Baseball Card Collecting Blogs

Below are a list of some of our favorite card collecting blog articles. The links that follow them are to up to date feeds from recently submitted articles to each respective blog. Each blog gives its own unique insight into the baseball card collecting hobby. Read through these to gain more information on today's hottest cards, brands, sets, and players in the collection industry. The feeds from each blog are rotated, so check back often for new articles and information.

Stale Gum
Updated : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:11:20 +0000

Topps, Ripping off Fanboys since 2008.
From the Stale Gum '08 TA&G Fantasy Prototype Gallery....


From this year's Allen & Ginter....


Still waiting on Hunter S. Thompson, Matt Drudge, and El Wingador for '09!
Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Stuff Joe Collector Likes: #5 Topps Allen & Ginter
Joe Collector doesn't like stuff that’s easy to acquire. It is in his DNA (or "JNA") to want what others can not have. Baseball cards are no exception.

Joe generally tries to avoid brands like Topps and Upper Deck, because if it’s mass produced, easy to collect and sold in Blaster boxes, it must be bad. No exceptions.

Instead, Joe gravitates towards the "high-end" sets; loaded with so many autographed base set "rookies" and short-prints, that collectibility is an afterthought. So on the rare instance when he actually wants to build a base set (if only to pretend for one moment that he's part of the "Privileged Portion") Joe turns to Allen & Ginter.

TA&G is the only set that all collectors (JC's and PP's alike) attempt to build. But Joe has an ulterior motive. Being able to talk to a non-collector -- preferably one of the opposite sex -- and tell them about a "baseball" card set that has Benjamin Franklin, Oscar Wilde, Hercules, and Vladimir Putin somehow makes Joe feel smarter.

Also of note: Joe Collector will never, ever come close to actually completing their A&G base set. Oh sure, he'll give it the ol' Joe Collector try; but eventually he'll abandon his efforts the split-second Bowman Chrome comes out, and never look at his A&G cards again.

Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Topps Makes Amends (Sort of)

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter is now live and should be available at your favorite Hobby establishment. As noted elsewhere, Topps added a card of Kosuke Fukudome to TA&G, and he'll be appearing in all the remaining 2008 Topps baseball products.

The first of the Fukudome A&G's have hit eBay, and it appears to be readily available for collectors. In other words, it's not a gimmick card.

However, there's one minor issue: Fukudome's card is NOT numbered as part of the base set. And despite the addition of the omnipresent MLBPA "ROOKIE CARD" logo on the front of the card, this is NOT a "true" rookie card.

Given the flak received from this blog (and others) over the Topps Series Two Fukudome kerfuffle, Topps deserves some credit for actually listening to the collector. Fukudome was nowhere to be seen on the provisional checklist, and Topps added him at the last minute. However, would it have killed Topps to have slapped a "351" on the reverse side?
Publ.Date : Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Stuff Joe Collector Likes: #4 Free Cards





And yes, if I won $1358 worth of free cards, I'd do the exact same thing.

And you would, too!

(h/t Beckett)
Publ.Date : Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:48:00 +0000

Stuff Joe Collector Likes: #3 "Hits"
There is a general assumption that Joe is a pretty shrewd hobbyist. And for the most part, history has proven this to be true. But Joe Collector has one great weakness: Cards with stuff on them.

Just like with ultra-premium products and chrome stock cards, Joe believes that a trading card with a piece of a jersey worn in a game by some AA-level second-string catcher is actually worth something -- eBay be damned.

Joe Collector will always lose his mind for game used anything. He'll lustfully rip through a box of cards, casually tossing aside the "worthless" base cards, rookies, and minor inserts in a mad dash to get at what he's really after: The "hits."

Never mind the fact that all those base cards are worth more than the Xavier Nady and Bill Hall game jersey cards he received ever will be. But Joe doesn't care, just so long as he gets his promised "TWO MEMORABILIA CARDS IN EVERY BOX! (on average)"


Publ.Date : Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:27:00 +0000

CHOLLY! CHOLLY! CHOLLY!
Well, it is the most original video box break I've seen on YT.



