NPNs on UpperDeck.com Do Follow Through

I got my npn today from Icons, and you can win it in a random drawing of the next 5 people to sign up for the Limited Break. So sign your ass up. Visit npn.upperdeck.com to enter yourself.

You Best Be Signin' Up Fools

If you havent seen the shear awesomeness that is coming out of Leaf Limited, you are missing the fuck out. Get signed up for our 3 box break with the Holiest of Hitters, and I swear that our streak of bad luck will break if you believe in us. BELIEVE!

Do it. Do it.

Send the paypal to justin.halbersma@gmail.com and we can get this beast moving.

Most Colors On A Patch Goes To...

So, a few weeks ago, I posted about the idiots who contstantly post about their 6 and 7 color patch cards, which are actually just two to three patches of 2-3 colors each. Well, someone on blowout actually found a card that falls under the true 6-7 color variety. Take a look at these!




Holy... fucking... shit. BALLGAME.

Business and Cards

You want to know something weird? I just had an interview for a promotion, and during the proceedings, the topic of hobbies comes up, and of course I bring up cards. Funny enough, the guy who may be my new boss perks up and wants to know a little more. Turns out he was a huge collector with his dad growing up, and stopped around the mid eighties. Once we started we didnt stop for an hour, it was a blast. In fact, this is the second time this has happened to me, and Im still waiting for the encounter where someone brings up this site.

See, cards can be beneficial in every walk of life, as most guys have had some kind of experience with them as a kid. I would say I have a much better shot at the promotion now because of the experience I had, and wouldnt you know it, he hates Beckett too. His son inherited the old collection and got his hopes up when Beckett told him he had thousands in cards. When he tried to sell, he got a rude awakening. He couldnt believe that people let this happen, because if he was as wrong as they are, he would be out of a job.

If You Havent Used eBay, Please Learn How Before You Sell

There is nothing more annoying on this planet than looking at a Best Offer auction and seeing that the seller has 8 offers older than 1 day and all are "still pending seller response" or "expired."

This says to me you are either not familiar with how to use BO or you are a douchebag that holds my money hostage while you sit on other offers. Im guessing most of the people who take this avenue dont understand they are supposed to deny or counter an offer they get, and not wait out the 48 hours. Im sure many sellers dont know you CAN counteroffer. That sucks because now I cant spend the money I have saved up because the seller hasnt responded.

If you are a fucking douche that doesnt respond to the offers on purpose, I hate you, and I hope you die by getting stabbed repeatedly with a rabid badger.

One More Push For Diabetes

For those of you who dont know, the JDRF walk is this weekend at Dodger stadium, and I have raised close to $250 thanks to the readers of SCU. I want to post the JDRF donation link one more time with the hopes we may be able to get a few more donations for a great cause. Email me if you have any questions, read the original post by clicking the button on the right.

To Sponsor me as a JDRF walker, click here.

Big thanks to GlvSv and Groat for donating, I appreciate all the support you guys bring!

2008 Leaf Limited Football

Up for your breaking participation enjoyment are 3 boxes of 2008 Leaf Limited Football (that is a total of 12 autographs or material cards). You can read Gellman's review 2 posts below. Overall it looks like a good product but until I find out what happens with that Threads Baseball box, Donruss is on thin ice with me. Here are the details of the product:

Configuration: 16 packs per box. 5 cards per pack.


2008 Leaf Limited NFL has been upgraded with the following case hits. These hits will include TWO of the following per 16-count Master Case or ONE per 8-count Direct Case/Inner Case
Limited Lettermen - the rookie versions are signed
Limited Slideshow - all autographed
Limited Cuts - cut signatures
Limited Prime Pairings - two signatures per card

PER BOX ITEMS
- 4 Autograph or Memorabilia cards
- 1 Legends
- 1 Phenoms
- 2 Bronze Spotlight
- 1 Silver Spotlight
- 1 Gold Spotlight
- 1 Team Trademarks

And 5 others of the following: Inserts or parallels, Legends, Phenoms, Team Trademarks, Banner Season.

Here are the details for the break:

1) 3 Boxes of 2008 Leaf Limited Football
2) $27 per slot
3) Slot gets you two random teams assigned via video of random.org list
4) Paypal payments to be sent to: justin.halbersma@gmail.com (make sure to let me know your handle/blog id and your address)
5) If purchasing more than 1 slot please send as separate payments (this is so I can save time/shipping cost by doing the shipping through paypal)
5) Your name will be added once I receive payment and boxes will be ordered once the break is filled.
6) Break will be video recorded and posted both on youtube and on here with scans of nice pulls posted here.
7) Once again all cards will go out including base cards.
_________________________________________________

1. Holy Hitter (host)
2. psad21 (paid)
3. groat (paid)
4. voluntarheel (paid)
5. cardboard addiction (paid)
6. houstoncollector (paid)
7. penguin101 (paid)
8. Gellman (paid)
9. psad21 (paid)
10. sonic (paid)
11. sonic (paid)
12. wheeler281 (paid)
13. cardboard addiction (paid)
14. whitesoxcat (paid)
15. groat (paid)
16. wheeler281 (paid)

Two Things That Make Cards Look Awesome

After seeing Leaf Limited and looking at most of the photos from the 08 products, I have determined that there are two things that I like and would like to see more of in both Football and Baseball.

The first thing has to do with the photos on the cards, or mainly that when players' shoulders are square to the camera, things look better. It adds to it if they are in some sort action, mainly running, throwing, or making a play. I like seeing the jersey, I like seeing the player in action, and posed shots look ridiculous.

Second thing is team color focused cards. Im not talking about encapsulated letters in circles at the top of the card, I am talking about the whole fucking thing. If the card's borders, graphics, and everything are all team color, the card looks that much cleaner. If there are standard colors on a card like with most base cards, the team colors, field color and sky color dont go well with them always. With team color cards, things usually just go. Unless you are the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then you are doomed to the D-league.

Anyone else got other specific things I forgot?

Product Review: 2008 Leaf Limited Football

Man, oh man, I thought Limited was going to suck ass, but I was wrong. I cant speak for the format change because I have only seen two box breaks live, yet the cards look great. Maybe the other shit sucked so bad because this stuff gets all the women in the donruss household.

