| Baseball Card Writing
Contest |
7/3/2008
Three days left in our latest Baseball Card Essay Contest
- see details below in our 6/22/2008 post.
6/22/2008
Win a 2008 Hobby Box of Bowman Baseball! Our 4th Writing Contest Starts Today!
This promotional idea is right under their noses and as far as we can
tell, every baseball card industry CEO and MLB executive has missed it. We think
that this is one of the better marketing concepts that we've ever heard of to
help promote the baseball card hobby and we wanted to go to the experts (fellow
baseball card enthusiasts) to expand on the idea.
So what is it?
We'd like to see a regularly scheduled baseball card segment on Baseball
Tonight! (and the intro of the show is so perfect!)
This is the topic of our 4th writing contest and up for grabs is a 2008 Hobby
Box of Bowman's Baseball!
It's time for you to put on your "producer caps" and help create this new
baseball card segment.
That's right, we want you to imagine that you're in charge of producing a new
baseball card segment on ESPN'S Baseball Tonight. In no way are we suggesting a
change to Baseball Tonight, it's an excellent show as it stands and most people
aren't going to want it to change. So, you're challenge is producing a short and
interesting baseball card segment that fits seamlessly into Baseball Tonights
current format.
Here are some ideas to consider answering in your essay:
As usual, the more details and creativity you can provide us with the better!
When is it on? Is your segment nightly or are the chief show producers only
willing to give you 5 minutes per week? (The reality is, if this actually
happened it would be a very short few minute segment - so keep it real.)
Who hosts the segment? Is it the regular hosts of the show (you never know, they
might just be collectors themselves) or is it someone else? Seems to us that the
simpler the better, but hey, it's your show.
What are the important topics that you will cover? (Just remember, at the core
of this concept is the notion of getting baseball fans excited about collecting
baseball cards.)
It might help if you imagine you're on a 1 minute elevator ride with the CEO of
ESPN and you're trying to give him a good sales-pitch for this new part of the
Baseball Tonight show! (If you want to write it this way that's fine too.)
Those are just a few ideas for you to bounce around in your head for this
writing project.
Here are the rules and additional guidelines for you to follow:
1. The subject for your essay must be - Here's my plan for the new baseball card
segment on ESPN's Baseball Tonight.
2. Stick to the subject.
3. You must provide the basic topics and a few details for the first 3 episodes.
4. You must write a minimum of 200 words. (less than 200 words do
not get entered to win)
5. We're looking for details and creativity!
6. We believe that this idea has real merit and could have a very positive
impact on the hobby, the question is HOW DO WE MAKE IT A REALITY? (start a
writing campaign to ESPN, get the bloggers excited about the idea, contact the
MLB???) The essays that add this piece of the solution would likely earn some
brownie points.
7. All essays must be turned in by Sunday July 6th, 2008
8. Use our contact form to submit your
finished entry.
9. All qualifying entries will be posted on our site.
Remember, Sunday July 6th,2008 is the deadline!
Good luck!
Darcy
Sportscardfun.com
6/6/2008
We have a winner in our 3rd essay contest!
There were some really good essays turned in for this contest - thank you to
everyone who sent one in!
Out of the 25 essays that were sent in, 16 were in favor of a good baseball card
shop, 9 were in favor of a good baseball card show. This was a small sampling of
opinions, but it definitely leaned in a direction that card shop owners should
feel good about. Maybe there's useful information in these essays that shop
owners could learn from? One consistent theme in the shop owner essays was the
relationships and comradery that shops can help nurture.
There is of course no one right answer to this "shop or show" essay question,
but the opinions, suggestions and stories submitted are very inspiring. Once you
finish reading them you'll likely have the urge to visit a good local card shop
followed by a fun weekend show. If only we all had easy access to both!
Want a chance to win? Stay tuned, there's another hobby box of Bowman Baseball
up for grabs very soon.......
Here's the winning essay:
Which ONE do you prefer, a good baseball card show or a good
baseball card shop? Why?
A brick and mortar shop is best, a place where the proprietor greets us and our
kids by name. We're reliable customers because the shop receives timely
shipments of the latest product; there is no price gouging; pack searching is
verboten; children are truly welcome. In fact, the shop keeps a box by the
register so kids can reach in for a pack that costs 99 cents. The owner runs ads
in the local paper mentioning what's coming up to keep us apprised of what to
hope for.
The good shop is akin to the home team, and a card show is more in the realm of
the visiting team, energizing but not so comfortable. Because nothing beats a
familiar haunt where we emerge with one more story, another memory to share.
