Well, I have been very busy even over the Chtistmas period as I am adding a few new pages to make the German packs easier to navigate as I add more packs from the 60's and 70's and these ones are rare and worth a few pence as well! This, combined with the purchasable Valuation file has kept me busy as well as my duties a Lead MOD on the Planet Top Trumps forum but it is enjoyable.

Now, we can wonder what licensed delights Winning Moves are going to release this year (2008) and as expected and true to form there will be loads of footie packs and more licensed drivel such as film packs and the such. What is wrong with cars, lorries, aeroplanes and the things that we can truly relate to instead of having packs made of make belief or purely to ride the crest of a box office hit!?

Anyway, during 2008 I am looking at working on a site wide facelift and possibly a few games to play so there is much to look forward to there. The Valuation file is for me the biggest addition to the Ultimate Top Trumps Reference Site because it allows you to jump to any pack you want so that you can make sure you have the item that is valued at £30 or more! The file also contains all the pack info you will need such as year of release, ref number, language, country of release, whether it is an STT, Promo and/or a Quartet game and all broken down into countries to make your search even easier! With the purchase oif this you also receive a 10% discount on all purchases from the shop that total £15.00 or more!

Well, as with the season we are all bombarded with Christmas cheer and what to buy and where to buy and how to buy and how to pay. It is just incessant and by the time Christmas Day arrives we (or at least, I am) sick of Christmas! Anyway, the Top Trumps world is in a way similar because for the last couple of years we get flooded with those dull and incredibly boring Football packs - Arsenal, Chelsea, Man. Utd and Liverpool, the same old same ol. What really intrigues me with these packs and that is, as with every sequel (pack or film) they get boring but they are still produced enmass without really realising that the public don't batter an eyelid! Would it not be better to produce seasonal packs, something to look forward to such as a pack on the history of Christmas or one one countries/wildlife that are in the Arctic/Antarctic? Easter why can there not be a pack of say farm animals, breeds of rabbit instead of the usual dull and dreary Licensed packs like yet more sequels of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean! Are we really thought of as brainless people who collect/play the games and not actually take any notice of the cards?

Anyway, the next update will include these said footie packs as well as a few older Piatnik and Ace packs and hopefully the complete removal of the Valuation Pages and the introduction of the downloadable Excel file listing values for every pack on the site for the past year and also a breakdown  to give you the sensible price to look at if buying and/or selling based on the years figures. The whole file will be split into countries of release with a seperate page for STT's and Booster packs and all navigable from one single page! So check the site or come back here regularly and see when this will all be available. A few big collectors I know that have helped me with my site will receive it anyway but there will be a small charge for this as it is incredibly intensive and time consuming, but armed with this info you can be sure not to pay over hop prices!

Don't forget, if there is anything you want to know about Top Trumps, past or current, just as using my email or just make a comment at the end of this and I will try my hardest to get back to you!

Phew! Am I glad the works in my flat are over! Now I can get back to the important stuff!

So, what has happened since my last post? Well, I have added a few STT's such as the Kleopatra (German), Doug Howlett (New Zealand) and USS Wisconsin (USA) STT's as well as a few packs and to be honest with all the going ons here I don't remember what else. I guess the simplest thing to do is go to the site and check it out. There have been a few changes as well that I done in between my power being cut off with days of twiddling my thumbs and picking my nose and they include a more user friendly method of viewing values. So instead of clicking the pound coin symbol and then being taken to another page you get instead a pop up with the value/s is there are any. My aim is to remove the valuation pages completely and then make available a huge database of values throughout the year that is downloadable. This file I am debating as to whether it ought to be a pay per download or a freebie when people join and then after that, ie for the next year then you pay. So, if anyone has any real comments about this please chip in because it is a very interesting file showing values of both open and sealed as seen on eBay, which is at present the only place to get any figures. From this file you will also be able to jump direct to my site and view the pack in question. So, as you can see for collectors it could well prove to be some valuable information. I am also looking into a site search engine and a login facility where it will open up the chance to inform people of new titles added both to the site and the shop.

