Tournament of Gimmicks: Round One, Day One

Remember, you are picking the WORST gimmick in each game.

Game #1
8) 1996 Finest (Fractured Base Sets)

As if high end wasn't expensive or difficult enough.

vs
9) 1998 Pacific Aurora Cubes

One of many reasons why Pacific no longer makes cards.

Game #2
1) 2008 Topps Heritage #440 "Jon" Smoltz

Just when everyone was starting to really enjoy Heritage, Topps upped the ante by creating gimmicked super short printed "error" cards, or more accurately, let's misspell a popular player's name, or put the wrong team on his card, print just enough for people to notice and watch eBay burn up with obsessive set completists. Sane collectors ignored these cynical money grabs by Topps.

vs
16) 1995 Topps D3

Topps' foray into "three dimensional" cards give collectors headaches in more ways than one.

Game #3

5) 1933 Goudey #106 Napoleon Lajoie

Whether by accident or design, the Nap Lajoie card became one of the scarcest and most sought after in collecting history. Some claim Goudey omitted the star from it's set as a gimmick to get youngsters to buy more packs. Goudey insisted it was a honest mistake. Either way, the only people lucky enough to find that darn Nap were those persistent enough to send a letter of complaint to Goudey and those fortunate few would finally receive that magical card #106. Unclaimed Naps were destroyed at the factory. Today that same card fetches in the neighborhood of $30,000 at auction.

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12) 2001 Sweet Spot #JIS Ichiro "Game-Used" Jersey

Ichiro cards were red hot in 2001 and if you thought this was a real regular season game used jersey I have some real estate in Hong Kong to sell you. It's from '99 spring training. Don't worry. Upper Deck's lips are sealed.

Game #4
4) 2006 Topps #297 Alex Gordon

Few cards in the history of collecting have pissed off more collectors harder for longer then the 2006 Topps Alex Gordon. Legend has it that the card was hastily pulled/destroyed when Topps was advised that the card voided MLB's new rookie card rules and Topps could possibly lose it's license. A few had already entered the marketplace and a feeding frenzy ensued led by none other than celebrity collector Keith Olbermann who under different usernames began mortgaging his mansion to buy up whatever Gordons popped up on eBay. When the orgy ended some claimed Olbermann spent over $35,000 for seven Gordons. Now let me get this straight. MLB adopted strict new rookie card rules and limited the number of card releases to clean up the hobby. And this was the result? Fantastic. All the ill will Topps engendered to the hobby did not stop them from unleashing a gimmick onslaught in the years that followed. Many cynics believe that the Gordon was done on purpose to encourage sales of '06 Topps but so many loyal set collectors were turned off it had the opposite effect with many quitting for good. How's that for irony/karma? Oh and the Yo Mamma Gordon in '10 Topps has not exactly patched things over with some hobbyists.

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13) 1995-99 Finest peel-off protectors.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Cards were meant to be held and your hand and savored. Shrink wrap is for frozen meat.

You have until Wednesday at Midnight (ET) to vote.

March Madness Card Collecting Style: Chris Harris' Tournament of Gimmicks

I am proud to announce that my blog will be hosting one of the brackets in the first ever Tournament of Gimmicks. The first round will begin Monday. This should be awesome and I have a lot of fun ideas planned. Stay tuned...

BURDICK REGION
To be hosted by: Stale Gum

1) 2008 Topps #FS1 Kazuo Uzuki
2) Manufactured Letter Patches
3) 1989 Fleer #616 Billy Ripken "Fuck Face"
4) 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights "Upside-Down" Longoria, Bruce, and Fukudome
5) 2010 Topps Yankee Pie-in-the-Face
6) 1996-97 Pinnacle Mint
7) 2008 Topps Heritage #201 Johan Santana "Mets"
8) 2009 Upper Deck #855 Ken Griffey, Jr. "20X"
9) 2007 Topps Alex Rodriguez Road to 500
10) 1998 Pinnacle Multi-Stat-Backs
11) 2009 Topps Heritage #102 Adrian Gonzalez "Rangers"
12) 2001 Donruss "1999" & "2000" Retroactive
13) 1992-93 Triple Play
14) 1995-98 Leaf Materials inserts
15) 1994 Upper Deck Diamond Collection (Regional Distribution)
16) 1994 Score Rookie/Traded September Call-Up Redemption Card

