Several recent delays were announced in highly anticipated football products. Topps Triple Threads, Upper Deck Ultimate and Upper Deck SP Authentic are all going to be delayed at least a month. It is disappointing having all of these products coming out both after Christmas and after the regular season is over. I am guessing that the Upper Deck products are being delayed because they are trying to include more hard signed autographs and are trying to reduce redemptions. I am glad that they are including hard signed autographs, but don’t understand why they can’t plan ahead and get these products out earlier in the season and on time.
Playoff Contenders is coming out in the first week in January, one week later than originally expected. I believe that Contenders will have sticker autographs as it has for the last several years. It will still be a very popular product with rookie card collectors and set builders.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Knights Hockey Review
Volume II issue I
The Knights lost their season opener 6-3 to the Maroons. We spotted them a 3-0 first period lead and could not catch up. They have some new players and are much improved over the ratty bunch they were last year. The Knights also have five new players and we are still trying to get on the same page. We had just eight forwards and suffered from having me and my out of shape self on center. However we did outshoot them and had a number of shots off the iron.
Game Summary: (Caraher style)
1st Period
1:53 Maroons GOAL Scored by #3 Ginsberg assisted by #32 Warsett. 2:17 Maroons GOAL Scored by #10 Diamond assisted by #9 Fogel. Not exactly a quick start. 9:03 Maroons GOAL Scored by #8 Heilichar unassisted. A bad start, but we started to clot the last 5 minutes of the period. Maroons 3 Knights 0
2nd Period
:08 KNIGHTS GOAL!! Scored by #12 Steve Parry(1) assisted by #9 Wes Colborn(1). Wes stepped around the center from the draw went in, shot and then centered the rebound to Steve who scored his first career goal. 1:30 Maroons GOAL scored by #32 Warsett assisted by #35 Kalb & #1 (what a bad number for a nongoalie) Hebert. Completely my fault, I had 32 to the right of the net and he was quicker to a loose puck than me. ick. 4:12 Knights Penalty #19 Al Prokott 2-min interference. Oops I don't think we practiced the penalty kill yet. 5:51 Maroons PP GOAL scored by #9 Fogel unassisted. Ugly penalty kill, forwards playing low, d playing high, never got a good deep clear or line change. Some minutes later some penalty was called on some maroon guy but it somehow never made the scoresheet. 9:26 Maroons penalty, bench minor for too many men. I think the first guy came out of the box too soon. Two power plays in a row and no goals. 15:27 KNIGHTS GOAL Scored by #12 Parry(2) assisted by #48 Arlan Miller(1) and#27 Dan McKinnon(1). I'm not sure where their team was on this one. I made a move on a d at their blue line and was in clear but I coughed up the puck, I stopped to get it and I see Steve following the play. He and Arlan both had possession and shot it past the goalie and Steve pushed a sitting rebound into the net. 16:30 KNIGHTS GOAL Scored by #8 Knight (not named after the team) Jensen(1) assisted by #9 Colborn(2). Good pressure and possession in the zone and good pass to Knight in low slot. Maroons 5 Knights 3
3rd Period
2:59 Maroons GOAL scored by #9 Fogel assisted by #7 Frommstein & #12 Thiede. Breakaway, I covered Jensen on the point and let the guy get behind me and realized I have no make up speed. Pretty much then on, we carried a lot of the play, but the game's scoring was complete. We had a couple of metallurgy saves and a couple missed nets, but no love. 16:00 Maroons penalty #21 Kohn slashing minor. Final score Maroons 6 Knights 3
Three Stars: #3 Maroons G #31 Qualy(and his pipes) #2 Knights #12 RW Steve Parry (2 Goals) #1 Maroons #9 Fogel (2G 1A)
I finished a -2 with 2 SOG. I probably won 70% of my faceoffs, which is fun. I think we have a solid team and I think this will be a good, competitive team and a fun bunch of guys and Kristel to skate with. Next up, the ice dogs or hounds or something like that.
The Knights lost their season opener 6-3 to the Maroons. We spotted them a 3-0 first period lead and could not catch up. They have some new players and are much improved over the ratty bunch they were last year. The Knights also have five new players and we are still trying to get on the same page. We had just eight forwards and suffered from having me and my out of shape self on center. However we did outshoot them and had a number of shots off the iron.
