7th Inning Stretch with Scott Fragale

The Blogger posted a solid total of 8 this week but it wasn't enough to deny "Joann" and "Shannon" the top spot in this week's Beat the Blogger contest. Both ladies missed two questions but by virtue of hitting their "doublers" of taking the field in the NASCAR race, they will both be receiving the weekly prize. Unfortunately, we fell well short of the 300 (80 contestants) participants needed to give away the Chipper Jones signed jersey. If everybody that played this last week can recruit four new players, we'll give the jersey away to this week's winner so spread the word about Beat the Blogger so we can reach our goal.

As some of you may have heard, the Blogger was able to get a hold of a great, authentic MLB jersey signed by 2008 NL batting champion and future HOFer Chipper Jones (estimated value:$425) and he would love to give it away to one lucky Beat The Blogger winner so he's putting out the following challenge to you: Spread the word about the contest to your friends, family, co-workers or basically anybody with access to a computer, and if we can recruit enough entrants to push the weekly total over the 300 mark, the Chipper Jones jersey will then be given to the weekly winner during that week. If everyone of our regular players can get 5 new players on board, we'll make our goal and the jersey will become available.

Monday, May 04, 2009 2:47:04 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [1]

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Beat The Blogger Picks
Posted by Tuff Stuff

As some of you may have heard, the Blogger was able to get a hold of a great, authentic MLB jersey signed by 2008 NL batting champion and future HOFer Chipper Jones (estimated value:$425) and he would love to give it away to one lucky Beat The Blogger winner so he's putting out the following challenge to you: Spread the word about the contest to your friends, family, co-workers or basically anybody with access to a computer, and if we can recruit enough entrants to push the weekly total over the 300 mark, the Chipper Jones jersey will then be given to the weekly winner during that week. If everyone of our regular players can get 5 new players on board, we'll make our goal and the jersey will become available.

Until we reach that total, we we'll continue to give away authentic signed 8-by-10 color photos featuring athletes such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Drew Brees and Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, among others. Of course to win any of the great weekly prizes you must first Beat The Blogger and post the highest score for the week.
This week's Beat The Blogger matchups are MLB heavy because of the uncertain matchups involving teams in the NBA and NHL Playoffs but we did manage to break up it up a little by adding one NHL wager and one NASCAR pick in the mix. As always good luck and don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick on the matchup you are most confident in to receive an extra point if you pick correctly.

We still have a few days before this week's deadline and we're off to a good start but it doesn't look like we're going to reach our goal of more than 300 entries in this week's contest. So get out there and start recruiting some new players so we can get past the 300 mark and allow everybody a chance to win the Chipper Jones signed jersey.

To enter our Daily Sweepstakes and have another chance to win some great sports memorabilia, click here.

Here's The Blogger's picks for the week:
Saturday
MLB
Cleveland vs. Detroit: More combined runs in innings 1-3, 4-6 or 7-9? (4-6)
N.Y. Mets vs. Philadelphia: Which pitching staff will combined for more strikeouts? (Mets)
Oakland vs. Seattle: Which team will win? (Seattle)
Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh: Combined 5 runs or less or 6 or more? (6 or more)
Houston vs. Atlanta: Which team will win? (Houston)
Boston vs. Tampa Bay: Which team will combine for more doubles? (Boston)
Sunday
Florida vs. Chicago Cubs: Which team will hit more home runs? (Chicago)
Arizona vs. Milwaukee: More combined stolen bases? (Arizona)
NASCAR
Who will win this week's Sprint Cup Series race in Richmond: Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson or the rest of the field? (the field)
NHL
Anaheim vs. Detroit: Which team will win? (Detroit, doubler)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:10:20 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [29]

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Beat The Blogger Matchups
Posted by Tuff Stuff

Until we reach that total, we we'll continue to give away authentic signed 8-by-10 color photos featuring athletes such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Drew Brees and Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, among others. Of course to win any of the great weekly prizes you must first Beat The Blogger and post the highest score for the week.
This week's Beat The Blogger matchups are MLB heavy because of the uncertain matchups involving teams in the NBA and NHL Playoffs but we did manage to break up it up a little by adding one NHL wager and one NASCAR pick in the mix. As always good luck and don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick on the matchup you are most confident in to receive an extra point if you pick correctly.

