.jpg)
From UD's facebook page:
Can someone please explain to me the fascination with including movie and TV relics in sports products? I think its an interesting idea for a set all by itself, but when included in sports products, I think its usually pretty dumb.
The reason I decided to write about this is because I have seen the upswing in the industry, and you know it will be blown out of proportion. Case and point: 2008 Spectrum Baseball. In a typical box break, you will get a few jerseys, a baseball auto, and an auto of a has been 80's hair metal star. Now, these are not Jon Bon Jovi auto cards, they are Kip Winger auto cards. Is this really something we need? I would rather have more sports bang for my buck than more autos of guitar players and other entertainment stars. Of course, if the whole point of the set is entertainment based, that’s a little different. I do like the concept of Americana, and I think the Heroes products and Indiana Jones products put out by Topps are pretty cool. However, I don’t like getting a Dokken auto when I should be getting more baseball stuff.
So far this year, Upper Deck has released a number of sets that have entertainment based insert subsets for NO APPARENT reason other than filling space. Topps, not to be out done, decided that they needed to put manufactured letters of the presidential candidates in their sets. Seriously, is this their idea of a cruel joke? Has creativity slumped that much? At least with the Fans of the Game set from DLP a while back, they had a way to relate the people on the cards to the subject matter of the set. Is the lead singer from Warrant a baseball fan? I have no fucking clue, but he has an auto in Spectrum.
It has already reached a level that Upper Deck has released entertainment relic cards that have no picture, no full name of the actor listed on the card, and NO LICENSING. Why in fucks sake would I want a relic worn by "Jim" in the movie "Bruce Almighty" if there is no picture and no reasonable explanation as to why the card was produced. What crap. At least with Americana, we got pictures and cool stuff to boot.
Lets hope that certain companies will get the idea and devote entire sets to these type of things, and not burden the collector with crap cards from people that have no connection to sports in a set that should be devoted to showcasing your favorite player instead of your favorite actor/musician.
Well, the poll has closed, and I think its results pose some interesting questions. One being why in the world people would want to bust 5 boxes of a mid end product rather than having the sure thing in the cut, logo, or RC patch auto.
I selected RC patch auto of the top rookie for the year because I think those usually are worth more than anything. I like the logo patch option, but this is the best bet for coolness. I know what I would be getting and I know that it isnt going to be crap as the 3 colors are tough to come by.
Im surprised more people didn’t choose the logo patch option as those cards are never going to lose value. Even the crappiest of logo patches still get 50 bucks, and to have a good one would be a centerpiece to any collection. The lack of an auto and the non-specific nature of the choice was damaging, but still suprising. This was my second choice.
The other option was the HOF cut sig, and I can understand why this was as popular as it was. Cut sigs are cool to pull and will never lose value in the long run. The guy has already reached the top honor, so its not like there is going to be some kind of drop off unless there is some kind of scandal.
Lastly was the most popular choice at over half the votes. I don’t get it. People disregarded the bird in hand for two in the bush and did so at a 2 to 1 clip. Wow. You could bust the 5 boxes and get squat and then you are stuck with the realization that you could have had one of the other three. On the other hand, you could get a nice pull, but odds are against that.
We also have a winner for the contest (he was dead on), and if geomon could drop me an email with his address, the card will be on its way.
When you pull a hit out of your favorite product, usually its going to suck, unless you work for Beckett. Yet, those hits may be the key to the future of the sports autograph collectibles industry, believe it or not.
Let me explain:
Right now, if you go to UDA or Steiner to buy a piece of memorabilia, you will have to pay for the market price of the autograph plus the market cost of the authentication name on the certificate. Usually, the authentication is worth more than the signature itself, mostly because of one cold hard fact: 80-90% of the autographs available on the internet are fake. Due to the number of scam artists out there, even PSA slabbed stuff is not safe for the average person anymore. On the other hand, despite the above fact, no one will question an auto'ed sports card as long as it was meant to be one. Thousands upon thousands of auto cards end up on the secondary market each day, and most collectors (with a few exceptions) believe that there is no question as to the authenticity of the player's signature. Due to the awful state of the market, as real autographs become harder and harder to prove as authentic, I see a growth in the worth of the standard auto cards of today. Its crazy to think about that now, but the donkey rapers out there are coming up with some fucked up ways to make money, and eventually PSA authentication will mean about as much as a scoreboard letter of authenticity. You saw that news report that said they got a fake through the JSA people, right?