Game Summary: (Caraher style)
1st Period
1:53 Maroons GOAL Scored by #3 Ginsberg assisted by #32 Warsett. 2:17 Maroons GOAL Scored by #10 Diamond assisted by #9 Fogel. Not exactly a quick start. 9:03 Maroons GOAL Scored by #8 Heilichar unassisted. A bad start, but we started to clot the last 5 minutes of the period. Maroons 3 Knights 0
2nd Period
:08 KNIGHTS GOAL!! Scored by #12 Steve Parry(1) assisted by #9 Wes Colborn(1). Wes stepped around the center from the draw went in, shot and then centered the rebound to Steve who scored his first career goal. 1:30 Maroons GOAL scored by #32 Warsett assisted by #35 Kalb & #1 (what a bad number for a nongoalie) Hebert. Completely my fault, I had 32 to the right of the net and he was quicker to a loose puck than me. ick. 4:12 Knights Penalty #19 Al Prokott 2-min interference. Oops I don't think we practiced the penalty kill yet. 5:51 Maroons PP GOAL scored by #9 Fogel unassisted. Ugly penalty kill, forwards playing low, d playing high, never got a good deep clear or line change. Some minutes later some penalty was called on some maroon guy but it somehow never made the scoresheet. 9:26 Maroons penalty, bench minor for too many men. I think the first guy came out of the box too soon. Two power plays in a row and no goals. 15:27 KNIGHTS GOAL Scored by #12 Parry(2) assisted by #48 Arlan Miller(1) and#27 Dan McKinnon(1). I'm not sure where their team was on this one. I made a move on a d at their blue line and was in clear but I coughed up the puck, I stopped to get it and I see Steve following the play. He and Arlan both had possession and shot it past the goalie and Steve pushed a sitting rebound into the net. 16:30 KNIGHTS GOAL Scored by #8 Knight (not named after the team) Jensen(1) assisted by #9 Colborn(2). Good pressure and possession in the zone and good pass to Knight in low slot. Maroons 5 Knights 3
3rd Period
2:59 Maroons GOAL scored by #9 Fogel assisted by #7 Frommstein & #12 Thiede. Breakaway, I covered Jensen on the point and let the guy get behind me and realized I have no make up speed. Pretty much then on, we carried a lot of the play, but the game's scoring was complete. We had a couple of metallurgy saves and a couple missed nets, but no love. 16:00 Maroons penalty #21 Kohn slashing minor. Final score Maroons 6 Knights 3
Three Stars: #3 Maroons G #31 Qualy(and his pipes) #2 Knights #12 RW Steve Parry (2 Goals) #1 Maroons #9 Fogel (2G 1A)
I finished a -2 with 2 SOG. I probably won 70% of my faceoffs, which is fun. I think we have a solid team and I think this will be a good, competitive team and a fun bunch of guys and Kristel to skate with. Next up, the ice dogs or hounds or something like that.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
2008 Leaf Limited Football
We received 2008 Leaf Limited Football today. 2007 Leaf Limited was a popular product for us. We still have customers looking to open it. 2007 was packaged with seven cards per pack and basically a one pack box. Donruss changed the configuration this year to be 16 packs per box and 5 cards per packs and a slightly higher price.
The hits per box seem the same (about 4 per box, usually with one or two autographs). Obviously there are a lot more base cards this year and a handful of inserts per box. The base cards are not numbered this year.
The hits this year and very similar to last year. All of the jerseys are numbered to 100 or less and many are patches. Autographed rookies are numbered out of 99 and should be popular again this year.
I think that Donruss could have worked on leaving this as a high end product and worked on making the value better rather than reconfiguring this product and making it similar to a lot of their other products. It will still be a fairly good product, but could have been a great one.
The hits per box seem the same (about 4 per box, usually with one or two autographs). Obviously there are a lot more base cards this year and a handful of inserts per box. The base cards are not numbered this year.
The hits this year and very similar to last year. All of the jerseys are numbered to 100 or less and many are patches. Autographed rookies are numbered out of 99 and should be popular again this year.
I think that Donruss could have worked on leaving this as a high end product and worked on making the value better rather than reconfiguring this product and making it similar to a lot of their other products. It will still be a fairly good product, but could have been a great one.
Monday, October 27, 2008
More Singles on Web Site
We have been adding a lot of singles to our online store lately. We now have over 205,000 different cards available. These cards can all be purchased through the web site or viewed in store.
If there is a particular set that you are looking for cards from, please let us know and we will try to add them as soon as possible. The web site lists when sets are updated. For example today, 2006-07 Fleer, SP Authentic and Black Diamond Hockey have been updated.
