What Factors Go Into A Player's Value?

We all know that production is the forefront of where value is determined in this hobby. If you produce, your cards will be valuable, so much so that if you producED at some point, they will still hold some value even if you are not producing now. However, there are a few things that can add to that value, most of which don’t necessarily stem from long term production, and some of them are pretty nuts.

Aside from sustained production, the main contributing value add on is dominance. If a player is good to the point where they are dominating the league, value jumps into the stratosphere. Look at Jordan, LeBron, Peterson, Tiger, Pujols, they are all incredible players that dominate the games they play, and are all the highest value in their sports. These guys have added that wow factor to their production, and they have achieved more in the hobby than the guys who just have that long period of sustained production.

Piggybacking on dominance, setting records has a lot to do with value. Look at what happened to Favre's cards when he set the TD record, it was very similar to what happened to Tom Brady's cards when he set the single season record. Peterson set the NFL single game rushing record in his ROOKIE season, and his cards almost became un-buyable because of the cost at that point. Its very comparable to things like the 500 home run/3000 hit club in baseball, as those "records" usually put you in a higher value class.

Another more interesting factor in value is attitude, both good and bad. The more flamboyant you are, the more your cards are worth, with a few exceptions. Its why people like Chad Ochocinco are worth more than people like Reggie Wayne - he is always in the news cycle at the beginning of the week, and the end of the week. This drives him to the forefront of people's mind when they buy, thus putting him in a higher tier. In fact, I believe his TD dances alone have raised his value 5-10% minimum. That’s the kind of effect a certain attitude can have on someone's cards.

It does work both ways, however, as people like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss have definitely gone completely the other direction. For both, their attitudes have been so poor in the past that card companies have pretty much stopped approaching them for autographs. Not because they don’t want them in the sets, but because the cost of dealing with them and the opportunity cost of maintaining a relationship with someone like that is very high. It goes to show that having fun will always net you more than complaining in any sport.

If you have production, dominance, attitude and you do it for a long time, you are going to end up in the HOF. Being in the hall adds that much more on top of everything, more importantly if the player is older and playing baseball. Even some of the least well known hall of fame baseball players are regularly sought by collectors, and this actually drives more of the business than most of the other factors. The HOF is like a stamp on your permanent record, and unless you kill someone or get arrested (or both in OJ's case), value will always be had.

In football and baseball, the position a player has on the team can also be a factor. In football, unless they play running back, quarterback or wide receiver, a guy is rarely going to be worth anything. In baseball, the corners, the OF, and the shortstops carry more value than a second baseman for instance, even many dominating pitchers don’t achieve much.

Lastly, and sometimes most importantly, production in your rookie year can do more for you than anything else. Players like LeBron, Derek Rose, Peterson, Matt Ryan, Rick Porcello, and others all had amazing rookie seasons, and therefore ignited a lot of people prospecting their futures. If you can get the prospectors on board, and you deliver for a few years after, things can get crazy. Its like a compounding of the different x factors, all of which are then exponentially exacerbated by a great rookie campaign. If a guy doesn’t perform as a rookie, it can take years before people in the hobby notice his production or even dominance. Because the hobby's success usually depends on rookie cards, rookie performance is that much more important.

In most cases, value is never going to be a formula, and that’s why it is so dynamic. Guides try to capture a fraction of that, and it’s the biggest reason they fail miserably. For something that changes as much as hobby prices do, there is little any static number can show. This is mainly because of how many of the above factors can change week to week, and this is only a short list. Because each collector values certain characteristics over others, prices can go every which way. In the end, its up to us to determine what we are willing to pay, and its up to the companies to provide the products that we love. It can be a vicious cycle, but ill take it.

Book Value Idiots: Message Board Edition

Thanks to Bad Wax for this idea.

For the record, I do not trade on message boards anymore, its just too frustrating. I encourage you to do the same. The number of douchebags and idiots vastly outnumber the nice people who actually want to trade. Of those nice people many of them still idiotically trade by book value rather than actual value, so that leaves me with such a miniscule amount of people trade with, I just don’t do it anymore. Despite my rules, sometimes I get random PMs from people who have found old cards or lists on sites and figure I am worth a chance. Not often do I respond, but when I do, sometimes its just to have some fun with people who are stupid beyond belief. This is one of those stories.

Two days ago I get a PM from someone who was interested in card I posted a long time ago on a message board I never go to anymore. It was one I still had, and he actually had some stuff I was somewhat interested in. I PM him back and say that I was interested, and then it starts:

Book Value Idiot: So, what does your card book?

Me: Considering that I havent bought a Beckett in years, I have no idea.

BVI: Well, ill see if I can find out and let you know.

(at this point I know I am just going to continue the conversation to fuck with this guy)

Me: Okay, let me know when you find out.

BVI: It books at 155 or something like that, mine books at 250, do you have anything else to trade?

Me: Here is the link to my photobucket, help yourself

BVI: I found some other stuff, but the combined BV comes to 230, can you throw in 20 bucks to get this done?

Me: What other stuff did you find?

BVI: I liked the Mauer, the Peterson RC, the Garnett RC and maybe one other card. Those BVs come to 230 total with the other card, so 20 bucks should cover the rest of it.

Me: Well, considering that your card books at 250, but sells at less than 100 on numerous occasions, here, here, and here, I think that we should ditch the book value conversation all together. The card you Pmed me about sells at About 90 give or take, and the other cards you want bring the actual price to about 70 bucks over what yours sells for. How about we just do a 2 for one, you pick which one of the cards you want from the others you picked

BVI: Sorry, I don’t go by sell value. eBay is too crazy when it comes to pricing. I would like to work this out via BV.

Me: Well, if you look back over the three month listings, your card hasn’t fluctuated THAT much. Maybe 5-10 bucks here or there.

BVI: Yeah, but the card has an up arrow in the new Beckett. And is on their hot list. I cant let this go unless I get a good deal or at least equal BV.

Me: Okay, so if we were to figure it out where things were even, minus five bucks on your end, you wouldn’t do it, even though you searched back 6 months on the forum to find me with this card?

BVI: Sorry, it needs to be exactly even, otherwise you get the better deal.

Me: I just showed you that in terms of actual value, you would be taking me to the cleaners. Is that fair?

BVI: Book value is the way we price on this board, it makes things even. So yes, its fair.

Me: I always say that something is only worth as much as someone else will pay for it. As crazy as you may think that sounds, no one will pay the prices you want for your card - as I showed you. It only shows how ridiculously arbitrary the prices are in your bible.

BVI: I have traded and collected for 20 years. You are an idiot if you think that BV doesn’t mean anything.

Me: 20 years ago it may have, but that was before the internet, before people could actually communicate at the drop of a hat. Now, we can find out how much something is actually worth for free. Its called eBay. The price guide is obsolete.

BVI: Well everyone else on here seems to think you are wrong.

