If the early release preview cards translate to autographs we have

Jessica Alba
Sam Jackson
Chris Pratt
Marisa Tomei
Macaulay Culkin
Dan Aykroyd
Elizabeth Olsen
and some rappers I have never heard of.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

and some rappers I have never heard of.

Not to worry, they only use those to keep the cards in.

I thought there was already a discussion about this on Card Talk, but I am probably mistaken.

In general I think the big autographs announced are really great -- although most have other entertainment card autographs already. I hope the design is good this year -- it seems each year it gets more and more trashy.

Here are some of the rappers announced -- I too have never heard of them:

Lil Uzi Vert
Kodak Black
Lil Baby
G Herbo
Blueface

Want an autograph below a rapper you never heard of? Try an "Influencer" you never heard of. I honestly don't even know what that means. At least a Rapper has the talent to rap.

An "Influencer" is just a person who tells a bunch of other people what to do because their followers don't have enough sense to make a decision for themselves about anything. Might as well get signatures from "Cult Leader".

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new Pop. I kind of think the trashy designs look better in person and the prices have gone down on many signers as they got repeated in sets.

The one thing I hate is those photos of men in berets. What man thinks he can pull off a beret in a picture? Did you see that De Niro card? Go spend a lot for that one and he's got a trash can cover on his head!

Other actors who were shown in their Pop Century preview:

Josh Brolin
Jean Claude Van Damme
Ewan McGregor
Amanda Bynes
Andrew Garfield
Cara DeLevingne
Charlie Hunnam

The photographs generally look pretty good -- I don't see a lot of wacky stuff.

Also the rappers that I've looked up seem to be really popular -- lots of awards and nominations.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

and some rappers I have never heard of.

Not to worry, they only use those to keep the cards in.

ZING!

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Want an autograph below a rapper you never heard of? Try an "Influencer" you never heard of.

Just a fancy word for popularity contest. I don't even want the autograph of one I have heard of. Leaf seems to keep slipping them in on their limited online production runs.

One thing is they are usually cheap for anyone who wants to speculate the future of influencer sigs. My other fav is online gamers.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Want an autograph below a rapper you never heard of? Try an "Influencer" you never heard of.

Just a fancy word for popularity contest. I don't even want the autograph of one I have heard of. Leaf seems to keep slipping them in on their limited online production runs.

One thing is they are usually cheap for anyone who wants to speculate the future of influencer sigs. My other fav is online gamers.

I'm sure they're cheap for Leaf to procure as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Want an autograph below a rapper you never heard of? Try an "Influencer" you never heard of. I honestly don't even know what that means. At least a Rapper has the talent to rap.

An "Influencer" is just a person who tells a bunch of other people what to do because their followers don't have enough sense to make a decision for themselves about anything. Might as well get signatures from "Cult Leader".

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new Pop. I kind of think the trashy designs look better in person and the prices have gone down on many signers as they got repeated in sets.

The one thing I hate is those photos of men in berets. What man thinks he can pull off a beret in a picture? Did you see that De Niro card? Go spend a lot for that one and he's got a trash can cover on his head!

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Want an autograph below a rapper you never heard of? Try an "Influencer" you never heard of. I honestly don't even know what that means. At least a Rapper has the talent to rap.

An "Influencer" is just a person who tells a bunch of other people what to do because their followers don't have enough sense to make a decision for themselves about anything. Might as well get signatures from "Cult Leader".

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new Pop. I kind of think the trashy designs look better in person and the prices have gone down on many signers as they got repeated in sets.

The one thing I hate is those photos of men in berets. What man thinks he can pull off a beret in a picture? Did you see that De Niro card? Go spend a lot for that one and he's got a trash can cover on his head!

Well he'd look good in anything, or nothing at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

The one thing I hate is those photos of men in berets. What man thinks he can pull off a beret in a picture? Did you see that De Niro card? Go spend a lot for that one and he's got a trash can cover on his head!

Robert Lindsey and Michael Crawford did alright (back in the day).

quote:

Originally posted by Raj:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

The one thing I hate is those photos of men in berets. What man thinks he can pull off a beret in a picture? Did you see that De Niro card? Go spend a lot for that one and he's got a trash can cover on his head!

Robert Lindsey and Michael Crawford did alright (back in the day).

Well I had to look their photos up, but NO they didn't. Are berets big in the UK? That still wouldn't excuse De Niro. C. Thomas Howell is also wearing a beret on his Pop century card and looks no better. Somebody at Leaf must fancy them.

The only beret wearer we have in NY is Curtis Sliwa and he made a career out of it, so it worked for him.

Let's get back on topic. Brolin, Garfield and McGregor would be better alternatives because their franchise certified cards cost way too much right now.

Leaf has announced that they will do a live stream on Youtube tonight to announce the Pop Century checklist.

Just finished listening to Brian Gray pumping up Leaf Pop Century 2023. He says it will be coming out in July at roughly the same price point as last year's boxes, even though this year's autograph checklist is probably 40% better and many of the signers cost hundreds of dollars on eBay now, if you can find them at all.