If there is a particular set that you are looking for cards from, please let us know and we will try to add them as soon as possible. The web site lists when sets are updated. For example today, 2006-07 Fleer, SP Authentic and Black Diamond Hockey have been updated.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Gopher Hockey
We're in Madison for the Gopher v. Badger hockey series. It is also Wisconsin's homecoming. Lucky for the Badgers, they pulled out their first Big Ten win versus Illinois. However, they did not gain any ground on the Gophers in the Big Ten race as the Gopher's also won today over Purdue.
Yesterday was a hockey double header, as both the men's and women's teams are in Madison. The lady Gophers took the ice first and were tied at the end of regulation and overtime with the Badgers, which meant it was shoot out time. The Gophers had the only goal of the shootout and earned the extra point in the standings. That evening, the men's teams were also tied after regulation and the overtime, but no shoot out. Seeing how excited the crowd was at the end of the game and into overtime, it would have been the perfect setting for a shoot out. We just need the men's WCHA to follow in the lead of the women's conference.
With some down time today, we checked out two local card shops. The first shop has been in business since 1973. They had a lot of product back to that time. To support our fellow card shop owners, we bought a box of 08-09 Ultra Hockey, the contents of which are on our Box Break page. At the second stop, no boxes of interested, but we did get a good idea for a display for our supply of Becketts.
We're getting read to head back to the Kohl Center for another game tonight. Let's Go Gophers!
Yesterday was a hockey double header, as both the men's and women's teams are in Madison. The lady Gophers took the ice first and were tied at the end of regulation and overtime with the Badgers, which meant it was shoot out time. The Gophers had the only goal of the shootout and earned the extra point in the standings. That evening, the men's teams were also tied after regulation and the overtime, but no shoot out. Seeing how excited the crowd was at the end of the game and into overtime, it would have been the perfect setting for a shoot out. We just need the men's WCHA to follow in the lead of the women's conference.
With some down time today, we checked out two local card shops. The first shop has been in business since 1973. They had a lot of product back to that time. To support our fellow card shop owners, we bought a box of 08-09 Ultra Hockey, the contents of which are on our Box Break page. At the second stop, no boxes of interested, but we did get a good idea for a display for our supply of Becketts.
We're getting read to head back to the Kohl Center for another game tonight. Let's Go Gophers!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
New Products In:
2008 UD Heroes Football and Be A Player Hockey are now in stock.
Recent returning products include: 2007 National Treasures, 2007-08 Topps Chrome Basketball, 2005-06 UD Rookie Update Hockey, and 2007 Bowman Chrome Football. More singles of all four major sports added daily. Stop in and see.
Recent returning products include: 2007 National Treasures, 2007-08 Topps Chrome Basketball, 2005-06 UD Rookie Update Hockey, and 2007 Bowman Chrome Football. More singles of all four major sports added daily. Stop in and see.
Monday, April 28, 2008
New Addition
Three Stars Sportscards is proud to announce the newest addition to our family. Lydia was born at 1222 pm on Thursday, April 24. She was 8 lbs 14 oz and 22 inches long. She is very cute and will be sorting cards in no time. Lydia is doing very well and Mom is doing well other than being tired and sore.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
National Baseball Card Day
First of all, we would like to apologize for not posting to our blog more often. Check back frequently as we are going to try to have multiple weekly updates!
More importantly, Saturday March 29th is National Baseball Card Day. Check our National Baseball Card Day page on our web site for all of the details. Everyone who stops in will receive a special National Baseball Card Day pack with cards from Upper Deck and Topps. In addition, we are going to have a drawing for at least ten prizes including a $100 gift certificate! Check the web site for all of the details!
More importantly, Saturday March 29th is National Baseball Card Day. Check our National Baseball Card Day page on our web site for all of the details. Everyone who stops in will receive a special National Baseball Card Day pack with cards from Upper Deck and Topps. In addition, we are going to have a drawing for at least ten prizes including a $100 gift certificate! Check the web site for all of the details!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Another week of good pulls
Well, another week has gone by in the life of Three Stars Sportscards. The local sports scene seems to have stabilized at least for the time being. We are into our second month at Three Stars and are encouraged to see more new faces and also to see repeat visitors. We are increasing our wax selection each week as well as our singles. The baseball case is looking much better. Some better Vince Carter cards seem to have found their way to Roseville, many via different routes. We are continuing to see some good cards pulled from our packs and boxes. Highlights include the Triple Threads 6 QB Foldout card(P. Manning, Brady, Elway, Young, Aikman, & Montana), Joba Chamberlin & Phil Hughes dual auto from Bowman Sterling (by the same guy), and an auto #'d to 29 of Larry Bird from Topps Chrome. The fortune continued today with a pull from SPX hockey of the Spectrum version (#'d to 25) patch auto of Sam Gagner, another easy triple digit card. But all of that pales to what our friend Jared pulled on thursday afternoon. From his box of SP Authentic he pulled the patch autograph true rookie card of Adrian Peterson. It is a sweet three color patch with an on card auto. What a card! He says it's not for trade.
