As our contest comes to the end of the road, here's a shout out to those who entered.

Please play the video below softly in the background while you read this post.

So this is it.  Our contest is officially closed.

We’ve been together on this for a long time, baby.  For some of you, our early adopters, since the beginning of December.  And some of you have just found us today.

We’ve had some good times, haven’t we?  Sports Card news, box breaks, card reviews and fun articles.  Yes, we’ve done it all.

But we realize some of you, (and we hate to say this) are just here for the contest, that’s all.  Using us for the cards we can give you.  We know that you’ll leave us as soon as we tell you who won the contest and that breaks our heart, baby. 

Some of you have cheated on us.  Oh yes… entering using multiple ID’s or trying to get entries without following the rules.  We’ve even caught those that tried to deceive us because IP addresses don’t lie and rules are rules.  You’ve done us wrong, baby, and we’ve tried to forgive, but it still hurts.

So for those of you that stick around, even after all of this is over, we want you to know one thing.  We love you.  And we are going to keep bringing you all the things you want… all the things you need from a sports card blog the best way we know how.

We’ve got a lot of things planned for the future, good times ahead.  But, of course, the most important thing in a relationship is communication.  We want to hear your thoughts, ideas, opinions… your dreams.  It will make us a better blog.  And that’s what you want from us… right?

Yes… there will be future contests and some of you that plan on leaving us will return.  And we just might take you back because… well… baby… we never wanted you to go in the first place.  But know this, we will do our best to stay strong, maybe even opening up the contests only to those who stayed with us.

But if you must go, please understand, we will still be here… proud… with lots to offer. 

We will take the week to gather, confirm and finalize all the entries.  Expect announcements of the other 2010 Sports Card Awards winners including those in our Fan Favorite categories, some new box breaks, reviews, news and winners of our Early Adopters Prize and Fan Voting Prize, all leading up to the announcement of our Grand Prize winner during half time of Super Bowl XLV.

So, for some of you, at least we’ve got one more week together and it’s gonna be a big one.   Let’s make it a week we’ll never forget.

The answers to our SPEED-break™ based questions.

Time is up to get your bonus entries.  Most of you did really well.  Here are the answers.

1 - Ichiro was the player on the second Turkey Red.

2 - Aaron Rodgers was the player on the NFL Gridiron Signatures card.

3 - We pulled 95% of the base card set of 2010 Topps NFL Football Trading Cards.

4 - Tom Seaver was the player on the number eight hit of the box.

5 - Derek Jeter T205, Montagues vs. Capulets, Thurman Munson, Gordan Beckham Double Jersey/Auto and Joe Mauer were the five cards in the fourth pack of Tribute cards.

6 - Daryle Lamonica was the player on the Legend card.

Your chance to enter our contest ends in four hours.

Congrats to all of you that have entered our contest and picked up bonus entries along the way.  Our YouTube exclusive chance to pick up entries as seen in this video is now closed, as are our Facebook and Twitter exclusives.  All others are still open, but I'm not telling you where they are, you'll have to find them on your own.

So... you have about 4 hours before we close it all.  Good luck to all.

Topps gives 2011 Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards the Royal Treatment.

We've told you its all about precious stones for this year's Topps baseball card releases.  And speaking of diamonds, how about the one Prince William just gave to Kate Middleton?  Its his mum's ring, Diana, Princess of Wales, which, of course has special meaning.

So its fitting now that Topps is currently gearing up for its all-new 2011 Gypsy Queen Baseball card release that part of the product’s fun will be giving collectors a chance to find Gypsy cards including variations featuring gypsy jewels.  Building on the “jewels” theme, Topps is adding a special “Royal Jewels” card featuring Prince William and Kate Middleton in celebration of their wedding on April 29th... right when Gypsy Queen hits hobby shelves.

More deatils are filtering about the set, but at present its looking like Gypsy Queen Baseball will have a 350-base card set and every box will include 4 hits - 2 Autographs & 2 Relics.

Our contest is almost closed to new entries. You can pick up ten additional entries. This is your last opportunity to pick up extra chances to win.

Want a chance to pick up ten additional entries to our contest?  Keep reading.


Time is running out to get in on our contest where one person will win all the cards you see above.  But this is just the beginning.  We have lots more planned for this year, so make sure you stick around after the contest and check in often.  Besides great stories, news and reviews, we will have more contests but the amount of time you'll have to get in on them will be much less.


