A 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards Blaster Box Break that defies the odds

Riddle me this, Batman... when is a blaster almost a hobby box.

The question above is a reminder that today is Free Comic Book Day and below is the video answer to that question in the form of a blaster box break of 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards.

Direct link to video

Free Comic Book Day is hours away, Spiderman, Green Lantern and other comics to given away.

Free Comic Book Day is almost here.  Each year on the first Saturday in May shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores. 


Here are the available comics that will be given away.

There will also be Creator Signings in certain comic book shops.   Use this link for a list of those shops.

For more details about Free Comic Book Day visit their website at www.freecomicbookday.com

2011 Press Pass Premium NASCAR Trading Cards. Another All About Cards SPEED-break™

NASCAR returns this weekend to Darlington for the Southern 500.  Also making a return is ten-time winner at Darlington, NASCAR legend David Pearson.  His return is not to the track, it’s to Racing Cards.  Pearson is on the Hall of Fame cards found in the newly released 2011 Press Pass Premium.

With a hobby box configuration of 20 packs with 5 cards each, 2011 Press Pass Premium offers 1 autograph and 1 memorabilia card.   It also features cards that really stand out, in 3D.  

To see what we are talking about, check out this box break.

Direct link to the video

The complete voting results for the 2010 – 11 NBA Rookie of the Year featuring cards we pulled this year.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, Blake Griffin was unanimously selected as the 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year.

Selection of the Rookie of the Year was voted on by sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.  Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Here are the totals for this year’s voting along with cards we pulled of these players.

Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers – 2010-11 Panini Absolute Memorabilia

Votes - 118 First place, O Second place, 0 Third Place = 590 Total points

John Wall, Washington Wizards – 2010-11 Panini Timeless Treasures

Votes - 0 First place, 91 Second place, 22 Third Place = 295 Total points

And

DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings – 2010-11 Panini Timeless Treasures

Votes - 0 First place, 11 Second place, 48 Third Place = 81 Total points

Landry Fields, New York Knicks – 2010-11 Panini Classics

Votes - 0 First place, 12 Second place, 26 Third Place = 62 Total points

Gary Neal, San Antonio Spurs – Have not pulled one of his cards yet.

Votes - 0 First place, 3 Second place, 10 Third Place = 19 Total points

NOTE – Gary Neal has only appeared on two card releases to date on a total of 6 different cards.  The card above from 2010-11 Playoff Contenders which also comes in an alternate patch version and 2010-11 Absolute Memorabilia, where his rookie card comes in four versions, base #/499, gold #/100, platinum #/25 and a black 1/1.

Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons – 2010-11 Panini Timeless Treasures

Votes - 0 First place, 1 Second place, 12 Third Place = 15 Total points

Blake Griffin is the unanimous selection for the 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year.

Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, who's rookie cards, including the one pictured above, have been some of the hottest auction items lately and is the newest signed exclusive Panini athlete, has just been voted the 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year.  Griffin is the first unanimous Rookie of the Year selection since David Robinson in 1989-90, receiving 118 first-place votes for a total 590 points.  The only other rookie to even come close to Blake Griffin was another player who is exclusive to Panini, Washington's John Wall who finished with 91 Second and 22 Third place votes for 295 total points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Griffin, who was selected first overall in the 2009 NBA Draft but missed the entire 2009-10 season due to injury (stress fracture, left knee), recorded a rookie-and team-leading 22.5 ppg (12th overall), 12.1 rpg (fourth overall) and 63 double-doubles (third overall). He was the only player in the NBA to average at least 20 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Griffin became the first rookie to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since Elton Brand (20.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg) in 1999-2000; and he was only the fourth rookie to total at least 1,600 points, 900 rebounds and 250 assists, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70), Elgin Baylor (1958-59) and Sidney Wicks (1971-72).

A six-time T-Mobile Western Conference Rookie of the Month selection, Griffin became the first rookie to appear in an NBA All-Star Game since Yao Ming in 2003. Griffin also participated in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk contest. On March 23, he recorded the first triple-double of his NBA career -- 33 points, 17 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists in the Clippers' double-overtime win over Washington, becoming the first rookie to record a triple-double of at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists since Jerry West did it on Feb. 26, 1961 (38 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists).