We have more boxes of Topps Chrome Basketball, SPX Hockey, and SP Authentic Football, most are from assorted cases so there is no reason to think the good stuff is all gone. More Bowman Sterling Baseball and Triple Threads Football are on the way as well as the demanded National Treasures Football. Thanks to all who've stopped in and hope to see you soon.
We have more boxes of Topps Chrome Basketball, SPX Hockey, and SP Authentic Football, most are from assorted cases so there is no reason to think the good stuff is all gone. More Bowman Sterling Baseball and Triple Threads Football are on the way as well as the demanded National Treasures Football. Thanks to all who've stopped in and hope to see you soon.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Two great pulls last week
Two different customers pulled the following cards last week:
2007-08 SPX Flashback Fabrics Sidney Crosby Autographed Jersey/Patch #/25
2007 Leaf Limited Adrian Peterson Autographed Patch #/25
Congratulations to the two owners of these cards.
If you have bought a box from us, send us a picture or stop by the store with the card and we'll take a picture of the card and add it to our "Wall of Fame".
2007-08 SPX Flashback Fabrics Sidney Crosby Autographed Jersey/Patch #/25
2007 Leaf Limited Adrian Peterson Autographed Patch #/25
Congratulations to the two owners of these cards.
If you have bought a box from us, send us a picture or stop by the store with the card and we'll take a picture of the card and add it to our "Wall of Fame".
Twinsfest
Twinsfest 2008 is now complete. We had a great show and got to meet lots of new people. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Hopefully you picked up a flyer for the store. The show itself was great. We sold a lot of cards as well as some Adrian Peterson autographed memorabilia.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
2006 Playoff NFL Playoffs case break
Just posted a case break of this on the Box Breaks section of our web site. We also have these tins available in store. A full description of the product and what was in the case is on the web site. The highlights included a Vince Young autograph!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Random Sport Related thoughts
As I'm finally getting a chance to watch a Gophers Basketball game, a few thoughts, comments, questions have popped into my mind.....
Is the Gophers Basketball team really this good?
Is the Gopher Hockey team really as bad as they have been playing? Do they have a realistic chance for home ice in the playoffs?
If the Packers beat the Giants this weekend, do they have any chance to beat the Patriots?
Do the Wild have the guts to pull the trigger and make a trade before the deadline? Would this still be Naegle's pocketbook or Liepold's? That fact makes a HUGE difference.
Are the Timberwolves still relevant in the Twin Cities? Will they be again?
Are the Vikings? The Twins if/when they lose Santana?
Just some thoughts...maybe I'll have answers posted some day.
Is the Gophers Basketball team really this good?
Is the Gopher Hockey team really as bad as they have been playing? Do they have a realistic chance for home ice in the playoffs?
If the Packers beat the Giants this weekend, do they have any chance to beat the Patriots?
Do the Wild have the guts to pull the trigger and make a trade before the deadline? Would this still be Naegle's pocketbook or Liepold's? That fact makes a HUGE difference.
Are the Timberwolves still relevant in the Twin Cities? Will they be again?
Are the Vikings? The Twins if/when they lose Santana?
Just some thoughts...maybe I'll have answers posted some day.
Wild Three Stars of the Week
So I'm a few days behind, but here are my Three Stars for the last week of play by the Wild.
#3 Star
Josh Harding...from when he entered the game to relieve Backstrom against the Redwings, he had some ridiculous number of saves, something like 91 of 93 (I'm off a bit with the numbers, but it was truly ridiculous. Word is he tweeked his groin before the game against the Flames last night, hopefully he will be back in the net tomorrow against the Ducks.
#2 Star
Marian Gaborik...7 points in his last 7 games, named the NHL's #1 star for the 2nd time in 4 weeks. Enough said.
#1 Star
The Wild's 4th line -- James Shepherd, Todd Fedoruk and yes, I'm really typing this Matt Foy. I dogged Foy last week, but I'm taking my words as his motivation to pick up his play ;-). But this line has shown great chemisty, had points in each of the last few games, and I'm guessing for the first time in Fedoruk's career he was a plus 7 after the three games.
