Topps Innovator Sy Berger Dies At 91

It is hard to imagine card collecting without Sy Berger. While baseball cards were around before he came into the picture, Berger was directly responsible for setting the standard for card that remains today. As co-designer of the 1952 Topps Baseball Cards, Berger took all the elements that had existed before, stats, facsimile signatures, team logos, player pictures, etc and combined them onto one card. He even went on to set the standard size for all cards, 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.

Here is a fantastic segment Keith Olbermann did that spells it all out.

Here is a statement from Topps

“The Topps family is very saddened by the loss of one of its most cherished members: Sy Berger.  His contributions to the Company as well as major professional sports and entertainment properties have been monumental to say the least.  Thank you Sy!  You have and will continue to put smiles on the faces of children, collectors and fans for generations.  Topps extends  its heartfelt condolences to the Berger family.”

And from his friend Willie Mays

"What can I say about Sy Berger? He was my long-time friend. He helped me from my first days in the majors. I never could have made it without him. He always knew the right thing to say or the right thing to do. We worked together. We laughed together. We grew up together.  What I can say to you is, 'He was my friend.' What I would say to him is, 'So long old pal.'"

2014 Topps Five Star Baseball Checklist Includes Some Surprises

Expect the unexpected. Autograph cards for Tom Brady, Dan Marino and John Elway will be included in 2014 Topps Five Star... Baseball. That is not a typo. The three superstar QBs have been included in the high end hit centric release of baseball legends, superstar veterans and on the rise rookies.

Before Tom Brady started taking snaps for the New England Patriots or even the Michigan Wolverines, he was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft. His position at the time was catcher.

The 1979 MLB draft saw a lot of name players selected, Andy Van Slyke, Tim Wallach, Steve Howe and Don Mattingly to name a few.  Selected in the 4th round of the 1979 draft, 99th overall, by the Kansas City Royals was Dan Marino. Marino decided instead to go to the University of Pittsburgh to QB for the Panthers.

That same year the Kansas City Royals selected another future football great, John Elway. Elway also chose college, going to Stanford where he played both football and baseball for the Cardinals. But in 1981 he was drafted again, this time by the New York Yankees. He was chosen in the second round, 52nd overall, in a draft that included Tony Gywnn who was selected later in the third round. Elway actually played in the Yankees farm system in the summer of 1982 where he had a very respectable .318 batting average and a perfect fielding percentage. It was the Yankees intention to bring Elway to the Bronx as the starting right fielder by 1985. If it had not been for the 1983 NFL draft it is entirely possible that Elway could have been in permanent pinstripes, knocking Ken Griffey Sr. to the bench and sharing the outfield with Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield. Elway will appear in 2014 Topps Five Star Baseball as a Yankee.

2014 Topps Football Complete Set Box Break and Review

One cannot deny the convenience of having an entire base set presorted and supplied in a custom box.  2014 Topps Football Complete Set NFL Trading Cards offers all of this year’s base cards with a bonus found exclusively in the product, orange border serial numbered parallels.

Clearly, this package gets classification as a boxed set for the purposes of this review. Inside you’ll find the complete 440 card base set, no alternate photo versions or inserts, and each boxes contains a pack of five Orange-Bordered parallels.

Here is a little of what we found inside the complete set box.

2014 Topps Triple Threads Baseball Box Break Recap and Review

Anyone who plays baseball knows the cleanup position in the batting order may not be the most consistent hitter in he lineup. Usually that is reserved for early in the order. But a smart manager also makes sure the bottom of their order has some hitters too, prevented a guaranteed  “three and out" in the later innings. So it's a smart play by Topps to put Triple Threads Baseball after heavy hitters like Museum, Tribute and Tier One. It remains a consistent fan favorite and rightly so. 2014 Topps Triple Threads Baseball delivers again with hits that satisfy and boxes that spread the wealth. Triple Thread has become the goto Premium Baseball card offering with the widest range of appeal.

Topps Triple Threads Baseball falls under our premium cards category.  Each master display box contains two mini boxes with 7 cards per mini. Every mini-box contains an autographed relic and a relic card, one of which is a triple relic.

Here are all of the cards we pulled from our box.

Topps Gets Exclusive Autograph And Promotional Deal With Mike Trout

I could have gone with "Topps Reels In A Huge Exclusive" but that wouldn't do justice to the news that today Topps and Mike Trout announced a multi-faceted partnership. This exclusive deal means Trout’s autographed trading cards will only be found in Topps products. In addition, Trout will continue be the face of Topps BUNT, the mobile sports app for iOs and Android, in 2015.

