2008 DHL All-Star Fan Fest

This year the All Star Fan Fest was held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, and it was a great event for the city and more over for the card collectors in the area. The event ran for about a week, and had all kinds of events for kinds and adults alike. There were speed toss booths, virtual batting cages, timed base running, clinics with former baseball player and Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken Jr. and various exhibits you could walk through. Many people stopped to take pictures with the World Series trophy, probably because in New York its been a while since we have seen one around here.

The entire 4th floor of the convention center was packed with baseball cards, sports memorabilia, and the former players on hand signing autographs. Topps was sponsoring a redemption where for every 3 packs purchased and opened you could pick one exclusive All Star card. Upper Deck ran a similar program, where you had to purchase and open 5 packs and redeem the wrappers for an All Star exclusive 4 pack of cards featuring Yankee greats both past and present. Upper Deck was also giving away promotional un-cut sheets of their Yankee Stadium Legacy series, as far as I can tell there were 2 variations to this.

You might ask what I left with, or what I purchased. The answer is everything. It started out as a few packs to get the stuff I wanted to redeem, then it steamrolled into more packs, then into a box break. We bought a box of UD Piece of History just to have some fun, and to get some free packs to sell in our store, and for ourselves. We also picked up some Topps packs to get some All Star exclusive cards, and in one of my Moments & Milestones packs I pulled an A-Rod wall relic card.

All in all, the Fanfest was a great place to be this week in New York City. It was a great event for baseball fans of all ages, and a great event for Manhattan as well.