Monday, August 11, 2008

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I have seen a lot of nice things happening over the last six months, too bad they have been overshadowed by all the bad things. I just wanted to showcase a few things that I liked over the time I have been writing, and I think a lot would agree with me.

1. The resurgence of ON CARD AUTOS - YES! This is awesome to the tenth power. Finally some companies have gotten their shit together enough that even smaller sets are getting on card sigs. How is it done? Well, you produce the cards WELL before the release date so you can get them out to the players. Then you require them back before you pack out the cards. Its really a nice concept. I would especially like to highlight SPA and Exquisite of last year because both were completely on card. Exquisite is expected as such, but SPA is a mid end product. DLP, take note.

2. Measures against the patch faking douchebags - This time I have to give a hearty handshake to DLP for starting the process with getting these things going. Its not perfect yet, but it IS getting better. Hopefully, in the future, this will be a standard.

3. Painted "like" cards - I love UD Masterpieces, Allen and Ginter and the Gridiron Kings subsets. These cards are beautiful and really present a cool idea in a way that everyone can appreciate. I think that these cards are really done well in the fact that it focuses more on the piece itself rather than some gimmick. Thank you to the artists behind these cards. I also would like to suggest that maybe "sketch" cards would be a good idea as it would be cool to see how the best sports aritists in the game do their paintings/drawings. Basically, lets get more than Dick Perez involved.

4. The changing of redemption replacement procedures - I know, it hasn’t happened yet, but I assume it will be soon. UD has announced that users will be allowed to pick from a number of cards to replace the unmade or unfufilled redemption they have received. I like this ideas because I would be super pissed if I got crap for my cool card. In the future, lets hope that people wont have to go through this process at all, but that is a pipe dream, I understand.

5. Nice patches in every parallel instead of 1/1s- I know this can be good and bad, but I assume its mostly good. We saw that in SPA football and National Treasures, anything was possible. It used to be a 1/1 when a patch was amazing, but this time, its for everyone. Even the cards out of 225 had some really nice pieces, and although it provided fodder for the people mentioned in number two, it was a welcome addition. Lets hope this continues.*

6. DLP's language on the back of their jersey cards - see here.

*Yes, I do realize that a lot of cards were shafted this year in terms of 1 color patches on high end cards, but lets be honest, that was nothing new.

Im sure that a lot of stuff has caught your eye, so please feel free to post below if you want. This is the stuff that I liked and wanted to continue. I wont post what I didn’t like, because, well, that is way too long of a post and you have heard it all before. I know the card manufacturers are watching, so please take this stuff into consideration. I have questioned whether the companies actually know what we want, but in some respects, we are getting some stuff.

11 comments:

  1. I see that your comments have recently skyrocketed. Keep up the good work.


    - Anonymous

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  2. Just because people arent saying much, doesnt mean that people arent reading it. You really are an ignorant douche.

    Even chicks read this blog. Gellman, keep up the good work for real!!

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  3. While there are more on-card autos now, the stickers are unfortunately still king of the auto world for now. Hopefully, companies will continue this trend though.

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  4. I'm sorry that I forgot to swear in my post. I guess that is what is going to make my entry cool.

    I don't doubt that people read this, but if the writing was worthy of comment there would be more.

    Start some witty banter, or even something that brings in those who would like to comment, rather than those who simply follow.

    I do wish you luck with this board, and I hope you have success, but ranting and then watching the impressions doesn't encourage people to write comments.

    Then when they do, they almost have to include vulgarity in order to feel a sense of power.

    Obviously I read it on a daily basis, and I've only commented a few times. In each case a thread begins where people actually hit the keys on their keyboard instead of simply working over the mouse.

    Keep up the good work, and to all of you readers out there, POST. keep this site alive, and give reason for the blog. If you don't this too will fade away.

    Do I really sound like an "ignorant douche"? If so, I should really start reading a little more to educate myself in the art of expressing a point through words.

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  5. anonymous...ignorant is not the same as stupid. You obviously can form a sentence so you may not be stupid in an academic sense. However, that doesn't mean that you aren't ignorant as far as the hobby is concerned, which is the focus of this blog and the topic at hand in these threads.

    I'm going to work from the assumption that you are in some way affiliated with Beckett or a mindless kool-aid drinking sympathizer of some sort. The fact is Gellman's blog gives voice to legitimate concerns about the hobby that a lot of people share. The responses to the threads aren't really the point and are a pretty inacurate way to measure readership. If you think that 50 people posting "I agree" after each post would somehow be significant then maybe you really are stupid. We are out there and we are reading.

    He also doesn't hide behind some anonymous posting on your site to voice his opinion. You come on here and give some lame drive-by posting without the balls to say who you really are (although I have a feeling gellman knows). Then you respond with some transparent "Please everyone, read this blog for the good of the hobby" bullcrap that you probably assume puts you on some higher moral ground. I'm not buying it. If you really gave a crap about the hobby (and not just the bottom line) you wouldn't be talking about charging me $6 to trade my Dickie Thon for someone elses Ernie Camacho.

