Special Release Bulletin

In last week’s “Collector’s Edition” newsletter I promised to let you know more about the 2008 Series 1 Footy Card releases for both AFL and NRL.

Well I’ve now got that information to share with you!

2008 Select NRL Champions will be released on Friday, 7 March 2008.

2008 Select AFL Champions will be released on Friday, 14 March 2008.

Not long to wait…

Before we get into it… do you remember that last week I speculated on what I thought would be offered as part of the Series 1 releases in both the AFL and NRL?

Want to do a quick recap and see how accurate my “crystal ball ” was???

Here are the results for my AFL Predictions:

Prediction #1:
Select will continue to call Series 1 “Champions” for a third year running.

Result: Correct!
As I mentioned above, Series 1 is called…
2008 AFL Select Champions

Prediction #2:
The price will remain at $2.95 per packet, which will get you 7 common cards plus 1 holographic foil card.

Result: Spot on.
Base set of 195 cards, featuring 12 cards for each of the 16 teams and 3 checklist cards.

Prediction #3:
Select will run with the holographic foiled cards again, which will run in parallel to the common set (same images but with a holographic effect again).

Result: I should become a clairvoyant!

Prediction #4:
Foil PRINTED Signatures will be retained as they were in 2007. The set would include 6 players per team inserted 1 card in every 4 packs on average. This would make a 96 card subset.

Result: Almost perfect.

Everything was spot on with the exception of one small point. In 2007 the printed signatures were in GOLD foil. This year they will be in BLUE foil.

Prediction #5:
AFL Stars Sketch Cards will appear again. Still 2 players per team inserted 1 card in every 9 packs which would be a 32 card subset.

Result: This is too easy.
Full marks again! I can feel my head swelling in size.

Prediction #6:
Basic Draft Rookie Cards featuring players from the 2007 National Draft will probably be inserted 1 card per Box again — but they won’t be signed… just a photo.

Result: Nailed it… but I did get one small surprise.
There are 17 cards in this subset… I was only expecting to see 16.

Prediction #7:
Acetate Gem Cards will return again in 2008. One player from each club, inserted 1 card per Box.

Result: Good, but not perfect.
Select have added a twist to this card in 2008. The card features the head of a player and the cartoon body of the club mascot! They are called an Acetate Mascot Gem Card.

Pretty accurate don’t you think?

One area I forgot to make a prediction on was the Case Cards. The 2008 AFL Champions Series will include 300 Game Case Cards for:

• David Neitz
• Kevin Murray, and
• Barry Round.

Let’s move on now to see how my NRL Predictions went:

Prediction #1:
Select will stick with “Champions” for the Series 1 release again.

Result: Correct again!
As I mentioned at the start of this email, Series 1 is called…
2008 NRL Select Champions

Prediction #2:
Again, the price will remain at $2.95 per packet, getting you 7 common cards plus 1 holographic foiled card.

Result: Right again.
Base set of 195 cards, featuring 12 cards for each of the 16 teams and 3 checklist cards.

Prediction #3:
Holographic foil cards will again run in parallel to the common set, but it might not include all the checklists.

Result: Yes, and no.
The Holographic foil parallel subset is back… and it includes the checklists!

Prediction #4:
I was really hopeful the NRL again didn’t get the PRINTED signatures (just as they didn’t in 2007) because I feel it’s a little misleading and very confusing, but I had a feeling they COULD be included.

Result: My gut was right.
Printed signatures ARE in for 2008. Gold foil printed signatures, NOT REAL signatures, printed ones.

Unlike the AFL set, the NRL will feature 3 players per club and will be inserted 1 card in every 6 packs on average. This makes a subset of 48 cards.

Prediction #5:
More NRL Stars Sketch Cards, 2 players per team, inserted 1 card in every 9 packs again.

Result: Two thirds right.
They ARE back and there ARE 2 players per team. They will be a little harder to find in 2008 because they are now randomly inserted 1 card in every 12 packs.