Me: I see that, and that is why I havent posted here for a long, long, looooooooooooong time. This place is filled with people like you who think they know everything about value, when in reality they cant seem to fathom that a price guide makes no sense - IN ANY HOBBY. See, this trade should be like this. I have a card you desperately want. You have a card that I want. I want your card more than I want my card. They are similar in value. I will trade you.

BVI: People like you just try to rip people like me off. I see it all the time.

Me: YOU CONTACTED ME FROM A SIX MONTH OLD POST! Why would I try to rip you off? In fact, I showed you how I was NOT ripping you off via actual value. Its not my fault you want to use arbitrarily selected prices deemed "appropriate" by some harem of douchebags in texas who know nothing about cards.

BVI: F off, go somewhere that accept trolls like you for who you are - idiots.

Me: I love how you think I am the idiot. Have fun trying to find this card again, I havent seen it anywhere since I got it.

BVI: I will.

(end of PMs)

I loved every minute of this conversation, looking back, he said some of the craziest things I have ever seen. Up arrows? This guy was amazing! It really sucks that stupid people are EVERYWHERE and it is beyond frustrating to work with them when you need to. I swear to god, this hobby would be a better place without the price guide around. 20 years ago it was advertised as a tool to help people avoid getting ripped off by dealers who had the ability to set their own prices. In reality, it probably just furthered the façade they were displaying, because then they had widely accepted price justification to sell cards at what they wanted.

Now, since the advent of the internet and ebay, price has become a completely different ballgame now that people can communicate world wide. The privilege of information is no longer something you have to be on the inside to have. You can get it FOR FREE pretty much anywhere. Hell, most of the time you can get Beckett pricing without paying just by asking someone. Regardless, the line stands: "something is only worth as much as someone else will pay for it." If you arent living by this in the hobby, you and I will never get to tradin', because you are lighting fire with sticks and I am walking around with a lighter. Its that simple.

Book Value vs Actual Smart People: Take 1,000,000

Recently, there was an SPA auto RC card that was posted on eBay and sold for a ton. It is special because the card had not been posted before, and may have been a ridiculous short print due to a number of reasons. Not surprisingly, the card went for multiple times what Beckett said it was worth, and the argument was born:

How could Beckett price a card that had never been sold before?

Many people posted that Beckett does it all the time, and that they really have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to anything resembling true value. After a few people actually came out and legitimately questioned that book value could actually be a number drawn out of a hat, I jumped in and questioned the people who still went by book value. You know, just because I wanted to have some fun. Little did I know that I would get the most ignorant answer since my go around with Mr. Mojo Hand (yes, he has a blog now, and it is glorious) over at the Nennth Inning.

"[On rebuffing my challenge that book value sucks] Do you have something better ? Please do not say Tuff Stuff! 

Until there is a more proven source and/or method Beckett will remain a force in pricing and the hobby.

However I will agree Beckett is somewhat in the dark on real value as compared to Book Value. I use Beckett pricing for trading and a starting point in regards to selling."

(THE BOLD IS MINE, OF COURSE)

Dont let any of that sink in at all - blood may shoot out your ears. After this, I think I may be done with the users at Freedom Card Board. All those people prove on a regular basis, is that there is a reason Beckett continues to have  a reader base:

Collectors are intrinsically stupid.

Breaking Down Value Into More Realistic Terms

Rob from VOTC posted a quiz from mentalfloss.com where you had to guess the value of the card they show you. I went and did some of my own research and found out some intriguing figures for all you BV lovers out there. See, its pretty much established that BV means ABSOLUTELY SQUAT, and this is proof. 

Before moving on, please take the quiz and let us know how you did. Then come back and read.

For this, I basically looked over completed auctions and took a price that looked to be consistent. If the card was under 5 bucks, I didnt bother because I knew Beckett would be destroyed. The numbers arent even close to exact, but even with my error and favoritism, these cards are so off, its still makes my point.

Quiz:

1. Bo Jackson, 1988 Topps

Actual Value: Around a dollar

Beckett Book Value: $5

Percent Change: 500% Over value

This is pretty crazy because I would think that cards from that time period are about as worthless as they can get. The cards were ridiculously over produced, and Bo was good, but not THAT good. Some interesting info there.

2. Brett Favre, 1991 Upper Deck

Actual Value: About $5.00 (and that is surprising)

Beckett Book Value: $10

Percent Change: 200%

I think this is crazier than the Jackson because this card should not be worth $5. I personally think that recent favre news has added to the value, but regardless, we are still on triple digits in percent off.

3. Barry Sanders, 1989 Score

Actual Value: About $20

Beckett Book Value: $40

Percent Change: 200%

Barry is one of the best valued players of all time, and I am still surprised that this card sells for $20 bucks, even in perfect condition. 1989 was in the throws of over production again, but it helps that this is one of the most popular cards of all time. I would be interested to see the other cards from this set. We may be in quadruple digits in change for those, although with dollar amounts that small, who cares?

4. Lawrence Taylor, 1979 Topps

Actual Value: 7 bucks (and this one looks pretty good).

Beckett Book Value: $20 dollars

Percent change: Around 285%

Although this card is before the production boom (sort of) its ridiculously obvious that this is a hat drawn price. How did they come up with $20? Its so arbitrary!

5. Warren Moon, 1985 Topps

Actual Value: About a Buck

Beckett Book Value: $15

Percent Change: 1500%

Our first quadruple digit card, absolutely amazing that people can still use this guide with a straight face. 

6. Steve Young 1984 Topps USFL

Actual Value: 40-50 bucks

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 60-100%

Topps USFL was not as widely produced as the normal Topps set, but that still doesnt excuse the price that its set at.

8. Jim McMahon, 1983 Topps

Actual Value: About 2-3 bucks

Beckett Value: $8

Percent Change: 266-400%

I skipped the 7 because the value was so low that the numbers would have been ridiculous.

9. O.J. Simpson, 1970 Topps

Actual Value: About $27 depending on condition 

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent change: 296%

10. Troy Aikman, 1989 Score

Actual Value: About 8 bucks

Beckett Value: $30!!

Percent Change: 375%

11.Jim Kelly, 1984 Topps USFL

Actual Value: 46 Bucks, if it looks perfect

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 174%

12. Emmitt Smith, 1990 Topps Traded

Actual Value: 2 Bucks

Beckett Book Value: $12

Percent Change: 600%

13. Joe Montana, 1981 Topps

Actual Value: 49 bucks

Beckett Book Value: $150 (could be 225 now?)

Percent Change: 306%

14. John Elway, 1984 Topps

Actual Value: 30-35 bucks depending on condition

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 228-266%

16. Jerry Rice, 1986 Topps

Actual Value: 35 bucks

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 228%

17. Phil Simms, 1980 Topps

Actual Value: 1-10 bucks?

Beckett Book Value: $12

Percent change: ??

This card was probably the most volatile card of the bunch, but honestly is 10 bucks going to make or break you? I think that Beckett may have just gotten lucky as you see the other cards here, I mean, the pricing has to be right once in a while... I guess.

18. Doug Flutie, 1987 Topps

Actual Value: Less than a dollar

Beckett Book Value: $8

Percent Change: 800%

According to Beckett, this guy who won this auction made out like a bandit.

