You knew it was coming... ITG steps up, BIG time!

Since I live on the other side of the collecting world, well, North of it anyways.... I, like a lot of you, will not be at The National this week. I know. Shocking. I actually have to keep working and can't take off for a week of fun in the sun. Oh wait. It's in Baltimore. Never mind.....

As a result of that, and the fact that I'm not a 14 year old girl glued to the "social media" phenomenon, I have to rely on good old fashioned email to get my news.

Stephen Laroche, Brand Manager for In The Game, my favourite card manufacturer, sent out an email to several card bloggers recapping their big news announcement from that morning at The National.

ITG will now produce baseball cards. They will be patterned after their immensely successful Heroes and Prospects Hockey issue. But that's where the similarity will end.

While the hockey version has a great 100 card base set for us set collectors, the baseball version will be just the hits ma'am. Just the hits.
Each box will contain 4 cards. All hits. None of this one serial numbered base card crap that other manufacturers pull. All four cards will be autos, or game used.

Here's what you may find inside....
J-Hey!!!! Oh yeah! I got to get me one of these!

Between the Seams....

Now here's where it gets tricky.... the odds of you pulling a prospect auto is 3.5:1, meaning every other box will only have three prospect autos.... the fourth card will either be a prospect game used, OR.... a Heroes cut auto.... maybe like these...

Hammerin' Hank. It's not even out yet, and I can't afford it....

Now that's how to do cut autos....

No other word as yet on the rest of the checklist.... look for that info here, or go direct to ITG's website at www.itgtradingcards.com

And thanks to Mr Laroche for sending this info out via email to a few of us card bloggers...

a box break meant for somebody else...

You ever buy a box of cards, rush home, rip into it, and at the end felt a little let down because you knew this box was meant for someone else? This just happened to me. And I feel a little let down over it too. I've seen dozens of box breaks for this product on the various forums, all with cards I've drooled over... but not this one. This one was meant for someone else.

But let's get back to that later. First up the standard review. Of what? Why 2009/10 In The Game Between the Pipes of course. For a refresher on last year's version, go to my review HERE. It went a little better than this year.

The base set is divided into four subsets.... the first, Future Stars. These are the guys that either have been drafted in the last year or two, or are about to be this summer. I chose Leland Irving as my example. Why? Well he's the Flames heir apparent, and if Kipper keeps playing the way he did this morning, we may be seeing Leland sooner than later.
Stars of the Game features today's current players, this year in a "painted" look. Here's Marc being told that if he agrees to take a quick vacation in Vancouver, talk to some pretty girls, and generally smile for the cameras... they'll pay him with a Gold Medal. No catches.

Next we have Greats of the Game. Some cool cards here... although some duds as well. They may have tried too hard in expanding the checklist. Allan Bester? Grant Fuhr? Putting these against the likes of Johnny Bower and Georges Vezina is close to sacrilege.

I know you are all wondering how you get a nick name like Rogie. Well, if you have a name like Rogatien, you gotta be called something.

and last but not least, in my opinion, are cards from "The Rival League" We're talking WHA here people.

Gary "Bones" Bromley from the Cowboys. Yes Flames fans, Calgary had a pro hockey team before we borrowed one from Atlanta. You all just never went to see them, so they left. Shame on you! You go to the penalty box, you hang your head, and you feel shame!

That takes care of the base set, now onto the inserts... There are six insert sets to chase. The first five on the list fall at 1:8 packs combined. The Masked Men fall at 1:8 themselves.

1. Gold Medal Masks. - didn't get any, although I did win one over at Cards On Ice!

2. Martin Brodeur Tribute - pulled 1

3. Net Brawlers - didn't get any

4. CHL All Stars - pulled 1

5. AHL All Stars - didn't get any

6. Masked Men - Pulled 3


First up, my CHL All Star

Then my Martin Brodeur tribute. There are several of these, mine is #6. Get used to seeing Marty... he owns this box.

Masked Men - Tim Thomas (I bet a lot of card companies are wishing they hadn't jumped on the bandwagon of this flash in the pan backup....)

Martin Brodeur (again, but not the last Marty insert)

Ilya Bryzgalov. If the voters vote with their brain cells, and not their ass, Ilya will be league MVP at the upcoming Awards Ceremony.

Next up we have the autographs. Seeded 1:8 I pulled 2. It's always fun to pull these and wait to see when/where they get drafted...

wow. Jamie Tucker, although I have never met you, you sir, are a Douche. A Douche of the highest standing. How often do you see someone's jersey number being 2/3 of their signature?

Show some pride you cockknocker, at least pretend you went to school.

Your auto makes the next one look like calligraphy.

James Reimer, the Leafs future saviour. Good luck with that James. Work hard and someday you too, may have a career that rivals Allan Bester.

Now the relics, again seeded 1:8

Martin Brodeur.

Somewhere in Calgary is a Brodeur super collector. In two boxes, purchased at the same shop as mine, he pulled nothing. Not one Brodeur. I now know why.


