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Origami Around
titsay
tannertan36
Peter Solarz
Game of Thrones Daily
i don't do bad sauce passes
AnasAbdin
Love Begins
cherry valley forever
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
NASA
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todays bird
Not today Justin
we're not kids anymore.
noise dept.
DEAR READER
Andulka
Mike Driver
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@nonsportupdate
Our tumblr blog has turned two today, just as the regular blog (nsu-magazine.com) turned two a week or two ago. Our WordPress tumblr plug-in stopped properly worked some time ago so most of our WordPress posts have not made it over here as they should be. Hopefully we'll correctly this soon as otherwise, we'll be celebrating another year of emptiness. LOL
A Bevy of Bettie
The Oct/Nov '12 issue of Non-Sport Update ships next week. Inside are five awesome promos including one for Versicolor Productions' The Bettie Page Private Collection Box 2. Being the master of promo cards, Versicolor has furnished us with no less then ten variations of the The Bettie Page Private Collection Box 2 promo card shown below (featuring art by Richard Pace). The card is numbered BP23-NSU. Most copies will contain the standard version with Versicolor's usual clear spot finish treatment to the Bettie Page logo. For those who seek the thrill of the hunt, here's a rundown of the rest of the promo variations that can be randomly found:
no logo (3)
Gold foil logo (3)
Silver foil logo (2)
Blue foil logo (3)
Red foil logo (3)
Prism finish (3)
Metallic (1)
Metallic Embossed (1)
Embossed (1)
(1) Easiest variation to find (2) Hard-to-find variation (3) Hardest variation to find
Be sure to pick-up a copy of Non-Sport Update for our feature story on The Bettie Page Private Collection 2 as well as other great promo cards including Mars Attack Heritage, DC Comics Batman: The Legend, Quotable Star Trek Voyager, and The Vampire Diaries Season 2.
Kiddie Karnage
Hobby heads will roll this fall with the return of the eyeball-popping, brain blasting antics of the industry’s most celebrated symbols of hammer-to-the-head humor art.
Garbage Pail Kids, a Topps pillar franchise since 1985, returns Oct. 10 in what the manufacturer denotes as Brand New for 2012. The 110-sticker base set is mirrored by multiple parallel issues.
Four other insert collections support the release. Adam Bomb, GPK’s mascot and premier character on packaging and sales literature, is featured in a 10-sticker "Through the Years" subset depicting the impish child in historical (and explosive) settings. Topps’ other inserts are Motion Cards (last seen in a GPK release in 2010’s Flashback product), Mix ’n Match stickers, sketch cards and four color printing plates of each base sticker.
Topps has announced the following sketch card artists will be on-board:
Tom Bunk
Neil Camera
Layron DeJarnette
Brent Engstrom
Mark Pingitore
Joe Simko
Colin Walton
James Warhola
Fred Wheaton
Jeff Zapata
At this writing, the company has not released pack insertion ratios.
It's Nearly Time for Baltimore Comic-Con
Baltimore Comic-Con returns next weekend to the The Baltimore Convention Center. BCC is one of the countries largest Comic-Con and unlike Comic-Con International, New York Comic Con, and some of the Wizard World shows, does not feature Hollywood types or movie studios. What the show does feature (in a huge abundance) is comic books and comic creators. Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating it's 13th year.
We reported on last year's Baltimore Comic-Con here and said while we only found a few dealers selling non-sport cards, we did see many card creators including Edward Cherniga, Chad Ciconni, Jerry Gaylord, Laura Inglis, Kevin Leen, Brian Kong, Bill McKay, Rhiannon Owens, Sara Richard, Uko Smith, Allison Sohn, Bryan Turner, and John Watkins-Chow. According to the show's Artist Alley page, Gaylord, Leen, McKay, Owens, Richard, Smith, Turner, and Watkins-Chow are expected back this year. Others on the list who have worked in trading cards include (but are not limited to): Dennis Budd, Mark Dos Santos, Meghan Hetrick, Jason Kretzer, Mike Lilly, Manny Mederos, Jason Metcalf, Brett Pinson, Bill Pulkovski, Slickaway, and Scott Zambelli. This year's top names include Stan Lee, Neal Adams, John Romita Jr., Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner, and others.
[caption id="attachment_4584" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Artist Sara Richard at the 2011 Baltimore Comic-Con[/caption]
In addition to the show itself, the show boasts a costume contest and other associated events. The Harvey Awards have been presented at the Baltimore Comic-Con since 2006. This year's presentation takes place Saturday night at 8:45 (a cocktail hour and dinner preceeds the awards) at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore. More information on the awards can be found on Baltimore Comic-Con's dedicated Harvey Awards page.
