White Plains Winter Show Meet Up.

Hey, did you know that the White Plains show is in a couple weeks?

Are you going?

Would you like to meet an actual cardblogger/minor internet celebrity?

Did you answer "Yes," "yes," and "yes?"

Well then, have we got great news for you! Stale Gum's Chris Harris will be attending the White Plains show on Saturday January 17th, and you can meet him!

Where and When:

The Westchester County Center (google maps for directions)
Saturday January 17th from Noon until ??? (depends on traffic)
Admission: $7 (kids under 12 free!)

Over 300 tables, and Bobby Valentine and Willie McCovey will be signing autographs! Oh, what fun we'll have!

For more information on the show, and autograph guests go to JP's Sports & Rock Solid Promotions' website.

RSVP: chris.harris@stalegum.com

Tom the Ripper: 2008 Playoff Prime Cuts IV

2008 Gummie Awards: THE POLLS ARE OPEN!

Follow the links to cast your ballot.

Click Here to take Part One
Click Here to take Part Two
Click Here to take Part Three

Polls close Jan 11th. DO IT NOW!

1994: Last Great Year -- Fleer

Since I already wrote about it as part of the "Always Be Collecting" Fleer tribute, I'll kick this love-fest off by reprinting my 1994 Fleer blog post from last March.

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1994 Fleer


Base Set: 720 (one series)
Inserts:

• All-Rookies: 9 cards (complete set available via a 1:200/pack redemption card)
• All-Stars: 50 cards (1:2, wax exclusive)
• Award Winners: 6 cards (1:37)
• Golden Memories: 10 cards (one-per-"Blue" pack; jumbo version numbered to 10,000)
• League Leaders: 12 cards (1:17)
• Lumber Company: 10 cards (1:5, jumbo exclusive)
• Major League Prospects: 35 cards (1:6)
• Pro-Visions: 9 cards (1:12)
• Rookie Sensations: 20 cards (1:4, jumbo exclusive)
• Tim Salmon: 15 cards (cards #1-12: 1:30; cards #13-15 available via a wrapper redemption offer)
• Smoke 'n Heat: 12 cards (1:30)
• Team Leaders: 28 cards (1:6)

Autogamers: Tim Salmon Autographed (total of 2500 cards)

Packaging: 36 pack, 15-card waxboxes; 24 pack, 21-card jumbo boxes; 24 pack, 23-card Wal-Mart exclusive "Blue" packs.
Notable Cards: Nolan Ryan Smoke 'n Heat, Pro-Visions set.
Other Notes:

• Hands down, the greatest Fleer baseball set ever.
  
• The Gold Standard of what a base-level baseball card product should be.
• Classy and clean white-bordered set.
  
• First year of UV coating on both sides of the card, and gold foil stamping on each card.
  
• Over 200 inserts, each seeded at the rate of one-per-pack.
• Complete Pro-Visions set forms a nine-card mosaic.
  
• Debut of fin-sealed foil packaging.
  

Full Set: $50 (NmMT)


1994 Fleer Update

Base Set: 200 cards
Inserts:

• Diamond Tribute: 10 cards

Notable Cards: Alex Rodriguez's second best RC (enough said).
Other Notes:

• Last Fleer Update factory set for four years.

Full Set (factory): $50 (NmMT)

1994: The Last Great Year.

1994 was the last truly great year to be a card collector. And with 2009 upon us, Stale Gum will take a look back at what made that year so great.

One-by-one, I'll be taking a second look at some of the greatest (and no so greatest) baseball card sets of the era.

So that's something to look forward to.

Video Box Break and Review: 2003 Leaf

One Hobby Box of 2003 Leaf (paid $40)
24 packs per box, ten cards per pack

The Video



The Pulls

Base Set: 208 of 320 (65.00%)
18 Doubles

Parallels

2 Red Press Proof (1:12) T. Glaus, T. Hunter
1 Blue Press Proof (numbered to 50) S. Hatteberg

Inserts

2 Leaf Certified Samples (15 cards, 1:23) M. Piazza, R. Johnson
1 Leaf Certified Samples Certified Red (numbered to 150) R. Johnson
3 Leaf 60 (50 cards, 1:8) Ja. Giambi, G. Maddux, V. Guerrero
1 Home (10 cards, 1:34) C. Jones
2 Slick Leather (15 cards, 1:21) G. Maddux, J. Edmonds
2 Hard Hats (12 cards, 1:13) B. Williams, R. Palmeiro

Autogamers

1 Away Jersey (10 cards, numbered to 250) C. Jones
1 Shirt off my Back (20 cards, numbered to 500) V. Wells

Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks

Gummie Award Nominees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BARRINGTON, NJ, December 30, 2008 - The Baseball Card Writers Association of America (BCWAA) today have officially released the nominations for the 2008 Gummie Awards. On-line balloting will commence sometime in the New Year.