Slowly but surely the pages are being upddated with the new look Slideshows as opposed to the static images and pack contents and these seem to be working very well on all platforms. So far no-one has got back to me and said they are not working or they have caused a system crash.

So, if you find anything not working or looking out of place or inaccurate please get back to me or leave a comment. Alternatively if you have a pack open that I have sealed perhaps you could scan the pack and email them to me with your name/link so I can acknowledge your help. If indeed there is another way that you could assist then please feel free to drop me a line so we can discuss things over.

So, until next time!!!

Well, the life of a Trumps collector is never easy! Almost on a daily basis there have been sightings of new STT,s and/or packs which is not good news because it means more expense! Oh well, that's life I guess. Anyway, the latest happenings is a sighting of a new STT, African Wild Dog for the Predators pack of all packs as it is an oldie! Is this a sign of STT's being dug out for the older packs? Well, we can always live and hope.

The last few days I have been scanning and making some small additions and changes to the site in preparation for a few alterations which I will announce closer to the time. At the moment, as I write this I am in the process of uploading the latest additions to the site including the mysterious Mistress Ching STT, which incidentally was recently sold for £50.00!! Is this because it is a new STT, rare STT or simply because it was one of the bundle that was stolen from the factory, supposedly!

Well, what a week in the Top Trumps world it has been! The last few weeks have been hectic enough but the last week has been mayhem! Firstly there was a trickle of promo's which soon became a stream but then to top it all there was a High School Musical pack discovered on eBay, not in the usual hard plastic case that Winning Moves packs are normally in but in a tuck box and again different as it had a lip at the top so it can be hung on a display. As it turns out it was destined for the South African market, hence the Ref number of  SA07, but that was not all! In the sealed pack was an STT that apparently did not exist according to Winning Moves but non the less it has surfaced! The STT Mistress Ching for the Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End was a very pleasant surprise to discover and once I announced this on the PTT forum the packs soon rapidly went. Naturally I purchased a few more packs as well, knowing the gem within. A few popular collectors/sellers quickly dived in purchased a load with as many as 19 for one and we know where many will end up!

That is not all that has happened but because of the discovered STT there has been a number of very red faces within WM and as a result a surprise was announced that in todays Sunday Times there was an offer to get hold of an STT for the Fighting Units of the British Army; Royal Artillery. I must admit I was asked some unusual questions in one shop where I purchased 3 of the papers at £2 a time and then from another I purchased 4 and wiped their stock out! Let us now hope that this revelation by WM will not be the last but the first in a long line of pointers regarding the release of STT's and Promo packs!


I have also decided to update the site with smaller updates as opposed to one big update because it is quicker and easier for me to do so. Much of yesterday was spent trying to organise my Valuation file that will, hopefully, be available to own by the end of the year and will give everyone the chance to see just how up and down the world of Top Trumps iswith some packs or STT's one day in double figures and the next less than a pound and then suddenly back in double figures! The idea of this is to show people highs and hopefully help them in deciding how much potentially it could sell for or what you could pay for it. This is a very difficult thing because it is dependant upon who is looking for the pack and what they are prepared to pay for it and the ideal thing would be to have a database where sensible figures can be used as specific values of worth, a document similar to the Stanley books on Stamps and how much they are  including the very many different variations, such as perforations and watermarks. Although Top Trumps is a lot simpler, an accurate and professionally constructed file is what is needed and I hope that the work I am doing with the values will go some way towards being a guide for this to happen at some point in the future which will involve trying to contact as many perspective companies with this type of thing in mind as well as other marketing ideas I am working on.

Well, it has been chaos on the UTT front. What with a huge update of around 30 packs/STT's but also after a computer failure which put me back by 2 days but I have also been approached to help and supply some images for an article being written by James Whittington on Classic Trumps. He informed me when we spoke that despite relenteless searches UTT was the only one to emerge! So, all my hard wotk and effort and expense has thankfully paid off, after all it started as a simple site where I could display my minute collection. So, one the article has been published I will make a mention of it here with a link. For me personally it is a proud moment becauase the site has flourished over the last 4 or so months and has quite literally taken me by surprise. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the site would be so popular, receiving around 500+ hits a day. Not bad for a self trained website designer!