If you live anywhere near Maryland and are looking for a great old-fashioned comic show on a grand scale, head on over to Baltimore Comic on September 8th and 9th.
Further Information: Baltimore Comic-Con
Photo Gallery from 2012 National Sports Collectors Convention
We recently posted a report from The National Sports Collectors Convention. And as we promised at the end of the report, today we bring you a photo gallery of sites seen around the show floor, mainly from our non-sport vantage point. To view at full size, click on the first gallery image and use your computer's arrow keys to advance to the next image (or click on the on-screen arrow).
As noted at the end of the show report, the 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention will take place Jul 31-Aug. 4, 2013 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL (Chicago). More info can be found on The National website.
[nggallery id=41]
NSU Attends Wal-Mart Hunger Games Event
Non-Sport Update was in attendance at the late night Wal-Mart event on Friday night for the release of The Hunger Games on DVD and scored some packs of the exclusive NECA trading cards. The Wal-Mart cards are actually a 24-card extension set, with the general release consisting of 72 cards, an extension set of nine cards that came with the CD soundtrack (numbered 73-81), and now this Wal-Mart extension set numbered 82-105.
[caption id="attachment_4564" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="NECA Hunger Games cards"][/caption]
Random autographs could be found within these packs and Card Talk forum member "Jason00" found one on his second visit to Wal-Mart. His local Wal-Mart could not locate the cards for the event on Friday night. Persistance does pay off as he pulled an autograph of Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson)!
Unfortunately, the event was not well organized as several NSU Card Talk members reported. "Freddy," "Jason00," "miket999," and myself did not see any activity other than having people line up at the customer service counter for the midnight sale of the DVD. However, it was fun to get some exclusive cards and I would certainly like to see more such events in the future; Any cards are better than none!
[caption id="attachment_4565" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Myself and kids at Wal-Mart for The Hunger Games DVD Release"][/caption]
Mat Mayhem
Topps’ WWE 2012, slated for release September 5, features five Best in Class-themed insert sets, three Relic sub-issues, 28 autograph cards and multiple parallel issues.
Additional inserts for the product’s Hobby version include sketch cards by WWE personality Jerry “The King” Lawler, five dual autograph cards and printing plates used to manufacture the base set and Best in Class inserts. Topps guarantees two hits per Hobby box that includes one Shirt Relic along with a WrestleMania 28 Mat Relic or one autograph card.
The foil-stamped 90-card base set’s back narratives are written by WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, pro wrestling’s most prolific author.
The Best In Class chase sets consist of Classic Hall of Famers (35 cards, inserted 1 in 4 packs); Divas Class of 2012 (15, 1 in 4); World Class Events (10, 1 in 6); First Class Champions (20, 1 in 6); and Top Class Matches--C.M. Punk’s Picks (10, 1 in 6).
Within the Relics category, 30 cards comprise the Shirt issue and 25 cards make up WrestleMania 28 Mat Relics. A third collection, Divas Kiss Cards, include lipstick-impressed relics from 10 of WWE’s female superstars.
Three levels of parallel cards augment the Retail and Hobby WWE 2012 releases. The border colors and insert ratio seeding of the parallel configuration are Blue (1 in 6 packs); Gold (1 in 24); and Black (limited to 50 per card example). Platinum parallel cards, printed as unique 1 of 1 specimens, appear as a Hobby version exclusive. Parallel cards will mirror the base set. Shirt Relics and WrestleMania Mat Relics carry Black- and Platinum-bordered parallels.
NECA The Hunger Games Cards Available at Wal-Mart Friday DVD Event!
Wal-Mart stores across the country will be hosting The Hunger Games DVD release with special events parties starting at 11:00 PM tonight (Friday, August 17th). Customers who purchase a DVD will receive a free pack of NECA's The Hunger Games trading cards and randomly inserted into these packs will be autographs from the actors including Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson. A source from NECA indicated that there will be cards exclusive to Wal-Mart included with the original The Hunger Games trading card release.
Non-Sport Update will be on-hand at one of the events so check back for updates, and attend a release party in your area! Locations can be found on Wal-Mart's special Hunger Games page.
[caption id="attachment_4549" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Exclusive The Hunger Games DVD movie gift set with a mockingjay pendant and digital UltraViolet copy, available only at Walmart"][/caption]
A Game of Martians
Steve Jackson Games has announced plans to release a Mars Attacks TCG sometime next year. The game, called Munchkin Apocalypse: Mars Attacks, drops players into the end of the world and challenges them to acquire loot and level up. According to Jackson's press release, "Its humorous text and cartoon art make it only the latest hit game in the best-selling Munchkin line."