If you are here for the first time and don't have an entry, use this link to get in on our contest. 


By the way, if you haven't voted for our fan favorite awards to the right of this post, Sickest Card, Fan Favorite Set and Box with most Mojo, make sure you vote soon because the polls will be taken down sometime on Saturday.  

A NEW, BUT VERY LAST CHANCE AT BONUS ENTRIES

 If you look at out header it say we are The Home of the SPEED-break™.  oIf you don't know what that is you can check out am explanation of it from our previous post using this link  For a chance to get bonus entries you have to reference our YouTube Channel, found using this link.      

You'll get one bonus entry for each question you answer correctly.  Answer all six correctly and your six correct answers will net you ten bonus entries.  This is our last chance blowout.  You'll have until 4:30 PM PST on Saturday, January 29, 2011 by leaving a comment on this post with your answers.

Here are the questions. 

1 - In our 2010 Topps Baseball Update Series Jumbo HTA Box SPEED Break at All About Cards video we pulled two Turkey Reds from pack number two (2).  Name the player on the second Turkey Red we pulled in that pack.

2-  In our breaks we show you every type of card you could pull from a box.  In our 2010 Panini Gridiron Gear Hobby Box SPEED break at All About Cards Early Mojo video one of the inserts in this set is “NFL Gridiron Signatures.”  Name the player that is on the “NFL Gridiron Signatures” card we used.

3 - In our 2010 Topps NFL Football Trading Cards Jumbo HTA Box SPEED-break at All About Cards video, what percentage of the base card set did we get out of this box?

4 -In our 2010 Topps Baseball Series 2 Hobby Box SPEED-break™ at All About Cards video, name the player on the card that we ranked the number eight hit of the box.

5 - For the 2010 Topps Tribute Baseball card release, there are five cards per pack. In our 2010 Topps Tribute Baseball Box Break at All About Cards video name all five cards we pulled from the fourth (4) pack.

6 - In our 2010 Panini Limited Football Box Break at All About Cards video we pulled a Legend Card.  Name the player on that card.

Good luck to all.

Starters for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game chosen and announced. Participants in the Slam Dunk Contest and Skills Challenge announced.

Just announced, here are the 2011 starters for both the East and West NBA All-Star Teams.

EAST ROSTER

LeBron James (Miami) - Forward
Amar'e Stoudemire (New York) - Forward
Dwayne Wade (Miami) - Guard
Derrick Rose (Chicago) - Guard
Dwight Howard (Orlando) - Center

WEST ROSTER

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) - Forward
Carmelo Anthony (Denver) - Forward
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) - Guard
Chris Paul (New Orleans) - Guard
Yao Ming (Houston) - Center

This will be the 60th NBA All-Star Game that will include fan favorite activities like the Slam Dunk Contest and Skills Challenge.  Here are the participants for those events.

SLAM DUNK CONTEST

DeMar DeRozan (Toronto) 6 foot 7 inches
Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers) 6 foot 10 inches
Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City)  6 foot 10 inches
JaVale McGee (Washington) 7 feet tall

SKILLS CHALLENGE

Stephen Curry (Golden State)
Baron Davis (Los Angeles Clippers)
Tyreke Evans (Sacramento)
Derek Fisher (Los Angeles Lakers)
Tony Parker (San Antonio)
Derrick Rose (Chicago)
John Wall (Washington)
Russell Westbrook  (Oklahoma City)

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the NFL Experience and Topps exclusive Super Bowl Cards and giveaways.

Right now inside the Dallas Convention Center hundreds of workers are transforming five exhibition halls into the biggest NFL Experience in its 19-year history.  While most of the events surrounding the Super Bowl are expensive and “Adult only” themed, the NFL Experience is a family affair. And at $25 a ticket for adults, $20 for those 12 and under, it's also affordable.