All-Time Rookie of the Year Winners

Season - Player, Team

1952-53 - Don Meineke, Fort Wayne

1953-54 - Ray Felix, Baltimore

1954-55 - Bob Pettit, Milwaukee

1955-56 - Maurice Stokes, Rochester

1956-57 - Tom Heinsohn, Boston

1957-58 - Woody Sauldsberry, Philadelphia

1958-59 - Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis

1959-60 - Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia

1960-61 - Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati

1961-62 - Walt Bellamy, Chicago

1962-63 - Terry Dischinger, Chicago

1963-64 - Jerry Lucas, Cincinnati

1964-65 - Willis Reed, New York

1965-66 - Rick Barry, San Francisco

1966-67 - Dave Bing, Detroit

1967-68 - Earl Monroe, Baltimore

1968-69 - Wes Unseld, Baltimore

1969-70 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee

1970-71 - Dave Cowens, Boston (tie)

1970-71 - Geoff Petrie, Portland (tie)

1971-72 - Sidney Wicks, Portland

1972-73 - Bob McAdoo, Buffalo

1973-74 - Ernie DiGregorio, Buffalo

1974-75 - Keith Wilkes, Golden State

1975-76 - Alvan Adams, Phoenix

1976-77 - Adrian Dantley, Buffalo

1977-78 - Walter Davis, Phoenix

1978-79 - Phil Ford, Kansas City

1979-80 - Larry Bird, Boston

1980-81 - Darrell Griffith, Utah

1981-82 - Buck Williams, New Jersey

1982-83 - Terry Cummings, San Diego

1983-84 - Ralph Sampson, Houston

1984-85 - Michael Jordan, Chicago

1985-86 - Patrick Ewing, New York

1986-87 - Chuck Person, Indiana

1987-88 - Mark Jackson, New York

1988-89 - Mitch Richmond, Golden State

1989-90 - David Robinson, San Antonio

1990-91 - Derrick Coleman, New Jersey

1991-92 - Larry Johnson, Charlotte

1992-93 - Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando

1993-94 - Chris Webber, Golden State

1994-95 - Grant Hill, Detroit (tie)

1994-95 - Jason Kidd, Dallas (tie)

1995-96 - Damon Stoudamire, Toronto

1996-97 - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia

1997-98 - Tim Duncan, San Antonio

1998-99 - Vince Carter, Toronto

1999-00 - Elton Brand, Chicago (tie)

1999-00 - Steve Francis, Houston (tie)

2000-01 - Mike Miller, Orlando

2001-02 - Pau Gasol, Memphis

2002-03 - Amar'e Stoudemire, Phoenix

2003-04 - LeBron James, Cleveland

2004-05 - Emeka Okafor, Charlotte

2005-06 - Chris Paul, New Orleans

2006-07 - Brandon Roy, Portland

2007-08 - Kevin Durant, Seattle

2008-09 - Derrick Rose, Chicago

2009-10 - Tyreke Evans, Sacramento

2010-11 - Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers

Cam Newton, Mark Ingram and a First Look, Sneak Peek at various 2011 Topps Football Cards

If you followed our coverage of the 2011 NFL Draft, you are up to date on all the picks.  If not, check out this complete list of all the 2011 NFL Draft picks.

The first pick overall was Cam Newton, and the first Running Back to be selected, 28th over all, was Mark Ingram.   Already, these two have made it into the Fantasy Football rankings and they will play a significant role in the upcoming 2011 Football card release for Topps.

HTA Jumbo boxes of 2011 Topps Football, which is scheduled for a release in late July, will guarantee 2 Autographs and 1 Rookie Patch Relic.   Here is a first look at Cam Newton featured on his Rookie Patch Relic.

In additional news, Topps has confirmed that Cam Newton and Mark Ingram, Heisman Trophy winners in 2010 and 2009, are signing autographs for their 2011 product lineup, including many that will be on-card.

We showed you this Mark Ingram Rising Rookies NFL Shield Patch Auto card when we posted the complete list of First Round Picks in the 2011 NFL Draft in Football Cards.  

Here is a sneak peek at some of the other auto cards Topps will be producing.

Cam Newton - Mark Ingram Topps Inception Football Dual Rookie Autograph Card 

Cam Newton Topps Football Rookie Premiere Red Ink Autograph Card

Cam Newton Topps Rising Rookies Football NFL Draft Autograph Patch Card

Francisco Liriano No-No's the White Sox

It’s been a long, hard road for Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano.  But tonight he took the mound against the Chicago White Sox and pitched the game of his life, a no-hitter.

Baseball is a team sport and no doubt, a no-no is the product of everyone’s efforts, but it’s always exciting to see when one player excels and has a game that is one for the record books.

Congratulations to Francisco and to all collectors.  I’m sure the value of his cards will see a bump up. 

Details on the Tri City Sports PL Second Chance Contest

We told you that Tri City Sports PL would be providing All About Cards with a Hall Of Fame Auto for a contest.  We also told you that at the beginning of May we would be getting details on which card that is and the rules for the contest.

