Brian Benson, one of our sales representatives, gave us his sports card wishlist for this Holiday season. One thing Brian doesn’t need is old Sabres goalie cards, as he has them scattered around his desk.

Without further ado here is Brian’s wish list:

Baseball Picks

1984 Donruss Baseball Box - The second best product besides myself to come out in 1984.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball - My Customers have had a lot of success with this product.

2008 UD Ball Park Collection – Lots of hits and good content in this box.

2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball – I was at the 2007 National Convention when the Mother Teresa card was pulled by one of our customers at our booth. What an awesome card. You can see the card and story here.

1960 Topps Sandy Koufax – One of my favorite Baseball players of all time, I love the look of this card.

Basketball

1980/81 Topps Basketball Wax Box – Sweet box plus Larry Bird and Magic Rookie Cards, I would be like a little kid at Christmas if I were to open one…..or maybe I would save it? Either way this is a classic product.

1972/73 Julius Erving Rookie – One of the greatest players of all time. I think this card would make a great trivia question in the sports world….how many people would guess what team Julius Erving played for when his rookie card was created?

Football

1957 Bart Starr Rookie – Played for Lombardi, two time MVP and Super Bowl winner.

2008 Icon Football – My customers have given me a lot of good feedback about this product, and I think the Movie Letterman cards are pretty nice.

Hockey

08/09 UD Series 1 Hockey – Basic Product but there is always a rush for the best Young Guns every year. I always hope my customers get the rookies they are after.

05/06 SP Game Used – Great rookie class mixed with a product I have always loved.

1984/85 O-Pee-Chee Hockey - Steve Yzerman, Pat LaFontaine, Dave Andreychuk, Doug Gilmour, Pat Verbeek, Cam Neely, and Chris Chelios!

If you have any suggestions or thoughts on my wish list please leave me some feedback.

Happy Holidays!

Brian

With the NFL season starting to head into the stretch playoff run, lets take a look at the top 5 hottest boxes of football cards on the sports cards market.

1. 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear Football Cards Hobby Box

With each box containing three autographs or game used memorabilia cards plus rookies and inserts, Gridiron Gear Football is a pretty fun football card box to rip into. Football card collectors seem to love the content in this box.

2. 2008 Upper Deck SP Rookie Edition Football Cards Hobby Box

This product is an interesting break with two autographs per box and 4 rookie cards in every pack. With such an excellent NFL rookie crop this year you are sure to get cards of some of the NFL’s brightest young stars in every pack. Plus there are older Upper Deck SP parallel’s from 93,94,95, and 96 which is sure to bring back some nostalgia for the mid 90’s football collectors. Just thinking about 93 Upper Deck SP football is fun, with the likes of Drew Bledsoe, Jerome Bettis, Garrison Hearst, and other rookie cards. Wasn’t Rick Mirer in there as well?

3. 2008 Bowman Chrome Football Cards Hobby Box

Bowman Chrome Football is a pretty solid product year in and year out. With the chance for an autographed rookie card of one of this year’s top rookies, collectors have taken a liking to ripping into Bowman Chrome at its reasonable price point.

4. 2008 Upper Deck Football Cards Hobby Box

This year UD Football delivers 3 jersey cards and 1 autograph per box. Always a solid product and a fun break. This is also a great product for young collectors and for those being introduced to card collecting.

5. 2008 Topps Letterman Football Cards Hobby Box

Letterman was a popular product in basketball, and it has carried over with this football release. Each box contains one autographed letterman booklet card and one autographed rookie patch card. Some of the booklets are really sharp looking and if you are a fan of the Topps TV Rip parties you can check out the product here.

New Box Breaks :

2007/08 SP Game Used Basketball Box

2007 UD Sweet Spot Classic Baseball Box

With the upcoming release of 2009 Topps Barack Obama Trading Cards, Topps has announced 4 additions to the product:

1) White House Puppy redemption card — 1 per case. There is tremendous interest in this but the Obama’s will not make their selection for a few months from now. When they do, we’ll mail the actual puppy card to those lucky enough to pull the redemption card.

