Cool Things on Other Blogs

Since I'm having issues creating my own content, here's some links to some other cool baseball card related schtuff on teh internets.

Chris Harris scooped us all on the unveiling of Upper Deck's 2008 set. Check out his review here:
Stale Gum: 1st Impressions: 2008 Upper Deck Series One
Chris does a great job at summing up the 2008 edition and I agree with pretty much everything he said. These were my initial thoughts from checking out the sell sheet.

• Whoever decided it was a good idea to distribute your sell sheet via a powerpoint presentation is an evil, evil person.
• Still charging 5 bucks a pack is bad. Upping the cards per pack to 20 is better, but not quite good. They better not still be charging 3 bucks for 8 cards on the retail packs. Fat packs too. I want to see 35-40 cards a pack if they're still gonna charge 5 bucks. moar cardz plz. kthx.
• I don't understand the redemption cards either. Series 1 doesn't need every damn rookie card in it, people will buy the set anyway. It's February, what else is there to do? Save the rookies for series 2.
• This MLB licensing agreement has got to be tweaked. It's causing too many problems like this redemption crap and Bowman 'insert' sets. Let companies put rookies in the series 1 sets that haven't technically made their debut, but are virtually assured a roster spot like the Japanese imports and the Rule V picks.
  
• Base design looks better this year, but it still looks like they are using foil for the names. I would have never made the connection to the 1995 set, good catch, Chris.
• The fact we are at the point of retro game used card designs blows my mind. I'm ashamed to admit I kind of like it.
• I saw packs of O-Pee-Chee hockey in the store and even though I knew that UD has a monopoly on the hockey market, I never put 2 and 2 together and wondered if UD bought O-Pee-Chee. It's a pretty genius move actually, they did an end around on Topps to gank their vintage designs. Everyone knows that O-Pee-Chee design = Topps design with a different logo.
• Then they go and screw it up by slightly fudging the design like they did with the Vintage sets. That is NOT a 1969 O-Pee-Chee design. The circle design with the team and the position they are using looks really familiar though and I don't mean '69 Topps. I swear it's from an old oddball TCMA set or something like that.

For all your "Indians fan losing their mind over the Tribe in the playoffs" needs, check out Indians Baseball Cards. Always. It's also got lots of great oddball stuff that only a team collector could love such as Doug Jones' Flaming Balls.

If you're not reading The Brill Report, you should be. Lots of good stuff on there. I never even knew there was a Donruss Americana set coming out. Those guys are desperate for that license aren't they...

Squeezeplaycards.com has been doing a really cool thing this year with their $10 weekly wax challenge. Joey spends 10 bucks on packs every week and posts the pulls for our enjoyment. Kind of like A Pack A Day, only with focus and a healthy bit of self-discipline. It's a good example on how frustrating the hobby can be for anyone who can't afford to bust boxes and cases like the high rollers out there.

Ben's still chugging along with the Great Goudey Trade-Away. I love this idea as it serves to showcase a great looking set, show off some truly random cards and encourage something that has been lost in the hobby, trading!

I've been lurking in here a lot lately.

I've pimped this before, but I really like SportsLizard's news reader. They've also a neat price guide thingamajig, but I'm more interested in the cards than the prices.

Thorzul Will Rule is in the finals of the 1981 Topps Tournament. This is a true battle royale between Ellis Valentine's mutant batting helmet and the Mad Hungarian's angry, angry mustache. Go Vote!!!

Also on Thorzul's blog is the most awesomest thing you will ever see on the internet. I'm not even going to tell you what it is. You just have to click to see it for yourself. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

If you have a card blog that didn't get mentioned, or isn't in my sidebar, please post a comment and let me know about it. I'm planning clean up a bit and separate out all the blogs into their own category. I'd love to have a few more over there to steal from check out!