Editorial
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/12/merry-christmas-footy-card-collectors/

Footy Card Collectors Tips
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/12/premiership-predictor-redemptions/

Footy Card Spotlight
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/12/limited-edition-boxed-sets/

Bustin’ Out
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/12/factory-sealed-boxes-2009/

Protecting Your Investment
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/12/ultra-pro-card-sleeves/

Sign up to receive your own free subscription to the Footy Stars “Collector’s Edition” newsletter delivered directly to your in box as soon as it’s published — a $47 value — yours FREE! Just click here to subscribe.

With less that 3 weeks until Christmas Emma and I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.

It’s been a huge year both on the football field and off.

The Geelong Cats and the Melbourne Storm again showed us just how dominant they have been over the last few years taking out their respective premierships.

Off the field our nephew Thomas has been undergoing treatment for cancer… and I’m pleased to share the good news he just received…

After comprehensive tests, Tom has just been told there is no evidence of the disease, which is the fantastic news that we had all been waiting for!

The Doctors will still monitor Tom every three months — but the chemo and radiation are now finished. It’s the perfect christmas gift for Tom and his family.

While we’re talking about Christmas gifts… we have just reduced the price of over 350 items in our store including Signature cards, Inserts, Team Sets and more.

Take a look here in the AFL section or here in the NRL section to see if there’s anything you need to complete your collection for Christmas.

We have the last remaining Case of 2009 AFL Pinnacle… which guarantees you a Captain Signature card. If you’re looking for the ultimate Christmas present (for yourself or someone else) you can find details right here:

http://www.footystars.com.au/store/2009-pinnacle-case-p-910128.html

And a personal request from me. We’re currently trying to locate an Unredeemed 2006 Cronulla Sharks Predictor from the NRL Invincible Series. If you have one, or know someone who does, could you please let me know? This is what it looks like:

We trust you enjoy reading this issue of the “Collector’s Edition” newsletter, and hope you have a safe holiday season.

Merry Christmas,

Ian

It’s important that you carefully follow the instructions on the back of the cards.

This year for both AFL and NRL you send your cards to:

Mailguard Services
Locked Bag 11
PO MONA VALE, NSW 2103

We highly recommend you send your Predictors via registered mail for your own peace of mind — these are valuable cards after all.

And remember to send your redemption card with a Stamped Self Addressed Registered Mail envelope. At Footy Stars we encourage you to carefully follow ALL the instructions to avoid disappointment.

We recently received this year’s Predictors back from Select along with the limited edition redemption cards. They are all available to you right now.

Firstly, the most sought after cards are the Mini Premiership Redemption Sets.

The Geelong Mini Premiership Set looks like this:

And the Melbourne Storm Mini Premiership Set looks like this:

Because we redeemed the set of 16 Premiership Predictors we received the extra cards too.

The 16 x NRL Predictors redeemed a Top Try Scorer subset as shown here:

And the 16 x AFL Predictors redeemed a subset of Rookies (one per club from 2008) as shown here:

The Top Try Scorer and AFL Rookies are both available in our store by clicking here:

We also recently redeemed another set of 2008 AFL Classic Predictors and the 2007 Rookie cards they redeemed are also available now here:

Most people collect the card for their favourite team… have you got yours yet? With only a few of each available get in quick… or miss out.

These boxed sets are limited editions with just 2000 sets produced. The images used on each of the 25 cards features action photographs from Grand Final Day.

The Premiership Set features a beautifully presented collectors edition outer sleeve encasing the Ultra Pro 25 card hard case — ensuring your limited edition set maintains its value for many years to come.

These sets make an excellent Christmas gift for any Geelong fan or Storm fan, and at just $35 a set they are excellent value.

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Next month…

Each month we shine the spotlight on one of the most popular cards of the moment… and take a look a what it is that makes it so popular.

If there’s a card that you would like us to put the spotlight on please write to me at ian[AT]FootyStars.com.au with details of the card and why you feel it should be put “in the spotlight”.

What card will it be next issue? You’ll have to wait and see.

Have you ever experienced the thrill of opening a factory sealed box of footy cards? Here’s the perfect opportunity.

We’ve got a limited stock of 2009 NRL Classic Factory Sealed Boxes and 2009 AFL Pinnacle Sealed Boxes available for a new low price of $157 (RRP $178).

