Baseball Cards

Upper Deck is reviving a brand that's likely known by early-90s Star Trek and comic card collectors -- Impel. It's the subject of a new Upper Deck trademark. Paul Lesko has the details and legal analysis.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor When 2013 Archives Football released last week, collectors found cards of players in old, popular designs and former players who are fan favorites. But there are some quirks in 2013 Archives – one of which is the inclusion of cut autographs from celebrities popular in the 1980s. Just a few of these have popped on eBay, but enough to give collectors an idea of what they can expect. Bob Saget Saget is a comedian most known for his role as the lovable, yet goofy dad on the sitcom Full House. The show ran from 1987 to 1995. Now, he does the voice over on How I Met Your Mother. Gary Coleman Coleman is best known for his childhood role of Arnold in Diff’rent Strokes. The show ran from 1978 to 1986. Coleman died in 2010 at 42 years old. Christie Brinkley Brinkley was one of the world’s most famous models in the 1980s, gracing the cover of three Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. She married (and later divorced) Billy Joel in 1985. Danny DeVito DeVito is still a successful actor, but he had a great run in the 1980s with the television show Taxi and then with movies such as Romancing the Stone, The Jewel of the Nile, Twins, Throw Momma from the Train and The War of the Roses. Do you like the additions of these autographs in Archives? Answer the poll below. Also, whose cut autograph would you like to see? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook and Twitter.

Rollie Fingers 1974 Topps Baseball Card It has been roughly six weeks since I last featured a baseball card of Rollie Fingers on the blog. It is not because I do not want to, it is because my at-home supply of cards that feature Mr. Fingers has been exhausted. I am getting very close to completing the collection I am building of Fingers that honors his fantastic career. I am left chasing a few of his early-issue cards from the 1970′s.  And the chase is rather fun too. My most recent purchase has landed me his base card from the 1974 Topps set. Check it out: I am just a few cards from the finish line – but they are the tougher ones. Wish me luck as I continue on this journey!!

I only know of two baseball players to come out of my hometown: former Dodger Gary Carter and former child actor Harry Lowrey. Well, there's a third - a friend I went to high school with - but he was drafted a couple of years ago and is working his way up through the minors. Lowrey is the less expensive guy to collect, and the only one of the two that has sweet vintage goodness featuring his mug.Case in point, his 1949 Bowman offering ran me two bucks at the vintage shop I occasionally frequent in Beverly Hills. It's only the second piece of cardboard I own of P-Nuts, and as his rookie card, it's my favorite of the pair.Harry wasn't actually born in L.A., as the card back states, unless you want to be vague and general in the matter. But it's cool, I know where he hails from. As the people I went to high school with used to say at football games I never attended: "Who's House? C-House!".

With its perfect storm of high quality and low quantity, 1996 Fleer/SkyBox Marvel Masterpieces is one of the most popular and valuable comic card sets of all-time. Get a full checklist, set info, buying guide and more.

