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I was flipping through channels last night and saw a repeat of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, so I had to watch a few minutes. Here is my response via Twitter:
- If the number of mailday posts you make out numbers the meals you've eaten that day, you might be a Joe Collector.
- If you have jerry-rigged a case not meant for sports cards to hold your triple threads fold outs, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you have an auto-correct set up to add ten exclamation points for every single one you write, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you have created certified sticker labels to add a signature your girlfriend's birthday cards you might be a Joe Collector
- If posting bash comments on youtube is the only way you can get sexually aroused, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you scream "MOJO!!!" each time you get a Christmas bonus at work, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you have used Wikipedia to look up a stat cut out in a Topps Sterling card you just bought, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you failed a test at school because you described Bowman Chrome in a essay question about refracted light, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you re-printed your high school diploma on rainbow foil board to make it look better, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you have memorized the book value for every card of a player that has yet to play a single game, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you asked "what'd you pull?" when your mother tells you she is SICK, you might be a Joe Collector
- If you know how to say MOJO!! in more than three languages, you might be a Joe Collector
From Jstarz34630 - If you spent more on Topps Triple Threads 1/1s than you did on your rent for the month, you might be a Joe Collector
From FCBSportscards - If you scurry to ebay to check your watch list every time you walk in the front door, you might be a Joe Collector
From Reggie - If you named your kid Joba Gold Refractor to commemorate your best pull, you might be a Joe Collector
Every once in a while you see something on eBay and you just know the story behind it without even reading what happened. Most of those times, you can see the stupidity shining through like a beacon, especially when it’s a card like this one:
Here is the story of the card, as told by me.
One day, Senor Jose Collectadora was on ebay and saw some SICK MOJO CARDZ!!! posted for his favorite player Tony Romo. He immediately hit the 19.99 buy it now because he knew he was getting a MAJOR STEAL!!!!! on a Romo NFL logo patch 1/1 that usually sells for hundreds. When he got it, he picked it up only by the edges because he knew he had to send it in for grading and didn’t want it to be messed up in any way. Fingerprints are BAAAAADDD. Of course, before he sent it in, he made sure to check his bible to see the book value for when he posts it on the message boards for his "daily steelz thread!!!!!!!!!!!"
Upon seeing that 1/1s were "too scarce to price" he began to think he had more SICK MOJO than he thought he had before! This could be a card worth thousands of dollars! He posts his steal on the board, and people laugh him off the page. When he sees the laughs, he starts to see a little bit of the stupidity behind his purchase. He pulls up the auction and sees that in the description, its listed as a custom card and is not real in any way. Jose doesn’t care, and posts it on eBay thinking that he can get someone else to fall for the plan. I mean, he cant stand being made fun of, and this is the way to make him feel better.
Nice job Jose, some day you will get exactly what you deserve. Fucking idiot.
H/T Joseph
I have said on many occasions that the design of the card can make or break a product, more-so to me than any other element of the card. To me, it could be a 1/1 NFL logo Adrian Peterson autograph, and I would pass if it looked like a piece of shit. Personally, I think card design has become a lost art, and that companies, especially Topps, have focused more on how they will pack more autos into a set than more well designed cards.
Look at Triple Threads, my all time most hated product. It is packed with cards literally packed with jerseys and autos, and I think it is the worst possible thing you can invest in. I have not bought a single Triple Threads single in the last few years, and most of it stems from the ridiculous designs and color schemes. To me, the sole purpose of the set is to give us as many low numbered cards with as many pieces of jerseys and autos as humanly possible. This means that things like design and photos of the players take a back seat to make the douchebags who don’t know any better jizz in their pants. Because of the jam packed set up of the cards, the product HAS to be considered high end, despite the fact that none of these cards are appealing to 90% of privileged portion of collectors who take pride in the way they look at the hobby. Those other 10% are die hard player collectors who live by a different creedo.
If it was up to me, I would always want better designs over more content. I love awesome looking cards, regardless of what company makes them. There are certain criteria I need to be true, like how I hate college jersey in the picture cards, but most of the time I base my want on how the card is put together. If a company uses sticker autos, but they are well done and well placed, it doesn’t matter to me. Look at SP Rookie Threads from this year, another set designed to pack as much into a product as possible. The difference between Triple Threads 2008 and SP Rookie Threads 2008 is that one set is well put together, nicely done with a cool theme, while the other focuses on all the wrong things, including printing plates with no player names and tiny player pictures.