"We've always been huge fans of Mars Attacks and itâs been a thrill to see it return in such a big way," said Andrew Hackard, Munchkin Brand Manager for Steve Jackson Games. "The brand's outrageous sci-fi action and off-beat, dark humor will play very well within the World of Munchkin and we can't wait to show fans what we've got in store!"Â Steve Jackson adds "We are going to be completely faithful to the original Mars Attacks concepts. We are going to blow things up without reason or mercy or even very good aim. We will continue until the squashy Earthmen force us back to make a last stand on our dying desert home. Itâs them or us."
Munchkin Apocalypse is an ongoing series from Steve Jackson Games. The Mars Attack cards will be available in 15-card booster packs and will use art from the original 1962 card series. It hits stores next summer.
Cryptozoic Announces Plans for Multiple Part DC Comics The New 52 Sketch Cards
Cryptozoic has revealed their plans for multiple-card, puzzle sketch card sets in the upcoming DC Comics The New 52 Trading Cards. CZE has acquired many two, three, four, and even six-card puzzle sets like those shown below for the new series. Rather then break them up among multiple boxes, the company has also acquired enough sketch cards in total to keep the puzzles together, so no hunting down missing puzzle pieces on eBay, NSU Card Talk, or other sites.
[caption id="attachment_4485" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Two card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Aston Roy Cover"][/caption]
Cryptozoic plans to hand insert the puzzle cards into packs, thus producing hot boxes. "Lucky collectors may find that they have from two to six sketch cards in their box when they open it, making for a nice surprise and a great addition to their collection!" explains Cryptozoic Entertainment's Brand Manager for Trading Cards and Collectibles, Miranda Anderson.
Isn't it nice to know there'll be one less puzzling thing to worry about once DC Comics The New 52 Trading Cards are released next month?
Enjoy the exclusive preview of the multi-card puzzle sketch cards below.
[caption id="attachment_4487" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Two card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Sanna U"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_4488" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Two card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Bien Flores"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_4489" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Two card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Lynne Anderson"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_4490" align="aligncenter" width="487" caption="Six card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Rich Woodall"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_4491" align="aligncenter" width="486" caption="Three card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Aston Roy Cover"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_4492" align="aligncenter" width="486" caption="Three card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Eric Ninaltowski"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_4493" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Two card DC Comics The New 52 puzzle set by Danielle Gransaull"][/caption]
Disney Studios Collectors Cards Series 1
D23, the Official Disney Fan Club, recently announced a new, limited-edition series of trading cards. According to the information on their website each card is an oversized 3' x 4.5' and branded with a gold-foil Disney Studios stamp, and each pack of eight cards includes a limited-edition, individually numbered mini-lithograph, a sericel-inspired translucent card. Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline shared fascinating facts pulled directly from the Archives for the "Behind the Scenes with Becky Cline" cards found in each pack. There are a total of 99 cards in Series One.
While this series was only announced, on August 2nd, the D23-exclusive set (Steamboat Willie, Brave Little Tailer and The Band Concert), which was limited to 1,000, is already sold out. This means that if you weren't among the first 1,000 people to place an order, you won't have the full 99 card set. You'll only be able to get 96 of the 99 cards that are in this series. The remaining 96 cards in the series will be available to the public beginning September 1 at $1.95 for the first pack. After that, packs are $7.95 each + $3.95 shipping/handling. Disney D23 members can purchase a series subscription now. A subscription allows you to receive packs as they are released. Considering how fast the first 1000 packs sold out, it would not surprise me if this series sold out before September 1st.
Mars Attacks Sells Out...More Destruction On The Way!
Topps has announced Mars Attacks Heritage is a sell-out. The product on shelves in your local hobby shops and in dealers inventory is the last of what now appears to be the first wave of 21st century Mars Attacks.
“Based on the pent-up interest, we produced what we felt would be a more than an adequate amount of product," said Ira Friedman, Topps VP Global Licensing. "We were wrong. Demand has far exceeded supply and we are cleaned out!"
So how does Topps react to this major success? Topps isn't giving specifics but Friedman had this to say: "Fans will be pleased to know that 2012 is not just a milestone celebration—it's the first chapter of our Mars Attacks relaunch. Expect some big surprises and keep your eyes to the sky: the invasion is just beginning!"
Gamers Assemble!