The Good

Lets start with the RC patches, because they are finally a card that was designed properly. There was not going to be a jersey parallel, so they were not worried about a floating swatch. Funny thing is though, I think the cards would work either way. The design is great, the die cuts look good, and the pictures look awesome. I posted the Ray Rice because he changed his number and they acutally went and got a pic from week 1 and used that on the card. BRAVO. No more Antonio Pittman mayhem this year. I also like the way the auto is placed on the picture, though with people like Chris Johnson, that will be a problem. Fuck him though.

Secondly, the insert sets look great, looks like DLP got over their nebulous swatch placement, as most of the insert sets I saw as Jersey only, looked really good. The jumbo number jersey cards that they always put out as a subset for both RCs and vets look double as good as they did last year, and the autos for them are some of the best cards in the set. I couldn’t find a good pic, but they are the only ones with giant swatches in diecut number windows.

Moving on, my favorite set is back, Lettermen, and it is glorious. This is what more sets need, fuck that manufactured shit, lets get some nice ass game used shit. The RC letterman are autoed, but they are all event used, still better than manufactured though. I like the design this year.

We also get NFL logo base card parallels and they look really nice, compared to last year where the diecut really didn’t work. I like that we don’t have a GIANT SHIELD but rather just the important part. Certified Materials, take note please. It fits the picture, and doesn’t cover up much of the awesome action.

The Bad

Switching back to a box with more base cards sucks. Limited was amazing in tin form, and that little flip box was even cool, so why "fix" something that aint broken? At least the base cards look okay, but that doesn’t excuse me having to open 18-24 packs. People don’t need this.

I saw a lot of RC base autos, which are never good. An overuse of scrub autos has basically ruined threads baseball, which could have been a product for the ages. I think it should be like SPA where you either get a Patch auto or a Vet auto jersey per box. Enough with the scrubs. I don’t need an auto of the third string punt returner's water boy.

When it comes to cuts in this set, there is no reason to include half of the people they do, and they should not be one per case. Spend more money on nicer cuts and limit the production. I don’t like having the Cleveland Browns' announcer as my case hit.

The Ugly

There really weren’t many ugly things about this set. Thank god.

Overall, this definitely gets my seal of approval, much like Absolute. It really sucks that of all the products released, only three were top shelf nice. That sucks. At least we have Ultimate on the way, which looks good, and only 4 months to SPA. Game on.

This Is Why I Have Stopped Watching YouTube Videos

Its like they grow somewhere dark, watered by 2 dollar jersey cards. I just pulled that.

h/t Wax Heaven

Donruss Threads Baseball

I will let the videos speak for themselves, but let me describe the break this way just to prepare you:

"This break is like when you wake up in the morning and before you open your eyes you get excited because you remember you took home this hot chic from the bar and she is laying next to you in bed. Then you open your eyes, roll over for some hopefully good morning fun and you scream in horror. The girl lying next to you was not the one that you thought you were taking home. Horror! Absolute horror and you can't turn back." (for those female readers who might happen by, take the story and insert guy for "chic")

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Here are the scans of the cards I would consider the 2 best of the break:






Here is the randomization video:



Oh and by the way. Cards are already packaged up and on their way to people's homes. Worked on Saturday and so I could take the afternoon off and did the break and have been busy getting the mail out and uploading the videos. Hope everyone enjoys their cards.

Census Results - Thank You To All Who Participated

On Friday, I wrote up a survey because I wanted to gauge a few questions I had about the makeup of the reader base of this site. I got exactly what I wanted, though the scale wasn’t as big as I wanted. Survey monkey only allowed 100 responders to each survey, with 10 questions per time, so it was a little tougher to do the census the way I had envisioned it. Ill list my possible errors below, but lets go over the results question by question (This will be a long post).

For pictures, click to enlarge.

Results



The first question was a qualifying question, just seeing how big the collections were of people that read the site. I imagined a pretty big response for the biggest answer, which happened, and I think it says a lot about the collectors today. Im not going to throw the quality versus quantity argument out there, but I think that comes into play. We are guys, and sometimes we just want the biggest, not the best. However, I do think that it shows how much we have invested in our collections, so that is very refreshing and daunting at the same time. Infer what you would like, I am proud of your size.



The second question was another qualifying question, and I was surprised to see how many people were collecting 4 sports or more. That’s interesting, to say the least. I expected 1 and 2 to be the biggest thing, but the combined last two were just as much. I think this is very good because it means more people will be interested in posts about the stuff that I thought was worthless.



As for which sports are actually collected, Baseball was an overwhelming favorite, no surprise there. I think it also says a lot about what the rest of the survey tested, as many baseball collectors seem to fall into a reletively easy pattern to discern. Ill get to that. Surprise: 23 hockey collectors, 25 Basketball collectors, ha!

The money question is one that many readers have asked me personally, and I wanted to see what the spending habits were for the people that frequent this site. Im sure many of you often think, "Am I spending too much?" and here is your answer. Im not shocked to see that the higher end of the spectrum is a favorite of this second world blog you are reading, but I think that the overwhelming amount of collectors don’t actually spend that much per month. That’s why the base brands are so popular. You get the cards, and that’s it, its expected to not get anything. For that I say, why waste the money? Save up and buy something worthwhile.

The next question deals with where our collecting habits fall. I think the supermajority of bloggers are first worlders, and I am not shocked to see the number one answer. Though, with a huge amount of baseball collectors on this site, sets should be the collection of choice. Secondly, I think being a player collector is actually more prevelant in the normal hobby sliver of people because that is a main reason people join the hobby, "I like this player and I want an autograph I can trust, hmm, he has other cards too?" That’s how I got hooked.

Question 6 of part one was the most surprising question on the first half for me. 29 people said that when given the choice, their favorite type of card is base. It was the top response. Wow. Granted, more Baseball collectors would make this a more common answer, but to be at the top? That’s nuts. Personally I hate base cards, I have left them at the shop for kids up until I saw how many of you keep them to give away to the other bloggers. I cant imagine keeping a bunch of non rookie base cards in a box, taking up space in my closet, let alone marking them as my favorite. Wow indeed. Autos/Auto Jerseys were a platoon that I should not have split, but they are combined to be the favorite.

Next we have the manufacturer's ratings, which originally were designed as much more in depth. Survey monkey had other ideas, and this was the result. I think the results speak for themselves, and I think they are correct.

>The last question on part one was a SCU specific question, and I think its pretty much how I feel. 84% of the readers come to the site to read a rant or look for a cause. They like the other features, but I think deep down, they like reading the rants. The other percentage of the people hate me, hate this site, and just want to read the blog to fume. Good for them.