    If you are affiliated with Beckett, why don't you drop the ridiculous anonymous charade and come on here to actually address some of the concerns that Gellman brings up. No matter what you think of this site, it is obvious that Gellman posts because of a sencere love for the hobby and he doesn't want to see it turned to shit. You don't seem to care too much, as long as there is money to be made and suckers willing to give it to you.

    I'm afraid that until that happens, you are, in fact, a douche. Sorry.

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  6. I'm not affiliated with Beckett, but I do live in the Dallas area. As I said in a previous post a name on a blog doesn't always indicate the true identity. I could log in under numerous names. Would this then validate my actual posts.

    I'm not asking for fifty posts that simply agree with the initial blog. What I'm hoping to see is open discussion regarding the hobby, and not just a blanket assumption with a number of reades who nod there head in agreement without voicing their opinion.

    I've never posted pro-beckett, or indicated any affiliation. I do like this site and appreciate what it has to offer. It is the most edgy of it's kind, and thats a good thing.

    Limits are ment to be pushed. I guess that makes me stupid.

    - Anonymous

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  7. "As I said in a previous post a name on a blog doesn't always indicate the true identity"

    - And readers of this blog as supposed to know this exactly how? Are we to assume that every post on this entire site under the name "anonymous" is you? Then we're supposed to go read every damn thread so we know what you've already posted? I was only responding to what you've said on this particular post.

    "I could log in under numerous names. Would this then validate my actual posts. "

    - Actually yeah, it kind of would. Obviously my name isn't motherscratcher. But, at least when I post my retardedly stupid comments there is consistency so people have at least an incling what I'm about. If one was so inclined, they could even visit my own stupidly retarded blog. At least then people would know to completely dismiss any and everything that I post as the incoherant ramblings of an imbicile. With you, there is absolutely nothing

    "What I'm hoping to see is open discussion regarding the hobby"

    - Really? Is that what you were trying to accomplish with your craptastic first post?

    Look, I guess I owe you an apology since you aren't affiliated with Beckett. I do think it was a fair assumption. However, I guess that just means that you posted that sarcastic first remark for no other reason than to be an asshole. Face it, you made a comment on here that made you sound like a complete dick, and when Carrie called you on it you tried to backtrack. Oh wait, I forgot, you were trying to stimulate some open discussion. My bad.

    "Limits are ment to be pushed. I guess that makes me stupid."

    - I have no idea what the hell this is even supposed to mean.

    One other thing. Please don't make the mistake of assuming that I have anything to do with Gellman or this site. If SCU ever needed defending (And it doesn't) I'm sure my name would make Gellman's list of defenders somewhere between Pauly Shore and Carrot Top. I know next to nothing about the hobby. I just happened to have the time to go on my little rant here and nothing else to do.

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  8. Mr. Anonymous - first off, for someone who has so very little to offer to the general flow of this blog, you sure like to check up often.

    Secondly, you could stand to make some better arguments. Regardless of what your original goal is, the only person who looks like an ass is you.

    Motherscratcher - thanks for the comments, you said what I was thinking.

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  9. I from now on will stand by and only be a viewer of this blog site. I can no longer compete with the rational thought that has forced me to raise my white flag.

    Your right, I'm wrong.

    Enjoy your site, and the limited number of discussion that actually occurs.

    Looking through all of the posts and there comments, I can see that there are about 4 to 5 regular people on this site that reply to the posts (every once in awhile some one new will throw in a little nugget, but not too often).

    Keep up the good work.

    Sincerly Yours,

    -Anonymous

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  10. Mr. A, just because we dont comment, doesnt mean we dont read. What you dont seem to understand is that people come to this blog to read and not to write a discussion. There are a lot of other places to discuss.

    Gellman is one of the only bloggers out there who actually understands what people are going through these days. I dont care about stupid cards from the 1990s or piddly base cards from recent sets, I care about the issues he talks about. I spend my money to get cool cards and I feel he functions in the same way. He doesnt buy retail crap, and he doesnt bother set collecting, its about getting nice stuff and not worrying about the unimportant bullshit. The stuff that is part of the important things is stuff that card companies seem to forget about, and he is the one person that doesnt let them get away with it.

    I think accountability is lost in this industry; he is starting to bring it back, 1 person at a time.

    So, if you want to read and not comment, fine, we dont care. If you want to read AND comment, fine, we dont care. If you want to be an ass when you comment, see ya, we will make sure you go away.

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  11. Thanks freddy, I do function much like you say.

    Mr. Anonymous - you are more than welcome to comment as long as you contribute something worth contributing. If you are going to make snide comments about unimportant things, than I agree, you should stand by as a viewer, as you say.

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