Upper Deck Entertainment provided NSU with some exciting news regarding a new Marvel deck building game scheduled for release prior to the holiday season. The company will be sharing the game at Gen Con Indy next weekend.
Even though deck building games are red hot, they currently lack the name recognition and firepower of beloved characters from the Marvel Universe. To remedy that situation, Upper Deck will soon be launching a Marvel-based deck building game currently being called, appropriately enough, Legendary.
As to how the games fuctions, Upper Deck's Jason Brenner had this to report, "Besides popular Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man and Wolverine, the game also features a never-before-seen game engine designed by Devin Low, the former Head Developer of Magic: The Gathering. In Legendary, each player starts with a deck of basic cards and then improves that deck throughout the game by recruiting Marvel’s greatest heroes in an effort to take down evil Marvel super-villains like Sabertooth and Dr. Octopus. Legendary has all the cool combos of a trading card game, but all 500+ cards in the game come in one big box and you build your deck during the game."
For lots more information on this tantilizing new gaming product, visit the Upper Deck site.
July 2012 Steel City Convention Review and Photo Gallery
The Steel City Con was held in Monroeville, PA this past weekend. Billed as Pittsburgh's Toy, Comic and Childhood Collectibles show, it also features celebrity guests who are happy to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans. Celebrity guests for this past weekend's show included Dean Cain, Burt Ward, Verne Troyer, Chandler Riggs and former WWE stars John Morrison and Melina. Aside from the celebrity guests, there are over 500 tables filled with cool merchandise including Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, magazines, movie posters, trading cards, comic books, DVD's, vintage toys, autographs, action figures (including 2012 SDCC exclusive figures) and a lot more. The show also features plenty of cos-players. The next Steel City Con will take place December 7 -9 and guests include Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz. You can find more information at the Steel City Con website.
Thanks to Nathan Schell for providing some of the photos below.
[nggallery id=40]
A Brief History of Olympic Trading Cards
It seems as if no matter what network you are watching, at some point during the televised Olympic coverage there will be a story about Olympic-related collectibles. Most of the time these stories focus on pins. You rarely, if ever, see any of these stories mention trading cards. Part of that may be because it’s not very often that licensed Olympic trading card sets are produced. There are plenty of NBA, MLB and multi-sport trading card sets that have Team USA cards in them, including Upper Deck’s Goodwin Champions and Topps' American Heritage, but as far as sets that focus on the games themselves, there have been less than 10 sets produced. Just in time for tonight's Opening Ceremonies, here's a brief history of what's come so far:
Greatest Olympians (Topps, 1983) This 99-card included cards from sports legends such as Muhammad Ali, Jerry West, Cy Young, Bruce Jenner, Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, George Foreman, Dorothy Hamil and Joe Frazier. You can find sets for around $20.
U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame (Impel, 1991) This is a 90-card set that features many of the same athletes that were in the Topps' release from 1993. Like many cards produced in the early 1990s this set was overproduced and you can find boxes for around $15 - $20 and sets for less than $10.
U.S. Olympicards: 1992 U.S. Olympic Hopefuls (Impel, 1992) This released attempted to capitalize on the excitement of the “Dream Team” and featured cards of Team USA basketball members in most of it’s advertising. This 110-card set didn’t just focus on basketball, other sports were represented as well, although it was released before the Olympics which is why the subtitle included “Hopefulls”. It was also the beginning of trend of including past Olympic stars as well as Olympic hopefuls in card sets. The main reason being that getting the cards in stores during the Olympics requires the cards be produced before the teams are finalized. Autograph cards were randomly inserted which made the set popular, although you can still find unopened boxes for under $30.
US Olympic Champions OlympiCards (Upper Deck, 1996) This set contains 135 base card set plus 44 insert cards. Following the example of the 1992 Impel release, this set contained past Olympic stars as well as athletes who were hoping to make Team USA. Unopened boxes can be found for around $40.
Looney Tunes OlympiCards (Upper Deck, 1996) There are only 45 cards in the base set for this release features Bugs and his pals as athletes in various Olympic sports. Boxes contain 36 packs with 8 cards per pack. There were also insert cards, unopened boxes can be found for under $30.
Centennial Olympic Games (Collect-A-Card, 1996) This 120-card set is more historical and artsy and less athlete based. The fronts of most of the cards feature Olympic sites and posters while the backs list winners of various events such as as the 4 x 100 meter relay races. There are athletes such as Bart Conner and Wilma Rudolph pictured on some of the cards, but for the most part, there is much more poster art. This should be a popular set for those who enjoy Olympic History. Chase cards for this series include 20 pogs, 20 poster cards and 12 torch cards. There are 36 packs in a box and box prices range from $15 - $20. The 120 card base sets sell in the $8 - $15 range. Chase cards range from $5 - $10 each.