For information on what you can find inside a sealed box of 2009 NRL Classic click here to read our article from July:

http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/?p=92

And for information on a sealed box of 2009 AFL Pinnacle click here to read our article from June:

http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/?p=86

===========================

Tell us about your best ever find from bustin’ open packs of footy cards and we might publish it in this newsletter.

Please submit your “Bustin’ Out” story to:
BustinOut[AT]FootyStars.com.au

If you act now and send in your story it might just appear in our next issue…

The sleeve protects your cards from scratches and other surface damage to maintain the card in mint condition.

Card sleeves are really useful for a few reasons:

1. They are extremely affordable at just a few dollars for a packet of 100 sleeves, but even better is the fact that they fit inside Ultra Pro Top Loaders for even more protection.
2. And card sleeves are great for collectors because they are crystal clear and allow you to see both the front and back of your card, maintaining maximum visibility.

Like all Ultra Pro accessories, Card Sleeves are acid free and contain absolutely no PVC, which is important for collectors because it means your cards will be protected for many years to come.

===========================

All the Ultra Pro Accessories mentioned in this newsletter are available at great prices on our website at:

http://www.footystars.com.au/store/ultrapro-c-25.html

Each issue we highlight a different Ultra Pro item, taking a look at who uses it and why, and discussing if it will suit your requirements.

Editorial
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/07/more-news-on-nrl-classic-and-afl-pinnacle/

Footy Card Collectors Tips
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/07/afl-pinnacle-series-2009/

Footy Card Spotlight
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/07/nrl-classic-series-2009-full-details/

Protecting Your Investment
http://newsletter.footystars.com.au/2009/07/do-you-need-to-protect-your-collection/

Sign up to receive your own free subscription to the Footy Stars “Collector’s Edition” newsletter delivered directly to your in box as soon as it’s published — a $47 value — yours FREE! Just click here to subscribe.

There’s excitement building as the release date for the Series 2 footy cards gets closer.

2009 AFL Pinnacle is due for release on Monday 13 July and the 2009 NRL Classic is due out at the end of the month.

This issue of the “Collector’s Edition” newsletter focuses on both these new releases.

In the next section we share more tips on the AFL Pinnacle Series and then after that we put the spotlight on the NRL Classic Series release.

There’ lots to get excited about and the format and structure of both releases is set to see them both sell out in record time. I hope you like what you see.

Last week I shared the story of my nephew Thomas who is currently battling cancer. Just days later Jim Stynes revealed he’s battling cancer. Then over the weekend we saw the Carlton Blues and the Brisbane Broncos compete in rare Yellow strips to raise money and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LiveStrong program… Cancer awareness seemed to be everywhere.

Thank you to all the people who donated to the Cancer Council following our previous newsletter, and for those who sent messages of support to Thomas. We appreciate your support very much.

And thank you to those who wrote back to share their own experience with cancer — your courage is inspiring.

We trust you will gain some enjoyment in reading this issue of the “Collector’s Edition” newsletter.

Ian

We’ve updated our online shop so you can pre-order your AFL Pinnacle cards, sets and folders now so you will be one of the first in the country to have them. All orders received before 13 July will be sent as soon as they arrive… so order yours now.

We received more details on the AFL Pinnacle Set after sending our last newsletter. Here is a look at this years Case Cards. Only available with the purchase of a Factory Sealed Case (16 boxes) of AFL Pinnacle, these case cards are limited and individually numbered to 200 for each player.

Doug Hawkins from the Western Bulldogs and Dustin Fletcher from Essendon are featured on the Case Cards which recognise players who reach the 300 Game milestone throughout their career.

And as an added bonus for those lucky enough to find one, 1 in 8 Cases will have a Signed Case Card of Dustin Fletcher.

Only 50 Signed Case Cards have been produced but you can see the design here (shown without the signature).

If you are planning on busting open a factory sealed box of AFL Pinnacle yourself, here’s a look at the most valuable card in the collection… the one we all want to find.

It’s the Captain Signature Redemption card which you can redeem for one of only 60 personally signed Captain Signature cards.

In the last issue of the “Collector’s Edition” newsletter we let you know the Premiership Predictors were again in the Series.

We can now tell you what you will receive when you redeem either the entire set, or just the winning teams predictor.

We have confirmed with Di at Select, that you will receive an exclusive 16 card Rookie Sub Set along with a 3 card Mini Premiership Set of the winning team when you redeem a full set of 16 Predictors.

If you only redeem the winning teams Predictor you will get the 3 card Mini Premiership Set of the winning team and their Rookie Card.