As we start part two, I am obliged to say that the number of you who do most of your wax shopping at target and walmart seriously need to reconsider your idea of spending money wisely. Even if you are a set collector, its time to buy from the right people. Retailers like Target and Walmart are NOT the right people. Exercize patience and order from online or ebay, or go to the local shop and support them. It will be a better investment in your collection, and a better use of your money. As for the results, the local shop route and blowout/DA route was the most popular, but I was still angry to see that 29 percent still buy retail, or as I put it, putting your money in a blender and hitting "puree."

Question two was a recent hot topic, and I think this is pretty definitive in saying that the majority of us either support the manufacturer sponsors, or really don’t give a shit. Interesting.

Should manufacturers have blogs? I say yes as long as they are not advertisements for crap. I don’t want to read about you hauking your shit, but I do want to get an inside look at how things work. I think most will agree.

Should Beckett have a blog? The answer should be no, but people like it. Eric was a nice guy, ill give him that. Im not saying anything else.

The next question was SCU specific, and its nice to see that 88 percent of the people who took the survey either don’t like the video breaks (correct answer) or don’t watch them (also fine). To the 12 percent of the people who do like them, I think it could be some of the things ill talk about below.

Question 6 was SCU specific as well, and I think I phrased it wrong. Beckett itself is, whether I like it or not, still relevant in the hobby. Their grading business, not service, is a major part of things, despite not being used in any important major auctions or hobby centric ways, and they do still have a reader base for the magazine. So the reality is that although their box breaks and price guide are the bane of this hobby, their overall presence is still relevant, much to my chagrin. Book value is beyond idiotic, but I think people are still interested in what they have to say - stupidly.

The next one was just a fun question to see what people thought. I gave them the choice of multiple answers, as to not skew the results too much. I will disregard the fact that my blog was the most identifiable with, because I was the one who created the survey, but you can judge for yourself on the rest. I am sorry to those I forgot, I did this quickly.

Box break info from blogs was cool to see on the next question, but I was more surprised to see that YouTube was the third answer! Wow, the winds of change are in the air. Maybe people are as annoyed as I am.

The book value question was expected, as only 12 percent still use Beckett if they read the blogs. For non blog readers I assume its more 50/50. Even though error is present, I think the percentage of idiots who still use book value is going down. Keep that in mind, douchebags.

The last question speaks for itself.

Reasons For Error

There is an amount of intrinsic error in this, as I think there are some obvious problems with the way this survey was collected.

First and most importantly, I think due to the annonymity, its easy to not take this seriously, or use it as a way to joke around. As anonymous, I would be more inclined to take this survey and give all the answers I know you wouldn’t want me to give just so you cant make your point. I don’t think that a high percentage of people did this, but it is a possibility.

I also think there is error in this being hosted by me instead of as a joint venture in the blogosphere. My readers are more likely to give answers I agree with. That’s expected. Next time, we should have a 'shpere-wide survey that we can all create.

Lastly, I think that some people took this survey with a vested interest in answering against public perception. I know that the manufacturers read this blog, and I know that Beckett reads this blog. That would skew results if more than a few of them took the survey.

----------

In terms of the general process, thank you to everyone who took the survey. Its cool to see that we can get 100 responses in less than 3 days.

Topps American Heritage Is Completely Original

So, Topps American Heritage is a set that I would consider the most original, out of the box, great set I have ever previewed. It has everything that has never been done before, and it does not remind me of any other topps product that has ever been produced one bit. Im just saying.



Thanks to AR for the tip, I dont think this has been mentioned anywhere.

Oh, and one last thing, I want to applaud them on creating more non-autoed manufactured letters of people that have never, ever put on a jersey. It is a fucking amazing idea.

My Census Needs Your Info

Guys, I was curious to see how a lot of you felt about certain issues, so I created a survey for us to take that will allow me to get some info on what is going on with the reader base of most of the blogs.

I will take the results and post them here, all surveys are anonymous. The survey is 20 questions that I am curious about, please take the five minutes to help me with some info.

Thanks!

Click Here For Part 1

Click Here For Part 2

This is limited to the first hundred responders. Once 100 has been reached, the survey results will be posted.

My Hatred For Beckett Rivals My Hatred For Keenan Thompson's Characters On SNL

Over the last few weeks, Beckett has been trying to promote their give away of another card that most people would consider a pretty awesome pull. Right now, they want you to write a review or say something about the economy, some shit like that, and you will have the chance to win a low numbered Adrian Peterson Score Select rookie auto. Now, its not the DiMaggio cut they pulled, but it begs a really important question. I know Donruss, Topps, and Upper Deck still sends them free boxes to bust, though I know UD has either stopped this practice or told them not to do it publicly - which makes me wonder, what kind of shit do they have piled up back in their "vault?"

Really people, why are we standing around and letting this happen? Rotting animal dung like this should not be receiving anything, let alone free product. I have laid off this topic for a while, but I am gathering my rage all over again. Not only does this distort the product odds, but it also takes big hits out of circulation and gives them to people who dont deserve them.

I recently found out that some product giveaways are absolute necessities (like the boxes that go to the NFL to use their license), but giving shit to beckett is far from a necessity now. We still havent forgotten the awful events that happened last year, and I wont stand for this fucking awful practices. Maybe, just maybe, if the people in charge over there weren't fucking bastardized sewer rats, I would go about this in a much nicer way. Yet, every single time an issue like this is brought up, they treat us like fucking children with their stupid articles about how much people love them.

In fact, fucking Hackler still stands by the assertion that only "a few people" dont like the practices Beckett employs, and I encourage you guys to take a stand, because I know that he is A) A fucking bad guesser when estimating the number of people who think this way, B) Detached from the hobby entirely, C) a conceded dick with delusions of grandeur, and D) A person worthy of ritual torture by the Inagua tribe of Northern Zimbabwe (ouch!). Free stuff should not dilute the hatred and rage you develop. Bribes will not work. Fight the power.

Link to my anti-Beckett manifesto

Fleer Ultra Hockey returns from Upper Deck

Will here, I just got sent this press-release highlighting the return of Fleer Ultra Hockey. UD claims that it's now "affordable" at $2.99 per pack for 8 cards. Pretty much the same stuff from the folks in Las Vegas, tons of parallels that no one really cares about, some nice sigs, more jerseys than you can shake a stick at, and then a new 1:864 insert set called "EX Jambalaya" which looks like, well, a stew full of vegetables you wouldn't eat without being drunk.