Did a friendly baseball player sign your son's Topps card once? Did your uncle
or granddad keep a stack of Bowman cards, wrapped in a rubber band, in a
shoebox? Did your grandmother slip a Johnny Mize card in the corner of the oak
mirror in her bedroom? Is there baseball cardboard in your DNA?
Everyone has different motivations for collecting, but two themes emerge
consistently: nostalgia and seeking the happy kick provided by hope in a pack or
a box. Sure, shows can be fun.but one never knows. We might burn some serious
fuel to get there, we might stand in line to gain entry and then be thwarted by
dealer after dealer with inexplicably overpriced singles or boxes. Of course, we
may find a little gem that will convince us the trip was worth it. Perhaps.
But sometimes in this fractured world we seek consistency even as it seems to be
fading away. We want to be lucky enough to find that good shop in walking
distance of the stadium, or the girls' fast pitch softball field, or the college
ball park, a friendly shop where someone has committed square footage to the
old-fashioned notion of helping people stumble upon what they seek. Where at
least there's a chance. A chance that as we remove, with a sigh, the last pack
from the last hobby box of that set we like, we hear the faint click of baseball
cards in bicycle spokes, or catch a glimpse of a flipped card as it soars
through the air, and when we get to the car, that last pack will have in it
something we really wanted to find.
By Patricia
Dinged Corners (www.baseballdiamondgirl.blogspot.com)
Read the rest of
baseball card show or a
good baseball card shop essays.
Be sure to check out our previous baseball card essay contest
entries. These essays are full of great ideas and useful information about
baseball cards:
I'm going to save the baseball card industry and here's how I'm going to do
it.
Why Should a kid start collecting baseball cards?
Visit our
baseball card boxes page for new
release information and viewing of some great hobby products!
7/3/2008
* Topps today announced the player redeemable for the
2008 Topps
Baseball Series 2 Red Hot Rookie Redemption #6 is Chris Davis of the
Texas Rangers.
*
2009 Hawaii/Mainland Conference returning to Florida
7/2/2008
* Dmitri Young's
HOF Rookie Card Collection On Display At National
*
The skinny on this year's National
6/24/2008
Fukudome Revealed as
Topps
Finest Rookie Baseball Card Redemption #3
6/19/2008
*
Upper Deck Reveals Third SPx Baseball Mystery Redemption. Rays Third
Baseman,
Evan Longoria,
set to shine in 2008 SPx Baseball
*
Temporary Restraining Order Has Been Dissolved For Distribution of Upper Deck
Products:
“Upper Deck is pleased we are able to get 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball into
the market for our collectors,” said Tim Muret, Upper Deck’s vice president of
Sports Cards and Memorabilia. “The product has such a huge following and we are
happy collectors will get to enjoy the experience of pulling the exciting cut
signature autographs of baseball’s greatest stars.”
7/1/2008
* Ever Wonder What the
Largest Baseball Card Set in History Looks Like?
* Rick Porcello, the minor league's top pitching prospect and the first-round
pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2007, has signed a deal with the Donruss Trading
Card Company to offer
his
first-ever autographed trading cards.
6/18/2008
* Topps officials today confirmed that the player redeemable for the 2008
Topps
Baseball Series 2 Red Hot Rookie Redemption #3 is John Bowker of the San
Francisco Giants.
*
Honus Wagner card changes hands for $5 (warning, this story is not for
the feint of heart)
6/16/2008
* Always good to hear about a new
baseball card shop opening up
6/16/2008
*
NAXCOM names new CEO
6/13/2008
* Topps announces the player redeemable for the 2008 Topps Baseball Series 2 RED
HOT ROOKIE Redemption # 2 is Justin Masterson, Pitcher, Boston Red Sox.
*
Topps to Offer Limited Edition Cards Celebrating New York Greatness at
Fanfest
* The Second
SPx
Baseball Mystery Redemption Is Clayton Kershaw
* Topps is suing Upper Deck over
Legendary Cuts baseball cards
6/6/2008
* Ebay's "Buy it now" items are the
fastest growing segment of eBay’s business.