Here are the official matchups for this week. Make sure you get your picks posted 1/2 hour before the start of the first game on Saturday to be eligible to win. For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple: Select your winners and post them under the matchups post you see here. If you can Beat The Blogger's score (Blogger picks posted on Thursday) and post the highest total for the week, you win an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo. If nobody beats the Blogger's total for the week, the prize doubles and we try again the following week. It's just that easy so join in on the fun because there's no better place to win great sports memorabilia than on www.tuffstuff.com. If you would like a chance to win those same photos every day, click here and play our Daily Sweepstakes. Good luck.

Saturday
MLB
Cleveland vs. Detroit: More combined runs in innings 1-3, 4-6 or 7-9?
N.Y. Mets vs. Philadelphia: Which pitching staff will combined for more strikeouts?
Oakland vs. Seattle: Which team will win?
Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh: Combined 5 runs or less or 6 or more?
Houston vs. Atlanta: Which team will win?
Boston vs. Tampa Bay: Which team will combine for more doubles?
Sunday
Florida vs. Chicago Cubs: Which team will hit more home runs?
Arizona vs. Milwaukee: More combined stolen bases?
NASCAR
Who will win this week's Sprint Cup Series race in Richmond: Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson or the rest of the field?
NHL
Anaheim vs. Detroit: Which team will win?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7:46:41 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [51]

Monday, April 27, 2009

Not So Deep Thoughts: Present But Not Accounted For
Posted by Tuff Stuff

As some of you may know, I attended the Hawaii Trade Conference last week and I came back with a much better idea of how much the economic depression is affecting the industry than before I left.

While the sluggish market has hurt everyone involved in the collectibles industry, it certainly appears as though some have been hurt more than others. If the Trade Conference is any indication and things are as they appear, I predict we may have a new top dawg in the card making business within the next couple years. Upper Deck, Topps, Press Pas TOPPS 4C.jpg

s and the new kids on the block with all the familiar faces, Panini, were all in attendance, but some definitely made more of an impact and impression than others.

For example, at a Trade Conference such as this, the card companies are basically there to promote their new products, outline their initiatives for the future, discuss and receive feedback on current issues and to schmooze with the various dealers and distributors on hand. During the four-day event, each card company will typically host/sponsor an event or two, where they toot their own horns a little while creating a buzz for their latest new products or online options. But because of the economy, every one of the companies were forced to curtail their spending for such events and a lot of the frills were eliminated from this year's event all around. Despite the economic crunch, I left the conference feeling like Upper Deck, Press Pass and Panini by Donruss, as I refer to them, had all weathered the storm better than the Topps Co. had.

$10000.jpg

While its impossible to gauge a company's financial situation based upon a what you see at four-day Trade Conference, it certainly appears as though the company-wide cutbacks we've all been dealing with have hit the oldest card maker the hardest. Out of respect, I won't go into details that help support my UPPER DECK NEW logo.jpg

point but let's just say, it appeared as though some of the companies spent a lot more time and effort trying to reach out to their customers than some others did. While this could all be misconception on my part or maybe it was just a case of some placing a higher value on the Trade Conference than others, it was clear that not all of the companies on hand came in thinking the event was all that important. And while I wasn't privy to any of the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing or one-on-one meetings with the various dealers and distributors, judging by the lack of presentations and the lack of personnel on hand, the Trade Conference appeared to just be an afterthought for some.

I on the other hand, believe that in times like this its even more important to put on a smiling face and put your best foot forward, even if you might be holding back tears on the inside. But hey, that's just me.

Monday, April 27, 2009 9:31:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [5]

Beat The Blogger Results
Posted by Tuff Stuff

Despite some rescheduling of pitchers and some matchups that ended as ties, three different contestants managed to get seven correct answers to tie for the top spot in this week's Beat The Blogger Contest.
Paul Sherman, Michael Mahnke and Martin Sonsky each scored 7 points to tie for the top spot this week and all three will be receiving an authentic signed 8-by-10 photo for their efforts. CHIPPER JONES PHOTO.jpg

Just to clarify, Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett each had three strikeouts so Question No. 4 was a push; San Francisco pitcher Tim Lincecum was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday so Question No. 5 was tossed out and neither Philadelphia nor Florida hit a home run in their game so Question No. 7 was also a push. The Blogger was vowed to prepare matchups with less chances of being switched after being posted in an effort to give contestants a shot to answer all 10 questions and post a perfect score of 11 if they can hit on their Doubler so stay tuned.