Anyway, the latest arrival from Winning Moves dropped onto my door mat a few days ago, Top Gear Cool Cars and I must say I am very impressed with this and it will be added to the site at the next update, complete with a slideshow. The next update willshow the highly desireable Super Heroes pack from 1977 as well as the Millipedes & Centipedes pack from Waddingtons!

Don't forget, if there is anything you see out of place with the site please tell me as I want it to be the very best around and give the most accurate information possible for each and every pack listed. I know there are many packs not listed but there are around 100 that I have yet to list and seeing as I only list what I own.... So, please do not be afraid to point out any errors, valuations or anything that will help the site get to where I want it to be. Please feel free to donate anything because at the end of the day the site is for you and bolstered by you and your interest in this fascinating world of Trumps!

I have been asked why have I not created as collectors guide, during my conversation with James Whittington and so this will be a future project to look into so if anyone has any views regarding what you feel good buying strategies and thing that look more appealing please let me know by email and I will certainly consider adding your comments. The Guide will be released on a CD and contain loads of info regarding the minefield it is for collectors. Do you think that a collectors guide would be beneficial, yes or no? Tell me why, either way!

So, until next time, Happy Trumping!!

Last Sunday I was talked into doing a boot fare at Cophall Farm just outside Polegate and what a huge event it is! Anyway, I took along my entire shop of TT's and was surprisingly pleased with the result. However there was someone, obviously not a collector, who wanted the Western Gunfighters pack for only 25p! I told him it was £25 but he just laughed an d told me that I was F'ing joking and that at those prices none of the packs would sell! Little does he know!!

Anyway the money earnt there went towards paying for the original 1978 Dr. Who pack and the original Marvel pack in the web shaped box!

I have been busy trying to get my Valuation project up to date  but it is a huge mountain to climb bearing in mind I have over 1000 packs listed and valuations for the past 6 months to update with. From what I gathered I was the only one there selling TT's and when the word got around the stall weas flocked with TT fans new and old. Obviously the newer packs were the bigger sellers and not one STT was sold!

The last few days have been spent most sorting out the new Valuation Excel file that will when it is complete with a years worth of prices be available to buy but at what price I don not know as yet but it will be cheap. This will be ideal for collectors, buyers and sellers to give you an idea of the trend of certain packs. So far I have found it very interesting with new STT's especially selling for very high prices in the first few days and then gradually declining in value. Saying that, if the interest in the USA, Australi and New Zealand begin to pick up then the prices may stay good for longer. So, the push by Winning Moves and the subsequent lack of information may bide well with sellers for longer.

With the valuation in mind, any help that can be given is welcomed. It is not a word and mouth that is needed but actually proof of prices such as an eBay reference number or a web site to any foreign  auction sites that may be specific for certain countries. Remember, the whole point of the valuation is not only to see what your site is probably worth but also to help assist you so that you do not pay a ridiculous amount for a mediocre pack/STT. I also hope that it will help people with the foreign packs as wellregarding the exchange rates and UK prices. So. overall the valuation serves in 2 ways; 1) an ever growing list of packs, which can be verified and linked to via the Excel file, and 2) to give you an accurate range of prices that have been paid for the item over a year. In 2008 I will create a new file for the 2008 sales and will carry on from the 2007. When you purchase a years worth of figures you will get a file that will contain 12 months worth, so in other words say you purchased in June 2008, you will receive a sheet with the first 6 months of 2008 and the last 6 months of 2007.

A feature that will be added will be that each country (dependant on number of packs/STT's released) will have it's own page and this will help navigate the extensive file much easier and quicker. There will also be a Welcome Page to act as a guide and key to the document and as a navigable aid.

SO, as you can see I am reidiculously busy with the site as I am still scanning loads and receiving loads of new packs and STT's as I have this morning: 3 STT's from my German friend Steff and a 1970's Ace packs from eBay!

Man, it just gets better...