*
Hobby retailers hope sales, traffic will heat up
* Topps Announces
New On-Line Redemption Card Program
*
Sportkings Series B is scheduled to release July 28
* Assembling
New Upper Deck Trading Cards Proves to be a Hair Raising Experience
6/5/2008
* Upper Deck Shares Unannounced
Fukudome Japanese Rookie Card
6/2/2008
*
Clinton versus Obama baseball cards: Upper Deck Predicts a Winner with
New Baseball Parody Cards! Trading card company unveils caricature baseball card
featuring a high-spirited Hillary supporting the Obama campaign
* Topps Town (went
live yesterday) will bring together the popularity of trading cards with the
exploding world of web-based social networking to create the first online sports
community for kids. To unlock your very own Topps Town, cards are available in
2008 Topps Baseball Series # 2, now on sale.
5/30/2008
* After acquiring locks of hair from a variety of famous personalities along
with extremely rare cut signatures, Upper Deck is pleased to bring “Hair Cuts”
cards to the market
beginning with 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball.
* Incredibly positive
sales trends for baseball cards
*
Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball returns in 2008 even bigger and better.
From DNA cards to Cut Signatures, Rip Cards and Ancient Icons, this back-to-back
Beckett Product of the Year is set to deliver the quirkiness, fun and
collectability that collectors have come to love since its inception
* A man who police say walked away from a halfway house in Berks County about 18
months ago is charged in the
alleged robbery of nearly $50,000 worth of baseball cards from a
Montoursville business.
5/19/2008
Olbermann's Topps Proof Series Part I
5/14/2008
* 2008 Triple Threads
Baseball Set to Feature Some Amazing Cards
* Upper Deck Announces the
First Winner of Box Break Contest
* Sports
card shop stays open late into the night until all of the games are over
- sounds like it's paying off!
5/13/2008
101 A-Rod Rookies
Walk Through the Door
5/8/2008
Topps is now giving collectors a sneak peek of a
truly unique card that will appear in 2008 Topps Triple Threads Baseball
(releasing late July).
5/7/2008
* The Upper Deck Company says "show
us your box breaks" with their Diamond Vision video program. Those who
submit videos have chances to win prizes. The grand prize this year is a trip to
the World Series.
* Topps announces that it has made three
major enhancements to 2008 Topps Baseball Series 2.
4/25/2008
Collector pulls Babe Ruth cut auto out of 2008 Upper Deck Premier
More news about baseball
cards
| Baseball Card of the
Week |
The Sports Card of the Week (or sports card story) is provided by our members. The Sports Card of the
Week is not selected based on cash value or rarity. Rather, it's simply a card
or story that has some sort of personal value to the person who owns it. We hope to show
you the wide variety of reasons that people collect or find certain cards
appealing. It's just our way of providing a way for collectors to share some of their
passionate for this awesome hobby.
This week's Card Story of the Week is by S & J Sazin (aka
WallytheGreenMonster) from
Ipswich, Massachusetts
It all started in July of 2007, when I picked up the
monthly "Beckett" magazine at a local paper store. I flipped through the pages,
and on the inside of the back cover, I saw an ad for the new "2007 Topps
"K-Mart" Exclusive Baseball Inserts called "Generation Now Arrives". Pictured on
the add were the cards of David Wright, Prince Fielder, and Daisuke Matsuzaka in
the middle.
Now, at the time, Matsuzaka was (and, I guess still is), one of the top players
people want cards of. And around then, not too many cards of Dice-K had come out
yet, so this one a nice, good looking card that I thought I should take a crack
at looking for.
I went to my local "K-Mart", and searched the store for a good "Retail Box" of
07 Topps Series 2. I got one for $19.99 (inside, including 6 of the K-Mart
Inserts). So, I had six chances of pulling the Dice-K I set out for. I got into
the car, and opened up the box. As usual, inserts exclusively from the store are
set on top inside the box, so I just had to open those first.
I flipped through real slowly, to find the order of the inserts to be:
1. David Wright
2. Prince Fielder
3. Bobby Jenks
4. Ian Kinsler
5. Delmon Young
Now, by then, I thought, odds were, "Am I going to pull that Dice-K?"
As i slowly turned the Delmon Young to the side......... there it was. Dice-K
Matsuzaka's "Generation Now Arrives" K-Mart Exclusive Insert RC. I was stunned.
What were the odds? I keep this card on the front page of my Matsuzaka's, just
to remind me that, although there are high odds, you could be the one to break
them.
Read more cool stories about baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards
and hockey cards in our
previous sports cards of the week.
All cards and stories were submitted by our members!
Looking for information and news about sports collectibles other than sports
cards? Check out out sports memorabilia
and news page
| Looking for more sports
card information? |
We've got a page of information with some
resource links about old baseball cards. If you're into basketball
cards you'll want to visit our basketball
cards page. Likewise, we have a good section of information devoted to
new release information about
football cards and hockey cards
as well.
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