Trout’s cards will be available in many Topps 2014 and 2015 Baseball products including Topps Chrome, Triple Threads Baseball, Dynasty Baseball, Five Star Baseball and more. Topps BUNT 2015 will launch in late March of 2015.

2014 Topps Finest Baseball Cards Box Break Recap And Review

What a difference a year makes.  Topps played with the Finest formula last year and got some things right. Unfotunately what they got wrong was the card design. This year all of those added elements remain and 2014 Topps Finest Baseball comes on strong with a sharp looking design.

While Finest Baseball falls under our classification of premium cards, there is enough here to keep set builders interested so there is some cross over into our trading cards category.  Hobby exclusive master boxes contain 2 mini boxes, with each mini containing 6 - 5 card packs.  Each master box contains 2 On-Card Autographs.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

2014 Donruss Baseball Cards Box Break Recap And Review

I have always been outspoken with my opinion that team logos do not make or break a card, that great cards can still be produced without a league license. Just the same, having a league license does not guarantee every set of cards will be fantastic. Unfortunately for 2014 Donruss Baseball, the thing that hurts the set is not the absence of a league license, it’s photo selection, or lack thereof. Here is an example.

That is a lot of cards that look pretty much the same.  As a matter of fact, the vast majority of photos are from 4 vantage points, one for right handed hitters, one for left handed hitters, one for right handed pitchers and one for left handed pitchers.  

Even with team logos, these cards would be uninteresting and repetitive.  Add the “throwback” backs that are about as dull as humanly possible, short of the full names, and now you have an entire base set that is not worth collecting. (I can’t believe I just said that.) The only collectors who might be interested in this base set would be those people who collect a player or two that MUST have every card ever published to complete their collection.

The only thing that saves this set from being a complete write off would be the inserts, not even the hits. Clearly the most desirable cards to come out of this set are the Diamond Kings, a collector favorite. These are a prime example that no license is needed to produce a good looking card.

Still, will any of this stop true Donruss fans from gobbling up these cards, especially with the return of the Rated Rookie? Probably not.

2014 Donruss Baseball fits into our Trading Cards category.  Each Hobby box includes 24 packs with 8 cards per pack, one oversized Diamond Kings box topper and 2 autographs and one game gear memorabilia card per box.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

2014 Bowman Chrome Baseball Box Break Recap And Review

Change is difficult for some people, but a little bit of change can go a long way. Not much has changed with Bowman Baseball for some time now and collectors have been good with that. 2014 Bowman Chrome comes with some change. Change that collectors should like.

Initially Bowman Chrome seems very much the same. Same Retail price as last year. Same Bowman look and feel. Leaving this working formula alone should put change averse collectors at ease. But then you start to notice the first change, more hits per box. iNow there are 2 autographs per hobby box versus last year’s one per box, 5 autographs per jumbo versus last year’s 3 per box.

Second change can be seen with the card backs. Instead of simply carrying over the backs from the regular Bowman Baseball product, these backs add more scouting information about the players.

Last change is with the variety of inserts. Minis, 1989 Bowman is Back, standard die cuts and the Dali -esque die cuts.  

All of these changes elevate Bowman Chrome to a set of cards worthy of collecting on their own merit and not just a compliment to collecting Bowman Baseball.

2014 Bowman Chrome Baseball fits into our Trading Cards category.  The Hobby box we broke includes 18 packs with 4 cards per pack and 2 chrome autographs per box.

Here are some of the cards we pulled from our box.

2014 Topps Finest Football Cards Video Box Break

Pulling a Sandy Koufax Rookie Reprint Autograph from 2014 Topps Finest Baseball was quite a thrill.  Now Football is up.  Take a look at this video box break of 2014 Topps Finest Football to see what we pulled.


To vist our YouTube page for this and other video box breaks, follow this link


Review box provided by Topps

2014 Topps Triple Threads Baseball Card Video Box Break With Some Big Hits

When it comes to Triple Threads, booklets are all the rage. Unlike in 2011 when we hit a gorgeous Matt Kemp booklet there was no booklet to be found in our display box of 2014 Topps Triple Threads Baseball. But as in other years prior no booklet is no problem. the box we opened was very satisfying.

To see what was inside our two mini boxes, check out the box break video below.

You can also visit our YouTube page for all our box breaks.




