Ricky Rubio is Hot and So Are His Cards!
By · CommentsThere was a lot of negativity and frustration for Timberwolves fans who wanted to see Ricky Rubio in Minnesota after he was taken in the 2009 NBA Draft. After taking a couple years to get his game together, the Spanish sensation has landed in the US and is making a huge splash in the Twin Cities and T-Wolves fans have quickly embraced him as one of their own as they delight in his flashy game.
For collectors though, there hasn’t been much new in the way of Ricky Rubio cards. Upper Deck however realized Ricky Rubio was something special back when he was drafted in the NBA and stepped up to a fairly significant autograph contract with the emerging star. For those of you looking to land rookie and autograph cards of Ricky Rubio, here are just some of the different cards you can track down that Upper Deck put out during the 2009-10 season.
Two products where you can find some base rookie cards of Ricky Rubio without breaking the bank are 2009-10 Upper Deck Basketball and 2009-10 Upper Deck Greats of the Game. There are some solid rookie cards of Rubio in both of those releases.
In 2009-10 Upper Deck Draft Edition Basketball and 2009-10 SP Game-Used Basketball, there are actually quite a few Ricky Rubio autograph cards that collectors can track down in packs or in the secondary market. Take a look!
Finally, for high-end collectors, 2009-10 Ultimate Collection Basketball and 2009-10 Exquisite Collection Basketball has some great signed content of Rubio as well including the “Personal Touch” autograph cards where Rubio shares some personal information through special inscriptions.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Upper Deck’s 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond released last Friday and collectors seem to be pretty excited about it, especially some of the previously unannounced goodies that can be found in packs. And now that the market has had a little time to react to the product, Upper Deck is pleased to share the short print list for two of the key inserts in the set.
First up is the always popular Gemography autograph insert set:
GEM-AK Arturs Kulda Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BL Brian Lee Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BM Brett MacLean Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-CA Cody Almond Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-CO Cal O’Reilly Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-DB Drayson Bowman Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JA Jamie Arniel Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JC John Carlson Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JD Jason Demers Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JM Jacob Markstrom Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JN John Negrin Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-KA Keith Aulie Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-KD Kaspars Daugavins Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-LC Luca Caputi Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MH Matthew Halischuk Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MO Mark Olver Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MS Marco Scandella Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MZ Mats Zuccarello-Aasen Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-NP Nick Palmieri Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-OB Oskars Bartulis Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-PB Patrik Berglund Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-PC Patrice Cormier Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-PL Philip Larsen Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-RB Richard Bachman Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-RM Ryan McDonagh Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-TL Trevor Lewis Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-TM Thomas McCollum Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-TT Tomas Tatar Group D 1:68 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-AH Ales Hemsky Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BA Josh Bailey Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BS Brayden Schenn Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-CS Cory Schneider Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-DC Daniel Carcillo Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JB Jonathon Blum Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-JE Jordan Eberle Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-KT Kyle Turris Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-ST Chris Stewart Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-TE Tyler Ennis Group C 1:570 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-AB Andy Bathgate Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-AO Alexander Ovechkin Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BE Patrice Bergeron Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BH Brett Hull Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-CH Cody Hodgson Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-CN Cam Neely Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-GH Gordie Howe Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-GL Guillaume Latendresse Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-LO Logan Couture Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MA Rick MacLeish Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MN Markus Naslund Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-PK Patrick Kane Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-PM Peter Mueller Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-SC Sidney Crosby Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-SS Steven Stamkos Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-VH Victor Hedman Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-WG Wayne Gretzky Group B 1:1,006 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-BO Bobby Orr Group A 1:14,246 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-MM Mark Messier Group A 1:14,246 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
GEM-SH Steve Shutt Group A 1:14,246 h (Overall 1:60 h, 1:1,200 r)
Mark Messier, Bobby Orr and Steve Shutt are the three toughest pulls in the 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond Gemography set.
Next up are the Black Diamond Double Diamond jerseys which have a unique twist to them this season as they are basically puzzle cards. Collectors can assemble them in a way to show off four players from a certain team with the logo in the back of the four players like you see below.
