Saturday, September 17, 2011

2011 Panini NFL Stickers For Week 2 And Players To Watch This Week

We had some pretty good picks for our players to watch last week with Cam Newton coming through big in his first regular season start and Peyton Hillis dealing with the first signs of the Madden Curse.  As far as Troy Palomalu and the Steeler defense in concerned, who knew?

Here are three players to watch this week.
With the Minnesota Vikings' defense already hurting, Adrian Peterson will be looking to compensate by moving the ball against Tampa Bay, especially after the Vikings were held to 39 yards in the air last week.  Falling just shy of 100 rushing yards last week, Peterson should be closer to 130 yards this week.

Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions took apart the Buccaneers secondary last week, throwing for 305 yards on 24 completions out of 33 attempts.  He will look to repeat that kind of performance against the Kansas City Chiefs at home.  

Beanie Wells of the Arizona Cardinals was the first to score in the Cards win over the Panthers accumulating a total of 90 rushing yards.  This week Wells could see some bigger numbers as Arizona takes on the Washington Redskins.

In addition to the players to watch this week, here are the stickers going into our album this week.
 Marcell Dareus, Justin Forsett, James Laurinaitis
Roman Harper, Reggie Bush, E.J. Henderson
Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs, Keiland Williams
Steve Smith, Shaun Phillips, Eric Weddle
Richard Seymour, Zach Miller, Devter McCluster
Michael Griffin, James Harrison, Von Miller

XLV Super Bowl,  Jake Long, Cameron Wake
Ryan Torain, Brent Grimes, Jon Beason
Nate Burleson, Barrett Ruud, Gerald McCoy

Tennessee Titans, Paul Posluszny, Patrick Peterson, Arizona Cardinals
London Fletcher, Osi Umenyiorr, Champ Bailey and the man behind NFL Films, Ed Sabol

And now for the winners of our 2011 Panini NFL Sticker Collection Starter Kits.
Congratulations to Play at the Plate and Cheap Card Collecting.  You will be receiving our home made starter kit that includes a sticker album and some additional stickers to get you going.

Be on the look out for more additions to our sticker album next week.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Panini America Signs A New Multi-Year Deal With MLBPA. Josh Hamilton Set To Autograph Cards.


One of the definitions of “Game Changer” is altering a company's business strategy in order to compete in the marketplace by changing the way something is done, thought about or made.  There has been a lot of smack talk by collectors over the use of that phrase within the hobby so it was surprising that Panini would choose that term on Twitter to describe an secret announcement that was scheduled for release today.  Now that the cat is out of the bag, it is fair to say, by definition, Panini is correct, this is a “Game Changer.”

Panini America and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) announced today a multi-year trading card agreement. This makes Panini the only trading card company with licenses in all four major sports, Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey.

The first Panini/MLBPA cards will debut with the December release of 2011 Elite Extra Edition, followed by 2011 Contenders Baseball, which will include the first Panini Autographs of Josh Hamilton. 

The Topps Prime 9 Redemption Card For Week 9 is Sandy Koufax!


This is week 9 of the Topps Prime 9 Redemption Program, the last week of the promotion.  Using cards found in 2011 Topps Baseball Series 2 hobby and jumbo boxes, collectors have been able to obtain the following players. 

Week 1 was Johnny Bench. 
Week 4 was Derek Jeter. 
Week 5 was Mike Schmidt. 
Week 6 was Hank Aaron. 
Week 7 was Mickey Mantle. 
Week 8 was Ichiro. 

Now for Week 9 if you have one of these...
...its time to go visit your HTA Local Hobby Shop and redeem those cards.  Here is what you will get.
A Sandy Koufax Prime 9 limited edition Chrome Refractor card.  Koufax’s “Prime 9 Moments” include first two Major League wins were shutouts, fired four no-hitters (second most in history) and youngest player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  So 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 World Series.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

2011 Press Pass FanFare NASCAR Trading Cards Box Break Recap & Review

Press Pass FanFare is the newest addition to the excellent NASCAR releases they produce.  This is a base set/big hit premium product with lots of bang for the buck.

