Our SPEED-break™ Of 2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Baseball

Panini has released Playoff Contenders Baseball.  Here is our SPEED-break™.  

Topps Offers Replacement For Missing Hits in 2012 Topps Tribute Baseball

2012 Topps Tribute Baseball was officially released today, but there is a mistake with a portion of the boxes.  When revealing the terms of the number of hits per box, the standard Tribute formula of 3 autos and 3 relics was applied.  But there were supposed to be bonus hits in the form of Tribute To The Stars Autograph cards that would appear in sealed boxes as an incremental hit.  But it turns out that these autographs were not placed correctly so instead of being additional bonus hits, they replaced the regular autographs making it the only hit of the pack.  So, technically, the collectors who pull these are shorted a hit.

To make up for it, Topps is encouraging collectors that opened a sealed box of 2012 Topps Tribute Baseball and received a Tribute To The Stars Autograph card to send the card to Topps to receive a pack of 2011 Bowman Sterling Baseball which should contain 2 Autographs and 1 Relic.

Each card sent to Topps will be verified, via sequential numbering, so it can only be submitted once.  The card will be returned with the pack of Bowman Sterling..

Collectors mailing in their cards should send to:

The Topps Company

Sports & Entertainment

Attn: Customer Support – 6th Floor

1 Whitehall Street

New York, New York 10004-2109

This offer will expire March 9, 2013

The 2012 Topps Prime 9 Redemption Card For Week 5 is Mickey Mantle

The Topps Prime 9 Redemption for Week 1 was Willie Mays, Week 2 was Babe Ruth, Week 3 was Hank Aaron and Week 4 was Reggie Jackson. Week 5 has arrived so if you have one of these...

...it’s time to go visit your HTA Local Hobby Shop and redeem those cards.  Here is what you will get.

 A Mickey Mantle Prime 9 Home Run Legends Chrome Refractor.  You have the week to get to your participating LCS and redeem those cards.  And don’t forget to fill out the back of your redemption card to be entered into a sweepstakes.  You could win a trip to the 2012 MLB Home Run Derby.

Check in next week to find out who is on the card for Week 6.

2012 Press Pass Total Memorabilia NASCAR Video Box Break

Here is our video box break of 2012 Press Pass Total Memorabilia.   Watch to see who we pulled from these 5 mini boxes.

Soon To Hit Shelves, Topps UFC Knockout Will Feature New Fist-O-Graphs

Last year we reviewed Topps UFC Knockout and gave it a perfect score.  In two weeks Topps UFC Knockout returns with a new card that should have collectors on the hunt.  Fist-O-Graphs which feature fighter fist-prints and autographs on a 5 X 7 card will be the new attraction. Along with the Fist-O –Graphs, Triple Threads Autographs and Relics, an array of multi-fighter Autographs, including Sick-Sigs with 6 fighter autos will return.

In addition, Topps is including 4 limited edition 2010 uncirculated Full Contact Autographs featuring UFC stars Jon Jones, Urijah Faber, Cain Velasquez and Frankie Edgar.

Every pack of Topps UFC Knockout guarantees either an autograph or relic.  And each box includes 2 Autographed Relics, 2 Autographs and 4 Relics.

2011 12 Panini Crown Royale Hockey Video Box Break

Here is our Video Box Break of 2011 12 Panini Crown Royale Hockey.  We hit some sick Silhouette Patch Mojo.   Take a look at these beauties.

A Sneak Peek At SA-GE HIT 2012 Football – Low Series Trading Cards

SA-GE HIT 2012 Football Low Series is all packed out and about to hit shelves this month, once again making it the first trading card product available to collectors to feature this year’s incoming class of football rookies.

The 2011 Rookie Class had a huge impact on the NFL this past season.  The 2012 Rookie class looks to be another strong group of players with Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Miller, LaMichael James, Michael Floyd, and Kendall Wright, all of whom will be included in HIT 2012 Football - Low Series along with many other big name rookies.

HIT 2012 Football - Low Series will include one insert per pack and six autographed cards per box (1:5 packs). As always with SA-GE all autographed cards are inserted directly into packs. There are no redemption cards.

Here is a look at some of the actual cards (these are not mock-ups) for this upcoming release.

