Thursday, October 29, 2009

Beckett Announces That They Have Pulled ANOTHER 1of1 From Finest

Jim emailed me today with some very interesting news. He said that Beckett has announced that they have pulled ANOTHER 1 of 1 from their EARLY box of Topps Finest football. Regardless if this card is a printing plate, or a superfractor, the principle of the matter is that it is still a 1/1 that a collector will not be able to get in their box they BUY.


Just for shits and giggles, Im going to run down the list of cards they have pulled since they first started video taping their boxes. Remember, Beckett is not the only ones to blame, but they sure do like to pander to the card companies looking for more opportunities. Yes, multiple sources have told me that they have been approached by Beckett to provide a more active role in their box breaking episodes. On top of all of that, Beckett also doesnt show every box they break, only the ones they feel appropriate. Glad they are committed to providing a realistic picture of what is actually happening when you break a box of cards.

Here is the list:

1. 2006 Vince Young Exquisite Rookie Auto Patch /99 - The most valuable rookie at the time it was pulled. Worth more than $1,000.

2. Adrian Peterson Exquisite Rookie Auto Patch 1/1 - The most valuable Exqusite rookie auto patch of all time.

3. Walter Payton/Brian Piccolo Exquisite Dual Ledenary Cut 1/1 - A truly amazing card.

4. Ladanian Tomlinson 1/1 Exquisite Base Card

5. Joe Dimaggio Topps Sterling 1/1 cut auto jersey - The only one in 2007 Topps sterling

6. Brady Quinn 2007 National Treasures 1/1 Patch auto - Just a ridiculous patch

7. Topps Ticket To Stardom 1/1 Ticket Stub - not a horribly expensive card, but still a 1/1

8. Lucille Ball 1/1 Razor Cut Signature

9. Ryan Howard Topps Triple Threads Letter Fold out 1/1

10. Alex Rodriguez Topps Sterling Jersey Auto /10

11. Shoeless Joe Jackson Dual Bat /25

12. Matt Ryan Topps Rookie Progression Triple Auto - again, not worth much, but a ridiculous pull from a shitty product.

13. 2009 Topps Finest Football 1/1 - ???

So far thats more cards than could be counted on two hands. Again, the manufacturers are just as much to blame here, but the fact that Beckett runs it out there like a prized pig is getting to be one of the most disgusting displays in the hobby. I have said hundreds of times that each time Beckett pulls a "Beckett" it presents a horrible unrealistic expectation for the uniformed somebody who watches it, and I am encouraging the manufacturers to stop. As one blogger who commented on facebook said, "each time I see a box broken by Beckett, I lose respect for the people who send it." From that, maybe marketing your product this way is not a good idea, especially when people only watch it to see them to fuck it up.

These breaks, hobby wide, are considered scams by most of the informed collectors. Of course, there are apologists, but walk into any store, and ask them what they think of Beckett's string of "good luck." In fact, I know the manufacturers are aware of our feelings, and either refuse to comment on it, or just say that they have a job to do to market their products effectively. Although I do understand that Beckett does get lots of viewers that will see the products, when do you start to question the fact that there is more negative feelings generated than positive? Personally, I had received handfuls of emails congratulating Upper Deck from ceasing their Beckett shipments, only to have the same people email me later in anger once they started up again.

I have also received emails from five or six shops saying that they had stopped carrying Beckett in their store, including one that had instead put a laptop on the counter with a place for collectors to look up their pulls on eBay. Of course, being the arrogant people that they are, Beckett will continue to force their prowess as the "number one source" down your throat, but fail to see the turn in the collecting culture over the last few years. Remember, hating Beckett used to be the exception to the rule, now supporting them is taking its place.

I mean, if they were really going to present a realistic picture, how hard is it to form a partnership with Blowout or DA? Show your receipt, buy your boxes like everyone else, and then there isnt a need to have to find the time to go to a shop and buy the boxes. They can be shipped overnight right to Dallas. That way, if Beckett actually does pull a 1/1, it will be with the same chances that everyone else had, and Blowout or DA gets a little publicity along the way.