We also have full details on the Double Trouble cards. Here’s a new image along with the full list of the players featured on each card.

• Adelaide Crows - McLeod and Porplyzia
• Essendon Bombers - Lucas and Lloyd
• Fremantle Dockers - Pavlich and Sandilands
• Kangaroos - Harvey and McIntosh
• Melbourne Demons - Miller and Davey
• Port Power - Motlop and Salopek
• Richmond Tigers - Morton and Richardson
• Sydney Swans - Goodes and Hall
• West Coast Eagles - Cox and LeCras
• Western Bulldogs - Johnson and Griffen

In the last newsletter I took a guess at the names of the players featured in the Rookie Sensation cards which are inserted 1 in 4 boxes. Unfortunately I missed the mark… but here are all the confirmed Rookie Sensation players.

• Aaron Joseph from Carlton
• Dayne Beams from Collingwood
• David Zaharakis from Essendon
• Liam Picken from the Western Bulldogs

Well that’s about all the information we have for you on the new AFL Pinnacle Series. All that remains now if for the cards to be released.

If you like the look of the Pinnacle cards please go ahead and pre-order the cards or boxes you want. Every indicator points to this Series being completely Sold Out by the end of July at distributor level. So don’t wait because you could miss out.

Would you like to see the Official Flyer? Click here to download the 2009 AFL Pinnacle Checklist in pdf format.

NRL Classic has some really good points, along with a few that will probably annoy some long time collectors — but more on that shortly. Here’s your introduction to the new series.

The 2009 Series is a limited edition release with 4800 boxes being produced, which is less than half the number released last year in the Centenary Series. Each Box contains 36 packets, and each packet contains 8 x Premium Quality cards plus 1 x Holographic Jersey Die Cut Card. Let’s take a look at the designs and inserts.

First is the Common Set. Once again each team has 12 cards made up of 11 player cards and 1 club logo card. With the 3 Checklist cards, this makes a 195 card complete common set.

Here is a look at the common card design.

The Holographic Jersey Die Cut Cards feature 6 players from each club, for a complete set of 96 cards… and unlike previous releases they are not a parallel set — some players on the Jersey Die Cuts aren’t featured in the common cards, whereas others are.

The Holographic Jersey Die Cut Cards are inserted 1 per pack, making it a challenging set to complete on your own.

The Club Player of the Year sub set is back again in NRL Classic — inserted 1 in 8 packs.

While some collectors are bored with the same old sub sets in each series, most collectors appreciate the set because it features the best players from each and every club.

This sub set is particularly sought after by people who collect ALL “their team’s cards”. Here is a look at the design.

This year the Club Player set includes:

• Sam Thaiday
• Andrew Ryan
• Joel Monaghan
• Paul Gallen
• Preston Campbell
• Brent Kite
• Billy Slater
• Kurt Gidley
• Aaron Payne
• Nathan Hindmarsh
• Petro Civoniceva
• Jason Ryles
• Luke Stuart
• Mitchell Pearce
• Simon Mannering, and
• Chris Heighington

The Team of the Year insert set is back again too. This is always a popular set because it features the best players in the competition… as voted in the Dally M Awards each year. It’s no surprise to learn that 6 of the 9 players in the set played in the 2008 Grand Final.

The Team of the Year cards are found 1 in 18 packets making it a challenge to collect the whole set. Here’s a look at the Team of the Year design.

The 2008 Team of the Year includes:

• Billy Slater - Fullback
• Colin Best - Winger
• Israel Folau - Centre
• Greg Inglis - Five Eighth
• Matt Orford - Halfback
• Alan Tongue - Lock
• Glenn Stewart - Second Rower
• Petro Civoniceva - Prop, and
• Cameron Smith - Hooker

Top Prospect Signatures will once again be a hot insert. These hand signed cards are limited to 300 per player and will be sequentially numbered as they have been in previous years.

On average you can expect to find 1 x Top Prospect Signature in every 36 packs (1 per box). Here’s a look at the design for the Top Prospect Signatures (no signature shown in this proof).

The Top Prospect sub set features one talented up and coming player from every club. Some have already been making a name for themselves, while others have all the potential in the world.

• Antonio Winterstein
• Jamal Idris
• Josh Dugan
• Mitch Brown
• Esi Tonga
• Tony Williams
• Joseph Tomane
• Akuila Uate
• John Williams
• Kris Keating
• Wade Graham
• Matt Prior
• Eddy Pettybourne
• Ben Jones
• Russell Packer, and
• Tim Moltzen

I’m especially glad to see the Premiership Predictors return to the NRL Series. The Predictors will be included 1 per box (36 packets) on average.

