Restraining Order?

A new rumor has just come out on the Blowout Cards Forum. Supposedly, a restraining order has been place on all new Upper Deck Baseball products related to an infringement on Major League Baseball Properties and Topps exclusive license on the trademarks.

Anyone know more about this?

Has MLBP filed a cease and desist order or have they only, so far, asked wholesalers to stop selling the product?

As you may know, the newly release 2009 Upper Deck Ultimate includes some cards with photos that clearly show team emblems. This would seem to be in violation of the exclusive license signed between MLBP and Topps. See some examples below.

A Sterling 2009 Jackie

Topps just released their high-end Baseball card product called 2009 Sterling and, already, the key Dodger find is up on eBay. It's a Jackie Robinson triple-patch auto "1 of 1" card. Awesome, just awesome. Already it is over $1,500.00 in heavy bidding.

BTW, these boxes (which usually has just about 5 cards in it) will run you over $200 each so they certainly aren't for the weak at heart.

Ultimate Dodgers

Upper Deck recently released their 2009 Ultimate Baseball product (a little strange considering it's already 2010, but I digress) and it has already proven to consist of some incredible cards. Check out the video below to see what I mean.

Now keep in mind that boxes will run for about $85.00 - $95.00 for just 4 cards. So they aren't cheap.

Of course, who cares about Beckham and Jeter found on the video above on this blog, so let me get to some Dodgers I found on eBay last night.The above Kemp card is a quad-patch card with a Kemp signature. I really like the "Ultimate Inscription" card of Kemp the best, though. "Go Dodgers."
Here is a James Loney large patch card..

Upper Deck and Konami Settle

Have you ever gone through a jury selection process, been selected to sit on the jury, listen to opening arguments, even hear a bit of the questioning and answering, and then be summarily dismissed the next day. I have and it sucks. Not because you get to go home earlier than expected- that was the only good thing. It sucked because I had mentally prepared myself to lay judgment and was denied the opportunity to sit with my peers to make that decision. I felt like my job was not done.

Well, this is kind of what happened in the trial between Konami and Upper Deck earlier this week.

News has come indicating that the Upper Deck vs. Konami lawsuit is over and a settlement has been made- specifics not disclosed. Surprisingly, Upper Deck later on declares victory.

I say surprisingly because one thing is clear.

Last month, United States District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank ruled that Upper Deck counterfeited over 600,000 cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, and was liable to the Japanese company for damages.

So, the trail that had started with jury selection and opening statements was only about what amount of damages would be due to Konami, not whether Upper Deck was wrong in its actions.

Anyway, Upper Deck released the following statement post settlement.

Upper Deck is pleased to announce that it has come to a successful resolution with Konami over their year-long dispute regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards. On the eve of trial, the court issued several rulings in Upper Deck’s favor which eliminated and gravely threatened many of Konami’s monetary claims requests. These rulings sent Konami and its attorneys into retreat as Konami’s case was disintegrating. These events, and these events alone, provided the framework for the case to be resolved after opening statements were presented to the jury.

Read the rest here. I'm curious what rulings Upper Deck says hurt Konami's damages claims. Anyway, as has been already reported on Beckett.com Upper Deck is to make it's first multimillion dollar payment on Friday (today?).

Unfortunately for Upper Deck their time in the courtroom will probably not be over as Major League Baseball Properties has already thrown out an opening salvo in a oncoming licensing dispute. I'll be sure to write more about this upcoming Baseball card war.

Great Italian Dodgers In a Great Italian Set

As the saying goes, America is a nation of immigrants. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that a game filled with many nationalities became known as America's game.

Baseball has defined us. It was a creation born of another game from a foreign land. American ingenuity at its best. It helped a country during a time of strife as soldiers on both sides of the Civil War played it to pass the time. Proof of it's ability to unify. Immigrants seeking roads paved with gold instead found themselves embracing the game. Baseball is a symbol of our melting pot.

So, a card set that celebrates an ethnic group that helped us enjoy the game shouldn't be a surprise. The Order of the Sons of Italy and the National Ethnic Heritage Foundation have come together to create a 100 card set featuring great Italians in Baseball.

A big thanks to Trader Crack's for finding the below set for us to enjoy. Go here to see them all and to make a donation to get a complete set.

Below are the great Italian Dodgers.

Joe Torre

Steve Sax

Mike Piazza

Tommy Lasorda

Carl Furillo

Roy Campanella

Ralph Branca

Hearing From Jerry Reuss

For one of my favorite blogs, Night Owl Cards, he got a bit of a surprise recently when his favorite player of all-time responded to a post. I must say that I'm a little jealous. Jerry Reuss was one of my favorites also. Check out his post here.

What is even better is that Reuss pointed to a couple of sites worth checking out. Here is a link for his personal website at JerryReuss.com and a flickr page featuring pics of his Baseball cards from his 20+ years of professional Baseball.

In Reuss's honor, Night Owl Cards is running a poll asking what is his best card. Go here to vote. I personally like his 1984 Topps card. After all, he is wearing Dodger Blue and it features his very identifiable windup I grew up watching as a young Dodger fan.BTW, in doing some minor research for this post I came across a fascinating story about Jerry Reuss. From a 1975 story in People Magazine:

When pitcher Jerry Reuss took his wife, Ann, on the Pittsburgh Pirates' final swing to the West Coast last season, the management nicked him with a $500 fine. Jerry, to be sure, had paid for her commercial flight (spouses are non grata on the team charter jet) and the extra hotel tab, but still had violated a Pirate regulation. As a result, in a sport built on arcane records, Reuss came up with a new one for the book: he was the first player to file a grievance action to establish the right to sleep with his own wife.

Read the rest of the article here. It goes deep into the difficulties a Baseball life can have.