Here is the short print list for the 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond Double Diamond jersey cards:
BOS-NH Nathan Horton Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
BOS-TR Tuukka Rask Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
BOS-TT Tim Thomas Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
BOS-ZC Zdeno Chara Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
CGY-JB Jay Bouwmeester Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
CGY-MK Miikka Kiprusoff Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
CGY-RB Rene Bourque Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
DET-JE Jonathan Ericsson Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GOALIE-RB Richard Brodeur Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
MTL-AK Andrei Kostitsyn Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
MTL-AM Andrei Markov Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PHI-CG Claude Giroux Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PHI-SH Scott Hartnell Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PITT-JS Jordan Staal Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
TOR-JG Jonas Gustavsson Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
TOR-NK Nikolai Kulemin Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
TOR-TB Tyler Bozak Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
VAN-RK Ryan Kesler Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
VAN-RL Roberto Luongo Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
WASH-MG Mike Green Group F 1:18 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
09TC-DT Dustin Tokarski Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
09TC-PK P.K. Subban Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
09TC-TM Tyler Myers Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
DET-HZ Henrik Zetterberg Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
DET-JH Jim Howard Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
DET-NK Niklas Kronwall Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GOALIE-MB Martin Brodeur Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GOALIE-PR Patrick Roy Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GR8-GP Gilbert Perreault Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PHI-CP Chris Pronger Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PHI-JV James van Riemsdyk Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PITT-MF Marc-Andre Fleury Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
TOR-PK Phil Kessel Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
VAN-AE Alexander Edler Group E 1:43 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
09TC-JE Jordan Eberle Group D 1:144 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
CGY-JI Jarome Iginla Group D 1:144 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PITT-KL Kristopher Letang Group D 1:144 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
PITT-SC Sidney Crosby Group D 1:144 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
VAN-DS Daniel Sedin Group D 1:144 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
WASH-OV Alexander Ovechkin Group D 1:144 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
09TC-CH Cody Hodgson Group C 1:220 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GR8-ML Mario Lemieux Group C 1:220 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GR8-MM Mark Messier Group C 1:220 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
WASH-AS Alexander Semin Group C 1:220 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
WASH-NB Nicklas Backstrom Group C 1:220 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
09TC-JT John Tavares Group B 1:647 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GOALIE-TE Tony Esposito Group B 1:647 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
MTL-PK P.K. Subban Group B 1:647 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
GR8-WG Wayne Gretzky Group A 1:4,274 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
MTL-CP Carey Price Group A 1:4,274 h (Overall 1:12 h, 1:48 r)
The 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond Double Diamond Jersey cards can be assembled to show off a unique design if you have the right cards in hand to complete the puzzle.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Tebow is Proving Us All Wrong
By · CommentsShortly before Christmas I had a family friend contact me inquiring about how to get some Tim Tebow autographed items for her husband who has gone crazy over Tebow-mania. I cautioned her that now was not a good time to buy items of Tebow with so much demand for them. She shared prices on items she was looking at and they had really taken off since the start of the season. I told her that this run he is on won’t last forever and the best time to pick up items for football was when interest was lower. She agreed to hold off hoping to pick something up for him in April or May for Father’s Day when people are focused more on the NBA, NHL and MLB and prices come down of football items.
Tebow's Exquisite Rookie Card here is currently being offerred up for a little over $2,000. It may be a bargain if he continues his winning ways against New England next week.
And then Tim Tebow threw a great pass to Demaryius Thomas in OT to win a playoff game and all of a sudden I started to feel bad about the advice I gave my friend. Values on Tebow autographed trading cards and memorabilia were immediately elevated the second Thomas crossed into the end zone.
This card just sold on eBay for over $1000.
Then I started to think about what would happen to the values if Tebow wins next weekend. Not many experts give the Broncos much of a chance against Tom Brady at Foxboro, but they didn’t give them much of a chance against Roethlisberger either. And if they win there, who knows what could potentially happen.
Just 6-9 months ago you could have purchased this card for about 30-40% less than you would pay for it today.
Most hobby experts would agree that now is the perfect time to sell Tebow autographed trading cards or memorabilia with interest so high and fans willing to pay big bucks to score these collectibles, but who knows what will happen if he keeps winning. Can values continue to climb? One thing is for certain, if you picked up signed trading cards or memorabilia of Tebow early on in the season or over the summer, you are looking good. Now the tough question is just what to do with it. In the meantime, I’ve got to apologize to my friend for the bad advice.
Values are shooting high because not only do mainstream collectors want his cards, but so do die-hard football fans, women, kids, Christians, etc. With huge demand comes higher prices.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Upper Deck’s 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond released today and collectors seem to be enjoying the product putting together jersey puzzle cards, scoring great rookies from this year’s class and also getting a kick out of the Championship Rings cards as well. But there are some surprises that collectors may find as they bust packs of the product throughout the weekend which is why we did not release the checklist to media until today.