20. Mike Ditka

Actual Value: About 118 bucks (PSA 6)?

Beckett Book Value: $300

Percent Change: 254%?

This card was tough because it is the oldest card in the quiz. Considering how much this guy probably paid for the grading, he probably didnt do very well on this one. According to the guide, this should be probably about where they consider high book to be in terms of a vintage card's condition, but I really dont know. Maybe someone can shed some light. 

See, ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing about BV that makes sense. Cards are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay.

Does Beckett Have Some Competition That Actually Uses Real Info?

Thanks to Jason who sent me this post from a tech blog, saying that CardPricer is trying to make a name for itself by using auction data for card pricing rather than the pricing hat that beckett uses to draw their arbitrary prices out of.

Personally, I dont really care about how much my PC is worth, as I dont intend to sell any of it. However, if I encounter a retard on a message board with something I need, this site may be of use to show him how ridiculous his notions of value are.

When it comes down to it, card value is a subjective number that will never have a place in a monthly or daily guide. Something is always worth only as much as someone will pay for it, nothing more. Either way, this site may be closer to getting that value on the internet.

This Only Adds Fuel To My Beckett Hate Fire

Ted C sent me this story today, and I laughed because it has happened to me so, so, so many times.

"Just wanted to write you today and tell you how much I've been enjoying your site. I can relate to your experience from a few months ago when yesterday I had some Joe C. back out on a huge deal over $10 bv. I spent hours looking at his trade site, checking completed sales on ebay, and even looking at my October beckett. I had a card that he supposedly needed, but he would not go over an imaginary limit of $400 bv because the card did not book. He offered me 3 cards, 1 for a set I am working on and 2 others that I really liked. I researched it and accepted. He responds a week later saying that his math was wrong and the 3 cards added up to $410 bv, 10 over his "limit". I told him he could check my bucket and pick something small to complete the deal. He 'didn't see anything.'"

Now, aside from the absolute idiocy of this insaneulous Beckett thumping idiot, I just want to detail a story that you all have experienced. Its basically the way my life on message boards worked, that is until I vowed to stop trading on them.

You see a card you want, and you see that the guy needs something that you have. Its like a match made in heaven and you get happy because you have a chance to get that card. You PM the trader and you say that you have what he wants. Then you wait.

He PMs you back and says that he likes what you have but the cards dont equal the BV that it says in his latest cum mag.

Your heart dies a little because you know he cares more about the arbitrary hat drawn value than he does about the card he needs. You know this will be a long ordeal.

You PM him back saying that he can choose something small to add to the deal because you want the card he has enough to play his retarded game.

He PMs you back saying he cant find anything, so he'll have to pass.

You curse beckett and their clones again.

Dont act like you dont know what Im talking about. I guarantee you have been that guy who dies before.

Reviewing the Mass Buy Sites

For those of you new collectors and first worlders out there, I wanted to quickly go over a few things that may be of interest for you. If you were like me coming back into collecting, you wanted a bunch of cards of your favorite player/team, and you wanted them fast and cheap. You were really unsure of value and you were probably wondering where to buy them. Well, besides eBay, there are actually a few sites worth checking out.

Naxcom/Sportsbuy

If your favorite player is not a top tier guy and you just want a bunch of cards to start your collection, you may want to check this place out. It is probably the biggest of all the sites, but it is also the most expensive. This is because all the listings are either from people who just want to list their cards on the off chance that people will buy them, or they are sync listings from inflated ebay stores. The problem with this is that most of the cards are priced at or above the already ridiculous/arbitrary book value if you want high-end stuff. Due to this fact, it makes little sense to buy that kind of stuff from them. It does make sense to buy a few base cards or crap cards of your guy because the shipping is standardized (I think) and the sellers who have them also have searchable inventories. Ebay should be your first stop, this may be your last due to price.

However, the process is great, and they have buyer protection if you are unsatisfied. I have ordered before with no problem on two occasions and both times I have been happy. The problem is that the scan on the site is not the scan of the card you are getting, and sometimes it comes in a PWE if the card is cheap. I would say for crap cards you can be rest assured you will get what you expect.

Inventory: **** out of five
Price: * 1/2
Scam Prevention: ***
Best Feature(s): Buyer Protection, Huge Inventory
Worst Feature(s): Cards are listed if buy offers are listed, search not based on available cards.

Sport Lots

Sportlots.com is cool because they have tons of shit for every player you can think of. Plus its much easier to buy in bulk, which is great for baseball prospectors. Also, for each player and brand, the cards are listed by set and by availability, so it is ridiculously easy to find the set you are looking for. If you are looking to complete a set, GO HERE. Prices are okay on base, high end can still border on naxcom prices. They take paypal, but the site just looks like it is prone to a lot of problems with satisfaction.

Shipping prices are standardized on the site, so that can save you from the uncertainty of eBay shipping. The problem is that there are a complete lack of scans completely on the search functions of the site. If you dont know what the card looks like - forget it - no help here. They do offer some protection from their "star sellers" but if you buy from Joe Collector Schmoe, you are out of luck unless you used paypal.

Personally, I have never bought from Sportlots because I dont collect base sets or base cards. I have been tempted on a few occasions, but eBay always drew me back. If there is someone out there who can elaborate on this site, I will add your comments here.

Inventory: ****
Price: ***
Scam Prevention **
Best Feature(s): Organization, Searching
Worst Feature(s): Lack of scans, buyer protection, overall site design

CheckOutMyCards

The name of the site bugs me, but there are a few other things that I like. The site design is nice, and the process is pretty streamlined. The problem is that EVERY GODDAMN THING on this site goes by book value. They have calculated all pricing based on it, and even give the idiots a percentage they are saving in regards to BV. That sucks a barrel of donkey balls.

This site is also pretty new, so the inventory is good not great. I would say this is a more baseball focused site as well, although they are trying to beef it up for the other sports. The other thing is that most of the sellers wont have much experience either, so I would maybe check out Sport Lots first. This could become a nice site eventually, but right now its still a beta version.

Shipping on the site is standardized again, and that is always a nice feature. They also promote the fact that all cards are scanned, so you should have a picture of the card you are ACTUALLY getting. They are also looking at adding a standardized trading site, so that might be cool too. Lastly, they have a return policy, so I would say that if you get scammed, it should be easy to return. Also, CheckOutMyCards keeps all the cards that are for sale, so you buy directly from them. I guess if the cards sucked, they wouldnt list them. The problem with that is that you are at their mercy if you are the seller and you think the condition is better than what they say.

Inventory: ** 1/2
Price: ** - for the way it is displayed
Scam Prevention: ****
Best Feature(s): Cards are expected to sell, this is not a display site. Very nice set up too.
Worst Feature(s): Site inventory isnt as expansive.

The Pit

When this was invented, I thought it was really cool. Then I saw what actually happens on the site. Basically, you buy cards like you buy an IPO and they keep it in their "warehouse" for you. That way you can buy and sell like stock trades, and the prices reflect those sales. They solely deal in graded and uncirculated cards, so dont go looking for base crap here. The Pit does have the option to receive the cards you bought, but they dont reccommend that.