And we end with Chris Osgoods goal pads /60

Pretty cool stuff, but not of a dude I collect. None of these are dudes I collect. Story of my life.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some base cards to sort and put in pages.

Card Shop Party Goodie Bag...

Okay, first up, for those of you who didn't read my last post, click HERE and read it first, or you might not know what the hell is going on.

Are we all up to speed now? Good. The main theme was In The Games 2009/10 Heroes and Prospects set. The key guy everyone wants is Taylor Hall. Remember that name. Taylor.

BTW, if Upper Deck or Topps decides that this post is worth reading, pay attention. You'll learn how to do sticker autos the right way. The way collector's will still chase after them and snap them up like Tic Tacs.

Example #1
Damn! Wrong Taylor. Oh well. This Taylor was a third round pick of Nashville last summer.

Example #2

Damn! Wrong Taylor again! This Taylor was a second round pick of San Jose last summer. The Taylor we wanted will be the first overall pick of Edmonton this summer. Yes. I can predict the future.

Now is that not the way to do sticker autos? Fabulous.

Onto the relics...

Maxime first started playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at 15. He is eligible for this upcoming draft. I was still trying to master long division at 15.

Oliver Roy was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in last summer's draft. Oliver. We're all very sorry about that.

Joey Hishon is eligible for this upcoing draft. Last season Joey scored 37 goals and 81 points in 65 games.

And this is the big one...

Not just a regular Landon Ferraro....

but a made just for me Landon Ferraro.

All in all a great time was had by all in attendance. And there were a lot in attendance. At any one time there were between 30-35 people crammed into Darren's tiny shop. I got to meet some folks that post on some of the boards, and came home with some really cool cards. Can't beat that.

Live anywhere near Calgary?

Be here on Saturday...
It should be a cool time. Somebody needs to bring pizza though. It's a long drive for me and I'm going to get hungry, I just know it.

Insider Interview - ITG President Dr Brian Price

I approached In The Game President, Dr Brian Price, about an interview. He graciously accepted.
For sake of clarity, my questions and comments are in white, his answers are in green.

From a collector's standpoint, 1972 The Year In Hockey was a huge success. Please give us your perspective on it, how it came to be, the difficulties and successes of putting together a set featuring players from 37 years ago.

Over a year ago we initiated a vote amongst collectors to determine what they thought was the most important year in hockey history. Although the voting was close, 1972 narrowly edged out 1980.
1972 was not only the first year of the WHA but also the year of the Summit Series between Canada and Russia.
Based on that vote, we created the product.
The challenges were enormous. Finding the players and negotiating contracts with them was very time consuming. Finding usable images was also a challenge.
It is not easy coming up with new ideas and executing them but that’s what I enjoy the most. The collector in me always comes out.

ITG's next product release is Heroes and Prospects. This year you've included a chase redemption program unlike past years. What excites you about this? Why the change now?

In The Game is always looking to make our products more exciting and more valuable. By creating this Redemption Program, I think we have accomplished both. Collectors can collect the non-memorabilia insert set, Class of 2010 and ten lucky collectors can redeem their cards for extremely limited game-used memorabilia cards of first round draft choices.
It’s not really a change for us. We have had special programs in our products before, this particular non-memorabilia insert set gave us the opportunity to do it again. We hope collectors enjoy it.
What excites me about it is that collectors will trade these cards based on their projections for the 2010 draft. They might be right, they might be wrong, that’s the beauty of this program. Who will go first, who will go second? One never knows. One thing for the sure the cards out of ten that are available to those with the correct draft number will be valuable.

The new release of Between The Pipes is coming... Can you share anything from it yet? Anything new, or maybe exciting new additions to the checklist?

Right now the product is in the formative stages. We always try and put together the best checklist we can and this year will be no different.
We will be doing the Masked Men II insert set featuring some of the greatest goalies who have donned a goalie mask. This year we are planning to increase the size of the Masked Men checklist.
We have some new insert ideas featuring large pieces of memorabilia based on last year’s success.
If you liked last year’s product, you’ll love this year’s.

ITG is often thought of as an industry leader within the hobby with regards to Game Used and Autographed cards. Can you tell us a bit about the process in obtaining these pieces from both current players, and also the retired greats.

Securing authentic memorabilia is a 24/7/365 process. There is no store from which you can acquire authentic memorabilia, especially vintage memorabilia when you need it. So the process takes place at all time. We are known in the industry as reliable buyers of memorabilia so we are contacted often.
If we want a piece, we don’t fool around. We negotiate the price fairly and once the piece is authenticated, we buy it for the agreed price and pay for it immediately. Sellers know this and for these reasons we are often contacted first with vintage pieces.
In addition, as a collector, I often buy pieces for my collection and if ITG needs them at a later date for a project, they move across.

Where do you see In The Game in two years? Do you have plans on expanding your release calendar? More or larger sets?

