For $240...

... you can get one pack of Topps Sterling.

And that would be, a lot of Topps Sterling.

Or you can go all the way....



Awww, yeah!

The $250 EPIC FAIL.

First, go watch Beckett's break of two pack/boxes of Topps Sterling. (I'd post it here for your convince, they won't let me embed the video to this site.)

Go on, watch it.

While you watch, I'll keep myself entertained with this Tom the Ripper mash-up video.



Now, if you're a long-time Stale Gum reader, you've probably figured out that Topps Sterling is a product that isn't exactly geared toward my demographic. But if I paid $250 for a "pox" of Sterling, and my "big hit" is a framed multi-swatch jersey card of Tom Seaver numbered to ten copies, and the '69 on the frame WAS MOUNTED UPSIDE DOWN, I would not be a happy collector.

That is all.

Video Box Break: 2008 Razor Signature

Tom the Ripper busts a box of Razor Signature. Hilarity ensues.

Things to look for...

1) A CGI light saber,

2) A retractable razor blade (Get it? A box of Razor being busted with a razor?),

3) Ten autographed trading cards of players you've never heard of -- and more than likely never will,

4) A snippet of an epic rant by Gellman at SCU,

5) A 1950s anti-alcohol educational film set to the music of Alice in Chains.

And now, for The 2008 Gummies, Barry Champlain.

You do not make perfect sense to me.

I am a hypocrite; I ask for sincerity and I lie.

I denounce The Hobby as I embrace it.

I want money and power and complete sets.

I want all the hot rookies and autographs, and I don't give a damn about you or The Hobby. That's the truth.

For this I could say I'm sorry, but I won't. Why should I? I mean who the hell are you anyway ... you "collectors?" You're on me every night like a pack of wolves cause you can't stand facing what you are and what's become of baseball card collecting. Yes, The Hobby is a terrible place, and yes, that's what junk products and bad gimmicks will get you. Yes, Upper Deck is bringing back UDX, yes, Topps is shot to hell and we're all goners!

Everything is screwed up and you like it that way, don't you? You're fascinated by the gory details.

Next month, millions of people are going to be reading the results of The 2008 Gummies, and YOU HAVEN'T SENT IN YOUR NOMINATIONS! Marvelous technology is at your disposal, but instead of reaching up to new heights and MAKING YOUR OPINION KNOWN we're going to see how far down we can go; how deep into the muck The Hobby can immerse itself.

You frighten me. What's wrong with you? Why aren't you voting in The Gummies?

This Hobby is in deep trouble people! It's rotten to the core and somebody better do something about it! Now I want you to take your hand out of that bowl of Freedo's, throw away your National Enquirer, and send in your nominations!

You heard Barry, get your Gummie Award nominations in now!

2008 Gummie Awards: New Categories

By popular demand, the Baseball Card Writers Association of America (BCWAA) have created the following new categories for the 2008 Gummies.

Base "High End" Product
Best Unlicensed Product
Best Product for Prospects
Best YouTuber

Nominate your favorites now! Send your ballots to: chris.harris@stalegum.com.

Collectors React to the News that Upper Deck is Bringing Back UDX for 2009.

Can't you just feel the excitement already?

OBTW, still no word on '09 Ultra.

(h/t Hand Collated)

2008 Gummie Awards: Your Nominations Wanted!

NOTE: The is not the actual ballot, just your nominations. The final ballot will be issued sometime in January. Also, the Gummies are for BASEBALL CARDS ONLY.

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Has it really been a year? Yes, sadly it has. 2008 is almost over and you all know what that means.

It's almost time for us, the members of The Baseball Card Writers Association of America (BCWAA), to honor the best (and worst) in The Hobby for 2008.

Send me your picks for each category below to chris.harris@stalegum.com by January 1, and stay tuned to this space sometime in the new year for the 47th Annual Gummie Awards and Beer Pong Tournament.