Doug Martin -The Write Stuff

 Ryan Tannehill, Robert Griffin III Artistry, Lamar Miller

 Quinton Coples, Matt Halil, Melvin Ingram

 Michael Floyd, LaMichael James, Alshon Jeffery

 Cyrus Gray, Derrick Coleman, Dominique Davis

 Davin Meggett, Joe Long

Yu Darvish Signs Exclusive Deal With Topps For Autograph Cards

Topps has signed an exclusive multi-year autograph trading card deal with the former Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and current Texas Rangers Japanese pitching phenom Yu Darvish.  The deal also gives Topps rights to produce Memorabilia cards, Insert cards and Base cards.

The first Darvish autograph cards will appear in the upcoming Topps Tribute Baseball release.  The card will be limited to 25 and will be available via redemption.  Later in the year, Darvish autographs will appear in Topps Museum Collection Baseball (30 cards), Gypsy Queen Baseball (25 cards) and 2012 Bowman Baseball where collectors will find Darvish’s Autographed Bowman Chrome Rookie Card, pictured above.

Autographed cards from Darvish will also appear in other Topps products, including Topps Archives, Topps Baseball Series 2, Tier One, Allen & Ginter, Bowman Platinum and Topps Chrome.

At the age of only 25 years old, Darvish already was named league MVPs two times, three strikeout titles and a win-loss record of 93-38 with an ERA of 1.99 during his time with the Fighters in the Japanese Pacific League. On January 18, the Texas Rangers signed Darvish to a six year - $60 Million dollar contract.  Texas Rangers CEO and pitching great Nolan Ryan has stated that Darvish has shown more control than Ryan did at Darvish's age.

Rittenhouse Archives Legends Of Marvel Series 3 Trading Cards Break Recap and Review

Rittenhouse Archives has released the third series of Legends of Marvel and as with the other Series before it, these cards look great.   With 9 double-sided cards for Hulk, Moon Night and Storm, there are plenty of interpretations of each character by the different artists with 18 different looks. 

Legends of Marvel Series 3 is classified in our trading cards category.  Series 3 comes in a celo pack and contains 9 cards for each of the 3 characters for a total of 27 cards.  Card number 9 in each character’s individual set is numbered.  Only 1939 limited edition sets were made for Series 3.  All sets are identical except for the sequential numbering.  In addition, you can match the serial numbers of previous sets you have purchased for continuity.  Even if this is your first purchase, there are limited quantities of matching sets of Series 1 (Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow) and Series 2 (Wolverine, Elektra and Thor) still available.

Here are all the cards from Series 3, front and back.

Hulk

Jim Cheung, Jim Cheung, Gabriele Dell’Otto

 Gabriele Dell’Otto, Ed McGuinness, Ed McGuinness

 Greg Horn, Carlo Pagulayan, John Barber

 Mario Gully, Mike Deodato Jr., Mike Deodato Jr.

 David Finch, Greg Land, Ed McGuinness

 Marko Djurdjevic, Shane Davis, Carlo Pagulayan

Moon Knight

 Dave Wilkins, Gabriele Dell’Otto, Frank G. D’Armata & David Finch

 Mark Texeira, Frank G. D’Armata & David Finch, Mico Suayan

 Arthur Suydam, Arthur Suydam, Leinil Francis Yu

 Mico Suayan, Leinil Francis Yu, Gabriele Dell’Otto

 David Finch, Bong Dazo, Joshua Medors

 Bong Dazo, Francesco Mattina, Gabriele Dell’Otto

Storm

 Mike Deodato Jr., Diogenes Neves, Tom Grummett

 Tom Grummett, Diogenes Neves, Stephane Peru

 Greg Land, Marcus To, Salvador Larroca

 Alan Davis, Salvador Larroca, Simone Bianchi

 Michael Turner, Mike Mayhew, Simone Bianchi

 Phil Jimenez, David Yardin, Greg Land

Overall Look

The multiple takes on the characters make for smart looking cards without feeling repetitive.

Quality and Variety of the checklist

This set works on two levels.  There is a nice trio of characters featured and the same can be said of the lineup of artists.

Do the hits hold up?

No hits here and none needed.

Will you want to collect them all?

Certainly if you purchased Series 1 and/or Series 2, you will want to add Series 3 to your collection.  While some may want just this set because it contains their favorite character, most likely if this is your first purchase, you’ll want to take advantage of being able to purchase the matching numbered sets for Series 1 and Series 2.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

Rittenhouse Archives Legends Of Marvel Series 3 is another great release in the continuing Legends Series.