Topaz

Topaz is also the birthstone of November. Upper Deck recently announced a World of Warcraft TCG, based on the popular MMORPG. According to Rebbenu Bachya, the word "Leshem" in the verse Exodus 28:19 means "Topaz" and was the stone on the Ephod representing the tribe of Dan. It has also released many non-game oriented sports-based and multimedia companion trading card sets. In the Middle Ages the name topaz was used to refer to any yellow gemstone, but now the name is only properly applied to the silicate described above. In October of 2005, UDE introduced a Trading Card Game based on Nickelodeon's new Avatar: The Last Airbender series. The name "topaz" is derived from the Greek topazos, "to seek," which was the name of an island in the Red Sea that was difficult to find and from which a yellow stone (now believed to be a yellowish olivine) was mined in ancient times. The company's division, Upper Deck Entertainment, produces cards from the English versions of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game licensed from Konami, the Winx Club Trading Card Game for girls, along with the Marvel Trading Card Game and the DC Comics Trading Card Game using their proprietary VS System.

It can be found in the Ural and Ilmen mountains, Czech Republic, Saxony, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. In view of the series' success the company has released a 2005-06 series. Topaz is found associated with the more acid rocks of the granite and rhyolite type and may be found with fluorite and cassiterite. Sold for $500 per pack, some of these cards sell for thousands of dollars on eBay [1]. A recent trend in jewelry is the manufacture of topaz specimens that display iridescent colors, by applying a thin layer of titanium oxide via physical vapor deposition. Since its earliest days, Upper Deck has gained a reputation for quality made trading cards and also as an innovator of security measures to prevent counterfeiting of its products. It can also be irradiated, turning the stone a light and distinctive shade of blue. In July 2005 Upper Deck won the liquidation auction of former competitor Fleer-SkyBox International's brand name, assets and model business as well as the Fleer Collectibles die-cast business assets.

When heated, yellow topaz often becomes reddish-pink. In 1996, it expanded its racing line when it absorbed Maxx. They may also be white, gray, green, blue, or reddish-yellow and transparent or translucent. In 1995, the company produced its first racing product. Pure topaz is transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical topaz is wine or straw-yellow. The company also obtained licenses from the National Football League and the National Basketball Association in 1990, making the Upper Deck Company the first trading card company in 10 years to be licensed by all four leagues. Topaz has a hardness of 8, a specific gravity of 3.4-3.6, and a vitreous lustre. On March 20, 1990, The Upper Deck Company was granted licenses by the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players Association to produce hockey cards.

The fracture is conchoidal to uneven. The 1990 set included the industry's first randomly inserted personally autographed and numbered cards of sports superstars. It has an easy and perfect basal cleavage and so gemstones or other fine specimens should be handled with care to avoid developing cleavage flaws. The Upper Deck Company sold out its baseball cards midway through this inaugural year, then pre-sold its entire 1990 baseball stock before the year began. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces, the basal pinacoid often being present. The first case of Upper Deck Baseball Cards was delivered February 28, 1989, to George Moore of Tulsa's Baseball Card Store in Tulsa, OK. The mineral topaz is a silicate of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al₂SiO₄(F,OH)₂. On December 23, 1988, Upper Deck was granted a license by Major League Baseball to produce baseball cards.

This article is about the mineral or gemstone, for other uses see: Topaz (disambiguation).. . Mineral galleries. The company has exclusive agreements to produce memorabilia with such sports superstars as Michael Jordan (who is also on the board of directors), Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, and Ken Griffey Jr. Mindat with location data. It is a private company. Webmineral. Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as "Upper Deck," Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK, ) founded in 1988 is a company primarily known for producing trading cards.