Personally this type of site is not for collectors, but rather for people looking to play a game with real money. The inventory and site interest has dropped dramatically since the beginning, but when it was bought by naxcom, it picked up a little.

Really, go somewhere else.

Inventory: 1/2
Price: *
Best Feature(s): All cards are graded or uncirculated so there is no possibility of condition problems or fakes
Worst Feature(s): Its more of a game than a real collecting site

I know that eBay will always be the best and the cheapest, but not every card is on eBay at all times. Plus, for newbies and first worlders, they may want the base cards that ebay neglects. I figured that because the newbie collector journal is a living document, this should be added for the sake of all involved. Im glad the newbie collector world is safe for another day. Click the tag below to see the rest.

A Look Into The Thinking Of People Who Go By Book Value

These are some nuggets of pure unadulterated senslessness that I have collected from some recent threads about BV vs SV around the interweb. Try not to think about these for extended periods of time. Blood may run from your ears if you do.

"I`ve been in the hobby for quite awhile now and we always went by book value,beckett does the research and we buy the books,we always went by book value even before the internet,I think sell value is not that reliable,say you want a card you check ebay one might be selling for 3 dollars one for 10 and so on which one do you go by?"

"I use book value just because it is easier. it is a set price not changing every hour like sv is"

"BV has been a standard for 20+ years, I dont need eBay because I already know what mine are worth thanks to beckett"

"BV is what I traditionally go by as well. But, I have been known to hold onto a card expecting the BV to go up in the next edition (see Matt Cassell, Matt Forte, etc), but I recognize the fact that BV is fictitious. SV is too, cards are hot the first week, then fizzle off and the research it takes to follow up on that is too time consuming to interest me, so when someone start spouting SV, I usually move on. BV is fictitious, but it is at least a barometer in which to go by."

"SV changes too much, I like the stability in BV even if it is inflated. Plus it makes me feel better"

"People only trade by sell value when it benefits them."

"I am an uneducated hobby douchebag who cares more about how much my cards are worth than getting a card I actually want. Excuse me while I bust this box of Triple Threads."

Okay, the last one was mine.

An Addition To Wax Heaven's Video

First, Mario's Video:



My Response - Consider this SCU for beginners:

A Lesson, No Doubt About It

This weekend was the big weekend for card collectors in LA. On Saturday, at Hollywood Park Casino, Tristar/Naxcom Sportsbuy had their annual big show for the area. It had around 200 tables and some very admirable autograph guests. I went last year and had a really good time, so I decided it was worth another go, if not just for the story to write about here.

Funny enough, going to the show on Sunday was kind of an afterthought, as I didnt expect a break from wedding planning at all. Luckily for me, the planets alligned, the woman had things to do, and all was right for me to make the 30 minute trek. All was not fun and games, however, as I had VERY little money to spend, a condition not suggested for a huge show. It was a similar situation last year, but I went about my approach differently this time around. Instead of going with the expectation of finding something awesome, having to exhaust the bank account, and really coming away feeling empty, I went with the opposite expectations. My goal this time was to see what there was, and not make any rash decisions because everything at the show would be based on those hat drawn prices I had written so much about here.

I was right, everything was based on that unrealistic pricing agent, and I saw it from the moment I stepped in the door and saw Beckett set up right in front. Yet, besides all this foul territory, I had things that I knew some people would want (like my Sweet Spot Peterson Autos), to hopefully offset the price hike from idiot dealers going by the Satanist Manifesto Of Card Pricing.

Here is how it went down:

Of all the 200 tables there, I would say 70 percent of the dealers were solely dealing in graded vintage cards. You could go to their tables and marvel in the 52 Mantles they had in SGC 85 and above. It was amazing. But, I wasnt looking for vintage, not my thing. So, that left around 30 percent of people dealing in stuff that was relevant to what I like. Of those 30 percent, 25 percent dealt in baseball only, meaning my Petersons were irrelevant, and I wasnt looking for more baseball stuff anyways. That left a mere 5 percent of the tables there that had modern and high end football for me to go after. I also saw that only 2 tables had Peterson stuff for sale, making things difficult if I wanted something, but good for my aching wallet.

The first guy I wanted had a multitude of awesome cards, a fucking multitude. I would die a happy man with his collection, definitely. He had Exquisites, SPAs, everything, and none of it was graded - a very common thing at the show, different from last year in the modern and high end football. Even better was that he had an ENTIRE case of rare and awesome Peterson stuff. He had the Exquisite base RC patch auto priced at a whopping $3000, but I didnt have the money for that anyways. However, it did make me question how he arrived at a price that was DOUBLE what was on eBay. Interesting...

Either way, I showed him my stuff to trade after seeing a few things I liked, but he passed as soon as I took it out of my cargo pocket. Pretty disheartening to say the least, but I picked up my head and moved on. The other table had cards that I kind of wanted, but not anything that I wanted more than the Sweet Spot Autos I had. Either way, I showed him my stuff, thinking I might get a 1 for 1 deal on a Peterson Trilogy auto that I liked because of the sweet pic on the card, but he said he wasnt that interested as he hadnt had anyone ask about any of his high end cards all show. He did like the sweet spots A LOT, and offered me cash, which suprised me considering his previous turn down of the 1 for 1 trade. It was considerably less than I had into the stuff I was selling, but I saw it was enough to buy one of the Petersons from the other guy, and still have a ton to spend on something else from the show. So I took the deal, and here is the lesson I learned - why worry about money and value when you can get something you have been looking for forever? I had preached that all over SCU with my posts on the fuckheads who trade by book value, but I had never TRULY put it into practice.

Yet, after walking out of the show minus my Peterson Sweet Spots, but with a Peterson I liked much more than the two I traded, plus a Mauer and an AMAZING Maroney, I thought it was a great success despite losing two expensive cards for less than what I had invested. So guys, especially you idiots who quote the Beckett like its an Anchorman monologue, realize its not all about worth, its about having something you like. Otherwise, why should I even bother with all this shit?

Besides, after all of my waffling about selling two cards I didnt really like all that much, I had gotten enough money out of the deal to get my cards AND to take the fiancee to a steak dinner. You gotta love that.

No Matter What Beckett Does, They Just Dont Seem To Get It

So I got an email from a few readers that Beckett was introducing "real time pricing" for the new, awful, and confusing site. They describe it as updated pricing every day and that you will finally be able to get NRP the day the cards are priced by their Sr. Market Analysts (The Pricing Hat).

You would think this would make them more relevant, but really it continues to show how incredibly irrelevant they really are. They are so stuck on keeping this ideal of a "price guide" around, they dont understand that the way they price cards is made completely fucking useless by new(er) innovations over the last 20 years. Yes, Beckett prices their cards the same way they did 20 years ago (the Pricing Hat). They dont get that People get their info from the computer now. I guess no one at Beckett got that memo.