We classify 2011 Press Pass FanFare as premium cards.  Each hobby box contains 8 – 5 card packs with a bonus single hit card pack.  Each regular pack contains either one Autograph card or Magnificent Materials race-used memorabilia card.

Here is what we pulled.

First from the base set
 Regan Smith base card, front and back

Base -  Regan Smith, Joe Nemechek, Robby Gordon, Greg Biffle
Dusty Davis, Mike Wallace, Kenny Wallace, Jason Leffer
Justin Lofton, Justin Johnson, Austin Dillon
Fred Lorenzen, Harry Grant, Dale Jarrett
Cale Yarborough, Chip Ganassi

The base cards are paralleled.
Kurt Busch Diecut

Diecuts - JJ Yeley, Paul Menard, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger
Alan Kulwicki, Craig Goess, Dusty Davis
David Pearson

Joey Logano SP #/25

From the inserts
 Championship Caliber - David Pearson, Rusty Wallace, Bobby LaBonte, Ton Stewart
Martin Truex, Jr. Bobby LaBonte, Clint Bowyer, Rex White

 Rookie Standouts - Juan Pablo Montoya, Denny Hamlin
Ryan Newman

And the hits. First the Memorabilia cards.

Dusty Davis - Shoe #/199 and Joey Coulter - Sheet Metal #/199

 Jamie McMurray - Firesuit #/50 and Current Sprint Cup Leader Kyle Busch- Firesuit & Shoe #/50

And the on-card autographs.

 Parker Klingerman Auto #/250

 Ryan Truex Auto #/200
19 years old, brother of NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr, and two-time NASCAR Camping World East Champion, this is his first autograph card as a NASCAR Nationwide contender. 

 Austin Dillon Auto #/150
Grandson of Richard Childress, legendary car owner for Dale Earnhardt, this is his first Autograph card.

Greg Biffle Auto #/65

 And the hit from the bonus pack
2011 Daytona 500 Winner Trevor Bayne - Firesuit #/199

Overall Look
Chalk another one up to the Press Pass design team.  The consistency of superior design is astounding.  This is another product that excels.

Quality and Variety of Drivers and Subsets
The emphasis of this set falls towards the drivers of the Nationwide and Truck series, but Sprint Cup drivers are also represented.  You’ll find a lot of first time autograph cards and at least two Sprint Cup driver hit cards per box.

Do the Hits satisfy?  Are the cards too base heavy?
Press Pass does hit cards right... bottom line.  On card autos work well and all materials are for memorabilia cards are represented.  With a variety of parallels for the base cards, FanFare is balanced.

Will you keep coming back for more?
Boxes of FanFare are quite addictive.  Knowing each pack contains a hit certainly puts you in a “ripping zone.”  Each box almost feels like an individual serving size bag of chips, the kind that you could easily plow through two or three at a sitting.  Even if you try to show restraint and only open one, you know you’ll be back tomorrow for another one.

Rating
4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Press Pass FanFare NASCAR cards are a great value for hit seekers.

Willie Mays Autograph Cards Will Be In 2012 Topps Baseball Releases


Recently, Topps had been releasing pictures of cards with Willie Mays autographs for upcoming releases, but no formal announcement about the return of the “Say Hey Kid” had been made.  That all changed today when Topps announced they signed a multi-year autograph deal with Mays.

Mays’ Autograph will make its first appearance in 2012 Topps Baseball Series 1, which is set to be released in early February.  After that, Mays autographed cards will appear in several releases such as Topps Tribute, Gypsy Queen and much more.  There will also be a variety of relic cards featuring the Hall of Famer.

The last time Willie Mays signed for Topps was back in 2004.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Topps Announces The Final Four Players To Complete The List Of Autographs For Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects

Topps has just announced the last 4 players who will be signing cards for their upcoming release of Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects.  That brings the total to 34 confirmed signers.  All but one of those players were selected in the 1st Round of the 2011 MLB Draft (including supplemental 1st Round).