Product of the Year: Topps Allen & Ginter; Topps Heritage; UD Masterpieces; Topps Triple Threads; Upper Deck
Card of the Year: Topps Campaign '08 #BO, Barack Obama; UD Masterpieces #16, Jonathan Papelbon; Topps Heritage #81, Torii Hunter; Topps Future Stars #FS1, Kazuo Uzuki; Donruss Threads Bats #9, Shoeless Joe Jackson
Rookie Card of the Year: SP Authentic #121, Evan Longoria; Upper Deck #708, Kosuke Fukudome; Topps Campaign '08 #BO, Barack Obama; Topps Heritage #650, Evan Longoria; Topps Red Hot Rookie #1, Jay Bruce
Set of the Year: Upper Deck; Topps Allen & Ginter; UD Masterpieces; Topps Heritage; Topps
Best Insert Set: Topps Campaign '08; Topps Trading Card History; Topps Allen & Ginter Mini World Leaders; Upper Deck Goudey Berk-Ross Hit Parade of Champions; Donruss Threads Diamond Kings
Best Autogamer Set: Stadium Club Beam Team; Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Relics; Topps Heritage A Real One; Upper Deck Game Materials 1997; Razor Signature Autographs
Best "High End" Product: Topps Triple Threads; Upper Deck Premier; Topps Finest; Topps Sterling; Playoff Prime Cuts IV
Best Retro-Themed Product: Topps Allen & Ginter; Topps Heritage; Upper Deck Goudey; Upper Deck Timelines; Upper Deck Baseball Heroes
Best Prospect-Themed Product: Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects; Donruss Elite Extra Edition; Razor Signature; Upper Deck Team USA
Best Unlicensed Product: Donruss Threads; Playoff Prime Cuts IV; Razor Signature; Sportkings "B"; Donruss Elite Extra Edition
Worst Overall Product: Topps Moments & Milestones; Upper Deck X; Topps Co-Signers; Bowman; Upper Deck First Edition
Most Disappointing Product: Stadium Club; Topps; Topps Heritage High-Number Series; Upper Deck Timelines; Razor Signature
Most Meaningless Product: Topps Opening Day; Upper Deck First Edition; Bowman; Upper Deck X; Upper Deck Ballpark Collection
Worst Gimmick: Bowman Chrome #155c, Kosuke Fukudome "Unautographed-Autograph"; Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy; Topps #661 Johan Santana "No-Hitter"; Topps #FS1 Kazuo Uzuki; Manufactured Letter Patch Cards
Best Hobby Blog: Cardboard Junkie; Ben Henry's Baseball Card Blog; Stale Gum; Sportscards Uncensored; Wax Heaven
Best Hobby News Source: Beckett; Wax Heaven; Sportscard Info; Sports Collector's Daily; Mannufacturer's Press Releases
Best Video Box Breaker: TomTheRipper407; ArmyATC22; TheBackstopDotNet; umiami89; chri5784
Hobby Rookie of the Year: Jay Bruce; Kosuke Fukudome; Evan Longoria; Johnny Cueto; Jed Lowrie
Hobby Top Prospect: Tim Beckham; Buster Posey; David Price; Matt Wieters; Rick Porcello
Hobby MVP: Albert Pujols; Derek Jeter; Alex Rodriguez; Daisuke Matsuzaka; Josh Hamilton
Jefferson Burdick Award for Contributions to The Hobby: Sy Berger; Ben Henry; DeWayne Buice; Keith Olbermann; Judge Clarence Newcomer

Fear and Loathing in Delaware: The Tom the Ripper Remix

Jefferson Airplane, I need a rising sound.

Fear and Loathing in Delaware

Newark, the third largest city in the State of Delaware. Home to the State's flagship University. But we're not here to see the Fightin' Blue Hens. Our destination is the Aetna Fire Hall for a good old fashioned card show.

Shows like this were commonplace back in the 80s and 90s. The concept is simple: some local dealer rents out a conference room at a motel or fire hall, set up about 20-25 tables, and presto. Instant card show.

Santa Claus sent me one of those cheap battery-powered camcorders for Christmas, so I thought I'd use it to show you the scene. You know, video gonzo journalism. But the fascist at the door ordered me to put me camera it away.

I had to settle for shooting this in the parking lot.



All in all, a good way to kill a Sunday afternoon.

Tom the Ripper: 2008 Topps Sterling