So, for the first time ever, here is what I would do if I were them:

First I would send my people over to go on eBay over the next six months and find out as much about as many cards as they can and then give it to your "Sr. Market Analysts." Then start a beta program where selected card sales are monitored and averaged every day. If there is no market data, they would leave it blank and not assign a random price from the hat. After about another three months, I would start promoting the real centralized pricing trends and show people how it works, mainly because 100% of the people who go by book value are complete idiots.

Now you wont be able to show a steady price, because like the stock market, things change hourly. So, you can give a range, which is more than anyone ever needs. This would help buyers who use eBay find out if what they are getting is actually a good price. No fucking multipliers and no fucking hat drawn prices.

People with a "My Collection" will be able to see "real time" graphs of the eBay market trends of the real value of their cards, and it will finally make Beckett relevant again. I would even use it. It would be a great tool!

For those of you who deal at shows, you could submit the prices you paid for your cards. Granted these prices would be off, because dealers jack up prices to make a profit. Yet, my fledgling economic mind believes there could be a formula established to generate a real value for these. In fact, I believe it would be PRETTY FUCKING EASY.

Then, instead of releasing a hobby magazine based on one fucking huge conflict of interest, you could promote a magazine that gave commentary, showed real market trends, and gave people a good expectation of what the hobby was really like. Hell, I would buy that too. You could even have readers submit their own store bought box breaks to show other readers a fair expectation as well! Wow!

Instead of doing all of the things above, thingsI just came up with off the top of my head, they are using their centralized website to give daily updates on THEIR prices, not REAL prices. I also think its pretty fucking hilarious that they have Sr Market Analysts. Besides, if they make as much money as their Sr. Graders (The Sr. Grader is pictured below with his Jaguar) maybe people will see what I am talking about with these douche nozzles.

See people, its a business for them, not an objective guide for you. I have said it countless fucking times that Beckett is the number one authority on douchebaggery. However, every time I fucking trade online, or every time I hear someone quote book value, I just want to scream that the price expectation they have is not real. It is a hat drawn number influenced by the manufacturers to create a false ideal of how to price a card. Manufacturers know that higher book value means more sales, so they find ways to inflate those prices - hmm, how does that happen? Ad revenue given to Beckett, boxes and swag given to Beckett, favorable press given to Beckett, who knows what else. If you think integrity has a place in this business you are fucking stupid.

I have exhausted myself trying to combat this, and others have taken up the mantle to try and stand with me (Thank you also to Rob from VOTC). Also, I know there are bloggers who privately feel the same way and do their part off the record. Granted, I know I make very little difference from this blog, but for every person that stops paying attention to Beckett's stupidity and false idols, I am a success.

Another Comment On Trading By Book Value

As if the never ending stream of idiocy is growing into a river, I have to post another comment on trading by book value. I have had three trades in the past week fall through because some fuckface isnt happy according to a price he found in Beckett. So, let me reinterate my points for the fourth fucking time(click on each word).

First off, the line, "People trade by sell value only when its convenient for them and they trade by book value when its obvious they are getting the better end of the deal," is complete fucking bullshit. If you allow yourself to fall for a scam like the one described in this line, you deserve to be scammed. Who takes it in the butt like this on a regular basis?

Listen people, and listen closely. Trading is simple - I want your card, you want mine. If you want my card as much as I want yours, we trade. Why is money always factored into it? If I ever create a forum, I will outlaw trading by book value. If you trade by book value you will automatically trade by my book value, which is the last completed auction. You wont even get the benefit of an average, only because you are an idiot.

Secondly, the line "ebay is too volatile of a pricing agent to determine a long term value" is also complete fucking bullshit. Ebay prices fluxuate, yes, but its never a huge enough swing to matter. Again, see the reason for trading above, 10 fucking dollars shouldn’t make a difference. A card that sells for 135 one day and 150 the next is still around the same value. Why does it fucking matter to you? No, wait, we will go to Beckett that updates their hat drawn prices once every fucking two months and we will go by that. If you want to make money, go buy stocks and bonds you assclown.

Lastly, if you are trading by book value because you trade in cards that are so invaluable that they don’t make it on to ebay that often, why should you even care what they are worth. Just trade 1 card for 1 card or 2 cards for 2 cards. Is it going to make you or break you if you lose a dollar in the trade? Fuck no, the stamps to send the shit cost more.

Again, if you trade by Beckett prices I am already two shakes of a lamb's tail away from not returning your PM. Ass.

A Day In The Life Of Joe Collector

I'm beginning to think that the people of the hobby annoy me more than the manufacturers and Beckett ever could. As I have referred to them before, most of the people are sheep and will basically go where the shepherd takes them. Unfortunately for most, Beckett and UD are the shepherds - you know how I feel about that.

For those "Joe Collectors" that fall into the flock, I have the utmost contempt for their kind. I would explain it in words, but it really defies the use of common language. For me, spending an hour watching blind children fall into a vat of acid would be more inviting than spending one fucking mind numbing minute browsing some of the posts on the Beckett Message Board - or as I call it - the fallout zone from the biggest Idiot-Bomb ever dropped.

For the following, I want to go over a typical day that makes a Joe Collector so unappealing to me that I would take this kind of position against him. Ill warn you, small children should not be exposed to the following part of the post. Women who are pregnant or nursing should consult a doctor if they experience dizziness or dry mouth.

Joe Collector (pictured above) starts his day off by going to the hobby shop down the road. He loves this part of the day because he gets to go talk to the owner who gives him Yankee singles at low book. WHAT A DEAL! Today is special because his favorite product, Topps Triple Threads has just come in. He rips through both packs yelling, "CMON MOJO, CMON MOJO, CMON MOJO!" at full volume, much to the chagrin of many of the other customers in the store. Normally, he would shout out "LAST PACK MOJO!!!!" when he got to the last pack in the box, but with only two packs in the box today, its not as dramatic.

After ripping through his box and putting all his cards from the break in magnetic snap cases - even that Billy Wagner parallel card numbered 18/699 - Joe goes to the counter and pulls out a Beckett to price his haul. To him, the Wagner is worth more than its book value of $5.00 because it is numbered to his college jersey number (a 1/1 for sure!). He takes out his iPhone and updates his collection with the book values from Beckett and saves a new message board signature that explains exactly how much his collection is worth according to the new book. Some of his collection isn't priced due to scarcity, so he makes sure people know EXACTLY what portion that is.

Later, while re-upping his subscription to the Beckett online price guide, he gets a trade offer from a rare informed collector that says that he has that one card he was looking for. Joe realizes that what he will be trading to get the card is worth much more in the book than the card he is getting in return. Of course, as a Joe Collector, this fact means much more than actually having the card he was waiting for, so he makes sure that the trade is even despite having identical eBay prices to begin with. The person he is trading with mentions how stupid that is, mainly because eBay is a much better way to price a card. Joe Collector reassures the informed collector that eBay is a fickle monster, that the prices change daily, and that Beckett is a much more reliable source. The person declines his new offer because it has become so lopsided due to the need for the book values to be even. Despite losing out on his "MOJO CARD," he takes solace in the fact that his collection is still worth more according to the price guide.