This football was 100% guaranteed to pass authentication. It wont.
To tell you the truth, it really blows a goat that most people are only out there to make money, regardless of who they hurt in the process. They don’t care if the fake auto of Alex Rodriguez you bought hangs on your child's wall, because to them, all they see is $$$$$.
Just as an example, I had an autograph of Vince Carter that my dad gave me for my birthday a long time ago. Being a UNC grad, my dad got caught up in the vinsanity and it rubbed off on me too. Of course, my dad wasn’t as versed in the ways of the donkey raper as I am now, so he bought from some guy who had a cool picture signed in bold silver pen. He paid to have it framed, and it hung on my wall until last year. Around graduation from college, I went back and took a look at it. I realized right away what my dad had bought, and I was so pissed that I threw my suitcase across the room. I wasn’t mad at my dad, I was mad at the guy who felt that scamming people out of their hard earned money was more important than dignity - something that has become commonplace in the market.
People ask me why my view of humanity is inherantly bad, and the reason is quite simple. Humans only care about one thing in general and its being better than the next guy. By most societal standards that means having more money, and they will not stop until they have the maximum available. For most people, its not an issue to make money the correct way, but for others, a quick buck is more tempting than sex. These people know its easy to create and sell fake autos when you arent seeing the buyer face to face (sometimes even if you are!). They also know that its easy to pull the one color jersey out of the DLP card and put in a logo patch. They for sure have no doubt that someone will pay to buy it, because there is a sucker born every minute. Funny enough, this happens in every industry because people are never hestitant to take advantage of a simple customer with no knowledge - double if you are a woman. Whether its mechanics, car salesman, drug reps, even politicians (especially politicians), they all have their bad apples.
Because of the nature of this argument, eventually cards may be the only reliable source for autographs. That is a scary fact, ladies and gents, especially with people like Beckett and UD out there doing basically the same thing as the donkey rapers. Lets hope that somewhere down the road a great enlightenment happens and these guys take it in the ass. That would be awesome.
Not only am I sick to my stomach from the awful camera work in this video (J'isthat Youma must have been fired), but also from the fact that this shit is still happening regularly. Again Beckett gets two boxes before the release date, and I still wonder why manufacturers give them the products despite knowing that collectors are extremely fucking angry that it happens. I posed a question to Scott Prusha during my interview, but he included it in the questions he couldnt answer. Scott, I must say, I am disappointed that this is still being allowed by you.
I am also disappointed by how much swag they accumulate around their offices. For a magazine that (wrongly) sets the price for cards in circulation, accepting gifts from manufacturers is a terrible conflict of interest. The fact that there arent any other people taking this issue head on, makes me a little concerned as to the type of people that collect these days. I mean, this hobby is full of scams, top to bottom, and the most public face in the industry is a walking contradiction to everything we love.
Funny enough, bad comments are starting to show up on the video and I encourage that to continue. Hopefully with a little work, the collecting base can make sure that this stops, for the love of what you hold dear. For those of who doubt that Beckett isnt a cancer on this industry, you are walking around with blinders on. If they were to go out of business tomorrow, the hobby would be a better place - no doubt about it.
Also, because I know for a fact that people from UD, DLP and Beckett all read this blog, feel free to drop me an email and explain to me what is being done to stop these beckett box breaking assclowns from carrying on with their pathetic existence.
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.
I want to know something, and hopefully someone can help me out. Where does Topps get those signatures that they facsimilie onto their base cards? Despite being totally unnecessary and lame, they are completely fucking wrong. I mean, do the players sign a little sheet of paper when they get drafted for all the companies to scan into their databases for all eternity?
Just look at this Mauer card from 2007:
I actually boycotted this card because Topps actually put the sig where he signed "Joseph P. Mauer" on the card instead of his normal sig. Can you imagine if everyone actually took that kind of time with their shit? What if Kirby Puckett signed his full name, Kirbitanius J. Puckett, Esq., on every card he ever had for Topps. Not only would it be too fucking funny, it would kind of be shoving his status as an esquire in our faces.
Either way, could someone let me know, please?