#3 Star
Josh Harding...from when he entered the game to relieve Backstrom against the Redwings, he had some ridiculous number of saves, something like 91 of 93 (I'm off a bit with the numbers, but it was truly ridiculous. Word is he tweeked his groin before the game against the Flames last night, hopefully he will be back in the net tomorrow against the Ducks.
#2 Star
Marian Gaborik...7 points in his last 7 games, named the NHL's #1 star for the 2nd time in 4 weeks. Enough said.
#1 Star
The Wild's 4th line -- James Shepherd, Todd Fedoruk and yes, I'm really typing this Matt Foy. I dogged Foy last week, but I'm taking my words as his motivation to pick up his play ;-). But this line has shown great chemisty, had points in each of the last few games, and I'm guessing for the first time in Fedoruk's career he was a plus 7 after the three games.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Adrian Peterson and Brian Rolston
In store news, we now have Adrian Peterson autographed memorabilia for sale. We have 8x10" photos, 16x20" photos, mini-helmets, footballs and jerseys! You can stop in and pick out the item you want at the store, or wait for Twinsfest. All items come with a Certificate of Authenticity.
The Wild lost in a shootout tonight. I'd love to see a stat about how many times Brian Rolston has done something other than wind up and take a slapshot in a shootout. He is 9/21 in his career, but about 1/10 when I have seen him.
The Wild lost in a shootout tonight. I'd love to see a stat about how many times Brian Rolston has done something other than wind up and take a slapshot in a shootout. He is 9/21 in his career, but about 1/10 when I have seen him.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Three Stars of the Month
We just added a Three stars of the Month feature on our web site. Shockingly, Marian Gaborik won the award as the Number One star for January.
If Matt Foy keeps things up, he may earn consideration for February.
If Matt Foy keeps things up, he may earn consideration for February.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Second Week and First Show Completed
The second week is (almost) complete at the store. We also attended our first show today, a show at the American Legion in Waite Park Minnesota. Eric will hopefully post a full show report later!
Thanks to all of those who have stopped by! We are still working on getting everything out, so we encourage you to check in frequently. Just to clarify, our credit card machine is now working fine. Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express are accepted. If you are looking for something we don't have, let us know and we'll get it for you.
If you have anything you are looking to sell or trade, we are always buying and trading. For those of you that open a lot of boxes, we'll even buy or trade for your base cards from recent sets. Email Wayne (wayne@threestarssportscards.ocm) for details.
Thanks to all of those who have stopped by! We are still working on getting everything out, so we encourage you to check in frequently. Just to clarify, our credit card machine is now working fine. Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express are accepted. If you are looking for something we don't have, let us know and we'll get it for you.
If you have anything you are looking to sell or trade, we are always buying and trading. For those of you that open a lot of boxes, we'll even buy or trade for your base cards from recent sets. Email Wayne (wayne@threestarssportscards.ocm) for details.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Knights Hockey Review
Hello out there. I am going to attempt to use the space to provid updates of the Knights hockey team. The Knights play hockey in D2 of the AHA hockey in the twin cities of Minnesota. D2 is not to be confused with the college level of D2 and if you saw us play you'd have no problem there. We are half way through our season. Our record stands at 3-6-1, 7th place out of ten and a full nine points out of the last playoff spot. That may sound dismal, but we are on pace for a better season than we've had in like the last 4 or 5 years. Truth be told, we have a lot of talent for the level we are in, but we always underachieve. We often don't try hard. We have a fondness for repeated mistakes. We often have injured guys and are good for about two suspensions a year. A lot of our problems result from our leadership. But we have a great locker room and I love skating with this team. A lot of guys on the team have been here for years and we've seen plenty of marriages and growing families. We also had some great new people on the team and they fit in well. I will try to post updates after each game and will begin our most recent game. It was this past Sunday and we were thumped 5-0 by the first place Gold Rush. Although the game got away from us in the third we were close for most of the game. We had many decent scoring chances but just did not finish. (Sometimes common for the Knights.) I had a very Skoula like night on D. I was on the ice for three of their goals and in the box (very weak call) for one of them. I had a few turnovers and cement skate plays, other than that I was ok. Oh well, we get to play them again. More later.
Marian Gaborik the All-Star
Congratulations to Marian Gaborik for making his second All-Star team. He celebrated by having a goal and an assist in regulation and the winner in the shootout. Gaborik is extremely streaky. The shootout winner will hopefully boost his confidence and allow him into future shootouts. He has been playing well for the last few weeks (with a couple exceptions) and could have a huge second half.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
When are the Wild going to put Matt Foy on waivers?