I wouldn't recommend ripping packs with a carving knife, though.
Publ.Date : Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Stuff Joe Collector Likes: #2 Ultra-premium Products.
Joe Collector can’t enough of ultra-premium products; especially Upper Deck Premier, Topps Triple Threads, Bowman Sterling and the like. The reason why he loves them so much can be due to a number of factors.

Fact #1 - 90% of card collectors (Joes and non-Joes, alike) have paid more than $25 for a brand new pack of cards at some point in their life.

Fact #2 - The superiority Joe likes without having to rip too many packs - two packs of UD Black is easier than a full box of UD Goudey. (With just as much, if not more, of that MOJO!!!!!!! they crave.)

Fact #3 - Joe hates cards that are actually affordable - so he buys the boxes that every other collector in his demographic wants to bust. (What a rebel!)

Fact #4 - Joe earns credibility with his fellow collectors by being into cards from really, really, expensive brands. The higher the MSRP, the more the street cred - “Oh you liked Allen & Ginter? Yeah, I heard it's nice, but I didn’t buy any of it. I’m really into Donruss Celebrity Cuts now. It got great reviews on the Beckett boards. Lots and lots of MOJO!!!!!!!”
Publ.Date : Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Stuff Joe Collector Likes: #1 Chrome

There is no doubt that Joe Collector loves chromium stock trading cards -- especially those that are virtually identical to other trading cards. Yes, it’s true that Joe isn't the only one who gets easily distracted by bright, shiny, objects. But I promise you that the first person who ripped open a pack of 1996 Topps Chrome (and actually liked it) was Joe. You could kind of tell he didn’t enjoy it, but year after year, he kept ripping boxes of Topps Chrome until he learned to liked it.

Joe needs to bust wax like Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome. Hell, he'll even find a box of garbage like 1998 Topps Super Chrome on eBay and rip that. He's also fond of saying “Why does Topps even make regular Bowman anymore?” Joe will also collect anything that resembles Chrome: 1998 Donruss Collections, 2000 Stadium Club Chrome, 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X, and of course, post-2002 Finest. (It's got "AUTOGRAPH MOJO!!!!!!!")

If you want to go for extra points - Joe really loves Chrome REFRACTORS, because paying ten times more for what is essentially the same card, means he's a better card collector than you.

Publ.Date : Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:09:00 +0000

Recall Uggla: 2008

Some people say that Dan Uggla is the best second baseman in the National League. Others are calling him an MVP candidate.

But does an MVP ground into an inning-ending double play with the go-ahead run on third?

Does an MVP strike out looking at a 67 MPH curve ball?

Does an MVP commit three errors in a game?

Is that the kind of performance worthy of an "All-Star?"

Does 0-for-4 with three strike outs and three errors reflect your values?

We say no!

We need to stand up for our values and recall Dan Uggla.


Publ.Date : Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Still "On Notice"
I have in my formerly nicotine stained hands (crunch, crunch, crunch) a press release from Topps. It appears that the 2008 Topps baseball factory sets will have a "bonus card" of Koskue Fukudome. Whether or not this "bonus card" will be numbered as part of the base set -- and therefore a true "rookie card" -- is unclear.

So let me get this straight. Topps posted to their website (and it's still there as of 7/14) that the second series of Topps baseball WOULD have a Kosuke Fukudome rookie card. Then, they pull the card at the last minute without bothering to tell anyone until after the fact. To add insult to injury, they stealthily insert into packs a gimmicked Fukudome card, and now they're finally getting around to issuing a Fukudome rookie (we think), but only in factory sets.

What a fustercluck.

If you're a collector, you have to be asking yourself: "Why did I buy those 2008 Topps waxboxes, again?"

And if Topps is going to pull a stunt like this next year -- and given their recent actions, you know they will -- why would anyone collect next year's Topps baseball?

Topps, it's because of crap like this I haven't bought any of your products in seven weeks. With this (and other) actions, I don't see myself collecting Topps anytime soon.

You are still "On Notice."


Publ.Date : Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:07:00 +0000

Increase Search Engine Traffic
RSS to Blog