Maybe it was the injury he suffered the previous season. Maybe it was the worker's compensation claim that followed. Or maybe, in his fifth season, Steve Culkar's time was just up.Whatever the reason, according to The Chicago Tribune in August 1991, Culkar had just been given his release by the Orioles.With that release, though, Culkar did have other options, The Tribune noted. In his back pocket, Culkar already had a TV communications degree.Culkar's professional baseball career began in 1987, taken by the Orioles in the 14th round, out of the University of Kentucky.At Kentucky, Culkar was called the team's top reliever in 1987, helping the team to the SEC tournament, its first in six years. By tournament time, Culkar had three saves and an ERA of 2.30. An apparent video of an April 1987 Culkar appearance is on YouTube.With the Orioles, Culkar played his first season between rookie Bluefield and short-season Newark. In 11 outings, Culkar posted a 2.57 ERA. For 1988, Culkar got his first look at AA Charlotte, getting 15 games and a 3.00 ERA there. He played the rest of the year at single-A Hagerstown and single-A Virginia. Culkar also saved eight games for Hagerstown, picking up his seventh in a July game.In 1989, Culkar moved up to AAA, getting into 23 games at Rochester, posting a 3.99 ERA. He played the other half of the year at AA Hagerstown, getting a 1.34 ERA there.It was in 1990 that Culkar had his abbreviated season. Sent back to Hagerstown, Culkar's season consisted of just two outings, giving up four earned runs in 5.2 innings of work.Culkar came back for nine total outings in 1991, at high-A Frederick and at Hagerstown, but they were the last outings of his career.Culkar has since gone on to use that communications degree. According to his LinkedIn profile, Culkar is currently a senior account executive at Fox Sports Net. Harlan Daily Enterprise, May 14, 1987: Kentucky Meets Florida In SEC TourneyChicago Tribune, Aug. 16, 1991: Real collector's itemYouTube, posted March 4, 2013: Auburn @ UK April 19871990 CMC-Pro Cards Tally Players/Coaches Featured:1,140Made the Majors: 664 - 58.3%Never Made Majors: 476-41.7%-X5+ Seasons in the Majors: 28710+ Seasons in the Minors: 173

A couple of days ago, I said I had received a package from Check Out My Cards. I finally got the chance to organize the 14 cards and put them in their respective card binders - but before I did that I made sure to scan 'em! Over the next few days (or weeks, depending on other posts), I plan to highlight some of the cards I purchased and how the card(s) affect my personal collection. I'm happy to report that some of the cards finished off sets that I've been working on for quite some time! For the price of a blaster plus tax, I was able to acquire 14 cards from my want list - but none were bigger than this one: That's a 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter cabinet card - and it's the last of the cabinet cards that I needed for the set. This particular card had been languishing on my Elusive Eight list for quite some time - but when I saw a relatively cheap one available on Check Out My Cards, I knew I had to buy it! This card is part of the National Parks set of cabinet cards - there are four National Parks cards in total (Yellowstone plus Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Redwood). With this card now in hand, I'm almost done with the 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter set. In fact, I am now only looking for three of the N43 cards: 2011 Allen & Ginter Wants:N43: Joey Votto, Adam Wainwright, David Wright The cabinet card is one out of 14 different cards that I purchased - stay tuned to see more goodies in the near future!

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, May 18, 2013: Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1983 Topps Traded #79T. Player Name, position, team: Dale Murray, pitcher, New York Yankees. Major League Debut: July 7, 1974. Last Line of Statistics: 1982 stats (Blue Jays): 56 G, 111 IP, 8-7, 48 R, 39 ER, 60 SO, 32 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 11 SV, 3.16 ERA. Any special information about player: Drafted by the Expos #18th, June 1970. Traded by the Blue Jays to the Yankees 12/09/1982. Bats: right. Throws: right. Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his eighth Topps card. Blurb on the back: "Was credited with Victory in 8-4 win vs. Rangers, 4-27-82. Hurled scoreless ball for Win June 1, 1982." Commentary: Dale Albert Murray (not to be confused with Braves legend Dale Murphy) was an extremely effective relief pitcher who pitched in the mid-70's through the mid-80's. He even led the league in games pitched with an unbelievable (probably at the time) 81 games in 1976, meaning that he made at least one appearance in half of the Expos' games that season. The native Texan really enjoyed his time in Canada as he played for both the Expos (1974-76, 1979-1980) and Blue Jays (1981-1982), combining for a 30-28 with 201 strikeouts, an ERA of 3.17, and a 1.355 WHIP. In between his stints with Montréal, he spent time with the Reds and Mets. The Blue Jays traded Murray and minor leaguer Tom Dodd to the Yankees in exchange for outfielder Dave Collins, pitcher (and future MLB traveller Mike Morgan), and a first baseman prospect named Fred McGriff. In Murray's first year in the Bronx, Murray appeared in 40 games and 94.1 innings of work. He earned a 2-4 record with 45 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.48. He stayed with the Yankees until 1985, when he was released and subsequently signed with the Texas Rangers. But after one game in which he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in one inning of work (what would wind up being his final major league appearance), he was sent down to the Rangers' AAA team in Oklahoma City, finishing his career with the 89ers and retiring after the season ended. Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25. How many cards of this player do I own?: 9. Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1973 Topps #78. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is. Sincerely, JayBee Anama