So the Wild finally made their roster move to make space for Mikko Koivu, and what do they do, they waive Dominic Moore. While I'll admit I am not the biggest fan of Dominic Moore and he has sat quite a bit this year, when is the Wild every going to waive Matt Foy?
I think a statement from a conversation Wayne and I had with one of our favorite hockey card people, Baron Bedesky, should sum it up: "Foy should be a career minor leaguer."
Really, what skill does he bring? Yes he always tries really hard, but that will only get you so far. The Wild need someone to put the puck in the net or set up the other players for goals, Foy has not shown he is capable of that at the NHL level. (Has Moore either? But his play doesn't bother me as much as Foy's does.)
Foy's stats over the past few years (thank you NHL.com):
Not too much action or production. And if he could just skate into the zone without turning over the puck once or twice, that would be helpful too.
I guess I'm left crossing my fingers he is waived when Boogaard is ready to come back.
I think a statement from a conversation Wayne and I had with one of our favorite hockey card people, Baron Bedesky, should sum it up: "Foy should be a career minor leaguer."
Really, what skill does he bring? Yes he always tries really hard, but that will only get you so far. The Wild need someone to put the puck in the net or set up the other players for goals, Foy has not shown he is capable of that at the NHL level. (Has Moore either? But his play doesn't bother me as much as Foy's does.)
Foy's stats over the past few years (thank you NHL.com):
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | Shots | Pct |
| 2005-2006 | Wild | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -4 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 9.5 |
| 2006-2007 | Wild | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| 2007-2008 | Wild | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 10.5 |
Not too much action or production. And if he could just skate into the zone without turning over the puck once or twice, that would be helpful too.
I guess I'm left crossing my fingers he is waived when Boogaard is ready to come back.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Upper Deck Announcements
Upper Deck has made a few announcements in the last two days.
First, they have a new logo:
In case you forgot, here is the old logo:
First of all, it doesn't seem like they really changed a whole lot. Second, doesn't it seem like Upper Deck has more important issues to work on?
That brings me to the second announcement:
UD Confirms 100+ Football Cards That Won't Be Made
There are a TON of different names on this list. Some players are explainable (Sean Taylor - although he even had three year old redemptions), but others are just odd. Ronnie Brown? Tedy Bruschi? Donovan McNabb? Heath Miller?
I personally think that Upper Deck had a ton of leftover unredeemed redemptions from other players and they figured they could just swap those out for the players who they didn't get to sign. It probably saves them a lot of money.
I am quite sure most collector would rather have Upper Deck solve their redemption problem instead of designing new logos.
First, they have a new logo:
In case you forgot, here is the old logo:
First of all, it doesn't seem like they really changed a whole lot. Second, doesn't it seem like Upper Deck has more important issues to work on?
That brings me to the second announcement:
UD Confirms 100+ Football Cards That Won't Be Made
There are a TON of different names on this list. Some players are explainable (Sean Taylor - although he even had three year old redemptions), but others are just odd. Ronnie Brown? Tedy Bruschi? Donovan McNabb? Heath Miller?
I personally think that Upper Deck had a ton of leftover unredeemed redemptions from other players and they figured they could just swap those out for the players who they didn't get to sign. It probably saves them a lot of money.
I am quite sure most collector would rather have Upper Deck solve their redemption problem instead of designing new logos.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Correct MVP for the 2007 Season
Well, the NFL MVP has been named today. As many expected Tom Brady has won this award. Do not misunderstand me, Brady has had a season for the ages, one of the best ever for a quarterback. But the greatest value in a player's individual performance belongs to the season of teammate Randy Moss. Moss had nearly 1500 yards and broke Jerry Rice's single season TD record with 23 touchdowns. The Patriots made a handful of changes on offense this past offseason, but the difference has been Moss. When Randy Moss is at his best, (team first attitude and at least 90% healthy) he changes the way the other team plays defense like no other player maybe in the history of the game. Just look at how teams from his former division (the Norris as Chris Berman calls it) have approached many of their drafts since Moss arrived. The Packers spent years drafting every DB they could find hoping to have someone who could cover him. The Lions fondness of 1st round WR picks still continues today. The Bears have tried both at different times to mixed success. Even the Vikings are in a perpetual search for a replacement dominant #1 receiver. The Patriots this year broke the season scoring record held by 1998 Vikings of which Moss was a key component. But, back to this year. Brady played with poise all year long and set the season TD pass record with an astounding 50. However when one guy catches nearly half of those, we need to look closer. That's what I did in the midst of writing this. On youtube.com do a search for this video "The Tom Brady and Randy Moss Show." It is highlights of most of their hookups. True Brady makes some great throws, but two things about Moss stand out. Some of the catches are on balls that are just thrown to the area and he just snares them. Sure he pushes off once in awhile, but if it's not called, then a little cheating never hurt anyone, right? The other thing thats stands out is how often Moss is wide open on his routes. All year long he was open for so many easy looking plays. In today's NFL where film is studied constantly, it seems as if no one could cover him this year. Watch that video if you're not yet convinced, I wonder what would have happened if the MVP voters had before they voted.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Hockey anyone?