Collect all 16 Predictors and you can redeem from Select an exclusive 16 Card Sub Set featuring the Top Try Scorer for each Club in the 2009 season.

The redemption sets are limited to 300 sets at most assuming EVERY set is redeemed which is not very likely.

In an unusual move which will annoy many collectors, Select have introduced their first Acetate (plastic) card into a Series 2 release… and in doing so they have carried over a sub set from the Series 1 Champions release.

The Double Trouble cards will be inserted into packs at the rate of 1 card per 72 packs (which is 1 in every 2 boxes). There are only 12 cards released in the Classic Series because 4 were released in the earlier 2009 Champions Series 1.

• Broncos - Peter Wallace and Israel Folau
• Bulldogs - Brett Kimmorley and Josh Morris
• Sharks - Anthony Tupou and Trent Barrett
• Titans - Scott Prince and Preston Campbell
• Knights - Kurt Gidley and Jarrod Mullen
• Cowboys - Matt Bowen and Johnathan Thurston
• Panthers - Michael Jennings and Michael Gordon
• Dragons - Jamie Soward and Wendell Sailor
• Rabbitohs - Chris Sandow and Nathan Merritt
• Roosters - Braith Anasta and Mitchell Pearce
• Warriors - Stacey Jones and Manu Vatuvei, and
• Tigers - Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall

The design looks like this:

Carrying over a sub set from Series 1 to Series 2 is annoying for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Series 2 has long been a Premium Quality Series aimed at the Hobby Market. Series 1 has always been the “value” release aimed at kids via the newsagencies.

Many collectors (including me) don’t ever collect Series 1, instead preferring to collect only the more valuable limited release Series 2. All these collectors will now have a 4 card hole in their collection because the first 4 cards were released in Series 1. In my opinion the two Series’ should not be mixed together.

A second issue is the different release quantities of each card which will affect their scarcity, and therefore their value. Time for a little math…

Series 2 will be a limited release of 4800 boxes. The Double Trouble cards are found 1 in every 2 boxes which means there will be 2400 Double Trouble cards in Series 2 (4800 / 2 = 2400). With 12 cards in the release it means each team will have 200 Double Trouble cards in total (2400 / 12 = 200).

Series 1 on the other hand is an unlimited release, such that in previous years over 10,000 boxes have been released. In Series 1 the Double Trouble cards were found 1 in every 6 boxes which means there was 1667 cards in total (10000 / 6 = 1667). With just 4 cards in the release each team had 417 cards (1667 / 4 = 417). To have the same quantity as Series 2, the Series 1 release would need to have been limited to 4800 boxes also — but we all know that hasn’t happened!

It doesn’t make sense that cards of the “same” sub set would be released in different quantities. Some more valuable than others even before the player combination comes into it. Select should have waited until Series 1 2010 to continue the set rather than include it in the NRL Classic Series.

Enough about that… let’s move on to the biggest sub set in the NRL Classic Series.

There’s no doubt… the holy grail of the 2009 NRL Classic Series will be the Captain Signature Cards. There are 6 in the Series with just 50 cards signed by each of the Captains featured.

The design is very similar to the 2004 Captain Signatures and looks like this…

These will be the VERY hot items because of the extremely low number of cards per player (scarcity) but also because they feature many of the games top players (demand), including 2 Dally M Winners (Player of the Year) and 2 Golden Boot Winners (World’s Best Player).

The 6 featured Captains include:

• Darren Lockyer
• Andrew Ryan
• Cam Smith
• Kurt Gidley
• Johnathan Thurston, and
• Robbie Farah

The NRL Classic Series is due for release at the end of July. We’ve updated our site so you can go ahead and pre-order the cards and set you want.

If you’re keen to bust open packets you can pre-order your factory sealed boxes now for immediate delivery as soon as they are released.

Click here to download the 2009 NRL Classic Checklist in pdf format.

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Next month…

Each month we shine the spotlight on one of the most popular cards of the moment… and take a look a what it is that makes it so popular.

If there’s a card that you would like us to put the spotlight on please write to me at ian [AT] FootyStars.com.au with details of the card and why you feel it should be put “in the spotlight”.

What card will it be next issue? You’ll have to wait and see.