Here's the release:

Collecting Hockey Cards without Breaking the Bank: Priced at $2.99 per eight-card pack, 2008-09 Fleer Ultra Hockey represents a great value for NHL fans

North Las Vegas, NV (October 23, 2008) – The struggling economy has just about everyone reevaluating their purchasing decisions. Upper Deck is excited to provide hockey fans with a product where they won’t need to open a new line of credit to afford it: 2008-09 Fleer Ultra Hockey. Each box delivers plenty of value with 24 Gold Medallion parallels, six Ultra Rookies, one rookie redemption and two game-used or autograph cards, on average.

Hockey collectors will find what they have come to expect with Fleer Ultra as the quality base cards all boast crisp photography and there are plenty of exciting insert cards to chase. Collectors will also find two new additions with the debut of “EX” and “EX Jambalaya” insert sets in 2008-09 Fleer Ultra Hockey.

The 42-card EX set highlights the NHL’s top stars on a very unique acetate surface and collectors can find three of these cards per every hobby box on average. The 20-card EX Jambalaya set features the best of the best the NHL has to offer and these cards will be tougher to find (1:864 packs) which should ensure high values for each of these limited cards.

Upper Deck gets hockey fans closer to the game with the game-used memorabilia insert “Ultra Uniformity.” Collectors can find “Ultra Uniformity” inserts of players like Alexander Ovechkin (Capitals), Ilya Kovalchuk (Thrashers), Evgeni Malkin (Penguins) and Mats Sundin (Leafs) which fall at a ratio of 1:12 packs on average. And the autographed “Fresh Ink” set includes names like Carey Price (Canadiens), Henrik Zetterberg (Red Wings), Patrick Kane (Blackhawks) and Sidney Crosby (Penguins) falling, on average, one card per case.

“Hockey fans shouldn’t have to give up their love for the hobby in a down economy,” said Josh Zusman, Upper Deck’s Hockey brand manager. “Our 2008-09 NHL Fleer Ultra Hockey brand provides them with a great way to tap into the hockey market at a very reasonable price. With the inclusion of new insert sets like EX and EX Jambalaya, there is a lot more value for collectors and we expect these cards to be very popular.”

Upper Deck’s 2008-09 Fleer Ultra hockey carries a suggested retail price of $2.99 per eight-card hobby pack and is available in stores now.

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

o Get six Rookie Cards in EVERY Box, on average! Plus get a Rookie Redemption card for a player who debuts early in the 08/09 season!

o Collect Gold Medallion parallels of the regular set – averaging one per pack – and look for limited numbered Ice Medallion parallels!

o Each box contains two jersey or signature cards, on average!

o Look for the debut of EX Hockey with three cards per box, on average, and limited numbered parallels!

o Search for rare EX Hockey Jambalaya insert cards!


PRODUCT BREAKDOWN:

Insert Cards
o Scoring Kings – Inserted 1:6
o Difference Makers – Inserted 1:6
o Franchise Players – Inserted 1:12
o Season Crowns – Inserted 1:12
o EX Hockey – Inserted 1:8
o EX Essential Credentials Red // (#’d to 99 or less)
o EX Essential Credentials Green // (#’d to 99 or less)
o EX Hockey Jambalaya – Inserted 1:864


Parallels
o Regular Cards Gold Medallions Parallel – Inserted 1:1
o Ultra Rookies Gold Medallions Parallel – Inserted 1:8
o Rookie Redemption Gold Medallions Parallel – Inserted 1:288
o Regular Cards Ice Medallions Parallel (#’d up to 100
o Ultra Rookies Ice Medallions Parallel (#’d up to 100)
o Rookie Redemption Ice Medallions Parallel (# up to 100)

Memorabilia Cards
o Ultra Uniformity – Inserted 1:12

Autograph Cards
o Fresh Ink – Inserted 1:288

Regular Cards and Rookies

o 200 Regular Cards
o Ultra Rookies – Inserted 1:4

Commentary

I gave up on collecting Hockey in 2003 for several reasons, one is that I got married and I had to give up SOMETHING to appease the new bride, and it wasn't going to be toys or comics at that time. Secondly my beloved Kings were, and still are, in the cellar of the Western Conference, and collecting sports memorabilia of a team that has had more failure than success in it's 40+ years in existence is not my idea of a good use of discretionary funds. Besides, finding Hockey in Southern California at the time was so hit and miss that it wasn't funny. Of course now I see Hockey ALL OVER THE FREAKING CITY, but a few years ago you couldn't find packs ANYWHERE but a hobby store, and there are fewer and fewer hobby stores in existence these days, and those that are left don't really care about Hockey in a town dominated by Baseball and Basketball.

Still, I'm please that UD has not abandoned the Fleer Ultra brand all together, as I have always been fond of the first additional brand from the venerable Fleer franchise. I'm also happy to see that some of the old insert sets are back and hey, Gold Medallions were always the cream of the one-per-pack parallel in my mind.

BUT (and there's big buts here, not like Sir Mix-A-Lot butts, you now what I mean), if this set is supposed to be "affordable" why is it three bucks a pack? Three bucks doesn't seem like much to most collectors, but for BUDGET collectors (hint hint) three bucks is a mid-level set or a retail pack of a higher-priced set. AFFORDABLE packs are two bucks these days, which is pretty much every base Topps product (and say what you want about base Topps, but it IS affordable) and even some UD retail products (UD Heroes I'm looking at you). Budget brands are Topps Opening Day and UD First, both of which offer nice base sets and little else.

Plus, I'm sorry, look at those one per case inserts of the EX Jambalaya, which has GOT to be the dumbest name of any insert set I've seen in quite awhile. They look to me like someone found a template for the old Topps Red Backs and Blue Backs and decided that they would make nifty Hockey cards. I'm all for the rink in the background, but NOT with red and blue as the colors. Are they trying to insinuate that these cards have some sort of political leaning? If political cards don't belong in Baseball sets (and I'm not so sure they don't), they DEFINITELY do not belong in Hockey sets, where 90% of the players aren't even American.

Sigh...so nice try UD, but this set is nowhere near what it could have been, which is too bad, because as I said, Ultra has always been one of my preferred brands. Let's just hope that they don't decide to reinvent Flair, that would be even more of a disaster.

Busy Week, But Not Really?

