Come out and Play

Ross Baumgarten
Pitcher, Chicago White Sox
1981 Topps #398

Topps Fact: Picked up victory in Major League debut, Aug 16, 1978.
GMT Fact: A year later he starred as Vermin in The Warriors.


About Vermin (From fringeunderground.com): If The Warriors were The White Shadow, Vermin would be Salami. He's white, horny and in charge of making sure the gang gets where they need to go. Being that he looks roughly 10 years older—and 20 pounds heavier—than any other "kid" in the film, Vermin's claim to fame is a freeze-frame moment when his stunt double gets thrown against the subway bathroom wall and shatters the mirror. Well, that and having more hair on his chest than every gang in the film combined.

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Zorn Star

Jim Zorn
Quarterback, Seattle Seahawks
1981 Topps #125

Topps Fact: Jim has learned to play the violin.
GMT Fact: More recently, Daniel Snyder taught him to master the 'Skin flute.

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SI Reflects on the Begining of the End

Last week Topps put its proverbial foot on Upper Deck's throat. This week, SI takes a look at the story behind the card that became the Alpha and Omega of the sports card industry.

The Last Iconic Baseball Card

Twenty years ago one teenager made a bet on the stardom of another teen, whose rookie card would become one of a kind. It would also signal the beginning of the end of a once-thriving industry

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Paul Lukas at the National Sports Collector Convention

Uni Watch's Paul Lukas highlights some of the most interesting collectables at the National Sports Collector Convention.

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NYT: Topps Gets Exclusive Deal With Baseball, Landing a Blow to Upper Deck

Via Watchdog's Neil Best at Newsday:

Interesting story by Sandomir of the Times regarding MLB signing an exclusive deal with Topps for baseball card rights.

I had forgotten people still buy baseball cards, although apparently much less of them than they used to.

For those of you too young to remember the early 1990s, the baseball card market was a really big deal in the period preceding the Beanie Baby, real estate and Twitter bubbles.

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