Review box provided by Topps

Win An Entire Case Of Topps Fire Football Cards

Today, Friday, September 19th, is officially Topps Fire Friday. What does this mean? It means that starting today collectors around the county will have a chance to win a case of Topps Fire Football trading cards, which hits stores in January. 

Starting today and running all weekend long, through September 21st, to enter for a chance to win, just walk into your local hobby shop and ask that the store order Topps Fire Football. Next, take a picture of you in the hobby store “asking for Topps Fire” in a creative way such as holding up a sign that says “I want Topps Fire” with the store manager. Once you take the picture, tweet it out using both the hashtag, #ToppsFireFriday &, Topps' Twitter handle, @Toppscards OR post the picture to Topps' Facebook page at Facebook.com/Topps using the the hashtag, #ToppsFireFriday .

The entrant who submits the most creative photo will win! The winner will be announced on Tuesday September 23rd on Topps’ Twitter and Facebook accounts. The lucky winner will receive a CASE of Topps Fire Football upon release of the product in January 2015!

Good Luck and get out there and demand your Topps Fire™ Football! See complete official rules at http://www.topps.com/firefridays

Koufax deGrom And Vargas Are The 2014 Topps Finest Autographed Rookie Redemption Cards

If you watched our video box break of 2014 Topps Finest Baseball you saw that in addition to pulling the promised one autograph per mini box we pulled a special Rookie Autograph Redemption card, redeemable for an exclusive autographed card. But until now, the subjects of these redemption cards were unknown. Topps has just announced the three Redemption subjects, with one special inclusion.

Rookie Redemption 1 – Sandy Koufax

Rookie Redemption 2 – Jacob deGrom

Rookie Redemption 3 – Kennys Vargas

Sandy Koufax’s Autographed Rookie Redemption card commemorates the upcoming 60th Anniversary of his 1955 Topps Rookie Card. Topps Baseball Brand Manager Zvee Geffen gave the company's reason for using Koufax instead of another rookie from this year. “As Koufax is commonly regarded as one of the best pitchers in baseball history, we wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his rookie card by recreating it on modern day chrome technology.”

deGrom, a leading contender for NL Rookie of the Year, is coming off a start in which he tied the modern-day MLB record for most consecutive strikeouts to begin a game.

Vargas got off to a torrid start in his first month in the Majors, racking up 38 hits and driving in 24 runs, bettered only by legendary slugger, Joe DiMaggio, in his rookie year.

Now the only mystery that remains is will Koufax himself go retro and sign his name 'Sanford Koufax" as he did back in 1955.

Topps Finest Baseball is in stores now.

For more info on Topps Finest Baseball and other Topps products you can keep checking in here at the blog, follow Topps on Twitter @toppscards and Instagram @toppssports

2014 Topps Finest Baseball Video Box Break With Case Hit

"It ain't over 'til it's over!"

2014 Topps Finest Baseball contains some of the names I personally would love to add to my autograph collection.  Mariano Rivera, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, Ernie Banks just to name a few.  So when I hit an auto in my first pack the mystery was over. I just about gave up on the rest of the mini box, but I kept at it because I was videoing it and figured I might as well have something for the blog. And then the surprise hit.

Watch this video all the way through to see what caught me off guard.

Making All About Cards More About You

Life happens.

And that's a good thing.

But sometimes that means other things get neglected.  I started this blog to recount some stories of my collection and it evolved into a space for quick information.  My goal was to tell you in 5 minutes or under everything you would need to know about new releases.  I was tired of sifting through sites of information and sitting through 25+ minute breaks to see exactly what is in these enticing new boxes.  So this site served as help in making my purchasing decisions as much as it was to inform others.

Of course the one thing you start to notice as you take the task on of compiling information on every release, even if it is not on your purchasing radar, is that you actually spend MORE time than you would have in the first place.  But it was, and still remains, fun to put these posts together.

I will not stop doing what I do, reviews and other box break goodies will still be featured, but what I would like to do is make this blog more inclusive.  Open it up.  Make it more of a community.  I think that is one aspect of the hobby that is getting lost, the community of card collectors and traders.  Seems to me it is a lot more about ripping and flipping at this point.

To open things up I'm going contact collectors who actually collect, the people who hold onto to cards more so than hoping to bust a box and flip a sick one.  By doing profiles perhaps we can get to know each other in a more meaningful way.