Those who know me, know I'm a huge hockey fan.
With that in mind, I will be giving my Minnesota Wild Three Stars of the week. Hopefully I can keep this up weekly, we'll see.
# 3 Star -- PM Bouchard -- He has been on fire lately. He has points in 3 of his last 5 games. Leads the team with 28 assists, and was all over the ice against Dallas.
#2 Star -- Brent Burns -- Not only is he my favorite Wild defenseman, but he is having his best year statistically. He has a new high for goals, and has been making a lot of great plays. Again, a great game against Dallas.
#1 Star -- Marian Gaborik -- Now he has been up and down a fair bit this season, but I'm hoping his great showing against Dallas will be what he needs to turn the corner and become a true super star.
But the Wild in general, could you please, please be a little more consistent? Is that too much to ask? That said, they haven't been anywhere near as disappointing as my favorite college hockey team, the Golden Gophers. They haven't really been too golden this year. I guess at least they are better than the football team!
With that in mind, I will be giving my Minnesota Wild Three Stars of the week. Hopefully I can keep this up weekly, we'll see.
# 3 Star -- PM Bouchard -- He has been on fire lately. He has points in 3 of his last 5 games. Leads the team with 28 assists, and was all over the ice against Dallas.
#2 Star -- Brent Burns -- Not only is he my favorite Wild defenseman, but he is having his best year statistically. He has a new high for goals, and has been making a lot of great plays. Again, a great game against Dallas.
#1 Star -- Marian Gaborik -- Now he has been up and down a fair bit this season, but I'm hoping his great showing against Dallas will be what he needs to turn the corner and become a true super star.
But the Wild in general, could you please, please be a little more consistent? Is that too much to ask? That said, they haven't been anywhere near as disappointing as my favorite college hockey team, the Golden Gophers. They haven't really been too golden this year. I guess at least they are better than the football team!
Nice Pull from a 2006-07 Finest Box
We had a customer stop in today and break a few boxes including a 2006-07 Finest box that we had a really good price on. He was happy to pull the #1 Draft Redemption (Greg Oden) in his first box. Nice pull! Oden is out for the year, but should be back strong.
We still have more boxes in stock. Maybe one of them has the autographed Oden redemption :)
We still have more boxes in stock. Maybe one of them has the autographed Oden redemption :)
First Full Week
Man, what a relief, the store is finally open! But not without some drama.
All I have to say is, you have a choice in your shipping provider -- do not go with DHL. We ordered a credit card machine but it took exceptionally long to arrive due to DHL. The first attempt at delivery was 12-27-07 at 8:45am. A delivery slip was left, but no tracking number or route number, so there was no way we could track the package. We expected a return attempt the next day, but nothing. In the meantime, we called DHL a number of times, but the phone would just ring and ring and ring. Finally on NYE, Wayne called and was placed on hold. After him staying on hold for 10 minutes, I decided to give it a try. Oddly enough, I got right to someone, we'll call him Charlie. I explained to Charlie that we had not received a second delivery attempt, tracking number, etc. and needed to know where our credit card machine was. He indicated it was returned for a bad address. Returned for a bad address?!?! The driver obviously found the store if he was able to leave a delivery slip! Next, I spoke with a gal, we'll call her Sharon. She agreed it did not make sense they could make the delivery attempt at the right location and then return for a bad address, but there was nothing she could do, but she would see where the package was presently, something Charlie was apparently unable to do. Next, we spoke with another gal, we'll call her Linda. Well, the package was in Ohio, but again this wasn't anything they could do.
I find it extemely hard to believer there was nothing they could do. Maybe call the DHL the box was sitting at and have it sent back out?!?! How's that for a novel idea. Anyhow, we finally have the credit card machine, but the moral of the story -- Don't ship via DHL!
After that drama, things have gone pretty smoothly. We all are having our ups and downs learning the cash register. It is a pretty basic model, so that is good. It is a bit of trial and error to some degree, so hopefully the register adds up at the end of the month.
