two

The first series of 2008 Topps isn't even out yet, but the sell sheets for the second are. (Go figure!)

Here's the sell sheet, and the checklist.

1st Impressions: "Fisking" the 2008 Bowman Sell Sheet

Fisking: "A point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or (especially) news story."

The term was coined to describe a now (in)famous December 9, 2001 blog entry by Andrew Sullivan that ripped left-wing journalist Robert Fisk a new one.

With that said, I have in my formerly nicotine stained hands (CRUNCH-CRUNCH-CRUNCH) the sell sheet for 2008 Bowman. Yes, it's not even February, and the sell sheets for '08 Bowman (with Bowman Chrome!) are already out.

Whaddaya say we have some fun with this?

UPDATE: 1/28/08
Found a sell sheet.

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Configuration: 24 packs per box. 10 cards per pack.

So far, so good.

Home of the Rookie Card!

For the last few years Bowman has ceased to be "The Home of the Rookie Card." But hey, maybe Bowman's changed. Maybe they'll include a few more Rookies this year? Then again, this product is going to be released in May, so maybe not. Let's find out, anyway.

2008 Bowman Baseball now features even more must-have, Bowman Exclusive cards than ever before!

Ooh, I can hardly wait. Are they going to expand the base set to more than 220 cards? Get rid of the base set autographed cards?

NEW this year, 2008 Bowman Baseball presents Hobby Exclusive AUTOGRAPHED Bowman Chrome Prospect Cards, at an insertion rate of 1 per Hobby and HTA Box and introduces Bowman Scouts Autographed Cards, highlighting baseball scouts who have signed some of today’s most incredible MLB stars!

SURVEY SAYS......



FEATURES
- NEW Bowman Chrome Autographed Prospect Cards! 1 PER HOBBY BOX!

NEW Bowman Chrome Autographed Prospect Cards? 1 PER HOBBY BOX? Be honest, raise your hand if you didn't see this coming?

- NEW Autographed Bowman Scout Cards!

SURVEY SAYS......

Yes, you read right. Autographed cards.

Of scouts.

(How the hell can these people sleep at night?)

- 110 Topps Exclusive Bowman Chrome Prospect Cards!
- 110 Topps Exclusive Bowman Prospect Cards!
- 3 Autographed Cards Per HTA Box!
- Each pack contains 5 Bowman Baseball cards PLUS 2 Prospect cards PLUS 2 Bowman Chrome Prospect cards PLUS 1 Gold Parallel card.

Wait, wait, wait. Why are you telling us on one line that we get three autographs in an HTA box; but then give us the pack breakdown for regular wax in the next? What's the breakdown for HTA boxes?

BASE CARDS (200 subjects): 5 PER PACK!
- VETERANS: 200 top MLB pros.
- ROOKIES: 20 young players featured with the MLB® Rookie Card Logo.

Same old puny 220-card base set; unchanged from the last couple of years. If there was anything that NEEDED to change about Bowman, it was the base set.

Available In The Following Parallels:
- RED: HOBBY EXCLUSIVE! A 1 of 1 version of the base set.
- ORANGE: Numbered* to 250.
- BLUE: Numbered* to 500.
- GOLD: The player’s signature and Bowman logo are gold-foil stamped!

Does anybody really care about the non-Chrome parallels? I get the one-per-pack Gold parallels, but what's the point with the Oranges and Blues? (Yeah, I know. "Adding value." Whatever.)

AUTOGRAPHED ROOKIE CARDS: HOBBY EXCLUSIVE!

I hope for Topps sake, they didn't tell Wal-Mart that the AUTOGRAPHED ROOKIE CARDS are HOBBY EXCLUSIVE!

And what's the deal with THE ALL CAPS AND THE EXCLAMATION POINTS AT THE END OF EACH SENTENCE! IT SOUNDSSSS LIKE THISSSS GUY WROTE IT:

(VERIFYING ON ANOTHER!)

- 10 Rookies sign their base card and are numbered 221-230. 1 PER HTA BOX!