Categories:

Product of the Year
Card of the Year
Rookie Card of the Year
Best Base Set
Best Insert Set
Best Autogamer Set
Best Retro Themed Product
Best Hobby Idea/Innovation
Worst Overall Product
Worst Base Set
Most Meaningless Product
Most Disappointing Product
Worst Insert Set
Worst Gimmick
Best Cardblog (You can't vote for your own!)
Best Hobby News Source (Again, you can't vote for own.)
Hobby MVP
Hobby ROY
Hobby Top Prospect
Jefferson Burdick Award for Contributions to The Hobby (this goes to a person)

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Baseball Updates & Highlights Presents 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster

Base Set: 39 of 350

Short Set: 39 of 300
Short-Prints (1:2): 0 of 50

Parallels
4 Minis: M. Kobayashi, R. Durham, E. Dukes, M. Scherzer
3 Black Bordered Minis (1:10): B. Jenks, A. Wainwright, A. Miller

Inserts
4 U.S. States: S. Victorino, J. Maurer, T. Tankersley, S. McClung
1 World Leader (1:12): O. Arias Sanchez (Costa Rica)

Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter

One box of 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter (paid $65)
24 packs and one chiptopper per box, eight cards per pack.

The Pulls

Chiptopper
1 N-43: Ichiro

Base Set: 124 of 350 (35.43%)
20 Doubles

Short Set: 111 of 300 (37.00%) with 17 Doubles
Short-Prints (1:2): 13 of 50 with 3 Doubles

Parallels*
7 Minis
2 SP Minis (1:13)
7 A&G Backs (1:5)
1 SP A&G Backs (1:65)
3 Black Bordered (1:10)

Inserts
16 U.S. States with six doubles (50 cards, one-per-pack#)
2 World Leaders (50 mini cards*, 1:12) Mozambique, Spain
2 World's Icons (ten mini cards*, 1:48) The Sphinx, Quetzalcoatl
1 Pioneers of Aviation (five mini cards*) Piloted Glider

Autogamers$#
2 Framed Relics: A. Dunn, C. Crawford

* One mini per pack
$ Two of the following per box: Framed Autograph, Framed Relic, Framed Printing Plate, Framed 1887 Original, Cut Signature, 1 of 1 Relics
# One U.S. State insert or framed autogamer per pack

Did Not Receive
1 World's Greatest Victories insert (1:24)

The Review

If you don't like Allen & Ginter, you're an idiot.

That's all I have to say.

Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks (out of 5)

Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Series 2 HTA

One HTA box of 2008 Topps Series Two (Paid $45)
10 packs per box, 46 cards per pack

The Pulls

Base Set: 330 of 330 (100%)
43 doubles

Parallels
20 Gold Foils (two-per-pack)
5 Golds (1:2, numbered to 2008) W. Rodriguez, J. Payton, K-Rod, E. Chavez, J. Keppinger

Inserts
10 Topps Stars (25 cards, one-per-pack) A-Rod, M. Ordonez, J. Morneau, J. Beckett, ManRam, J. Peavy, D. Ortiz, J. Reyes, M. Cabrera, M. Holliday
10 Trading Card History (25 cards, one-per-pack) V. Martinez, B. Webb, C. Beltran, R. Martin, P. Hughes, A. Dunn, R. Cano, J. Thome, C. Young (OF), C. Zambrano
10 Topps All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary (55 cards, 1:5) C. Young, H. Okajima, R. Adams, D. Pedroia, C. Tracy, T. Wigginton, N. Johnson, R. Furcal, R. Durham, J. Cruz
10 Year in Review (60 cards, one-per-pack) CC Sabathia, C. Figgins, F. Thomas, D. Haren, B. Butler, R. Garko, J. Maurer, C. Young (P), J. Isringhausen, C. Crawford
10 Historical Campaign Match-Ups (55 cards, 1:6) 1796, 1804, 1852, 1860, 1868, 1888, 1892, 1916, 1936, 1952
3 Mickey Mantle Story (10 cards, 1:3)
1 Home Run Derby Contest (50 cards, 1:125, numbered to 999) L. Berkman
1 Red Hot Rookie Redemption (20 cards, 1:10) #4, KosFu

Autogamers*
1 2007 Highlights Autographs: T. Tankersley
3 2007 Highlights Relics: D. Lee, D. Ortiz, D. Wright

* One Autograph and two Relics per box

The Review

2008 Topps Series Two went live six months ago. Now that the Stale Gum Topps Boycott over, I'm playing catch-up with all the Topps releases that I missed.