Now before you get really excited, he also says that Leaf is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. While I'm sure that may be technically true, Brian Gray bought the rights to use the closed Leaf trading Company in 2010, at which point he shut down his own company. You may remember that one as Razor Entertainment. You know, the one that bought up and repackaged the dumped Inkworks autograph cards. So Gray knows a bit about peddling signature cards from other people.

Anyway, although he says he has an undisclosed bigger name. the biggest new name he dropped on the checklist was Clint Eastwood. Another one people would like is Joe Pesci. Marisa Tomei and Pete Davidson are new to signed cards, as is Lupita Nyong'o, Lorraine Brocco and ex Harvey Keitel. As mentioned, there is a string of rappers. Most of them I never heard of, but Gray assures us that they are worth hundreds and will never sign again. OK.

The checklist also includes many actors from Marvel and Star Wars movies that are quite expensive on signed cards from their franchise products. Clarke and Harington from GoT are also returning. To me, that was always the fun of Pop Century. Not that the genuine signatures are expensive, but that they are cheaper on Pop Century than on the expensive licensed cards. The chance you took of getting weird people you didn't want was offset by maybe getting someone you couldn't otherwise afford.

That wasn't a part of Gray's sales pitch though and that's probably because the box price is at its peak. It would have been very hard to ask for more this time around and that's probably the reason Leaf didn't try it. For myself, I bought one box of Pop Century 2022 last year and got hosed by the contents. However I've been doing very well since I started picking up singles of good value this year.

So I will be happy to see some of these new signers come out and have more of the good repeats. The end result will be more affordable certified cards, even if that isn't exactly what the CEO is trying to sell.

We are definitely back to the 90s with hype new product prices verses what it's worth after you open it.

So was Clint listed as an autograph or just a name? Meaning it could just be some relic piece.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
We are definitely back to the 90s with hype new product prices verses what it's worth after you open it.

So was Clint listed as an autograph or just a name? Meaning it could just be some relic piece.

Definitely an autograph, or sticker autograph to be precise. Gray hinted at maybe cuts, or some other surprises to be added, including this eve BIGGER name. I also especially enjoyed his "Hubba Hubba" comments about certain ladies on his checklist. They would all be flattered, I'm sure.

It is a very impressive list. I wrote down most of the names in the big reveal, although I am not sure how to spell many of them.

After he went through this list he went through the 'lesser' names on the checklist which included Josh Brolin and many others. It really is an impressive list.

New Signers:
Loranne Bracco
Heuvo and Offset (Rappers?)
Linda Ronstat
Lil Gotti (rapper)
Charlie Hunnam
Meek Mill (rapper)
Ryan Phillipe
Amanda Bynes
Lupita ??
Moneybag Yo ? (rapper)
Mischa Barton
G Herbo (rapper)
Harvey Keitel
Tiffany Haddish
Jake Paul
Lil Uzi Vert (rapper)
Cara Delevine
Kodak Black (rapper)
Liv Tyler
Rick Ross (rapper)
Dan Akryod
Marisa Tomei
Pete Davidson
Jean Claude Van Damme
Lil Baby (rapper)
Paul Bettany
Elizabeth Olsen
Andrew Garfield
Chris Pratt
Macaulay Culkin
Selma Hayek
Joe Pesci


Jessica Alba
Samuel L Jackson
Clint Eastwood

Returning Stars
Chevy Chase
Chuck Norris
Jane Fonda
Kit Harrington
Ray Liotta (Final Pop Century Set)
Adam Driver
Ewan McGregor
Emilia Clarke
Daisy Ridley
Sly Stallone

This message has been edited. Last edited by: webjon,

A few other thoughts. . .

The video is worth watching -- there isn't a lot of filler.

I found the 'hubba hubbas' very off putting.

He is clearly committed to sticker autographs at this point, which is disappointing. While I understand there are situations where sticker autographs are needed there are clearly signers they've worked with multiple times where you could do on card autographs if you wanted to.

Also -- while this is a really good autograph list and there are a lot of signers who are new to pop century many of the 'new' signers have signed for other products before.

That's great for someone line Elizabeth Olsen who's Marvel autographs are hundreds of dollars, but last I looked Paul Bettany and Liv Tyler had existing autographs under $100.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
So was Clint listed as an autograph or just a name? Meaning it could just be some relic piece.

Eastwood recently did a private signing. Gray jumps on these for his own content. Cut signatures come from book signings, or music autos come from signed CDs. I'm sure they have their own means of procuring autos, but for many bigger names they go about obtaining them the same way anybody else can.

I would have preferred to see just the cards and a checklist without the running commentary. Gray's a classy guy, Hubba Hubba.

I also didn't like him calling out signers that are unwell or saying some people will never sign again. There will be lots of excess stickers and you can never say who won't sign again, and get them while they are still alive is about as good a line as "Hubba Hubba".

I do like several new signers and repeat signers that I have not felt like paying for yet. Culkin and Ronstadt will have demand. I'd like the Norris and Van Damme combo. I'll bet they have a dual of those two. They should with the ease of stickers. Andrew Garfield seems to have opened his floodgate and getting into everybody's product. Same with the Marvel, GoT and Star Wars actors.

I can see myself picking up quite a few of 2023 Pop, just not at the outset when sellers want to act like they struck gold.