2) Obama High School Basketball card — 2 per case. Featured in a Topps vintage basketball design from 1978, with a photo of Barack Obama in his Hawaii-based High School basketball uniform.

3) Foil Stamped Parallels — 2 per 24 packs. There will be an Inaugural, commemorative foil stamp added to the existing base cards, as an extra chase enhancement.

4) Silver Foil Sticker Parallels — 8 per 24 packs.

More information on the product can be found over at Topps.com

Upper Deck recently announced the checklist for the “Spectrum of a Stars” Autograph insert set in the upcoming baseball card release of 2009 MLB Spectrum.

Lou Albano
B-Real
Burt Reynolds
Cheech Marin
Chris “Kid” Reid
Ed O’Neill
Henry Hill
Ian Somerhalder
Jodie Sweetin
Khloe Kardashian
Kim Kardashian
Kris Jenner
Kourtney Kardashian
Linda Hamilton
Maggie Grace
Missy Hyatt
Martin Klebba
Audrina Partridge
Matt Prokop
Shanna Moakler
Tammy Sytch
Tommy Chong
Torrie Wilson

This is quite a list. Does this open up the doors to a Kim Kardashian/Reggie Bush dual auto? Anyone on the list you are particularly interested?

We’ve already gotten into the Holiday spirit with our “Three Free Gifts” promotion. All orders over $25 within the continental U.S. are getting shipped UPS Ground for free, all orders come with a coupon for money off a future order, and best of all we are giving away FREE BOXES and PACKS on all orders over $50!

For a list of all the free boxes and packs that are being given away with orders check out our Holiday Specials Page.

We’ve also added a new Holiday sale - the combo deal. Combo deals are groupings of unopened boxes at lower prices. You can check out all of our sports and gaming card combo deals here.

The promotion runs until 12/31.

Starting this Monday, November 17th we will be launching our Holiday Promotion which runs until 12/31. Look for full details and our Holiday Specials next week!

Check out our most recent box break of 2008/09 Upper Deck Legends Masterpieces Hockey. Box Break Brad was joined by Mike Schopp from The Hobby as they cracked the box and had some fun along the way. Like all of our sports cards box breaks we are giving the cards away for free.

These boxes are selected at random straight from our inventory, and this one was pretty cool. Watch the break to see what you can win. If you would like to be entered just leave a comment on the blog or youtube with an answer to this question : What is your favorite Hockey Card product of all time?

Thanks to Patrick from PA who sent in his pulls from a box of 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball.

Highlights Include a Mike Schmidt Bat Card, a Rick Porcello Autograph, and a Johnny Bench Autograph.

1.) 2007/08 Upper Deck Cup Hockey

With the NHL season geared up, it is no surprise that last year’s most successful hockey product is heating up. Driven by rookies of Johnathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Carey Price 07/8 Cup has potential to stay hot for a long time.

2.) 2008 Donruss Classics Football

The 2008 NFL Rookie Class continues to rack up strong stats week in and week out, led by Falcons QB Matt Ryan. With Classics full of rookies and loaded with content, this product remains in high demand.

3.) 2007/08 O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey

Another box that is being affected by the start of the NHL season. Premier has a similar feel to UD Cup Hockey but at a lower price point.

4.) 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights Baseball

With each box containing a relic or auto as well as additional rookies not in the base Topps product, Updates & Highlights is a solid product at a very reasonably price.

5.) 2008 Press Pass Legends Racing

Racing has made the top 5! With 6 game used cards or autographs in every box, even collectors who don’t normally go for racing cards are ripping into this product.

What products are in your top 5?

(Please note: The Top 5 is purely an opinion of a Dave and Adam’s employee. This is based on sales, feedback from collectors, and market trends.)