I'm also willing to open up Box Break Recaps and Reviews that perhaps cover some of the releases you haven't seen featured here to some of you, in particular to any of you Upper Deck fans. From a practical level, that doesn't mean providing everyone with boxes. But there might be some of you, from time to time, that feel compelled to write about a release of a box but don't want to keep up the task of reviewing everything or running a blog. The only thing I ask of you is to think about is using the guidelines I use in my reviews.

If anyone would like to be featured in any of these profiles, or reviews, please feel free to contact me. Hopefully this might be a step in the right direction to bring some of the interactive nature of collecting back to the hobby.

Let me know what you think.

2014 Topps Tier One Baseball Cards Box Break Recap and Review

This year’s edition of Tier One Baseball from Topps feels very familiar.  Boxes generally follow the pattern of relic, rookie auto, box hit. As with years past, if you look at our post “How we review and classify cards,” by definition, collectors who go for an Ultra Premium box of cards should understand “these are "High Risk, High Reward" cards” and “not every box will be a winner.”  While it would seem about 1 in every 6 boxes contains a really nice hit, and one rather  large hit lands once in every 12 boxes, which is a good ratio for ultra premium cards, it’s the in between boxes this year that don’t seem to match up with years past.  With numbering like #/254 for single swatch relics of players that can be found in practically every other Topps release this year and previously, and some box hit player autographs that are better suited for fan favorites found in Topps Archives, the content of 2014 Topps Tier One brings the franchise down just a little from previous years instead of excelling or even maintaining its reputation as a great quick hit of a product.  But Tier One is still priced at a point the allows those normally out of the price range of an Ultra Premium product to get in.

Each box of Tier One Baseball contains 3 cards, two autographs and one relic card.  Certain boxes will contain an extra relic hit for a total of 4 cards.

Here are the cards we found in our box.

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Video Box Break

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen has been released and we have the Speed-break to prove it.  Watch this video as we show you the entire contents of a hobby box in about 4 minutes.   See a card you want to look at a little longer?  Just pause the video at that card for as long as you like.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Video Box Break

King of the throwbacks, Topps Heritage Baseball returns for 2014 with the familiar configuration but with a subtile, but significant tweak.  Check out our Video Speed Break below to find out.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Baseball Cards Box Break Recap And Review

Topps Museum Collection Baseball cards have quickly become a collector favorite.  2014 Topps Museum Collection Baseball doesn’t disappoint, providing sharp design and a nice variety of great looking hits, and a cohesive set that does justice to it’s Museum moniker.

Museum Collection fits nicely into our Premium Cards category.  Each Master Box contains 4 mini-boxes with 5 cards per mini.  Each Master Box will contain 1 on-card autograph, 1 autograph relic, 1 quad relic, and 1 jumbo relic.

Here are the cards we pulled from our box.

2013 Panini Crown Royale Football Box Break Recap and Review

Crown Royale Football has always been a visual feast of die cuts and foil that make a great set.  The consistency of theme and respect for the history of the brand makes 2013 Panini Crown Royale Football a pleasure to collect and one of the nicest looking premium offerings available.

Panini Crown Royale Football falls into our premium cards category.  Each box contains 4 packs with 5 cards each with a promise of four autograph or memorabilia cards with at least 2 Autograph cards per box.

Here are the cards we pulled.

2014 Topps Museum Collection MLB Baseball Cards Video Box Break With A Case Hit

Collectors seem gravitate toward Museum Collection.  Perhaps it's the simple configuration of 4 mini boxes with 5 cards each and promise of 1 on-card autograph, 1 autograph relic, 1 quad relic and 1 jumbo relic per hobby box.  Or maybe it's the design that lives up to the Museum name.  We did a video box break of this year's Baseball version.

Here is our 2014 Topps Museum Collection Baseball Box Break with some really nice hits but one that is outstanding.  Watch the video to see what we pulled!

2013 14 Panini Titanium Hockey NHL Trading Cards Box Break Recap And Review

Sometimes you stumble across a package configuration that just makes sense, that delivers bang for the buck and hits that deliver.  2013-14 Panini Titanium Hockey is one of those.  With great design and plenty of hits to satisfy, Titanium is one of the better products of the year.

Titanium Hockey fits into our Premium Cards category.  Hobby boxes contain 5 packs with 4 cards per pack.  There is one autograph or memorabilia card in every pack.

Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled.

2014 Topps Tribute Baseball Mystery Redemptions Announced

With today marking the 40^th Anniversary of Hank Aaron passing Babe Ruth on the all-time HR list, Topps is announced that the legendary slugger is the first subject in the 2014 Topps Tribute Autograph Mystery Redemption.