Besides demonstrating your football skills, getting autographs and purchasing merchandise of your favorite team, there is also a chance to pick up some really cool cards from Topps. At their booth, Topps will be giving away free sample cards and raffle prizes.  They will also be offering these commemorative cards and sets:

Wrapper Redemption Program

Fans and collectors opening three packs of 2010 Topps/Bowman branded football cards at the Topps booth will receive an exclusive Super Bowl XLV Topps card featuring a few hometown heroes and NFL stars.  There will be 7 different cards.  The subjects are as follows:

Dez Bryant

Tony Romo

Miles Austin

Sam Bradford

Drew Brees

Tom Brady

Michael Vick

2010 Topps Football Complete Set (Special Super Bowl XLV Packaging)

Fans and collectors can stop by the Topps Booth and purchase a unique 2010 Topps Football Complete Set featured in a commemorative Super Bowl XLV box.  As a bonus, the set includes five exclusive Super Bowl Moments cards.

Drew Brees                 (SB XLIV)

Santonio Holmes         (SB XLIII)

David Tyree                (SB XLII)

Tom Brady                 (SB XXXVII)

Adam Vinatieri           (SB XXXVI)

Exclusive Super Bowl Patch Cards

With each purchase of the 2010 Topps Complete Set (Super Bowl XLV Ed.), Topps will give collectors one limited edition patch card, produced just for the NFL Experience, as a gift with purchase.  Cards include:

Troy Aikman               (SB XXVII)

Emmitt Smith              (SB XXVIII)

Tony Dorsett               (SB XXVIII)

John Elway                 (SB XXXIII)

Drew Brees                 (SB XLIV)

It sounds like a whole lot of fun, Maybe even worth a trip out to Dallas just for the cards. You can visit the Topps booth at the NFL Experience through Sunday 2/6.

Adrenalyn fans, Panini is coming at you with two releases that include Double Rainbow cards. WHOA!!! IT'S SO INTENSE!

In a previous post we gave you a code to get ten free virtual Andrenalyn cards.  If you didn't grab the code, use this link to get it.  Now Panini has released the actual cards that you can hold.  NHL and NBA versions of the cards and the game starter sets are now available. 

Among the special cards to look for in these sets are the "Double Rainbow" cards.  If you don't know what a Double Rainbow card is, I'm looking at one right now so let me describe it to you.

It's a double rainbow all the way across the card.  Whoa!   Double rainbow all the way!  Whoa!!!  It's so intense!!  Whoa!!!!  It's so bright and vivid!  What does this mean?  Whoa!!!!!!   It's a double rainbow all the way across the card!!!!   WHOA!!!!!!  IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!  WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?!?!?!?   I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!!!!!!!   WHOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

To find out what it means, use this link to check out the NBA cards and game, and use this link to check out the NHL cards and game.

Excuse me while I have a good cry.

Topps will give away special 1952 Topps Black Diamond Cards and Autographs with 2011 Baseball Series 1 wrapper redemption. Here's the info and checklists.

We told you in Sunday's post that Topps will be doing plenty of promotions associated with their 60th anniversary of baseball cards.   Here is another one and its going to please a lot of you who collect Topps baseball cards.

To launch and celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Topps Baseball Cards, there is going to be a special Hobby-Exclusive Wrapper Redemption Program for 2011 Topps Baseball Series 1.   Collectors sending Topps 36 Hobby wrappers or 10 HTA Jumbo wrappers of 2011 Topps Series 1 will receive a special 5-card pack of 60th Anniversary Black Diamond cards.  There will be 60 cards in all.

In addition, Topps is seeding 34 different on-card Autograph cards (#’d to 60), featuring subjects from the original 1952 Topps set, into these 5-card packs.

Here is a photo of what these cards will look like. 

The Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols cards are from the black diamond cards set and the Monte Irvin is one of the randomly inserted on-card autos #/60.  Pretty nice, huh?

Collectors should send wrappers to:

PO BOX 2008

Duryea, PA 18642

ATTN: Topps Baseball Series 1 Promotion

When you have your wrappers ready to go, you are encouraged to group them and send in 1 package.  This Promotion ends August 1, 2011.

Here is a checklist of all the cards.