After scrounging yet another trade offer, Joe decides to post his box break results from earlier on the forums for all to see. Even though it is already opened, he does it as if its live, listing every card individually and using smiley faces when he pulls a hit. Over the course of his thread, he uses a total of 178 exclamation points, and lists BV next to each card he pulls. Whenever he pulls a Yankee, his favorite team, he makes sure people know its NFT!!!!!!

This time, he was lucky enough to pull a Chin Ming Wang jersey card with a BV of $85, something that he knew would make people drool. Joe drafts his message board thread title and makes sure people know that he got a great pull! It reads, "BASEBALL BOX LIVE BREAK!!!! YANKEE-JO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME AND SEE!" He thinks to himself that this is genius because maybe someone will see the thread, look at his "SICK MOJO PULLS", and trade him that Derek Jeter auto he always wanted. He thinks that maybe he should have listed the year and brand of cards he broke, but that wasn’t as important as using 28 exclamation points. I mean, how often was he going to pull MOJO like that?

While he is reveling in the glory of people looking at his "SICK PULLS" and posting as such, he remembers he forgot to get the mail! He goes to the mailbox and pulls out a huge package that he knows contains his eBay purchase of 1000 different jersey cards from all sports. He opens the package and tapes it for YouTube so that everyone can see exactly what he got. Making mailday YouTube videos are his favorite.

After dinner, he decides that he needs a new Soulja Boy CD because the one he has is worn out from all the plays he gives it while making his YouTube videos. He jumps in his Dodge Neon and drives to Target. He gets the last copy of the CD and stops by the card isle to pick up a bunch of retail packs. As he approaches the isle, he sees a man searching through the packs, and this makes him incredible hulk angry. He goes to the security manager and lets the rent-a-cop know what is going on. The security guy escorts the man out, and Joe jumps on the chance to buy all the packs the man searched. When he gets home he opens all the packs and finds the plethora of "RETAIL MOJO" that he was so lucky to come upon. He makes a thread on the message boards telling people how he yelled at the man and threw him out of the store himself.

Please feel free to add your own chapter to this story, and remember, I-Bomb radiation is poisonous to informed people.

Book Value Is The Bane Of My Universe

I really hate to devote more time to something like my crusade against "book value," but I am so angry over something that just happened, that I can barely function.

I was trading online with a guy that had a card I have been looking for FOREVER, when the unthinkable happened. I had a card he desperately wanted, as well, something that I know was not going to surface on TWGM anytime soon. Both cards are relatively valuable to everyone, but more so to us, due to the people we like. I thought a straight up deal would be great considering how rare both of the cards were, but I had no idea that he had something heinous in his repetoir. When he dropped the idiot bomb, the trade floundered and I almost did a Family Guy puke. BOOM, the I-bomb takes out my dream of owning this card.

Actual text from our conversation - SCU will be me, IBOMB will be him:

SCU - So you ready to go on this? I am so happy I found someone who was willing to trade for the card!
IBOMB - Yeah, no shit, I have been looking for this since 2 years ago. Yo, just one last thing though. My card books at $100, yours is only at $50, is there any way we could even this out?
SCU - Why, they both sell for about the same on eBay, what is the problem?
IBOMB - I trade by BV
SCU - Besides the fact that this is completely ridiculous, considering how much we both need the other's cards, go ahead and see if there is anything else I can add.
IBOMB - I don’t really see anything I need, can you throw in some paypal?
SCU - Sorry, money is tight right now, cant do it.
IBOMB - Ok, well, thanks for trying, I think Ill pass.
SCU - You are going to give up on a card you want because some book told you that yours is worth more, despite the obvious fact that it sells at similar price?
IBOMB - If I wanted to go by SV I would go on eBay
SCU - eBay is the true price guide anyway
IBOMB - whatever, it changes daily.
SCU - Yes, but the prices are still relatively similar. Its not like a 50 dollar sale turns into 600 the next day, it may go to 53 or 47, but those are still ball park.
IBOMB - Sorry, people screw each other using eBay values to trade
SCU - You know, im done with you, congrats on trashing a good trade. I hope one day you stop being such a fundamentalist. You may actually realize that eBay is the only value you should worry about.

SCU Signed off 10:16pm

Let me reinterate a few different things here. First being that book value is the worst possible way to determine the true value of a card. Last time I went over all the ways that BV is wrong, and it still pisses me off when people quote it like the bible. The general collecting public is the most asshat filled group in the history of man, only because they refuse to understand that the ways of the old are out of date. In a day where magazines and newspapers are on their way out, people still think Beckett is the end all and be all of card pricing, even though there is a free place to look where money is no good. I cant believe this douche let the card he wanted go because some guide created by people who enjoy skinning puppies told him it was worth more than it was. I even played along! I fed in to this guy's insanity!

I just wanted to tell him that creating a price guide as a monthly publication for a volitile product is like putting a price guide on stocks as a monthly publication. I mean, much like eBay is the TWGM for cards, the stock market is a similar place for the companies that are traded. Would you go by a book's value of the stocks or the true market value? I swear, don’t say eBay is fickle and it changes - that’s common for a lot of products. Smart people know that steady value of any commodity is a myth, so shove that crap up your Beckett loving ass.

Another common thing on the pulse these days is people complaining that Beckett has changed their format. Instead of once per month, they now publish bi-monthly with less info on cards. Like it fucking matters how often Tracy "Bratz" Hackler takes out his pricing hat and draws out the book values for the month. Yet, for some reason, people are pissed because they cant see how much their card is worth to some cock-spackler with a buzzcut every month. Whats even worse is that with the online price guide, Beckett actually has the tools to circulate an eBay based price guide. But, like the magazine, the OPG is only updated monthly, and it costs more money to subscribe to. Plus, those assholes are too self absorbed to even entertain the fact that they may be the idiots that we know they are.

Now, I found my trader on a message board of seemingly informed people, yet he still is one of those ass spelunkers who trades by BV instead of SV or even just need for the card. Need is all that was important to me, but the money grubber had his own monetary interests in his side. How shitty is that? Ill be sure to cite book value as one of the main reasons I stopped collecting, if and when that happens.

Why Even Try?

I want to rant a little here, shocking I know, about something I have had a rash of problems with on the world's greatest marketplace lately. As of last year, the new feature of Buy It Now or Best Offer has become a staple of the card industry on eBay. What it also created was a showcase for people to basically show off the huge cards they have while demanding ridiculous prices for them. Whether its a full set of 03-04 NBA Exquisite RC patches or PSA 10 Alex Rodriguez RC, people have decided its better to let the people come to them rather than letting them fight it out in a bidding war.

Best Example EVER! 1,000,000? HA!

Right now there are 3 or 4 cards I have been looking for with no avail. One of them happened to pop up on eBay a few weeks ago with a major, MAJOR, problem. The guy put a BIN w/ BO at $100 dollars over true market value. When I offered more than market value for it, he declined in 10 minutes. What is the point of paying for the listing fees when you know you wont give it away at the expected price? The answer is that there are a lot of people who put cards up without the expectation of a sale. I cant understand this, but it happens so often that I want to punch eBay in the babymaker. Why even bother with spending the time and money if you wont let the card go?