This week, there are quite a few releases from the big three, but really, is it worth your time with any of these products? I know that money is tight right now, but I am sure you guys are curious to know what is happening with these.

Bowman Football HTAs and Regulars

If you touch these at all, I am saying that you have to wait at least 3-4 months. I say this because they contain close to NOTHING worth your time. It seems like Topps is putting this crap out just to appease a small remaining pocket of set collectors, or because they have an extra spot they couldnt fill with more crap like '08 Letterman. At least this year, they have supposedly added a Bowman RC Premiere auto, yet, the chase is not worth the result.

In January these will go for 30 bucks a box for the HTAs, so dont waste your dwindling cash supply on this crap.

Topps Letterman Football

I explained awhile ago that "abortion" does not even begin to describe how awful this product will be. I dont even need to see if they actually had the balls to put sticker autos on manufactured letters to say that this product will beat Paradigm as the worst high end product of all time. If you even think of buying this crap, head down to your local tattoo parlor, strap yourself to a chair and get "idiot" inked on your forehead. At least that way, people will have a good idea of what to expect before they talk to you.

Upper Deck Masterpieces

I love the paintings in this product. It looks like time was actually spent on them, which is a shocker these days. Its a great idea with beautiful cards, and even though the auto checklist will not be worth the box break, however, the base cards should be worth it.

Leaf Limited

Limited was one of my favorite products of last year because of the format and the content. No excess of base cards (PLUS), cool design for the RC autos (PLUS), GAME USED lettermen (PLUS), nice checklist (PLUS). This year they changed from the "tinned" format to the pack format which sucks fucking ass, and the price has gone up too. Luckily the content should be the same, but I would maybe see a few box breaks before wasting your money.

Basically, after thinking about all this for a while, it comes down to a pretty simple fact:

TOPPS IS TAKING ITS FOOTBALL PRODUCTS AND SHOOTING THEM IN THE DICK. (Dammit Butters!)

People may have a voluntary ban on Topps, but my ban is definitely all their fault. If their products didnt suck, I would think about buying them. Wow.

A Comment On "How'd I Do?!?!"

Dear Message Board Box Breaker,

If you break a box, please just post the results and get on with your life. If you are not familiar with the cards themselves, thats fine, there are plenty of resources for you to use in order to obtain that knowledge. However, if you are too GOD DAMN FUCKING LAZY to go to eBay and search the cards you pulled for pricing info, I am not going to FUCKING HELP YOU. Take some fucking initiative and look, you ingrown hippopotamus ass hair. Let me say, I never buy, break, or collect hockey cards, but I can still find out how I did on a break by checking eBay. It takes 3 fucking seconds, LITERALLY. In fact, here is a little formula for you:

(Price of Box) - (Price of Cards Pulled) = How You Did

If the number at the end of the equation is at or near zero, I would say you did pretty good. I realize you probably suck at math as much as you suck at life, but that doesnt mean your computer didnt come with a fucking calculator. Now shut the fuck up and leave me the fuck alone.

Sincerely,
Every Single Message Board Reader

Threads Baseball Update

Alright I got the tracking info today and the boxes are set to arrive on Monday the 27th and so I will be doing the break in the evening and hopefully getting it all posted, etc. by 11 p.m. central time. Even though I am not participating in the break (nor do I collect baseball cards anymore), I still am really excited about this break. I want to see an auto of Willie Mays, Nolan Ryan, or one of the Shoeless Joe Jackson bat cards come out of these.

Here is an updated list of the teams after trades (thanks motherscratcher...I was getting around to it, but waiting for the trackign info) and I think it would be best if all trades are finalized by Monday morning 9 a.m. central time.

stats_on_the_back-Athletics, Rockies
White Sox Cards-Giants, Nationals, Reds, White Sox
arfmax-Royals, Tigers, Pirates, Phillies
cardboard addiction-Marlins, Mets, Orioles, Yankees
houstoncollector-Angels, Padres, Twins, Astros
gellman-Mariners, Braves
motherscratcher-Rangers, Indians, Red Sox, Diamondbacks
heartbreaking cards-Rays, Brewers
Captain Canuck-Cardinals, Blue Jays
psad21-Dodgers, Cubs

Product Review: 2008 Threads Baseball

Threads Baseball is here and in full force, and I think its time for me to do a thing I havent done in a while, a baseball product review! I think a lot of people were waiting for a DLP baseball product, and they seemingly delivered with a bang, according to the sell sheets. I went over some of the stuff, and ill see if they actually came through.

The Good

Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, Willie Mays, and Hammerin Hank, four names we havent heard mentioned when referring to baseball cards in a long while. When it comes to these four, two of which who are getting on in age, I have to say "BRAVO DLP!" to finally getting a few more products out for these treasures of the game. Aaron has been the focus in baseball for a while now, thanks to the Steroid Superman, Barrius Bonds, and I think its time we got some sugar for the people who love the original. Aaron and Mathews were my favorite old time players growing up, and I still follow their collectibles today. I was beyond psyched when I saw that Aaron was all over the Threads preview.

As for the results of the hype, the base cards are nice, and I think the relics they threw in the base cards fit nicely. Hank, Willie and Pete are all over this beast of a product, and they even get the royal treatment in Diamond Kings with base, relics, and relic autos. The cards look as good as they did in football, and I think I may have to pick up some singles after our group break.

Moving on, I think its really a good idea to have the Baseball Americana stuff in this set, as it means we get a lot of extra fun cards from people who love and are a part of baseball's history. The funnest card I saw was the autographs they have of former President, George Bush. How great is that? I would love to pull one of those awesome cards. Plus, you get more of Willie and Hank too, which doesn’t hurt. The best part of these cards is that the entertainers collected in this set are actually connected to the history of the game, unlike "Spectrum of the Backup Hair Metal Guitarist Stars." Good call there.

Lastly, the Rookie Class letters can be really cool in football, and I know a lot of people have been waiting for them in a DLP baseball product. Even though the prospects have to be shown in their college jerseys, I think it was a nice addition to the set. Here's to DLP getting the baseball license back!

The Bad

Even though the product is a wagon full of great players, they only got bat relics for most of the people who we were looking forward to. Rose is an exception, though im not sure many are surprised by that. Absolute 2005 was awesome because of all the amazing jersey relics they got of Jim Thorpe, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, not all the crappy "bat" relics. I wish that jerseys were included. *Sad Face*

Secondly, its obvious to me WHY they had to use stickers for a lot of these cards, but that doesn’t excuse them from the ones that could have been ON CARD. Prospect autos should never be on stickers, bottom line.