This week's matchups will be posted later this week and don't forget to start spreading the news about the Beat The Blogger Contest to your friends, family, co-workers and anybody else who likes winning great sports memorabilia for free. If we can push the total number of entries to more than 200 people, The Blogger will swap out the regular weekly prize for an authentic MLB jersey signed by All-Star Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves. If all of our regular entrants can recruit 3-5 new contestants, we'll easily go over the 200 minimum requirement and one lucky entry will walk away with a jersey of a likely future Hal of Famer

The rest of last week's matchups went as follows:

Saturday (NBA)

Denver vs. New Orleans More assists: Chauncey Billups or Chris Paul? (Paul)

San Antonio vs. Dallas More 3-pointers (Dallas)

Atlanta vs. Miami More points Joe johnson or Dwyane Wade (Wade)

MLB

NY Yankees vs. Boston More strikeouts AJ Burnett or Josh Beckett (Push)

San Francsico vs. Arizona More strikeouts Tim Lincecum or Max Scherzer (Tossed out, DNP)

Sunday

NASCAR Higher finishing position at Talledaga: Dale Earnhardt Jr or Jeff Gordon (Earnhardt)

MLB Florida vs. Philadelphia More Home runs (Push)

Texas vs Baltimore More total bases: Nick Markakis or Josh Hamilton (Markakis)

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Winner (Cubs)

Pittsburgh vs. San Diego combined run total: 5 or less or 6 or more (6 or more)

Monday, April 27, 2009 2:41:33 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Friday, April 24, 2009

Beat The Blogger Picks
Posted by Tuff Stuff

The following are the Blogger's picks for this week's Beat The Blogger contest. After an embarrassing total of 4 last week, the Blogger has vowed to bounce back strong so please bring your A-game or don't bother.

As always, make sure you get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday and make sure you designate a "Doubler" to earn an extra point if your pick is correct. It could mean the difference between winning and losing. Good luck, spread the word and thanks for playing.

Saturday (NBA)

Denver vs. New Orleans More assists: Chauncey Billups or Chris Paul? (Paul)

San Antonio vs. Dallas More 3-pointers (Dallas)

Atlanta vs. Miami More points Joe johnson or Dwyane Wade (Wade)

MLB

NY Yankees vs. Boston More strikeouts AJ Burnett or Josh Beckett (Burnett) (Doubler)

San Francsico vs. Arizona More strikeouts Tim Lincecum or Max Scherzer (Lincecum)

Sunday

NASCAR Higher finishing position at Talledaga: Dale Earnhardt Jr or Jeff Gordon (Gordon)

MLB Florida vs. Philadelphia More Home runs (Phillies)

Texas vs Baltimore More total bases: Nick Markakis or Josh Hamilton (Markakis)

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Winner (Cubs)

Pittsburgh vs. San Diego combined run total: 5 or less or 6 or more (6 or more)

Friday, April 24, 2009 9:50:37 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [4]

Beat The Blogger Results
Posted by Tuff Stuff

First off, I'd like to apologize for being late with last week's results from the Beat The Blogger contest but for our two lucky winners, it should be worth the wait. "Johnny G" and "Harry" each scored 10 of a possible 11 points to share the top spot and win the weekly prize. CHIPPER JONES PHOTO.jpg

In case you haven't posted your picks for this week's contest, the matchups are posted and the first game doesn't start until Saturday so make sure you get in before it's too late. Also, don't forget to designate the pick your most confident in as your "Doubler" to receive and extra point if you're correct, it could be the difference between winning and coming in second.

I recently got a hold of an authentic signed Chipper Jones jersey and I will be giving it away to the winner of an upcoming Beat The Blogger Contest. Of course, to give away a great prize like that, we'll need to boost the number of participants as well so make sure you start spreading the news about the weekly contest and stay tuned for more details about this great giveaway. I'll have more details coming soon.