I had a similar situation with an All Day auto from last year that I had been looking for. I offered the guy 20 dollars more than market value to make sure he wouldnt decline, and of course, he declined with extreme predjudice. His reason? "DUDE! This guy is going to be a beast next year. Do you really think I am going to give it away to you now when I can get 100 dollars more next year?"

My response:

"Then why arent you selling it next year?"

His response:

"Someone out there will pay next years price right now!"

At this point I stopped. Is this really worth my time? Fuck no, but it seems like so many people are expecting big things to happen when they go with this option. I know that this special auction format works well a lot of the time, but not when you are just baiting people. I have used it countless times to make sure I am not undercut by an auction that sells low - however, unlike these idiots, I never turn down the expected market value. It sucks for me because then I have to sit around and wait for someone to actually provide the card in a way that I can buy it, instead of looking at eBay like someone's photobucket account.

Basically, it blows chunks that people use this hobby as a way to make money. I know I do on occasion, but I always re-buy other cards with the money I made, and I never expect to make a dime of my favorite cards. Right now it seems like there are a lot of people who expect to make millions.

At It Again

As much as I hate to labor on one particular person, I really find myself more and more stupified each time I read Ben Henry's blog. He tries to create these ideas which he thinks everyone will jump onto, when in reality its just all a big ego trip. I think of him as the "Barney Stinson" of the blogosphere.



His new post describes what he calls the "Gimmick Card Era" in sports collecting. He spends most of the post talking about how tiresome these cards are, and spends the other part how he thinks they are "fun."

"Gimmick cards, when handled individually, are fun. Whether a dopey parody, a card written in Japanese or an obviously doctored photo, it's fun to get a card that's different from the rest of the set."



No, gimmick cards are lame, plain and simple. Not only because their nature is a dumb attempt to lure people into buying an otherwise shitty set, but also because the jokes are worse than Carrot Top at a church sponsored show. Now, this has only happened in two of the lowest end products in collecting, so I would hardly call it an "ERA." Granted those sets are widely collected, but it is far from widespread. I would more likely call it a "gauge the public reaction before we strike out for good" experiment.

Oh, wait, my bad, I totally forgot! You actually liked the squirrel card from last year, and you were pissed when your collection of them became worthless on eBay. I guess that excuses this all. Go about your business folks, nothing to see here.

Except this:



*Shudders*

Be sure to check out Chris at Stale Gum , Charlie at Hawk to the Hall, and Mario at Wax Heaven, because they have written extensively on their hatred for these cards. Chris even dropped some f-bombs, something that suprised me a little, but I guess thats how much he hated these fucking things.

The Times, They Are A Changin'

Frequently I discuss that there is no point buying wax, especially high end, because the odds are overwhelmingly against you to make most of your money back. This got me to thinking that there might be a way to change that, but it means borrowing a page from retail stores - BLECCCH.

Over the last few years, hand packing high end products has become a commonplace occurance on the market floor, but hand packing for value has not. Sportkings Series A was the first product to promote the fact that they not only hand pack their cards, but they also try to make each $400 box contain enough value to be considered a good break. Of course this begs the question of what is actually considered valuable enough for these guys, as most of their boxes seemed less than stellar.

But, what if it was possible to pack a box to contain a certain value like the guaranteed book value packs from Target? Upper Deck, DLP, and Topps could be deciding to make sure that each box contains a good amount of value, but for some reason this isnt reality. I find this especially disturbing considering how much a box of Exquisite and Natty Treasures actually costs. I mean, this is the first time in the history of the collecting world where someone pays so much for so little in terms of quantity. Why not make it worth their while?

Assign "cash values" to each player in the set. Research a number of sources to determine a list, all the way down to the scrubbiest of rookies. People like All Day, Payton Manning, Walter Payton, Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith, and Jerry Rice would all be considered top value football, as Jordan, Kobe and Lebron would for basketball. Then, after all this research is done, start ranking and assigning a cash value (as a reference point).

As a BASIC example, last year, Peterson was the top dollar guy for football so I would say $150 bucks should be his value. Walter payton is probably the best selling retired star, so give him the $150 dollar price tag too. Emmitt Smith and Joe Montana are great sellers, but not as good as payton, so give them a $149 and a $148 respectively. I would say Tomlinson and Manning are top guys now too, so give them those numbers on the active side too.

Now, when building your box of exquisite, you should have to have at least $400 worth of players in the box. Of course a base card will be worth as much cash as a logo 1/1, so you better hope your $150 value hit is not the base version. Of course, you could easily pull some nice cards at a high rate, but of course, the box structure would be the same (1 base, 1 RC patch auto, 1 scrub rookie auto, 1 maximum jersey, 1 patch and 1 wild card). I think this would make sure you really get some nice players in your box and you wouldn’t have to worry about pulling 15 bucks worth of cards from a 500 dollar box as often.

Personally, I think ideas like this will become ESSENTIAL as the NBA and NFL continue to make the RC premieres bigger and badder. This year, for the NFL RC premiere, there were more scrubs than I could count on my fingers and toes. Those guys will be your box hits for Exquisite, National Treasures, Triple Threads and other high end products. Due to this horrible trend, wax busting has gone from bad to worse in football. Products like Classics, Threads, Limited, CoSigners, SPA, and Absolute will all suffer because the RC hits are pretty much the meat of the product. Unlike the NBA where there are only 2 rounds for the draft, the NFL has 7 PLUS unsigned free agents. At most, 5 of these guys will go on to have collection worthy careers. A lot will play in the league for a while, but will not be worth collecting for the long term (Homer collectors aside).

Please, I know this about as primitive as you can get when trying to revolutionize box busting, but its an idea. Ideas like this can be turned into something much better, and could transform the wax busting industry into a venture worth pursuing. As it stands now, forget it, ill stick to singles off eBay where I know I can get the cards I want for less than the box price, AND DEFINITELY less than the case price.

This is Beyond Ridiculous Pt 2: Even More Ridiculous?

After reading the second part to "For the Love of Sitting Around and Flipping Through a Price Guide" I might just stop going to baseball card shops all together, just to spite this guy. Holy fucking shit, man! The Baseball Card Blog (no link on purpose), has created a world where Baseball Cards have ceased to exist all because, wait - sit down for this, price guides have stopped their publication. It begins with the descripion of a pure utopia in collecting (my commentary, fire joe morgan style in italics):

"Here’s the situation. The list prices in price guides have been deemed useless on such a massive scale that Beckett and FW have ceased their publication. With no widely available prices, the majority of collectors now consult eBay for accurate card prices."

I love it. No longer will a douchebag ridden magazine set the prices for the 50% of uneducated idiots that still consult beckett for prices.