The Ugly

No unproven college prospect should ever be put on a "Kings" card. College Kings, Diamond Kings (especially), etc, are not places for these kids to be. I say that for football, for anything, really. Save it for Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, and others who should be there. God I would hate to pull one of those.

Also, the Aaron autos are redemptions from what I can tell. That is the second time in recent memory that I know the autos of the person on the front of the box are actually redemptions. Im sorry DLP, but that is FUCKING BULLSHIT.

Parallels in this product are so plentiful that they become ultimately confusing as fuck. If I cant understand your goofy ass parallels, you need to rethink your strategy. Base, Gold, and 1/1, that’s all it should be.

Overall, this product lives up to the hype due to its forgotten titans of the game. Satchel Paige, who hasn’t had many cards, is in this product - WITH RELICS - and I think that is awesome. Plus, I think this product gives collectors that, "Im doing something good for the hobby" feeling by buying this. If you buy this product, DLP will continue to put out baseball products. Although that is as far from the truth as you can get, I think it’s a feeling many have. I like this product a lot, I have resigned myself to a fate that Absolute 2008 is never coming, and I think I could live with this.

The First Shoeless Joe Jackson Relic Sells For $500 On eBay

In case you werent excited for Donruss Threads baseball, the first card of Joe Jackson in a long time, and first "legal" card in forever, will be included. This story was broken here.

Anyways, the first Bat relic from Shoeless Joe has been up and sold on eBay for a cent under $500. I think the person could have gotten a little more for it being the first one, and being from a new set, but that is still a pretty high sum.

I am excited for this set, and I am definitely of the ilk that says Joe Jackson should never have been part of that scandal.

Regardless of what you think, check it out here.

Perfection is No Longer Untouchable

The 1972 Dolphins are no longer the only undefeated team. Regardless of what Mercury Morris, Senile Cokehead Douchebag Extraordinaire, says, the New England team did exactly what they did. They may not have won the Superbowl, but that is semantics. For those of you who have missed Mercury Morris' incessant and nonsensical bragging about the team he was on, I am questioning if you have ever watched anything related to football.

Up until now, I have thought that the conceded assholes were only limited to the team itself...

...I was wrong.

Thanks to this wonderful, smart and relentless collector, you can have a "set" of the starting offense and defense of the team. He was even nice enough to throw in the punter and kicker for you. Think the fact that Mike Kolen never had a card produced would stop this gentleman of the geriatrics from putting him in this "never seen" set? Nope, you get a stamp. I am putting in my offer of 25 large later today. I hope I win!!

More Shameless Baseball Site Plugs

If you guys are into the whole podcast thing, make sure to check out http://www.superfractor.com/. They have a weekly podcast they do that is pretty cool, and I think it could be the beginning of something pretty cool. Podcasts are pretty much ignored in this hobby, its nice to see someone taking the initiative. I have actually searched a few times for card podcasts with no luck, its cool to finally get that first one under the belt.

Where Does It End?!?

Well, you know that claim that says 80% of all secondary market memorabilia is fake? I am starting to buy in. I used to think that if an item is up for auction with a place like heritage and other top houses, it should be researched beyond comprehension. Most of the time, the items come with massive provenance, but that doesn’t always mean they are real.

I started looking around gameuseduniverse.com lately because I am always interested in parts of the hobby I know nothing about. What I found there was shocking, disheartening, and very educational to say the least. On multiple occasions, people have posted threads on the site showing how a certain item cannot, under any circumstances, be real - despite any history described in the auction.

Recently, a Mastro Michael Jordan item was proven to be not real, and drew the attention of the national media. What they missed were two items, described in this thread, that should have had the same kind of coverage. There are other items listed, but I took these two as the most important due to the players and the claims of the auction.

The first was supposed to be a game used helmet worn by Joe Namath in SBIII. The auction lists miles of history and even has a quote from the house's president about how this is the one item that should be tops on everyone's list. The problem is, that one of the members on the forum knew more about football helmets than any single other person who worked for the house.

According to photographs from the auction, the Namath helmet was relatively unrestored, but the major "gaff" was that there was only one drill hole below the earpiece. From other photos in the thread, Namath's helmet had two drill holes, done haphazardly to replace the two bar facemask with a three bar. When it was removed, the drill holes remained throughout the season. As you can see from the pictures, the helmets are similar, but not the same. Wow.

Secondly, there was an easier gaff spotted in a Unitas gamer, that brought 50,000+ on three occasions at auction. The issue? The helmet was made by a manufacturer that Unitas never wore in a game. Fucking crazy.

Of course all the claims were immediately refuted by the houses in pretty conspicuous fashions. The person on the forums said that if the claims by the auctions were true, it would be pretty crazy to think that they wouldn’t show up in any of the photos and extra photos provided to him personally.

So, if Heritage, Mastro and all the other houses can make mistakes like this, how many mistakes are there with Upper Deck, DLP, and *gasp* Topps? Im guessing quite a few.

If you havent checked out gameuseduniverse.com, do yourself a favor and check it out. Even if you don’t care about gamers, its still cool to see the collections on the site.

Missing and Presumed Dead

If you have seen the owner of these feet, please contact the Tampa Bay Rays at 1800-NOTDEVIL.

Alex Rodriguez's Shattered Love Life Is For Sale On Ebay

So, what would you do if you have a ball signed by A-rod and Cyndi Rodriguez (former)? Why, you have it authenticated and put up on eBay, of course! Arod's former doorman had this ball signed by the slugger one day, and because the economy is tight, he has decided to post it for sale.

Quote from Derek Jeter, "You bitch! I thought you said you were done with her!"

Really, the price is awful, and I am not sure who would actually want a ball signed by Arod AND his ex-wife. Thats just dumb. The funniest thing about this auction? JSA authenticated Cyndi's auto too. Thats called "over doing it," folks. Besides, who would fake that anyways?

A Skill Position Value Study

I have always wanted to compile a "best of" list for position players in Football so I could easily see the way that I wanted to approach a product. I never got around to it, so I will do my best to do top 5 or so picks for worth in the hobby. I am not going to factor in this year's rookies, but some of them would probably make this list. I factored in my OWN opinions of worth of jersey cards, worth of auto cards, and worth in general, as well as staying power and HOF status. This is ONLY for living signers, so people like Unitas and Payton are not on this list.