Friday, April 24, 2009 2:52:21 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [1]

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Hawaii Trade Conference Updates
Posted by Tuff Stuff

At Wednesday's Meet The Industry event Topps presented its upcoming product lineup for the remainder of the year which will mark the return of a couple collector favorites. Clay Luraschi, Topps director of product development, said the idea behind the 2009 new releases was to "turn the focus back to collecting sets instead of having collectors prospecting for the one big hit."

Upcoming products releases included:

2009 Allen & Ginter Baseball which now guarantees three hits and baseball highlight sketch cards; 2009 American Heritage Heroes Edition which will feature cards of 125 heroic figures from American History; 2009 Triple Threads baseball featuring cards from the recently completed World Baseball Classic; 2009 Topps Ticket To Stardom Baseball which will feature tickets from MLB postseason games, and tickets from the final season at Yankee and Shea Stadiums; 2009 Topps Unique Baseball (Letters, Logos, Laundry Tags) which is a new product with a low-price point; 2009 Topps T-206 Baseball which will commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the T-206 set and the famous Honus Wagner card; 2009 Topps Football, a 440-card set featuring 110 NFL rookies; 2009 Topps Magic Football, which is Topps' first entry into collegiate players since the 1950s; 2009 Topps Mayo Football, a newly designed 330-card set; 2009 Topps UFC, which features a new lowered price point and more autographs of the UFC stars; 2009-10 Bowman '48 Basketball, which honors the 1948 Bowman style and design and 2009-10 Topps Basketball.

Because this is Topps last year producing basketball sets, Luraschi said the company's 2009-10 Basketball product will be loaded with plenty of extras, as the company attempts to deplete its basketball supplies.

The afteroon session of the show featured the Upper Deck portion of the Meet The Industry session focused on the company's 2009 Initiatives and brief descriptions of their new product releases for the rest of the year. Upper Deck senior product development manager Karvin Chueng said the company is focused on "Delivering more products with a lower SRP to the marketplace with a renwed emphasis on set collecting."

The company will still produce several high-end products such as the widely popular Exquisite brand but will shift its focus to producing more set-building products with more bang for the buck. Other areas of concentration for Upper Deck in 2009 will be improving communication within the hobby after a product has launched; creating a new area for dealer feedback on products on its website and creating valuable hits in its products without the focus on autographs and game-used materials.

UD products set to be released during the remainder of the year are as follows:

2009 MLB Ballpark Collection: A late-summer, early fall release with the same structure as the 2008 version but the cards will now be serial numbered as many collectors had requested.

2009 MLB Goodwin Champions: A set built around its impressive artwork and design which will feature DNA relic cards.

2009 MLB Icons: Set features 30 different RCs and the popular Letterman inserts which now feature a group of non-sport celebrities.

2009 MLB O-Pee-Chee: A 600-card set with a 500-card base set that will be "loaded with inserts" and will be geared toward set builders.

2009 Icons Football: Similar to the popular 2008 version and now guaranteeing two Letterman cards per box.

2009 Philadelphia Football: Based after the 1964 set, this product will feature a similar design to the original and will feature an oversized subset of cards.

2008-09 Exquisite Basketball: This high-end product will now feature a redesigned vertical format and will also carry the new Kobe Bryant Career Portfolio cards.

Attendee quotes:

Cecil Laborde of Jason's Sports Cards in Baton Rouge, LA.: "This was our sixth Trade Conference and we're leaving with a good feeling about where the hobby is headed. The show was very informative and was held in the perfect place. There was a lot of information for those who attended and I like the direction where the hobby appears to be headed. It was a smaller group this year but quality people all around."

Brian Bauman, a distributor at Great American in New York: "There was a lot of optimism among this group and I think that's a good sign for the hobby. I think people are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything at the show was professionally handled and well run and the atmosphere was great."

Dan Fox of Fox Sports Cards & Collectibles in Marion, Ill.: "To be honest, I had a little apprehension coming in about what direction the card companies were headed but I'm leaving with cautious optimism. I liked the fact the big three card companies are gravitating toward set building again and talked about limiting sale prices and such. I thanked the people at Panini for quieting are fears about what they would be doing and they assured us that they would be moving forward much as Donruss would have but with the Panini name now. I think the conference was very beneficial to everybody who attend it. This was my third conference and I'm taking back a lot of new information with me and I feel better about the direction we're headed after having heard the company's presentations.