Black Diamond Cards

Cliff Lee - Philadelphia Phillies®

Roy Halladay - Philadelphia Phillies®

Zack Greinke - Milwaukee Brewers™

David Wright - New York Mets®

Justin Upton - Arizona Diamondbacks®

Joey Votto - Cincinnati Reds®

CC Sabathia - New York Yankees®

Ichiro - Seattle Mariners™

Jered Weaver - Angels®

Adrian Gonzalez - Boston Red Sox®

Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals®

Joe Mauer - Minnesota Twins®

Adam Dunn - Chicago White Sox®

Ryan Zimmerman - Washington Nationals®

Adam Jones - Baltimore Orioles®

Tim Lincecum - San Francisco Giants®

Carlos Gonzalez - Colorado Rockies™

Mark Teixeira - New York Yankees®

Mat Latos - San Diego Padres™

Ubaldo Jimenez - Colorado Rockies™

Prince Fielder - Milwaukee Brewers™

Victor Martinez - Detroit Tigers®

Ian Kinsler - Texas Rangers®

Dan Uggla - Atlanta Braves™

Justin Morneau - Minnesota Twins®

Brian McCann - Atlanta Braves™

Josh Johnson - Florida Marlins®

Roy Oswalt - Philadelphia Phillies®

Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies®

Jose Reyes - New York Mets®

Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners™

Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees®

Troy Tulowitzki - Colorado Rockies™

Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox®

Adam Wainwright - St. Louis Cardinals®

David Price - Tampa Bay Rays™

Jon Lester - Boston Red Sox®

Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers®

Aroldis Chapman - Cincinnati Reds®

Jason Heyward - Atlanta Braves™

Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers™

Matt Holliday - St. Louis Cardinals®

Buster Posey - San Francisco Giants®

Nick Markakis - Baltimore Orioles®

Kevin Youkilis - Boston Red Sox®

Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers®

Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay Rays™

Andre Ethier - Los Angeles Dodgers®

Hanley Ramirez - Florida Marlins®

Robinson Cano - New York Yankees®

Andrew McCutchen - Pittsburgh Pirates®

Martin Prado - Atlanta Braves™

Carl Crawford - Boston Red Sox®

Derek Jeter - New York Yankees®

Torii Hunter - Angels®

Mark Reynolds - Baltimore Orioles®

Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers®

Mike Stanton - Florida Marlins®

Starlin Castro - Chicago Cubs®

Ryan Howard - Philadelphia Phillies®

Autograph Cards

RA-1 Monte Irvin - New York Giants™

RA-2 Irv Noren - Washington Senators™

RA-3 Roy Sievers - St. Louis Browns™

RA-4 Vern Law - Pittsburgh Pirates®

RA-5 Billy Pierce - Chicago White Sox®

RA-6 Eddie Yost - Washington Senators™

RA-7 John Antonelli - Boston Braves™

RA-8 Charlie Silvera - New York Yankees®

RA-9 Roy Smalley - Chicago Cubs®

RA-10 Curt Simmons - Philadelphia Phillies®

RA-11 Ned Garver - St. Louis Browns™

RA-12 Bobby Shantz - Philadelphia Athletics™

RA-13 Joe Presko - St. Louis Cardinals®

RA-14 Bob Friend - Pittsburgh Pirates®

RA-15 Jerry Coleman - New York Yankees®

RA-16 Virgil Trucks - Detroit Tigers®

RA-17 Chuck Diering - New York Giants™

RA-18 Lou Brissie - Cleveland Indians®

RA-19 Joe DeMaestri - St. Louis Browns™

RA-20 Randy Jackson - Chicago Cubs®

RA-21 Ivan Delock - Boston Red Sox®

RA-22 Bob Del Greco - Pittsburgh Pirates®

RA-23 Dick Groat - Pittsburgh Pirates®

RA-24 Johnny Groth - Detroit Tigers®

RA-25 Eddie Robinson - Chicago White Sox®

RA-26 Cloyd Boyer - St. Louis Cardinals®

RA-27 Harry Perkowski - Cincinnati Reds®

RA-28 Al Dark - New York Giants™

RA-29 Joe Astroth - Philadelphia Athletics™

RA-30 Del Crandall - Boston Braves™

RA-31 Ralph Branca - Brooklyn Dodgers™

RA-32 Red Schoendienst - St. Louis Cardinals®

RA-33 Yogi Berra - New York Yankees®

RA-34 Joe Garagiola - Pittsburgh Pirates®

Here are the answers to our bonus entry questions based on cards from the 2010 Panini Century Collection.

Hopefully folks that answered our questions based on cards from the 2010 Panini Century Collection had as much fun answering them as I had coming up with them.

For the most part, everyone did pretty well, but only two of you got all three questions right, so congratulations to Mark A. and beardy on your perfect answers.   For the rest of you, here are the correct answers to the questions.