Quarterback

1. Tom Brady

Cards for Brady these days are few and far between when it comes to autos. His jersey cards are still pretty common, but that doesn’t affect his price. His knee injury this year dropped prices on high end stuff, but his normals are the same. Manning's Contenders have eclipsed Brady's in price, but the everyday stuff for him has not.

2. Brett Favre

Is this any surprise to anyone? No, the guy hits every category at the top and is definitely among the best ever. He is still playing, and his cards are still rising, shockingly.

3. Joe Montana

He is thought of as the greatest and his autos reflect that. The jersey patches at 2 colors are quite expensive because the jersey itself was only two colors. He will continue to stay on this list forever.

4. Steve Young

Steve Young is immensly popular for both manufacturers and collectors. He was a visible guy and it didn’t hurt that he took over one of the best teams in history. He is near the top in many categories, and I expect that he will reach top value in most lists.

5. John Elway

Elway is the quintessential fan favorite pick. He didn’t win a super bowl until his last few years, and yet he is still one of the best ever. He signs a lot for DLP, but not many others, so his cards tend to be pretty expensive.

6. Dan Marino

Marino is on this list because his cards are normally in the 80-100 dollar range for autos, and his jersey cards also sell pretty well. He signs the most of anyone on this list, so his position is a little lower.

Running Back

1. Emmitt Smith

His cards cost so much money that even manufacturers are having a tough time producing them. He may not be the best in grammaticosity, but his playingness was the best of the brightfulness. He passed Payton in just about everything on the field, but for cards thats pretty tough when you are still alive.

2. Barry Sanders

The epitome of role models for a future RB has some great stuff to pick up. His cards still command a huge price, even though many current RBs are taking away some of the spotlight. Barry is one of my favorites because he was a small guy that did big things. A lot of current guys base their style on him, so you gotta believe he was one of the best ever.

3. Adrian Peterson

My favorite player, aside, this guy's cards continue to be hugely priced, despite the 2nd year drop off that every player has in card value. Try finding an auto jersey for less than 100. Even the SAGE stuff sells. That is fucking crazy.

4. LaDanian Tomlinson

Tomlinson has a bunch of records and shouldn’t be more than halfway done with his career. He was the top guy before Peterson came along, and he still gets a ton for auto jerseys. His RCs are in the stratosphere, so he has to be on this list.

5. Jim Brown

Jim Brown's stuff has become pretty common, but he is still a top pull. I think if he had done a little more in his career, he could have eclipsed even Payton in value. Brown is a polarizing figure, and from what I have heard he is also a jerk, so that could hurt value.

Wide Receiver

1. Jerry Rice

All WR cards are worth close to nothing, except him. I am really surprised that WRs take the brunt of the hobby hate, but its true that they are the most conceded people on the field most times. Rice was against all of that, and will forever be the games best until someone finds a way to change the position.

2. Michael Irvin

Even though the guy is everything I hate, he played for the cowboys and churned out great season after great season. He doesn’t sign all that much, but he does have a lot of jersey stuff, especially with DLP.

3.Terell Owens

Owens and Moss havent signed anything in a very long time, but that doesn’t mean their older stuff isnt super expensive. I would say Owens would be worth as much as Rice if he didn’t have so many problems, but even that is a tough sell. I guess you just have to have that me first attitude to get somewhere as a WR in this game.

4. Hines Ward

Pittsburgh fans are rabid, and his cards reflect that. He isnt the best in the game, but he is one of them. He signs more than most guys, and that has actually helped his value.

5. Randy Moss

Moss is an ass, but he is on the Pats and is the record holder for TDs in a season. He may not sign, but his stuff is still up there. Its all Vikings or Raiders, so that is a turn off for most NE fans, so you can expect his first pats auto to be REALLY expensive.

My dad always said that QBs are the only ones worth any money in the long run, and I think he is right. The only thing is that modern players do have a lot more durability, so maybe that will help shift things. I know that Emmitt and Jerry are worth as much as anyone, and that helps. But, overall, if you want long term value, take the field generals.

Value Bumps: Week 7

This was the Running Back week of champions. Either you did your job to everyone's wildest expectations, or you died trying. I had a fun time this week, but I think we finally get a picture of the elite and the chumps for the year.

Chris Johnson

If ROY was decided today, he is it - hands fucking down. He had a huge-mungous week, and helped his boys continue the undefeated surprise. Granted, it was against the Chiefs, but the overall body of work has been impressive on a VERY surprisingly good Titans team.

BUMP: UP

LenDale White

White has found a niche with the Titans as well, as he is their version of Marion Barber from 2007. If Johnson is the Lightning, he is the fucking Rhinoceros, Thunder is weak. He had a huge game too, and even broke off an 80 yarder. Wow, TD leader indeed.

BUMP: UP

Derek Anderson

After a great fucking season last year, he has had a shitstain season this year. I wasnt expecting much, but it seems like the computers were as they drafted him for me as the QB for all my fantasy teams. BITCHES. Either way, dump his crap and start buying Quinn at rock bottom prices.

BUMP: DOWN

Reggie Bush

He is injured again? Man, this golden draft class is getting a golden shower. After last week's big bump, he is heading in the wrong direction again. Its really too bad, as I know A LOT of people are still sitting, albeit stupidly, on his stuff. Can we please give up on him value wise now, im exhausted with him.

BUMP: DOWN

Ben Roethlisberger

What a great season he is having. He may actually live up to some of the value he has built up just for being the Steeler's QB. I say that with a 5-1 team and no more New England, he could go far with the Chargers being crap.

BUMP: UP

Darren McFadden

He gets a bye week to heal up, he gets a nice test of ability, and comes up way short. Of course, they won, but his value continues to drop. I said he wouldnt accomplish much at the beginning of the year, and it looks closer and closer to being true. If you bought in high, you are going to really feel it if he fucks himself even more. Yet, people are missing the point - its never a good idea to enter at the top level and hope for the best.

BUMP: DOWN

Clinton Portis

This guy is FINALLY turning it on for the skins. Huge week for him, and he is the frontrunner of all the RBs for the year. Too bad he is doing it in the toughest division in football. He will start getting his bump this week, and if he continues, it could be big.