Prediction #6:
The Award Winner Cards will make another appearance, featuring winners from the 2007 Dally M Awards.

Result: My first BIG miss. No points for this one.
No Award Winner cards at all.

It appears Select have gone with the Gold Foil Printed Signature cards instead of the Award Winners.

Prediction #7:
Acetate Gem Cards will make another return featuring one player from each club again, inserted 1 card per Box.

Result: So close.

The NRL set includes the Acetate Mascot Gem Cards just like the AFL. The cards feature the head of a player and the cartoon body of the club mascot. The insertion ratio has also been reduced so more will be available. 1 card every 18 packets in 2008.

Again, I forgot to consider the Case Cards for 2008.

The 2008 NRL Champions Series feature 200 Game Case Cards for:

• Danny Buderus
• Nathan Hindmarsh, and
• Brett Hodgson

There you have it. The results of my fearless predictions for Series 1 in 2008.

I surprised myself with my accuracy.

Did you think I would be that close?

What would you have liked to see in the Series 1 release?

I was VERY hopeful that Select would include a few Signature Redemption cards in these releases.

Including something scarce and valuable like this would reward all the collectors who fork out their hard earned money to collect every set of Footy Cards that Select release. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be in 2008.

At least there is always Series 2 which is only a couple of months away (approximately June 2008).

That raises another good question.

What would YOU like to see in the Series 2 release later in the year?

Add your comments below and share your thoughts with everyone else.

As always… as soon as we receive a copy of the Promotional Flyer we will post it on our site. We haven’t received them yet, but it’s only a matter of days.

We will put the AFL version will be here:
http://www.footystars.com.au/Free_Stuff/AFL2008ChampionsFlyer.pdf

And the NRL version will be here:
http://www.footystars.com.au/Free_Stuff/NRL2008ChampionsFlyer.pdf

And finally, before this Special Release Bulletin is completed, one final reminder…

We will not be stocking the Champions Series cards.

I explained my reasons in last week’s newsletter, but in case you have a memory like a gold fish, click here to read the article.

Even though we won’t be stocking the Champions Series we do still have the full range of Ultra Pro Accessories to help you keep your collection in mint condition IF you do choose to collect the Champions series.

Chances are you will want Top Loaders, Premium Card Sleeves, or even 9 pocket pages. You can find them all (plus loads more) by clicking here…

All the best,

Ian

They are here…

The 2007 AFL Supreme Series cards are released today and have just been added to our store so you can now be first in line to order the cards you want for your collection — on the day they get released no less!

As we mentioned in our last email we have just reduced ALL our Team Sets to the one low price of $5.99

That’s right, regardless of whether you want the 2005, 2006 or 2007 team sets you can now get them for just $5.99 each.

We also lowered the complete set prices to $39 for ALL Base Sets, including the 2007 AFL Supreme series which is released today. It’s the easiest way to get the entire collection without the fuss.

To take a look at all the new items just click on any of the links below because they will take you directly to what you want to see.

If you want to see the Team Sets… click here

For Complete Sets… click here

If you want to get a Factory Sealed Box of the 2007 AFL Supreme click here

If you get a Factory Sealed Box, you had best get yourself some Ultra Pro Accessories… see what you need here

Based on the HUGE demand for the three Folder options from NRL fans we’ve decided we will do the same for AFL fans.

1. You can get the Official 2007 AFL Supreme folder on it’s own, or
2. You can get the Folder with 22 x Ultra Pro 9 Pocket Pages (with enough room for the Complete base set), or
3. You can get the Folder, 23 x Ultra Pro Pages, the Complete base set, the Promotional Flyer and a set the of Promo cards. That’s everything in one easy purchase.

Click here to make your choice…

We promise to add more items to the store as we find out what cards we “bust out” of the packs.

For the NRL fans we will be adding the Team of the Year cards, and Club Player Cards later this week. AFL Hall of Fame Inserts and All Australians will go up later in the week also… so keep an eye on the site.

Until we catch up again, have a great Monday!