Here is the complete AUTOGRAPHED ROOKIE CARD checklist:

221 Clay Buchholz
222 Nyjer Morgan
223 Brandon Jones
224 Sam Fuld
225 Daric Barton
226 Chris Seddon
227 J.R. Towles
228 Steve Pearce
229 Ross Ohlendorf
230 Clint Sammons

Basically, it's that guy who pitched a no-hitter for the Red Sox last September, and nine others.

Oh, and wasn't Daric Barton's RC in 2003 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects? (That would be a "yes.")

Available In The Following Parallels:
- RED: 1 OF 1!
- ORANGE: Numbered* to 250.
- BLUE: Numbered* to 500.

Blah, blah, blah...

Moving on to...

PROSPECT CARDS (110 subjects): 4 PER PACK!

BOWMAN PROSPECTS (2 per pack! HTA 8 per pack):
- Non-Major League Prospects appear in their MLB uniforms along with a “First Bowman Card” logo. Numbered BP1–BP110. 2 PER PACK!

Available In The Following Parallels:
- RED: HOBBY EXCLUSIVE! A 1.....

Same concept as the base cards. You get the idea.

NEW! AUTOGRAPHED BOWMAN CHROME PROSPECTS: 1 PER HOBBY & HTA BOX!
- HOBBY EXCLUSIVE!
- 25 prospects appear with their signatures on Chrome technology and will be numbered BCP111-BCP135!

Translation: All those Autographed Prospect Cards that were numbered as part of the regular Prospects set, have been moved into the Bowman Chrome set.

And who you ask are these guys?

BCP111 David Price
BCP112 Michael Moustakas

Autographed non-rookie cards of players whose First Bowman Card was in last year's BDP&P.

SURVEY SAYS......

Here's the rest of the checklist.

BCP113 Matt LaPorta
BCP114 Wendell Fairley
BCP115 Josh Vitters
BCP116 Johnathan Bachanov
BCP117 Edward Kunz
BCP118 Matt Dominguez
BCP119 Kyle Lotzkar
BCP120 Madison Bumgarner
BCP121 Jason Heyward
BCP122 Julio Borbon
BCP123 Josh Smoker
BCP124 Jarrod Parker
BCP125 Kevin Ahrens
BCP126 J.P. Arencibia
BCP127 Johs Bell
BCP128 Scott Cousins
BCP129 Brandon Hynick
BCP130 Alan Johnson
BCP131 Josh Kreuzer
BCP132 Ryan Zink
BCP133 Matt Harrison
BCP134 Justin Masterson
BCP135 Fautino de los Santos

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Alright, that's enough, you get the gist of 2008 Bowman: Very few actual rookies and a shitload of gimmicks.

And that's the problem. Topps' once vaunted Bowman brand -- the self-proclaimed "Home of the Rookie Card" -- has lost it's identity. Granted, most of it is not of their making (i.e. the MLBPA's "Rookie Card" rules), but a lot of it is self-inflicted. I think Ben Henry said it best last summer: Do collectors really want Autographed Chrome Prospects in regular ol' Bowman, (or Chrome cards? or autographs of scouts? for that matter) or is it because Topps thinks that's what they want?

Anyway, for the first time in years, I think I'll be taking a pass on 2008 Bowman. (At least until the season ends.) If anything, by the time of next year's World Series, hobby wax will be selling for half price.

ETA: 5/12/08

When Upper Deck deals you lemons, try and cure cancer.

A group of smart collectors may have found a purpose for Upper Deck's Yankee Stadium "world-record-that-really-isn't-a-world-record" mirror insert: Fighting cancer. The folks behind the card trading site "The Bench" are asking collectors to donate their Yankee Stadium Legacy cards.

The plan to is to build the entire 6500+ card set, auction the completed set on eBay, and then donate 100% of the proceeds to The V Foundation.

For more information on the project, check out this website, and this facebook group.

The Latest Addition to the '08 TA&G Fantasy Set.

Yeah, he was a douche in the Senate. But after today, he deserves the ultimate tribute: a fake Allen & Ginter card.