"Dealers do the same. And after they view the umpteenth autographed patch 1/1 card go for less than $20–pulled from a box that dealers paid a premium on to sell–they stop ordering high-end products from the manufacturers. The dealers understand that if they’re seeing these auctions on eBay, their potential customers are winning them."

Ba-what? Dealers who see the card pulled from a 500 dollar box stop ordering wax because their customers cant sell their pulls for a lot of money? How hasnt the customer part not happened already? I guarantee that the dealers will not stop ordering boxes because people are going to eBay to sell what they get. You know why? It already happens every fucking day, you arrogant ass. Dealers like Northridge Sports Cards and Santa Monica Sports Cards make their bread and butter selling boxes where people pull nothing and sell them for nothing. Do they fucking care that their customers cant sell them for shit on eBay? Sure, but only on a personal level. What they care about is that it has become more convenient for their customers to buy WAX on eBay rather than paying INFLATED prices at a shop. Once again, Im sorry that it sucks you cant spend 30 minutes bullshitting with Blowout Cards, but it is a necessary evil. Despite this trend, both the shops are doing fine. Seriously, if your shop is relying on singles to function, they NEED to go down with the ship.

"So many dealers stop ordering these cards that the manufacturers have a difficult decision to make: finally listen to dealers and put more value in each box of product, or dismiss dealers altogether and work exclusively with big box stores like Target, Kmart and Wal-Mart. It comes as no surprise when the manufacturers go with the latter choice."

This could be the worst paragraph ever written in the history of sports card blogs. Manufacturers will never go with the second choice because Target, Kmart and Wal-mart will NEVER, EVER, EEEEEEEVAAAR pay 500 bucks for a box of cards. They have flat screens and plasmas to sell rather than that bullshit. I would see UD and DLP sell to eBay directly before they do this.

Upper Deck to Target: Umm, yeah, we want to market Exquisite directly to Target.
Target: Sounds great, how much does it cost?
Upper Deck: At cost, about 400 bucks a box. You would probably want to mark it up to 599.
Target: *Click*
Upper Deck: Hello? Hello?

You dont think they have enough problems with security and shrink on their current stock? Now they gotta worry about protecting this shit, let alone SELLING it to collectors like me that would MUCH rather buy it from a trusted source without weirdo 50 year old men fondling our prized investment every 5 minutes...Ugh, it gets worse.

"Because the majority of shops deal primarily in new cards, they start to close. Collectors don’t notice right away, as most of them are tuned to eBay. And besides, the hobby’s gone through this before and survived, so what’s the big deal? Also, everybody’s got a Wal-Mart near them, so who cares if one more shop goes out of business? Shops sell off their inventory and shutter."

Again, this has already happened, but guess what? Shops are still open. Ebay is currently the hobby's biggest card shop. Other shops survive because they have found innovative ways to stay open and because they know what to sell: WAX and lots of it.

"Dealers at baseball card shows don’t feel the same pressure right away, though many of them do feel their brethren’s plight. Instead, without book prices to consult on every transaction, desperate, frenetic dealers result to using their best judgment. Collectors, fully aware of the situation dealers are in, refuse to be charged “judgment call prices.” Many dealers, citing lack of meaningful sales at shows, stop booking booths. What few shows remain shrink in attendance until they cease to exist. The National is the lone exception, chugging away, though it’s a magnet for news media to lament the hobby crisis. “Ain’t in the Card$,” is the New York Post headline."

Or better yet, dealers use eBay prices and collectors finally find a great marketplace - outside of the scam ridden internet - to buy their cards. Or even better than that, Dealers, who have paid eBay prices to get their cards, stop marking it up and decide to open shops rather than booking tables at shows and sell their cards back to the collector on ebay. Now, because the New York Post would never write such and awful headline, nor post an article on collecting with this as its subject, I wont even address it.

"Without dealers, the manufacturers are no longer in the dominant bargaining position. They’re at the whim of the big box stores. Product’s gonna be late? OK, we’re diminishing your shelf space. The manufacturers are not used to their role as ‘just another product.’ What happened to all those dealers they used to push around?"

I dont understand the point of this. So without dealers they decide to stop producing despite having a perfectly good marketplace in eBay where they can still make the same, if not more, money? This is pure dribble. I dont even know where to go. Oh, but wait, there's STILL MORE!

"If I haven’t given my critics enough fodder already, here’s some more:

• The future of the hobby most certainly will not play out the way I’ve got it, though certain aspects of it are very close to happening now."

Trust me, you have given me a gold mine of material. However, thanks for acknowledging that your above written was basically a practice in stupidity and was not worth the space it was printed on (nothing).

"• No matter how much we distrust the prices within price guides, they’re essential to the well being of the hobby. If you’ve got a plan for injecting realistic card values into the hobby without killing hobby shops and show dealers off, please, I’m all ears."

First of all, they are FAR from "essential." They are a way for a magazine to justify their worthless existence on the planet. Other than that, price guides are worth less than nothing to the hobby. As for the second part, do you enjoy paying inflated prices for your cards? Why are you set on keeping shops and dealers in this hobby if they continue to sell you cards at twice the price you can get on a true free marketplace? I love the way you support dealers and shops PAYING eBay prices to get their cards but selling them to you at double.

My plan? Hobby shops should get out of singles. Period. Then, they should focus on selling two things: guaranteed autographed memorabilia and wax. I say this because wax prices are the only thing that eBay cant guarantee as the lowest price. With shipping prices at 10 dollars plus, stores can compete with using their own mark ups. As for guaranteed memorabilia, eBay cannot compete due to scams. Fake autos are so rampant, Im weary of even buying PSA/DNA authenticated stuff anymore. Shops have the ability to get their own materials and and get them auto'ed. Buy from PSA and other authentic sources and save me the trouble of going through places I dont trust for my auto'ed stuff.

"• One last thing: I wanted to work graded cards into this somehow, but never found a good spot. If raw singles aren’t really worth their book value, what about graded cards? I know that entire price guides cater to graded specimen, but will/should these prices be combined with prices for unslabbed cards? Or would that negate the values assigned to those that have been slabbed? Also, why does it feel to me that dealing in graded cards is going to be what saves shop owners and show dealers?"

This whole "one last thing" makes no sense, but what else is new? Graded cards are pretty much one big conflict of interest to begin with. Besides, it was solely created as a mechanism for, *gasp*, eBay and the like. It protected the buyer from unforseen........oh forget it. Just look here and here.

I know its against my better judgement to take on one of the biggest blogs out there, but still, who wants to put up with this shit? I hope the sheep dont take what he says as gospel. Just to set a precedent: after this, I will not be reading his blog without a very strong bias, and I encourage you to do the same.

As collectors we are thrown to the wolves almost daily by the very sources that are sworn to be our advocates. Why is this guy supporting everyone's enemy? His platform supports paying higher prices because it keeps the good ole days in tact, it supports price guides because they supposedly provide a non-existant backbone to the hobby, and lastly it supports underhanded dealers and shops who do their best to scam you out of your hard earned money because they dont have any.

Thank you, Woody Paige of sports card collecting, you have opened my eyes!!