That’s a great question, I am not sure I have the answer.
I know where I would like In The Game to be. I would like to have our NHLPA/NHL licenses back again. I don’t want an exclusive, as an exclusive in my opinion is not good for the hobby. Manufacturers need competition to make the best products and give the best service possible. Without competition, they become complacent and uncaring.
We have spoken to both the NHL and the NHLPA so stay tuned.

Do you or do you have someone on staff read the sportscard blogs? How do you feel they affect the hobby, if at all?

I try to read as many different forums as I can but they are discouraging. A lot of collectors don’t realize the obstacles one has in manufacturing a hockey card product. They are quick to criticize almost everything.

This last question saddened me. It made me stop and think about blogging in general. Are we that negative? I suppose so. Dr Price also specified "forums". I don't really read any forums. A little too much immaturity for my tastes. But everyone is entitled to their say.

I guess I never really thought about it like that before.

Do you think the blogs are too negative?

Anyways, as always, a big Thank You to Dr Brian Price for taking the time. I'm sure he's grateful to go through an interview and not be asked about Vezina's pads....

Do yourselves a favour, check out ITG's website, and try a pack or two of their product if you haven't already. Find out what all the fuss is about.

Hockey contest

Going on over at Cards On Ice
They busted a box of In the Game's 1972 Year In Hockey. A great product designed by the fans! Yes, ITG ran a contest and let the fans choose the topic of their next product. Pretty cool.
Anyways, the hits are being given away. If you know your hockey, you'll know the names. If you're not a hockey fan, you'll have no clue who these chaps are.

But not all contests are about baseball you know.

Cardshow bounty - ITG box break

I mentioned that at the cardshow I picked up two boxes. This is the first. A 2008/09 In the Game Between The Pipes. I've wanted to grab one of these since they came out. At $110, I overpaid a little, but you know how it is. With no baseball to be had, I needed to come home with something.
I'll try and keep this to the facts, but I have to say, I love this set. Love it! So to be fair, I'll start with something disappointing. The only downside to the box break in fact. Can you read on the box top there? About how many cards per pack? See the little asterisk? No? Well how about on the wrapper?

Can you see the little asterisk better? Well, if you flip the pack over, and peel back the flap, and look for the fine print, you'll see this...

You'll have to click on the image to actually be able to read the fine print. Or use the Hubble telescope if it's not busy.... It says that there are actually only 4 cards per pack. Plus this:

A decoy card. Yes. This counts as a card. But it is worth one point towards a jersey card redemption from ITG. Only 249 more cards, and I get a free jersey card. (that's a little over 10 boxes worth....)

Well, no big deal, right? They do tell you on the pack. Why am I whining? Well, if this little subterfuge wasn't enough, in five of the packs, I only got three cards (plus the decoy). I got jobbed out of five cards. To a set builder like me, that's no good.

Okay. Enough nit-picking over the details. Let's look at the base set. It's divided up into four main parts. The first part is for the "Future Stars" These are the guys who are just now making a rookie impact, or are getting ready to be drafted this year.

The first 60 cards are like this...

Team Canada Gold Medalist Hero Dustin Tokarski

Future Leafs savior Justin Pogge

and probable 2009 NHL Rookie of the Year Steve Mason.

The next section is devoted to the current stars of the game. This is the smallest part of the set.
As it should be. Only twelve goalies make up this part.

Maybe a little early to be putting Price in this part.......

That's better.....

Here's where the set gets great. The first 60 cards were for the rookie collectors and prospectors. Then came the names everyone knows. Now comes the next two sections. First, Greats of the game. 19 of 'em.

I love these guys......

Gump didn't wear a mask... that goose egg on his forehead is from a puck. And he's still smiling!

Jacques was the first to ever put on a mask during a game. Sacre Bleu!

Rogie! Look at that picture. That picture describes hockey in the '70's. Awesome.

The last part consists of 9 goalies who joined up and played with the rival WHA league. When the WHA folded, Quebec, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Hartford joined the NHL. (or I guess you should now say, Colorado, Phoenix, Edmonton, and Carolina)

Gary's nickname was "Suitcase". Gary switched teams a lot....

These complete the 100 card set. In the box that I opened, I got five hits. This seems to be indicitive of this product.

The first was a Silver version of the Masked Men insert.

Then came the autos....

Al Montoya got called up to play his first game the day before I bought this. April 1st. In his first game, he won, and got a shut out. No foolin'.

Auto #2 was Kurtis Mucha

Kurtis is hoping to be drafted this year after a really good season in Portland.

The jersey card I pulled was a "Prospect Combo"

Leland Irving is a top prospect for Calgary, and the swatch is from his time playing for Team Canada.

The last pull? If you're a Leafs fan (I'm looking at you Tricia) then this is the card for you.

An auto/emblem #'d to /9 of the Leafs main netminder Vesa Toskala. Pretty sweet pull. Even if I do hate the Leafs.

I'll give the box break an 8.5/10. The whole missing card thing pulled it down. But as a set, it's beautiful. Great cards, nice checklist, and I love reading the info on the backs.

That's what a card set should be.