The Hawaii Trade Conference is winding down with the closing reception the only remaining event on the docket. For those who were unable to attend, I highly reccomend signing on for next year's event. This was my first conference and even though I work in the industry and report industry news every day, I found out a lot of information that could only be gathered here. Learing the inside operational side of teh card companies was very informative and interesting and finding out the particulars of newcomer Panini was also very helpful as they move forward. Connecting with dealers and distributors is a must at a show of this nature and as is the case with many live events, you can usually find out more than you otherwise could in the relaxed atmosphere that the conference provides. I look forward to many more Hawaii Trade Conference shows in the future and hope to see you there as well. I hope you enjoyed the recaps from the event and I hope everything you read will help motivate you to attend the event in person next year.

Scott Fragale
Editor
Tuff Stuff magazne
tuffstuff.com
1.800.726.9966

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 9:16:25 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [0]

Hawaii Trade Conference Updates
Posted by Tuff Stuff

Had a few guest speakers to start off the festivities today with F&W Media's Director of E-Business Development, Tim Langlitz kicking things off by discussing a variety of ways to maximize your website and generate successful e-mail marketing campaigns.

Some of the suggestions discussed during his presentation were how websites need to be ever-changing and constantly updated. Unlike books, magazines and other physical titles, websites need to be updated as much as possible and should never be left stagnant or viwers will find alternative sites and traffic will be minimal. Other suggestions included not being afraid to try new ideas and options on your sites and never be afraid to fail because much of what you do on the web is trial and error but the key is to learn from your mistakes.

SportsCardForum president Mike Silvia was next up and offered tips on how to build the traffic on your website and information on how to make your site relavant on search engines such as Google and other similar sites. He pointed out why its so important to get involved in online sports card communties. He added how its also important to blend the physical world (eg. store sales, magazine advertising) with the digital world (eg. websites, online communities, forums, blogs etc.).

Silvia emphasized why its so important to utilize online communities with examples being: little or no fees atatched to using the service; thousands of customers at your disposal; not being restricted to local customers; you can interact and negotiate with your customers; you can conduct polls and research information and target your marketing efforts and you you get to today's youth who are web savvy.

Silvia, who's site receives more than 11,000 unique visitors each day, also provided a top-10 list of how to be successful online which is as follows:

1. Be active in online communties, grapevine with other online sports card forums, sites etc. and make sure you promote your events online

2. Build up your affiliates/partners, use reciprocal links and partner with other sites.

3. Traffic conversions for affiliate/advertising programs

4. Produce original high-quality content

5. Optimize your site (Google)

6. Use social bookmarking sites and social networking sites such as Digg.com, stumbleupon.com, Buzz.yahoo.com and Facebook and Twitter, etc..

7. Research other sites and mimmick their success

8. Offer more and be different from other sites

9. Create a user-friendly site with corresponding newsletter system

10. Don't fear the Internet, embrace it.

Later today I will have updates from the card companies (Topps, UD and Panini) that will detail their product release schedules for teh coming year including new products and the return of some of your favorite classic sets. Stay Tuned.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 4:34:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Beat The Blogger Matchups
Posted by Tuff Stuff

I'm down in Florida for the annual Hawaii Trade Conference so I haven't been able to post the results from last week's contest but I will do so on Friday when I return. In the meantime, I thought I'd set everyone up with the matchups for this week's Beat The Blogger contest and keep things rolling.

As always, make sure you get your picks posted before the start of teh first game on Saturday and make sure you designate a "Doubler" to earn an extra point if your pick is correct. Good luck and thanks for playing.

Saturday (NBA)

Denver vs. New Orleans More assists: Chauncey Billups or Chris Paul?

San Antonio vs. Dallas More 3-pointers

Atlanta vs. Miami More points Joe johnson or Dwyane Wade

MLB

NY Yankees vs. Boston More strikeouts AJ Burnett or Josh Beckett

San Francsico vs. Arizona More strikeouts Tim Lincecum or Max Scherzer

Sunday

NASCAR Higher finishing position at Talledaga: Dale Earnhardt Jr or Jeff Gordon

MLB Florida vs. Philadelphia More Home runs

Texas vs Baltimore More total bases: Nick Markakis or Josh Hamilton

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Winner

Pittsburgh vs. San Diego combined run total: 5 or less or 6 or more

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 2:08:31 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [33]

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