Collectors holding Topps Tribute Mystery Redemption # 1 will receive an exclusive 40^th Anniversary card autographed by Hank Aaron.

Collectors in possession of Topps Tribute Mystery Redemption # 2 will receive Cuban slugger Jose Abreu’s autographed rookie card.

Stay tuned for more mystery redemption announcements!

2014 Topps Opening Day Baseball MLB Trading Cards Box Break Recap And Review

As in past years, Opening Day essentially mimics Topps Series 1 & 2 for base card design, but then offers a lot of great inserts.  At its low price point, Opening Day is a bargain that always seems to hit its mark.  While it might skew towards younger collectors, there is still enough here for experienced collectors.  2014 Topps Opening Day Baseball is a lot of fun and perfect for set building.

Opening Day could easily fit into both our fun cards and trading cards categories, but for the purpose of this review, we will classify Opening Day as fun cards.  Opening Day can be found in many different retail configurations.  We opened a complete box which contains 36 packs with 7 cards per pack.  There are relics and autographs to be found in Opening Day, but they are rare.

Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled.

2014 Topps Tribute Baseball Box Break Recap And Review

The secret to good years for Topps Tribute can be found in the checklist.  But it's not just the presence of the biggest names in the sport, but the ratio to which they appear in comparison to other lesser players.  For 2014 Topps Tribute Baseball the checklist is deep and wide but the ratios are a little unbalanced.  All of this means the possibility exists of pulling a huge hit but the probability of doing so is not that good.  But if you are going to hit it big, Tribute has some great cards to pull.

To help with those odds somewhat, Topps has shifted to the longtime configuration from 3 autos and 3 relics to 4 autos and 2 relics for most boxes.  Another shift that probably wont concern many hit seekers but will be an issue for set builders and rainbow collectors is the longtime standard 5 cards per pack being decreased to 3 cards per pack.  Clearly that also decreases the number of base sets that can be built with this product and drastically reduces that number of color parallels.  In total, we pulled just one color parallel in our entire hobby box.

Another issue that will bother some, especially those who tend to collect a wide range of Topps products each year, is the obvious repeated use of player images.  While some have argued that retired players have a limited number of images that can be used, one has to wonder why the image used for Prince Fielder’s relic card

is the same image that was used on all of the 2013 Topps Baseball Series 1 packaging.

The image is so recognizable for seasoned collectors so it is surprising that it was used here, especially since it was just used in Five Star.

For collectors who focus their purchases to a few items a year, this probably will go unnoticed but for the avid collector, since the player image can be up to 80% of the card design, it does start to feel like you are chasing the same cards from release to release.

A final issue is one that I hope is isolated to the specific card we pulled.  It is with the Prime Patches card from our box that is clearly marked beyond as containing a game worn patch.  

Ours was a single color white swatch clearly from the bulk material of the uniform as indicated by the breathing holes, without any signs of a patch to be found.  This not only is a disappointment but will bring into question for any collector that seeks to trade for or buy the card whether the swatch has been tampered with or replaced.

2014 Topps Tribute Baseball fits into our Premium Cards category.  This Hobby Exclusive comes with 6 packs per box, 3 cards per pack and 1 autographed card or relic card numbered to 99 or less in every pack.  Collectors should expect 4 Autographs and 2 Relics per box.

Here are the cards we pulled from our box.

2013 Topps Supreme Football Video Box Break WIth A Nice Hit

Time is not my friend lately.  But when you've got a box with 4 cards its hard to use the lack of time as an excuse.  So for the first time in a while, not only have I been able to record a box break, but it's already uploaded and it is certainly a good one. 

2013 Topps Supreme Football contains 4 cards with 1 base, 2 parallels and 1 low numbered hit and without a doubt, we pulled one of the good ones.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Football Cards Box Break Recap And Review

Topps has taken a winning formula from Baseball and created Museum Collection for Football. In what has been a rather soft year for Football cards due to the Rookie centric nature of most releases, Museum Collection debuts with a shorten production run which has led to a more balanced checklist and lowered numbered cards. With Museum Collection’s marquee sharp design and a variety of really nice looking hits, it could be the surprise success of the 2013 release season.

Museum Collection fits nicely into our Premium Cards category.  Each Master Box contains 4 mini-boxes with 5 cards per mini, with 1 autograph or relic card per mini box.