Well Tri City Sports PL has contacted us with the information.  To be fair, this contest will be different than we thought it would be.  Tri-City Sports PL has determined the rules for this contest, and while we thought they would be providing us with a card, Tri-City Sports PL will hold on to it and be handling any potential prizes, so really, this is their contest.  How it is run is out of our hands.  What they have done is provide a picture of the card.  Here it is.

As you can see it is of Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau.  

Now here are the rules as Tri City Sports PL has provided to us.  I’ve taken this directly from their email to us, and I am quoting here.

Rules of the contest

1. The person has be regiestered as a member of www.Tricitysportspl.com to be eligble to enter

2. They must guess what you pull from your street break if they guess all 3 cards right they get the prize which is the HOF 1/1 promo auto (if they guess 2 of the 3 they will get a diffrent promo which they will be able to choose what sport they want either baseball or football or soccer.

So I anticipated that you all would have a lot of questions about the rules, so I contacted Tri City Sports PL and here is what they said.  Once again, I’m quoting.

Question – Will people have a complete checklist of all possible cards to help them guess?

Answer - Unfornatly we cant legally post a full check list just because we did not produce the graded cards but we can tell you that all the big name are in the set from the last 40 years of football.

Question – What happens if we don't have a person that guesses three of the cards or two of the cards?   What happens we only have a person with one card guessed correctly?

Answer - They dont have to guess the exact card only the player and item like the example below

Example

Tebow Graded RC

Bradford Auto

Lafell Jersey

With our promo guidlines a person has to guess at least 2 of the 3 to win a promo prize.

So if you want to get in on this second chance contest that Tri City Sports PL is running, head on over to www.Tricitysportspl.com and register to become a member.  Then come back here and leave your answer in the comments section along with your Tri City Sports PL member name so they can confirm if there is a winner.  Tri City Sports PL will close the contest at the end of May 9th/ 2011, so make sure to get your guesses in by then.

UPDATE: We were starting to get emails and questions about this contest and the rules.   In order to clarify exactly how this contest is being run, I emailed Tri City Sports PL to get answers to some questions as I am not running this contest, and therefore could not answer these myself.  Here are the questions and the answers from the email I received from Tri City Sports PL.

1 - We have readers from every part of the world.   Is everyone eligible to win or are certain areas excluded from this contest?

Yes as long as they can provide a full current address

2 - In past Tri City Sports PL contests, the winner of the prizes has had to pay for shipping.  Will Tri City Sports PL be shipping the prize for free or will the winner have to pay for shipping?  If the winner has to pay for shipping, what will be the cost for shipping to the US?   What will be the cost for shipping internationally?

Who ever told you that they had to pay shipping for promo singles is providing you false info. We have never charged shipping on singles in promo or redemption format

3 - What happens if there are two or more people who guess all 3 cards correctly?   Will each person win a prize?  If there is only one prize, how will the winner be selected? 

Then they will be put in a radom there is 1 prize per site

4 - What happens if there are two or more people who guess only 2 cards correctly?   Will each person win a prize?  If there is only one prize, how will the winner be selected?

same as above

5 - If one person guesses 3 cards correct and another guesses 2 cards correct, will both of them receive a prize?

only 1 prize per site

6 - If someone guesses 2 cards, what are the exact player name and card types for each sport that they get to choose from as a prize?

that will be determined on what sport they pick

7 - When will the winner be announced?

within 3 business days after your street break

8 - When will the prize be shipped to the winner?

we usaly ship redemption or promo's within 10 business days

Derrick Rose named 2010-11 NBA MVP and assures the media that his ankle is fine.

Derrick Rose was just named the 2010-11 NBA MVP.  Rose said at his MVP news conference that his ankle “is fine” and he is expected to receive his normal minutes Game 2 against the Hawks. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” said Rose. “Actually, the medicine that they gave me was great. I woke up this morning feeling great, went to practice, worked out after afterward.” The Bulls will need an explosive Rose on Wednesday if they hope to even the series. He’s considered probable, but there’s no way he sits out Wednesday.

STREET-break™ Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame. 2010 11 Donruss Hockey. Another All About Cards Box Break.

On a recent trip to Canada we visited the great city of Toronto, Ontario.  Armed with a box of 2010-11 Donruss Hockey cards, we went out to do a STREET-break™.  The original plan was to do the break in front of the Air Canada Centre, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, just under the shadow of the CN Tower, but snow, sleet, hail and eventually ice cold rain got in the way.  So we moved down the street to escape the elements and entered a must-visit attraction for fans of the game, the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the Hall we found Kevin, a big Maple Leafs fan and an avid participant in Fantasy Hockey.  He agreed to take some time out of his vacation to help us rip some packs from what turned out to be a really sweet box.  This break was a lot of fun for us because Kevin pretty much interviewed himself.  He had a great sense of humor which made this a really easy break to do.   And as you will see, he walked away with some great cards.