BUMP: UP

Possible Bumps for Next Week:

Jonathan Stewart: If he can put up a big game versus AZ, expect big things.
Clinton Portis: Detroit? Cmon.
The Entire NY Jets Team: You better win, or things are going to get ugly
Chris Johnson: Playing Indy on Monday night? Nice place for a show!
Matty Ice: If Ryan wins against Philly, his values will spike considerably

Vikings Recap: Week 7

Bottom line is that if you score more than 30 points you should win that game. However, if you turn the ball over 25 times, you should lose the game. Basically, the second part was true and the Vikings lost in another strange game. Hopefully they can use the upcoming bye week to straighten things out.

Offense

Im glad the offense played well enough to score 41 points. That is seriously the highest total in the last 3 years, and most of it came ON the offensive side of the ball. For the first time in a while, I wasnt scared during 3rd and 7's and it seemed like they had it down. There was a problem though, the other side of the ball and special teams fucked them in the ass.

Special Teams

Another game thrown away by special teams. Sadly it wasnt even punt/kick returns by Hester or missed tackles. It was bonehead fucking douchebag plays that cost us a big win IN Chicago. Charles Gordon should not be returning punts, I say that every time he goes out there. Charles Gordon shouldnt even be playing, let alone returning punts. Secondly, Chris Kluwe and the Long Snapper should be running laps today.

Adrian Peterson

As Marshawn Lynch would say, "Beast Mode G I swah tat homes runz flah ditty flah on tem biz's." Either way, he had his best game of the year against a defense that hadnt allowed a 100 yard rusher all year. Thats right, fuck them biz's. The 54 yarder was crazy awesome, and I hope for our sake that there are many more to come.

Gus Frerotte

He looked *AWFUL* yesterday. 4 interceptions, sacks, and just a bunch of crap in a purple jersey. We actually had a chance on the last drive, but he decided to throw it deep instead of taking the 1:00 plus and marching down the field. We know that it can happen, so DO IT.

Defense

I dont know where the defense went. Granted, for some fucking stupid ass reason, Childress continued to give them a short field to start with during the first half because of the squib kicking, but that was no excuse. It was like they didnt think they had to play because the offense was scoring on every drive. The Marty Booker TD was so childish looking that I wanted to yell at Sharper, "MAYBE IT WAS GOOD WE DRAFTED A SAFETY, BECAUSE YOU SUCK TODAY!"

Visanthe Shiancoe

I guess he finally got the point that not catching balls will cost you your job. Considering this is a basic concept for every receiver, he should be subjected to water boarding.

Childress

Fire him now. You wont lose anything.

Overall, it was a fun game to watch, and we came close to winning. But considering that there is no way to make it anywhere when you throw it away, its time to replan the offense and shore up the holes in the defense. Special Teams needs to be hatcheted and started from scratch. Chris Walsh, WILL YOU PLEASE COME BACK???

Donruss Threads Baseball Team Assignments

I am about to put the order in on the boxes tonight. The product is set to release Wednesday and should ship out to me either Wednesday or Thursday. I estimate the break will be on Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th. I will keep you all updated.



stats_on_the_back-Athletics, Rockies
White Sox Cards-Twins, Giants, Nationals, Reds
arfmax-Royals, Tigers, Cubs, Pirates
cardboard addiction-Marlins, Mets, Braves, Orioles
houstoncollector-Angels, Padres, Red Sox, White Sox
gellman-Yankees, Mariners
motherscratcher-Blue Jays, Rangers, Brewers, Astros
heartbreakingcards-Indians, Rays
Captain Canuck-Cardinals, Diamondbacks
psad21-Dodgers, Phillies

SCU Video Blog 2

First Look: 2008 SP Authentic FB

ITS HERE! ITS HERE! We finally get our first look at SP Authentic, and I must say it looks fucking great. Everything looks snazzy as fucking hell, and I am really excited for it. They went with horizontal formatting again for the RC Patch autos, and I am a big proponent of that. They also keep the white background (YES!) and reshape the patch window to look a lot better than the thing from last year.

Also, we get a preview of the By The Letters and I assure you they will be amazing as usual. I am praying for a Peterson one, and I hope that they dont mess with a good thing when it comes to these.

Lastly the RC Leatherheads look unusual in terms of the contents of the photos, but the idea is pretty cool. It again looks like all of the autos will be on card and this could be a frontrunner for product of the year.

Get the rest of the information I published on SP Authentic from my interview with Gregg, maybe we can get some other cool previews now that its public.

OMINOUSLY NOT PICTURED: RETRO ROOKIE PATCH AUTOS

Donruss Threads Baseball **FILLED**

Well the World Series is right around the corner and while I don't collect baseball myself, I recognize that many readers of SCU do collect baseball cards. So what better way to celebrate the upcoming World Series then to do a group break of the soon to be released (comes out Wednesday October 22nd) Donruss Threads!







Product Details:
24 packs per box; 5 cards per pack
4 Autograph or Memorabilia cards per box (at least 2 autos)
1 Green Century Proof
1 Century Stars
1 Century Legends
1 Diamond King

Break Details:
(1) 2 Boxes of Donruss Threads
(2) $14 a slot (15 slots available)
(3) A slot gets you two random teams (videotaped and assigned via random.org)
(4) Payments Sent via paypal to: justin.halbersma@gmail.com
(5) You will be added once payment is received (please include username and address info with payment)
(6) All Cards will be sent (even commons)
(7) Autos and Memorilia cards will be distributed by the following rules
(a) The Jersey worn by the player on the card (like Pete Rose in a Reds uni even though the swatch may be from Phillies)
(b) College Cards and Donruss Americana Cards will be distributed randomly via random.org (video taped)
(c) If there happens to be some players in Brooklyn Dodgers unis, etc. The team name is where they will go (for instance
Brooklyn Dodgers = LA Dodgers)

As usual break will be taped and posted here and on youtube with scans of nice looking cards also posted on here. I will not be participating in this break, so spread the word and hopefully this fills up fast. I will be pre-ordering these boxes to makes sure we have them on the way.

1. stats_on_the_back (paid)
2. White Sox Cards (paid)
3. White Sox Cards (paid)
4. arfmax (paid)
5. arfmax (paid)
6. Cardboard Addiction (paid)
7. Cardboard Addiction (paid)
8. houstoncollector (paid)
9. houstoncollector (paid)
10. gellman (paid)
11. motherscratcher (paid)
12. motherscratcher (paid)
13. heartbreakingcards (paid)
14. Captain Canuck (paid)
15. Psad21 (paid)