OLBERMANN REGION
To be hosted by: The Cardboard Junkie

1) 2008 Topps #661 Johan Santana "No-Hitter"
2) 2008 Upper Deck Documentary
3) 2009 Topps Heritage #83 Derek Jeter "Red Sox"
4) 2007 Topps #40 Jeter/Bush/Mantle
5) 1998 Zenith "Dare-to-Tear"
6) 2008 Upper Deck Presidential Predictors #PP7 Hillary Clinton (Morgana)
7) 1998-2000 Topps TEK
8) 2005-08 Topps Barry Bonds Home Run History
9) Allen & Ginter Rip Cards
10) 2007 Topps Generation Now
11) Pacific Card-supials
12) 2001 Pacific Manny Ramirez "Corked Bat"
13) 2008 Topps #234 Red Sox "Rudy Giuliani"
14) 1997 Pinnacle Inside (Cards in a can)
15) 1995 Stadium Club Ring Leader Phone Cards
16) 1982 Fleer #576 John Littlefield RevNeg

BECKETT REGION
To be hosted by: The Card Junkie Jeff Wolfe

1) 2008 Topps Heritage #440 "Jon" Smoltz
2) 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights #SQ1 Poley Walnuts
3) "Franken-Cuts"
4) 2006 Topps #297 Alex Gordon
5) 1933 Goudey #106 Napoleon Lajoie
6) 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights #312 Joba Chamberlain "Astros"
7) 2010 Upper Deck Double-Take Variations
8) 1996 Finest (Fractured Base Sets)
9) 1998 Pacific Aurora Cubes
10) 1986-90, 1994-96 Sportflics
11) 1982 Fleer #438 "All" Hrabosky 5' 1"
12) 2001 Sweet Spot #JIS Ichiro "Game-Used" Jersey
13) 1995-99 Finest peel-off protectors.
14) 1999 Topps #220 & #461 Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa
15) eTopps
16) 1995 Topps D3

BERGER REGION
To be hosted by: Hand Collated

1) 2008-09 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy
2) 2010 Topps Milton Bradley (Scoreboard Abe)
3) 2001 Donruss Elite Extra Edition $5.99 Redemption Cards
4) 2007-08 Topps Moments & Milestones
5) 2009 Topps Target Throwback/Wal-Mart All-Black Blasters
6) 1998-2000 Skybox "Gangsta" Text
7) 1989 Upper Deck #413 Dale Murphy RevNeg
8) 2008 Bowman Chrome #155 Kosuke Fukudome No AU
9) 2008 Topps Kosuke Fukudome "Japan"
10) 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights #100 Jacoby Ellsbury
11) 1997-98 Leaf Fractal Matrix
12) 2009 Topps Heritage #70 "Thom" Glavine
13) 2008 Topps #AS Arnold Schwarzenegger (2012?)
14) 2006 Topps #RC1 Alay Soler
15) 1969 Topps #653 Aurelio Rodriguez
16) 1988 Topps Bigs

THE FIRST ROUND MATCHES BEGIN MONDAY!!!

2010 Topps Heritage Baseball

Video Box Break and Review

One retail blaster of 2010 Topps Heritage baseball
8 packs per box, 8 cards per pack (Paid $19.98 plus tax)

The Video

The Pulls

Base Set: 57/425 (13%)

Short Prints: 3/75 (3%)

Parallels
1 Chrome Refractor (1:59 packs) A.McCutchen 115/561

Inserts
1 News Flashback (1:12 packs) Berlin Wall
1 New Age Performers (1:15 packs) J.Mauer
1 Then and Now (1:15 packs) L.Aparicio, J.Ellsbury

The Review
Without any question the highlight of the hobby season for me is the annual release of Topps Heritage. I know that many other collectors feel the same way about Allen & Ginter but for me I can't get nearly as excited for A&G as I do every year for Heritage. I think it's because more than any other product on the market today these cards remind me of what baseball cards used to be. Yes, it would be even better if the gum wasn't wrapped, wasn't made in China, if the packs were wrapped in wax instead of plastic, if it was one series of 792 cards, if there were no inserts, no autogamers, no serial numbered chrome thingys, if they were closer to 99 cents rather than $2.50 a pack, but this is as close as we will probably get in an era where Topps is enslaved to Joe Collectors.