To refresh your memory, there were three things Topps did to Topps Series Two that I was either ambivalent about, or hated.

1) Each Hobby box would include either an autograph or a game used card, and each HTA box would yield three. Topps' stated reason for adding "hits" to its flagship was slow sales of first series Hobby boxes, but I disagreed.

Yes, pulling additional gamers is nice; but a product like Topps' flagship is, and always has been, a collector's set. Poor sales of '08 Series One Hobby (and of Series Two for that matter) had more to do with it being a lackluster product than the lack of a jersey card. The addition of more "hits" would make little, if any, difference. The fact that I purchased an HTA box for only $45 six months after it's release seems to confirm my view.

2) The establishment of the "Red Hot Rookie" redemption program also seems to have had little impact on box sales. The redemption rookie gimmick may appeal to the "high-end" hobbyist, but the concept never quite caught-on with the the traditional collector -- which is flagship Topps' demographic.

3) Gimmicks which backfired. Much virtual ink has been spilled on this blog (and others), so I won't repeat myself.

I picked up an HTA box, not because I wanted the three "hits," but because it was so cheap. I bought an HTA box for about the price of a regular Hobby box went for when Topps Two went live. I could have bought a regular Hobby box for $35 -- again for less than I was when it went live -- but with 100 more base cards and a crap-load of more inserts for only $10 more, going with HTA was a no-brainer.

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So with three hits in an HTA box, what exactly did I get? I pulled a sticker autograph of Taylor Tankersley and three gamers: Derrick Lee, David Wright, and David Ortiz. (For the record, the Wright and Big Papi were both in the same pack.) The theme behind the autogamers is "2007 Season Highlights" and the Tankersley commemorates....

... I don't know. For some reason Topps thought that Tankersley's .179 OPP AVG against left-handed hitters in '07 is worthy of an autographed "Season Highlights" card. Ummm, yeah.

The three gamers celebrate more meaningful accomplishments: Lee reaching base in 32 straight games; Big Papi setting the single-season doubles record for DHes; and Wright breaking the Mets' single-season TB mark.

Now let's just say for a moment that you actually did buy this box just for the hits. Would you be happy with a Taylor Tankersley autograph, and three un-numbered jerseys?

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If there's one thing I've always liked about HTA -- dating back to when Topps first introduced the HTA program back in '97 -- is that they're chock-full of inserts. You'll get at least five inserts and either a Gold Parallel or another insert in each pack. What a deal!

The inserts include extensions of the Trading Card History, Year in Review, and All-Rookie Team 50th Anniversary sets. In addition there are two inserts exclusive to the second series: Topps Stars and Historical Campaign Match-Ups. In each pack, I received one card from each of these sets. There's also another batch of Mickey Mantle hero worship cards and two exchange inserts: the aforementioned Red Hot Rookies and the Home Run Derby Contest.

The Bottom Line

The box yielded a full base set and a healthy stack of doubles. Given the size of the box, anything less than a complete set would be disappointing.

No, you can't find a legitimate Kosuke Fukudome rookie card in Topps Series Two. But I did get the next best thing: a KosFu Red Hot Rookie redemption (yay). It should be noted that these are the first on-line redemption cards Topps has issued. However unlike Upper Deck, the Topps redemptions do NOT have those lottery-esque scratch-off strips that conceal it the secret code. Keep this in mind if you see these cards for sale.

I did not pull any of the gimmick cards, nor did I expect to get one.

Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)

... and another thing

The front of the Lance Berkman Home Run Derby Contest insert I pulled says "If he wins, you win." However, if you examine the fine print on the back it reads, "If you receive a HRDC with player who wins, you have not won a prize."

... and yet another thing

For the second consecutive year, Yadier Molina is card #660. I don't know if someone at Topps really, really likes or really, really hates Molina.