Our inventory is looking pretty good. The cases are getting filled, but not quite quick enough for everyone's liking. It is certainly a lot of work to get everything priced. But Dan is doing a lot during the days to help out with this task.
Wayne and I worked today from 10am to 4pm, and got the mail orders completed, some more signs made, a mailing list set up, and the best part, opened some boxes -- I've had itchy fingers for a while.
Hopefully next week will go a bit more smoothly, less drama and more customers!
All I have to say is, you have a choice in your shipping provider -- do not go with DHL. We ordered a credit card machine but it took exceptionally long to arrive due to DHL. The first attempt at delivery was 12-27-07 at 8:45am. A delivery slip was left, but no tracking number or route number, so there was no way we could track the package. We expected a return attempt the next day, but nothing. In the meantime, we called DHL a number of times, but the phone would just ring and ring and ring. Finally on NYE, Wayne called and was placed on hold. After him staying on hold for 10 minutes, I decided to give it a try. Oddly enough, I got right to someone, we'll call him Charlie. I explained to Charlie that we had not received a second delivery attempt, tracking number, etc. and needed to know where our credit card machine was. He indicated it was returned for a bad address. Returned for a bad address?!?! The driver obviously found the store if he was able to leave a delivery slip! Next, I spoke with a gal, we'll call her Sharon. She agreed it did not make sense they could make the delivery attempt at the right location and then return for a bad address, but there was nothing she could do, but she would see where the package was presently, something Charlie was apparently unable to do. Next, we spoke with another gal, we'll call her Linda. Well, the package was in Ohio, but again this wasn't anything they could do.
I find it extemely hard to believer there was nothing they could do. Maybe call the DHL the box was sitting at and have it sent back out?!?! How's that for a novel idea. Anyhow, we finally have the credit card machine, but the moral of the story -- Don't ship via DHL!
After that drama, things have gone pretty smoothly. We all are having our ups and downs learning the cash register. It is a pretty basic model, so that is good. It is a bit of trial and error to some degree, so hopefully the register adds up at the end of the month.
Our inventory is looking pretty good. The cases are getting filled, but not quite quick enough for everyone's liking. It is certainly a lot of work to get everything priced. But Dan is doing a lot during the days to help out with this task.
Wayne and I worked today from 10am to 4pm, and got the mail orders completed, some more signs made, a mailing list set up, and the best part, opened some boxes -- I've had itchy fingers for a while.
Hopefully next week will go a bit more smoothly, less drama and more customers!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
First Week Completed
Thanks to everyone that stopped by during the first week. If you are reading htis blog, but haven't stopped by, where have you been?
We have all of our supplies in stock and Becketts have started to arrive. We also will be carrying Tuff Stuff starting very soon.
We have a bunch of wax boxes in stock and available and hope to be adding more soon. If there is something specific that you are looking for, please let us know! We also have some singles out and are getting more and more out for sale every day.
We will be appearing both at Twinsfest (January 25th through 27th) and the Hockey Expo in St. Paul during the High School hockey tournament in March. We will post more information as it becomes available.
Check our box breaks page for some boxes that we opened today!
We have all of our supplies in stock and Becketts have started to arrive. We also will be carrying Tuff Stuff starting very soon.
We have a bunch of wax boxes in stock and available and hope to be adding more soon. If there is something specific that you are looking for, please let us know! We also have some singles out and are getting more and more out for sale every day.
We will be appearing both at Twinsfest (January 25th through 27th) and the Hockey Expo in St. Paul during the High School hockey tournament in March. We will post more information as it becomes available.
Check our box breaks page for some boxes that we opened today!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
We Are Now Open!
Three Stars Sportscards is now open! We knew from the start that we needed to have a hockey themed name, but it took a while to decide on Three Stars.
After an extensive search for a location and lots of paperwork and trips back and forth from various places to and from the store, we are now open. Special thanks to all of our friends who helped us get the store ready to open.
Thanks to DHL, we are not currently able to accept credit cards. We expect this problem to be resolved by this weekend. Sorry for any problems that this might cause!
Our website is located at www.threestarssportscards.com. We hope to keep this blog updated with information about our store, random thoughts on hockey and anything else that comes to mind.
After an extensive search for a location and lots of paperwork and trips back and forth from various places to and from the store, we are now open. Special thanks to all of our friends who helped us get the store ready to open.
Thanks to DHL, we are not currently able to accept credit cards. We expect this problem to be resolved by this weekend. Sorry for any problems that this might cause!
Our website is located at www.threestarssportscards.com. We hope to keep this blog updated with information about our store, random thoughts on hockey and anything else that comes to mind.
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