Ian

P.S If you wanted to take a look at the electronic copy of the Flyer to see what the cards look like — you can still view it here:
http://www.footystars.com.au/Free_Stuff/AFL07SupremeFlyer.pdf

I’ve got some good news for you…

The 2007 NRL Invincible Series cards have just been added to our store so you can now be first in line to pre-order the cards you want for your collection — before they even get released!

But even better than that…

We have just reduced ALL our Team Sets to the one low price of $5.99

That’s right, regardless of whether you want the 2005, 2006 or 2007 team sets you can now get them for just $5.99 each.

We’ve also lowered the complete set prices to $39 for ALL Base Sets. It’s the easiest way to get the entire collection without the fuss.

To take a look at all the new items just click on any of the links below because they will take you directly to what you want to see.

If you want to see the Team Sets – including the new Footy Face Jersey Die Cut Team Sets… click here

For Complete Sets… click here

If you want to get a Factory Sealed Box of the 2007 NRL Invincible click here

If you get a Factory Sealed Box, you had best get yourself some Ultra Pro Accessories … see what you need here

For the FIRST TIME we are also offering you three new Folder options.

1. You can get the Official 2007 NRL Invincible folder on it’s own, or
2. You can get the Folder with 22 x Ultra Pro 9 Pocket Pages (with enough room for the Complete base set), or
3. You can get the Folder, 23 x Ultra Pro Pages, the Complete base set, the Promotional Flyer and a set the of Promo cards . That’s everything in one easy purchase.

Click here to make your choice

We promise to add more items to the store once we have received the stock and we know what cards we “bust out” of the packs.

As I mentioned in the newsletter earlier this week… This NRL series is sure to be a winner… and the official release is only days away!

Until we catch up again, have a great weekend!

Ian

P.S If you wanted to take a look at the electronic copy of the Flyer to see what the cards look like — you can still view it here:
http://www.footystars.com.au/Free_Stuff/NRL07InvincibleFlyer.pdf

Arriving today (11 July 2006), is the new Premium NRL Hobby release from Select, known as “Invincible“.

This awesome series includes:

• 182 common cards — 12 per team + 2 checklists
• Jersey Die Cuts — 6 per team
• 10 Top Prospects have signed 500 cards each
• 20 All Star cards
• 15 Premiership Predictor cards
• 15 Legend Die Cuts, plus
• 120 Signature cards for each of:

• Laurie Daley,
• Andrew Johns,
• Johnathan Thurston, and
• Tim Smith.

They’re in the Footy Stars store now at: http://www.footystars.com.au/store/nrl-c-28.html

I am impressed with the Top Prospects signatures in the series. I especially like the Greg Inglis, Milton Thaiday, Dean Young and Robbie Farah cards and know they will be very popular with collectors especially as these guys are just starting to make a name for themselves.

With 500 of each player there’s plenty to go around or everyone.

If you want to see the Promotional Flyer for the 2006 Invincible Series I’ve included it here: http://FootyStars.com.au/Free_Stuff/InvincibleFlyer.pdf

—————
Also arriving later this month…

AFL “Supreme“. The Series 2 release from Select.

Supreme consists of:

• 192 common cards — 12 per team + 2 checklists
• 96 Die Cut Guernsey cards + a Die Cut checklist
• 22 Draft Pick Signature cards — 275 cards each
• 5 Medal cards
• 7 AFL/VFL Premiership cards
• 22 All Australian cards, plus
• 100 Signature cards for each of:

• Gary Ablett
• Graham “Polly” Farmer
• Anthony Rocca
• Scott West, and
• Ben Cousins

With just 100 cards for each player these signatures are sure to be popular.

An exciting addition to the Supreme collection are the 32 Brownlow Predictor cards, where if your Brownlow Predictor matches the Brownlow Medal winner, you are entitled to redeem a limited edition 2006 Brownlow Medallist signature card!

Only 100 of each Brownlow Predictor will be released.

Stay tuned for more details later this month.