I am particularly pleased with this year's set. I was really worried when it came time to mimic the 1961 set because I feared Topps would be compelled to meddle with the boring design. Instead these cards are plain and simple, just like their '61 counterparts. Many collectors have complained that this design is just too plain boring but I absolutely savor it's simplicity. Topps deserves credit for remaining faithful. Better yet, the entire base set is printed on gray cardboard stock.

One thing I'm not too crazy about is that the photos have been tinkered with a tad too much in Topps' compulsive zeal to approximate 60's era cards. It seems that they've really softened the backgrounds on a lot of the photos and tried to embellish the players. Rather than look like 1961 baseball card photos they look really "touched up." But that's a minor quibble in a set that in all other respects is very pleasing to the eye.
Like always, the many subsets mimic similar ones found in the original '61 edition. One feature that I think is really neat is that the league leader cards feature old timey head shots on the front and the backs list the past fifty years of league leaders in each category. Every back is worth at least five minutes of wonderment at names you heard of and many one year wonders you haven't while you recall summers long past.

The team cards are here again but the ridiculous backs with "every player's stats against every team in the league in agate size type" are so impossible to read that Topps really should have just put something else on them. I'm guessing the '61's had something to do with this but I doubt seriously they had to list stats against 18 teams on the back.It's also a bit disappointing that with the rookie cards, Topps was forced to use that ridiculous Official Rookie Logo AND the '61 Star Rookie logo. MLB really needs to loosen up. Especially now that there is only one licensed manufacturer. On a positive note, the return of those gorgeous early sixties Topps Rookie Cups are more than a welcome sight.And did I mention that I absolutely love the MVP, All-Star, Baseball Thrills and checklist cards?With all the pluses and minuses considered I have to give Topps an overall thumbs up. I can't wait to break another blaster.

2010 Topps Heritage Baseball

Here's another rack of Heritage.

Topps Million Card Giveaway Site Crashes (Again)

I went to topps.com today to check on getting my cards sent to me and also perhaps make some trades and this happened.*laugh* Even though this is funny it also proves how damned popular Topps' promotion has been. Well done, Topps.

1990 Fleer #7 Mike Gallego

#7 Mike Gallego
Random Thoughts: Now that I've finally got caught up on all my mail days, uploaded all the videos stored on my camera, sorted all the cards, and got my Heritage fix, I'm feeling rested and refreshed enough to get on with my Bataan death march through the 1990 Fleer set.

We resume with Mike Gallego. Gallego was another of those bit players on the great A's teams of the late 80's/early 90's who proved to be a useful reserve and spot starter for Tony LaRussa. Having made his big league debut in 1985, he was one of only a few holdovers from the pre-LaRussa era to survive into their winning years. His value as a bench player and coach was evident when he was picked to follow LaRussa to St. Louis.

After three uneventful cups of coffee with the A's, Gallego finally stuck as Oakland's regular second baseman from '88-'91. He was known more for his glovework than his weak bat. Gallego led the AL in sacrifice hits with 17 in 1991.

In 1992 he signed with the Yankees and spent the year as a utility infielder. The next season Gallego became more or less the starting second baseman and had his career year, batting .283 with 10 homers and 54 RBI. He would spend his last four seasons in the big leagues as a utility infielder/coach for the Yankees, A's and Cardinals. From '04-'08, Gallego served as the Rockies third base coach and infield instructor.

The Card Itself: I'm digging the ripped off sleeves on the warm up top. You don't see DIY practice wear on cards anymore.

Did You Know?: In 1995 his 28 hits, all of which were singles, remains the post-1912 MLB record for most hits in a season without an extra base for a non-pitcher.

Where Are They Now?: Gallego is currently the A's third base coach and infield instructor.

On This Date: On March 11, 1990 Patricio Aylwin is sworn-in as the first democratically elected Chilean president since 1970. Ironically enough, this just happened.

'90 Fleer Counters:
HALL OF FAME: 1
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: 2
CY YOUNG: 1
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: 2
ALL-STAR: 2
GOLD GLOVE: 0
SILVER SLUGGER: 1

Entering a Topps Million Card Code LIVE #3

Here's my third Million Card Giveaway code from a few days ago.