So here is our STREET-break™Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Direct link to the video

Onyx releases Autographed Baseballs and Game Used Memorabilia in 2011 Onyx Preferred Players Collection

We’ve got a lot of “early adopters“ following this blog.  We get feedback all time about our readers taking a chance on a new product.  In our attempt to cover all there is to be had out there and support the micro producers, here is another product that might be of interest.   2011 Onyx Authenticated Preferred Players Collection.

The collection is mostly made up of autographed baseballs, but you’ll also have the opportunity to pull some game used memorabilia, like complete jerseys, batting gloves, hats and cleats.  Not the chopped up into a thousand pieces kind, a whole, intact item.

These items come in wooden boxes, shown here;

They can be purchased by the box or by the 3-box case.  Onyx carries the MLB Players Choice logo.

For base pulls, you are looking at Future Stars like Michael Stanton, Travis Snider, Colby Rasmus, Freddie Freeman and Jay Bruce

Odds increase to 1:5 for Pitchers like Matt Moore, Tommy Hanson and Aroldis Chapman.

Next level is Stars of the Diamond at 1:13 odds for Albert Pujols, David Price, Joe Mauer, Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Hank Aaron and A-Rod.   There is even a Michael Jordan autographed baseball.

Game Used Memorbila come 1:26 boxes and the hardest pull are the Onyx (Black) Baseballs that come 1:60 boxes.

Go to their site WWW.ONYXAUTHENTICATED.COM for more details about the product and where to find it.

Here is an image of the complete checklist from their website.  Click on it to enlarge it.

Pre-Draft Autographed Football Cards Ranked in 2011 NFL Draft Order

So now we know he names of the 254 prospects that have been picked in the 2011 NFL Draft.   On to more important matters... cards.   

We’ve opened several boxes of 2011 prospect related cards in the past couple of weeks.   So how did we fare?  

Here are our pulls in draft order.

Round 1

#8 - Jake Locker - Tennessee Titans – QB - Washington

#13 – Nick Fairley – Detroit Lions – DT - Auburn

#17 – Nate Solder – New England Patriots – OL - Colorado

#22 – Anthony Castonzo - Indianapolis Colts – OL - Boston College

Round 2

#13 (45)– Rahim Moore – Denver Broncos  - FS - UCLA

#19 (51)– Da’Quan Bowers – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DE - Clemson

#21 (53)– Stephen Paea – Chicago Bears – DT – Oregon St.

#25 (57)– Mikel Leshoure – Detroit Lions  - RB - Illinois

#26 (58)– Torrey Smith – Baltimore Ravens – WR - Maryland

#30 (62)– Daniel Thomas – Miami Dolphins  - RB – Kansas St.

#32 (64)– Randall Cobb – Green Bay Packers – WR - Kentucky

Round 3

#23 (87)– Drake Nevis – Indianapolis Colts – DL - LSU

#31 (95)– Curtis Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers – DB - Texas

Round 4

#7 (104)– Luke Stocker – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – TE - Tennessee

#14 (111)– Edmund Gates –Miami Dolphins – WR – Abilene Christian

#15 (112)– Greg Salas  – St. Louis Rams – WR - Hawaii

#17 (114)– Cecil Shorts III – Jacksonville Jaguars – WR – Mount Union

#22 (119)– Delone Carter  – Indianapolis Colts – RB - Syracuse

#28 (125)– Taiwan Jones  – Oakland Raiders  - RB – Eastern Washington

Round 5

#3 (134)– Robert Sands – Cincinnati Bengals – FS – West Virginia

#2 (135)–Ricky Stanzi – Kansas City Chiefs  - QB - Iowa

#10 (141)– D. J. Williams  – Green Bay Packers – TE - Arkansas

#14 (145)– Jacquizz Rodgers  – Atlanta Falcons  - RB – Oregon St.

#17 (148)–  Denarius Moore – Oakland Raiders – WR - Tennessee

#18 (149)– Dion Lewis  – Philadelphia Eagles  - RB - Pittsburgh

#21 (152)– Taylor Yates – Houston Texans  - QB – North Carolina

#22 (153)– Jeremy Kerley  – New York Jets - -WR - TCU

Round 6

#12 (177)– Evan Royster - Washington Redskins – RB – Penn St.

Not Drafted

Dane Sanzenbacher – WR – Ohio St. – Combine Rating 4.0

Charlie Gantt – TE – Michigan St. – Combine Rating 2.9

Lestar Jean – WR – Florida Atlantic – Combine Rating 2.9

Mario Fannin – RB – Auburn – Combine Rating 2.0

Vai Taua – RB – Nevada – Combine Rating 2.0

James Cleveland – WR – Houston – No Combine Rating