US Olympic Team and Hopefulls (Topps, 2012) Hobby boxes promise 3 hits (autograph or memorabilia cards) per box. This is a set filled with insert cards including autographs, relic cards, patch cards and stamps. You can currently find sets for around $10, hobby boxes close to $100, retail boxes $63 and blasters (8 packs) for $20. If any of the athletes have a recording breaking 2012, like Michael Phelps did in 2008, look for the prices to rise on this product.
London 2012 Olympics Official Sticker Collection (Panini, 2012) This collection focuses on the athletes from Great Britain. The set is made up of 250 base cards, 50 glitter foil cards, 40 super foil cards and 10 ultimate foil cards. Unlike the US release, this also includes athletes from the Paro Olympic games. In addition to the stickers, Panini also produced an album to go with the stickers. Unopened boxes can be found for around $60, you can find individual sticker packs for $2 - $3 each.
In addition to the sets listed above, there have also been sets released for individual US Olympic sport teams. In 2000, there were Team USA sets produced for Volleyball, Table Tennis, Softball and Wrestling. When searching for Team USA baseball, be careful as there have been trading card sets produced for Team USA for the World Baseball Classic, not the Olympics. The US Womens Soccer team also has had trading card sets that are related to the World Cup and not the Olympics.
Enjoy the Opening Ceremony and the Games!
EXCLUSIVE! DC Comics: The New 52 Preview
This summer, Cryptozoic Entertainment will release their first DC Comics series entitled DC Comics: The New 52. The series is based on DC Comics' relaunch of its monthly superhero books. One of the highlights of the card series is sure to be the use of all-new, original art. It's been a while in non-sports that a card company has presented a series with completely fresh art for all of the base cards.
Insert cards include foil, die-cut "Lanterns" and lenticular "Work In Progress" cards showing iconic characters as they go from a sketch to full-color images. Cryptozoic will also include random redemption cards which can be redeemed for oversized art cards and six different DC Comics original art pages (how sweet would it be to find one of these?). For more information, be sure to check out New & Noteworthy in the current issue of Non-Sport Update. You can also find more information, including a list of artists for the base cards and participating sketch card artists on the Cryptozoic Entertainment website.
EXCLUSIVE Cryptozoic has give us the five images below to show exclusively to Non-Sport Update blog readers.
Meghan Hetrick-Murante (oversized)
Andy Price
Bianca Thompson
Bob Stevlic
Hanie Mohd
Be sure to look for more DC Comics cards coming from Cryptozoic Entertainment in the near future. CZE's second DC release, DC Comics Batman: The Legend, will be featured on the upcoming Oct/Nov '12 cover of Non-Sport Update, shipping in September.
New Card Review: Cereal Killers – 2nd Series
Who didnât eat cereal as a kid? Who doesnât eat cereal, now? I doâI eat Wheaties (or "Meaties" as Wax Eye would have you believe) every week-day morning. Wax Eye LLC has issued a second series of Cereal Killers in two different configurations. First up is the standard foil box which features a collage of many of the 55 stickers. Boxes contain 24 packs of eight stickers each and an ad sheet. There were two complete sets and a third only missing #33 in our box. The artwork is great and why wouldnât it be with such talented artists as Joe Simko (also the creator of Cereal Killers), Neil Camera, Brent Engstrom, Matthew Kirscht, Mark Pingitore and Fred Wheaton? The last 10 cards are black-and-white Classic Cinema Cereal Cards. My favorite is The Oater Limits. The only disappointment was the ratio of insert cards. There were the promised two of eight Sugar Glitter cards (2:1 box) but none of the nine Silver Spoon Foil (1:2 boxes), three Glow in the Dark (1:2 boxes), or Sketch Cards (1:4). I would have liked to have seen what they looked like.
The second configuration is three miniature cereal boxes, cello-wrapped all together in the same innovative manner as the first Cereal Killers series was packaged. The titles on the boxes are Apple Dracs, Meaties and Count Zombula. I just had to open these to see if I would get other inserts. There are 20 stickers in each box, a piece of Eyeball Gum and two inserts. The base set was missing #6 (there were five doubles) and there were two inserts per box. I got three of the eight Sugar Glitter cards (two were the same as in the regular box) and three of the nine Silver Spoon Foil cards so now I know what these look like. If you love parody, donât miss out on this set. More information about Cereal Killers 2 can be found on their website, wax-eye.com.