Yet, Beckett doesnt think like that, they are above the plebes down here in the mud. They want their thousands of dollars worth of product to be free, and they dont give a fuck what we think. Maybe they should keep on doing what they are doing, because I also run this site for free, and I have no staffers to pay. I can keep on writing, and do it for the love of the game without fear of money. Beckett, on the other hand, cannot. Its all about green for them, and eventually that green will dry up. When it does, ill be there to laugh a great big fat belly laugh at them.

12 comments:

  1. Right on. When I first got serious about collecting/blogging I wasn't sure why everyone hated Beckett. But now that I have a better understanding of shady the really are... well... I understand why everyone hates them. I really wish more collectors would realize that this means the expensive, high end products WONT HAVE ANYTHING GOOD IN THEM!!!

    It sucks for people like me, who can only justify spending $20-$30 at a time on cards - I know it's almost guaranteed that I'll never pull anything 'good'. Not that I'm in it for the money, but it'd be nice to get a mega-hit just once. I mean, if I wanted I COULD go out and buy a box of Topps Sterling, no big deal, but it's not fun to me to spend all of my disposable income on cards. And even if I did do that, all I'd get would be a crappy four jersey card of Tom Seaver, because all of the truly 'good' hits are sent to people with a much larger voice than mine.

    Sucks.

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  2. All of this does bring up the question of what, exactly, are people collecting when they rip wax. As more and more of the high-dollar, 1/1 cards are packed out to Beckett the value of an individual pack SHOULD decrease because the big hits people are paying for are not actually in the product!

    Yet another reason why I no longer rip and just score what I want on ebay. Ripping people off like this is beyond shameless.

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  3. I agree with Carl Crawford - I target the specific card I want now too. To me, opening random packs anymore is like playing the lottery.

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  4. yaaaaaaaaaaawn ;) Yep Topps Panini and UD all Scum bags. UD worse then them all with the ones they supplied

    -wheels

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  5. I gave up buying packs years ago. I do miss the thrill of opening a box and possibly finding a really great card, but I've learned that gambling $100 away vs. spending $100 on cards I know I want is a no brainer.

    The sad thing is that most of the people who buy boxes don't frequent the Beckett sites. If it were public knowledge that a key 1/1 was already off the boards before the boxes even shipped out, I wonder how that would impact sales.

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  6. You forgot about the 06 SP Authentic Vince Young 3 color Patch Auto Rookie they pulled.

    Again, this was when Vince and Bush were the top dogs. And conveniently, a company in Texas, pulled 2 Vince Young's. Let's see, Vince Young is a Texas grad and personal favorite player of then Beckett boxbuster and now Upper Deck Blogger, David Lee. Somehow in Upper Decks 2 premier products, SP Authentic and Exquisite, they pull him.

    Man, I wish life was so convenient. If it was, I would piss ice cream.

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  7. ...and in turn, always complain about having a ridiculous icecream headache.

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  8. Dang straight.

    That was a good line Kris. Wish I had incorporated it.

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  9. I took one for the team and watched the horrible video of Tracy H opening the box and the 1/1 is James Laurinaitis rookie auto patch. It was out of the first pack he opened out of the box. This is another reason why I have dropped Topps off of my purchase list.

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  10. I wish I had more time so I could start up a web site/blog with links to true box breaks, none of the fake or loaded ones that are seen around the internet.

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  11. Tim Might as well drop them all for UD was the worst.

    -wheels

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  12. Re: Number 3 -

    I watched that stupid Exquisite box break video, and when that tool pulled the Piccolo/Payton dual auto, he was like "Meh, big deal" until he saw the Payton auto, and then he was all "That's pretty cool."

    "Pretty cool?" It's fucking awesome is what it is, and he was too much of a tool to realize he got one of the toughest pulls in that whole product.

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