1 - The four professional athletes who have won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and are represented with cards in the 2010 Panini Century Collection are;

Joe DiMaggio who received his in 1977

Frank Robinson who received his in 2005

Jackie Robinson who received his posthumously in 1984

Ted Williams who received his in 1991


2 - The four unusual Oscar winners, not including honorary Oscar recipients, who are represented with cards in the 2010 Panini Century Collection are:

Bing Crosby, known primarily as a recording artist, was nominated three times, with one win for Best Actor in a Leading Role in "Going My Way" in 1945.

Frank Sinatra, known primarily as a recording artist, was nominated twice, with one win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in "From Here to Eternity" in 1954.

Charles "Charlie" Chaplin, known primarily as an Actor, was nominated four times, with one win for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score for "Limelight" in 1973.  It may seem weird that a film released  in 1952 would win an Oscar 20 years later.  Limelight was not released in Los Angeles until 1972 and by Academy Awards rules, this made it eligible for nominations in 1973.

George Burns, known primarily for his long successful TV career, won his Oscar, the only time he was nominated, at the age of 80 after 9 successful seasons of the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and 18 years on television.  His role as Al Lewis in "The Sunshine Boys" won him the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar in 1976.  He wasn't nominated for an Emmy until the age of 82 and didn't win an Emmy until 1990 at the age of 94.


3  - The question was tell us the names of the astronauts that have a card in the 2010 Panini Century Collection who flew to the moon, but didn't make it to the surface.  There are only 2 astronauts that fit both the conditions of having a card and flying to the moon without making it to the surface and they are:

Dick Gordan, who flew on Apollo 12, stayed behind as Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed on the moon.  Gordan was slated to land on the moon aboard Apollo 18 before that mission was canceled.

Al Worden, who flew on Apollo 15, stayed behind as David Scott and James Irwin landed on the moon and were the first ones to ride around on the lunar rover.

So those are the correct answers.  I want you all to know, when I saw answer that were not what I had, I went ahead and rechecked the wording of the question to make sure there couldn't be another answer.  So let me explain why the other answers were incorrect.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Everyone got this one right, way to go!

Academy Awards

James Cagney and Judy Garland were primarily film actors that won Oscars for acting.

Vivian Vance, Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball never won an Oscar.

Jackie Gleason and Duke Ellington were nominated, but never won an Oscar.

With Bette Davis, perhaps some of you thought she could be considered for the TV Star part of the question because she wasn't a recording artist and she didn't win an Oscar for music.  She did have somewhat of a TV career later in life but I think the first 25 years of her career, when she created some of the most memorable movie roles like Margo in "All About Eve" make her primarily a film actress.  Even after she started taking TV roles, she returned to film time and time again, performing in more great roles like Baby Jane Hudson in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

Astronauts

Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7) and Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9) were on missions that did not leave low earth orbit which, at its highest is 1,240 miles from the earth's surface. They would have had to travel about another 237,500 miles towards the moon for these answers to be correct.

Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, William Anders, Tom Stafford, Michael Collins, Jack Swigert, Fred Hais, Stuart Roosa, Ken Mattingly and Ronald Evans do not have cards in the 2010 Panini Century Collection.

I hope you enjoyed these bonus questions and the challenge they presented.  I promise the next time there is a chance for bonus contest entries the task will be easier.

Topps is just past the half way point of revealing the 60 greatest baseball cards of all time.

2011 will be the 60th year Topps has issued Baseball Cards, their diamond anniversary.  In celebration, Topps has a lot of promotions associated with diamonds and the number 60.  Ten people are going to get a chance at winning one diamond engagement ring valued at $10,000 for Valentine's Day.  Check out this funny video explaining it all.



As we mentioned back in Novemeber, another promotion that Topps is running is a fan vote for the "Topps 60 Greatest Cards of all Time!"  The polls on that one are closed and they are now revealing the cards.  They are at the half way point and the cards have been impressive.  Card number 30 was the Topps 1953 Mickey Mantle.

The most recent was card number 28, the 1982 future stars card for the Baltimore Orioles.

You didn't have to be The Amazing Kreskin to see the potential of that guy in the middle.  I have a few of those Cal Ripkin Jr. rookie cards.

Topps will continue to count down the 60 cards which will lead right to the release of their baseball cards.  To see the countdown, go to the Topps site using this link.