Upper Deck sprinkled in a 2011 Parkhurst Champions autograph cards of Eric Lindros that should be considered very rare. In an effort to reduce redemptions, these cards were pulled from the initial product and when they came in recently, we decided to deliver the next available release (2011-12 NHL Black Diamond) as a surprise insert to get them into the market. The non-serial numbered Lindros autograph cards all belong in their respective Group A seeding for the Parkhurst Champions autograph checklist.
Next, we received in nine (9) total buyback cards for Sidney Crosby that were randomly inserted into 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond. Collectors may be lucky enough to find a hard-signed version of his Premier Cuts, Pride of Canada or Run for the Cup rookie cards numbered to just three copies.
Worthy of note, these cards are all have a numbered hologram on the back and a Certificate of Authenticity card that goes along with them. The COA card has a matching numbered hologram on it. DO NOT purchase these cards without the hologram on back and a matching COA card like you see below as they are very likely counterfeits.
We hope you enjoy 2011-12 NHL Black Diamond and wish those of you luck in finding some of these exciting new additions to the product!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Upper Deck Salutes Collectors Giving Back to Kids
By · CommentsAs we have worked to engage our collector base more and more through social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube along with our Volunteer Alliance program, we have really enjoyed seeing collectors who are working diligently to giving back and growing the hobby. Our hats are off to both of these groups who have helped to brings smiles to a lot of faces of youngsters with trading cards!
Michael Hodges is looking to deliver cards to kids in St. Louis.
Kids ‘N’ Cards is a new charity that was started by Michael Hodges dedicated to delivering cards to kids in the St. Louis, Missouri area. To date they have donated well over 15,000 trading cards to youngsters in the area. Check out their Facebook page for more details and check out this video of one of their recent donation drives.
Another charity that Upper Deck has worked a lot with is called Cards2Kids and they were founded by a high school student named John Makowiec. We have profiled John and his charity before here on the Upper Deck Blog, but we were thrilled to actually be able to partner with his charity during the 2011 Fall Sports Card & Collectibles Expo last November in Toronto where we saw this extremely motivated young man in action.
John Makowiec is an impressive young man who founded Cards2Kids and we recently partnered with him for an international trading card drive in Toronto.
Upper Deck accepted trading card donations from collectors and dealers at the event throughout the weekend while the Cards2Kids team was on hand to help get the word out and collect all the submissions. They spent time with all the dealers and show attendees explaining how they could donate both at the show and in the future. John and his brother Jay handed out close to a thousand flyers on the program and collected close to 20,000 cards in just two days.
John and Jay had a lot of success encouraging collectors and dealers to donate to the cause.
From there they spent some long hours at the hotel organizing the cards and putting them in soft sleeve packs. They had received some special autograph and memorabilia cards so they were careful to make sure those got into some of the first packs that would be distributed. Together they also worked to make sure every pack had cards of some of the more well known stars and rookies to make it exciting for the kids who would receive them.
Hundreds of packs like this were donated to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto courtesy of Cards2Kids.
Then came one of the more exciting moments when the team got to actually deliver the packs to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. They had organized close to 700 special packs for the kids and worked with Caron Irwin, Donations coordinator for the Hospital for Sick Children to get them in the hands of the kids. The Hospital is still distributing these packs to sick kids which is really amazing the Cards2Kids team has been able to keep these youngsters smiling for so long.
John and Jay pose in front of the hospital before dropping off their large donation.
After they dropped off the donation, they made another trip by the show where they collected almost 10,000 additional cards that would be used for future promotions with kids.
Like the shirt says, Cards2Kids works to, "Trade Sports Cards for Smiles!"
“This was an amazing experience for Cards2Kids,” said John Makowiec. “We would like to thank Upper Deck and everyone who donated cards. Your contributions made this a complete success and you helped brighten the days of a lot of sick children. Our intention is to continue to reach out to collectors and encourage them to donate cards to help kids. If you have cards collecting dust, help us out by donating them today!”
To donate to Cards2Kids, you can send your cards or unused team bags to the address below:
Cards2Kids
Attn. Debbie
141 West Jackson Street, Suite 500
Chicago, IL 60604
Cards2Kids also has two drop boxes at Upper Deck Certified Diamond Dealer shops in the Illinois area. Stop in today with your donations:
557 Chestnut Street
Winnetka, IL 60093
(847)441-7767
Elite Sportscards, Comics & Gaming
2028 West Montrose
Chicago, IL 60618
(773)784-1396
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