Here are the cards we pulled from our box.

2013 Topps Premier Gold Trading Cards Box Break Recap And Review

To be upfront and honest, the extend of my involvement with Barclay’s Premier League is opening some packs of 2012/2013 Topps Match Attax trading cards.  With all the sports I follow and having a pretty good local team here in Los Angeles, the Galaxy, there hasn’t been much opportunity to follow what is happening overseas.  But I have done my due diligence, trying to absorb what I can about the league and its players, so I feel somewhat prepared to offer this review of 2013 Topps Premier Gold.  I think it is fair to say fans of Association Football/Soccer will be pleased with what Topps has put together for this higher end offering.

2013 Topps Premier Gold fits very nicely into our Premium Cards category. Each hobby box contains 10 Mini-Boxes with 5 cards per mini-box and 1 Memorabilia or Autograph card in every mini-box.  For the entire master box you should pull a total of 5 Autographs and 5 Memorabilia Cards.

Here are all of the cards we pulled from our master box. (Spoiler - we pulled one of the bigger hits of this product.)

2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 Sneak Peek On Instagram With A Chance At Some Free Cards

As much of the country braces for a snowstorm, it is hard to believe that Baseball is just 8 days away, at least for card collectors.  The release of 2014 Topps Baseball Series One is just about a week away.  To get a sneak peak at some of the first cards in Series 1 you can check out Topps on Instagram at ToppsSports.  In addition to posting photos Topps will be giving away a box of 2014 Topps Baseball Series One to 5 lucky new followers of their Instagram account so make sure while you are checking out the photos you follow them. 

We will have more details about the 2014 release all this week followed shortly after that by our hugely popular “Everything You Need To Know About...” article covering all aspects of 2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 cards.  

2013 Bowman Sterling Baseball Cards Box Break Recap And Review

There is something refreshing about 2013 Bowman Sterling Baseball.  Perhaps it’s the straightforward design, a player and his autograph.  Or maybe it’s knowing exactly what you are getting with each box, consistency within prospect collecting.  Either way, at 18 autographs a hobby box, it’s a solid, reliable product for hit seeking Bowman collectors.

Bowman Sterling Baseball comes in at the high end of our premium cards category.  Each hobby box contains 6 packs with 4 cards per pack.  Each pack contains 3 Autograph Cards.

Here are all of the cards we pulled.

2013 Topps Triple Threads Football Cards Box Break Recap And Review

2013 Topps Triple Threads Football comes on strong with some major design changes, almost all of them for the better.  From the etched gold foil under sticker autographs to make their appearance more regal, to the use of three circle swatches that almost mimic the much higher end Five Star line, collectors will appreciate these cards.  Of course, the iconic die cut sayings that overlay the relic pieces still remain for some of the cards, because it just wouldn’t be Triple Threads without it.

Topps Triple Threads Football fits into our premium cards category.  Each master box has two mini boxes.  Each mini box contains 7 cards with a low numbered autographed triple relic and a low numbered triple relic card.

Here are all of the cards we pulled.

Complete 2014 BBWWA Baseball Hall Of Fame Voting Results With First Timers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, And Frank Thomas Elected To The Hall

After a two year period where only one player, Barry Larkin, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Baseball Writers have voted in three players, all first timers, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, And Frank Thomas.  Maddox received the highest total of votes at 97.2%, followed by Glavine with 91.9% of the total vote and Thomas with 83.7%.  There could have been a forth player voted in this year, but Craig Biggio missed by two votes with 74.8% of the total votes, falling just short of the 75% threshold.  Biggio was one of only two players to trend up in vote percentage this year, the other one being Mike Pizza who received 62.2% of the total votes.  

In his final year of eligibility Jack Morris garnered 61.5% of the total vote.  All other players to fall off the ballot received less than 5% of the vote of ballots cast, the minimum required to be carried over for consideration on next year’s ballot.  

Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will take place July 25-28, 2014 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Here are the results of this year’s voting.

The Quick And Easy Way To Find Out If You Have Just Pulled A 2013 Panini Contenders Football SP Rookie Ticket Autograph Card

Today is the release day for 2013 Panini Contenders Football cards.  We’ve received quite a few questions from collectors, all asking for ways to identify the coveted Short Print Versions of the Rookie Ticket Autos.  While it might have been tricky in the past, this year Panini has made it rather simple to identify these SPs.  They even released the information on their blog, The Knight’s Lance between Christmas and New Years.