Tom Seaver 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic – Needs Just A Tad Of Red In It… Sometimes, and it does not happen that often, there comes a card in which it can go from a ‘Strong B’ to a ‘Super-Strong A’ with just one slight but very powerful change. And this card of Tom Seaver from the 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot set fits into that group. Imagine this card with Red coloring on Seaver’s cap, uniform, and stirrups. It would go from ‘B’ to ‘A’ very rapidly!!!

The Dave and Adam’s buying team was in Detroit this past weekend for Motor City Comic Con and we managed to make a significant purchase of sealed booster boxes of Magic the Gathering cards in addition to a ton of great comic books.  We spent thousands on Magic the Gathering Cards at the Comic Con and it wasn’t even a Magic Specific show! The most impressive item we managed to pick up was a sealed box of the Tempest expansion from 1997, still sealed in its original shrink wrap!  Tempest is one of the most expensive Magic sets out there because of some of the standout cards from this set and their necessity for participation in sanctioned Magic legacy event.  Wasteland, Lotus Petal, Cursed Scroll and the infamous enchantment Humility can all be found in this set, making it an amazing find. We also managed to pick up a box of Time Spiral and 2 boxes of Future Sight, giving us a nice sampling from the Time Spiral block.  Of course Time Spiral is famous due to it containing the purple symbol timeshifted cards, allowing for multiple rare cards to be opened in one pack.  Also, who can forget that the most famous creature in Modern and Legacy formats, Tarmogoyf, can be found in Future Sight along with future shifted cards, giving us a glimpse of themes and mechanics that may show up in future magic sets. Our buying team also picked up a sealed box of each set in the original Ravnica City of Guilds Block: Ravnica, Guildpact and Dissension feature the now highly sought after “Shock Lands” that allow a player to make the most of their manabase that are still able to be used in Standard and Modern events today.  Other standout cards include Dark Confidant, Life from the Loam, Burning Tree Shaman, Giant Solifuge, and Infernal Tutor. A box of Lorwyn and Morningtide were also purchased this weekend.  This block is well known for its introduction of the Planeswalker card type and for its tribe themed mechanics.  Tournament players will know this set very well as it is the birthplace of the iconic Faerie theme cards that continue wreaking havoc in tournaments to this day.  Notable cards include: Jace Beleren, Thoughtseize, Cryptic Command, Gaddock Teeg, Doran the Siege Tower, Bitterblossom, Vendillion Clique, and the majority of the Legacy Merfok cards. Next we acquired 2 boxes from the Kamigawa block.  Boxes of Champions of Kamigawa and Betrayers of Kamigawa feature Umezawa’s Jitte, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Sensei’s Divining Top, and many other Ninja and Samurai themed cards to complete your favorite decks. Finally, we came across a box of Rise of the Eldrazi, known for its containing the Planeswalker Gideon Jura as well as the Legendary Eldrazi titans Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. These boxes are being added to our Magic the Gathering Booster Boxes page. If you have Magic cards you are looking to sell – contact us vie email (buying@dacardworld.com), call toll free 1-888-440-9787 ext. 113, or fill out our easy selling Magic the Gathering Cards form here. Our buying team is constantly traveling around the country for major purchases as well as setting up at shows. We have upcoming trips scheduled for Philadelphia and Denver in the coming weeks and are always making new appointments with sellers around the country. We also arrange for items to be shipped to our offices all the time. To see all of the items we are currently paying cash for, check out our sell to us page. The post The Motor City Magic Haul appeared first on .