Here are the four newly announced players.

Bubba Starling - Royals
Dylan Bundy - Orioles
Archie Bradley - D’Backs
Taylor Guerrieri - Rays

They join the previously released list of autograph signers in Bowman Draft Picks:

Tyler Anderson - Rockies                                 
Michael Fulmer - Mets
Kyle Crick - Giants
Larry Greene - Phillies
Travis Harrison - Twins
Taylor Jungmann - Brewers
Blake Snell - Rays
Robert Stephenson - Reds
Blake Swihart - Red Sox
Javier Baez - Cubs
Matt Barnes - Red Sox
Trevor Bauer - D’Backs
Jed Bradley - Bewers
CJ Cron - Angels
Jose Fernandez - Marlins
Tyler Goeddel - Rays
Sonny Gray - A’s
Jake Hager - Rays
James Harris -  Rays
Francisco Lindor - Indians
Brandon Martin - Rays
Kevin Matthews - Rangers
Brandon Nimmo - Mets
George Springer - Astros
Corey Spangenberg - Padres
Trevor Story - Rockies
Dan Vogelbach - Cubs
Keenyn Walker - White Sox
Kolten Wong - Cardinals
Joe Panik - Giants

Bowman Draft Picks, set to release November 23rd, guarantees a Chrome on-card autograph in every hobby box.  Bryce Harper will be featured on autograph cards.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Football News For Week One And Our 2011 Panini NFL Sticker Collection

Today is day of remembrance.  A time to reflect on the events of ten years ago.  No doubt there will be moving tributes to the victims and the heroes of 9/11.  But it is also Sunday and there are some great football games to be played today.  Here are three players to watch who have been in the news.
Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers has just signed a contract extension that will keep him in the Steel City for the remainder of his career.  The deal will carry him through the 2014 season.  This coincides with an announcement by Panini America on The Knight's Lance that Polamalu with appear on autographed football cards for the first time in eight years with a small number of those being on-card autos, the first time ever Troy has signed for a company on-card.

Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers with be under the microscope as his team takes on the Cardinals in Arizona.  Newton will get the start.  Only four rookie quarterbacks have won on the road on opening weekend since 1970 with Mark Sanchez being the most recent in 2009.

Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns will be doing his best to prove he is the real deal as his team takes on a Carson Palmer - less Cincinnati Bengals, who will be lead by another rookie quarterback, Andy Dalton.  Hillis will also be looking to avoid any signs of the "Madden Curse."  The Urban Legend has it that hard times fall upon those who are on the cover of EA Sports Madden Football and Hillis the subject on all regular versions of Madden 12.  In case you didn't know, you can win a copy of Madden 12 just by opening packets of 2011 Panini NFL Stickers.
Randomly inserted in packets of 2011 Panini NFL Stickers are instant-win prizes that include EA Sports Madden NFL 12 and Madden NFL 12: Hall of Fame Edition.

In addition to the stickers from Friday and above, here are the stickers we are placing in our album this week.
 Jay Cutler, Calvin Johnson, Jr and new member of the Football Hall of Fame, Deion Sanders
 Eli Manning and Roddy White
 Tim Hightower and rookie QB Colin Kaepernick
 San Diego Chargers Team, Aaron Curry and Kansas City Chiefs Team
Ricky Williams, Karlos Dansby, Braylon Edwards
LaDainian Tomlinson, Santonio Holmes, Haloti Ngata
Anquan Boldin, Michael Oher, Ray Rice
Abram Elam, T.J. Ward, Joe Thomas
Ben Roethlisberger, Brian Cushing, Donald Brown
Maurice Jones-Drew, Cortland Finnegan, Kate Washington

Look for our announcement of the winners of our 2011 Panini NFL Sticker Collection Starter Kits and more additions to our sticker album in the coming week.