American Legends in Beckett Media! [J. Mark English]

American Legends was spoken about in the latest Beckett Media LP article by Kevin Haake:

It's been five days, and only now are the owners of American Legends in Scarsdale, N.Y., beginning to recover. Allen Narz and the Topps TV Rip Party crew hit the road last week and American Legends was the first shop selected to host the raucous event.

"We had a large crowd for the event and did our customers ever have a ball," says Donna Rubin, co-owner of American Legends. "Customers ripped packs for over three hours and hardly anyone left early, including those with young children. It was the first time the Rip Party was on the road and our customers did the event proud. They were extremely enthusiastic and everyone got involved. We even had a number of rippers that were kids."

The shop won the opportunity to host the three-hour event through a Topps sponsored contest. "Our shop submitted an idea that the company should do a Topps TV show that emphasized the historical influence of Sy Berger," Rubin notes. "Topps loved the idea and taped the show at the 2007 All-Star game in San Francisco."

Topps donated party favors of hats and T-shirts for the event as well as an oversized Allen & Ginter card that was given away at the end of the night to one lucky attendee.

And even though the Rip Party concluded five days ago, its effect can still be seen throughout the store.

"In the days that have followed, we have seen many of the customers who attended come back into the store to make purchases, pre-order Allen and Ginter boxes and talk about how much fun they had," Rubin says. "The event has created a great deal of good will, which is not only great for us, but for the hobby."

The 12-box case revealed a variety of rarities, including a 1-of-1 printing plate. "Personally, I was hoping to see the paw print card from James, winner of the Westminster Dog Show last February in New York, but it never came out of the case, only the regular James card," Rubin notes.

2007 Topps Allen and Ginter will be available August 1 at hobby stores and retail outlets nationwide.