SP Rookie Threads was designed around the look of a jersey. All the cards look like they have been sewn together like the numbers and tackle twill on a normal jersey, and I really appreciate the cool theme and idea for the set. Hell, they even made a set based on the NFL logo part of the jersey, which I thought was awesome. I bought the Peterson.
Look at Exquisite for this year, its done in an ornate and almost regal design, and the whole set follows suit in its picturesque glory. Exquisite also features more Jersey than Triple Threads in their RC Autos, and they still managed to fit in a large picture and a signature. Hell, the duals and triples were even done in a way that makes the Triple Threads ones look shameful. Large player picures and no die cut swatches to confusingly spell shit out. I love it.
If you want less high end examples, look at the way DLP did Classics the last few years, or even better, the way UD does SP Authentic EVERY year. For 100 dollars a box, UD has made Triple Threads and other poorly designed sets irrelevant. One other thing about sets like Classics and SP Rookie Threads is that they use sticker autos, but use them in a way that makes them not as noticible. Topps thinks they need to destroy the look of every card with GIANT foil stickers, or even the transparent, but not transparent foil stickers. Yes, they still stick out even when they are supposed to be clear.
Recently, Topps has put out a product that was solely designed to dump their entire store room of basketball stickers into a set before Panini takes over. This means that the set was actually somewhat necessary to utilize thousands of ugly foil stickers in the stockroom, but it is no excuse for the result. Now, we all know how much I fucking despise Topps' design moves over the last few years, and this set is no exception. Because it was so quickly put together, you can expect that the design would suffer, but jesus, the set is fugly as hell. Add in the fact that each card is numbered to 9000, and you have a donkey turd on your hands.
The one thing that the nostalgic focused modern haters have right is that design used to be better. I agree 100%. However, I do think you can have the content that each product MUST have to survive and also the design to appease the people like me. I have seen the custom card designs out there, so I know it isnt impossible to design a nice set. Hopefully the manufacturers wont save the good stuff for the expensive sets exclusively, and will let it trickle down to the low end stuff too. When cards are designed with care, everyone wins. Take notice quickly, Topps.
I was perusing blowout cards' forum today because I am in the process of navigating a mind numbingly boring day. Of course, hobby retards always brighten my day with their blinding beacon of intelligence that they are always shining my way.
The topic at hand was whether or not Triple Threads was worth the money to buy, considering that the best hits are going for less than the price of a box. After a plethora of people who said that they bought boxes at 200 bucks and sold the contents on ebay for 25 bucks, there was this GEM of a response:
"Why sell your break if you know you going to get killed ? If I pay $150. for a box of TT and know I'm only going to get $25. back if I sell then why even bother selling ? I'd try trading it for something I want OR just hold everything til I had a huge lot of GU together and flip it that way. Never understood just throwing money away listing stuff on fleabay when there are other options to try maxing my return."
Aside from the ultra intelligent reason that Im sure this person has for buying a high end Topps product, the response to the topic is borderline brain dead. The question he asks is about why he doesnt understand people who wont sell their accumulated crap in lots, but what he should have asked was, "WHY ARE YOU BUYING AN ABORTION OF A PRODUCT FOR 200 DOLLARS WHEN YOU COULD HAVE JUST BOUGHT A NICE ASS SINGLE YOU NEED INSTEAD?!?"
For 200 bucks, there are a lot of nice fucking cards you can buy, and yet, that doesnt even cross his mind. Nah, lets buy a shit ton of the worst product of the year. Hell! We could pull one of those ridiculously awesome printing plates! No, even better, one of the foldout relic cards that I cant read! YES!!! MOOOOJJJJJOOOOO!!
Fuck dude, I love these people. Just amazing in their stupidity.
So, in a few weeks and months you will be getting a refund on your taxes, right? The one time during the year when you know that you will have extra money lying around for you to spend without remorse. This is also the time where you usually see a bunch of people go out on a spending spree of cards and buy all the wrong things. Here is your guide, that is, if you have the ability to spend that money.
1) Do not buy cases under any circumstances. It just doesnt make sense to throw away the money you have waited all year for. Cases will never get you anything you couldnt buy for half the price of the case itself. If you are an All Day fan like I am, I could easily just buy the Peterson 1/1 logo patch for less than half the case price. Why waste my time with opening box after box, when I can get the card I want for half the price.
2) If you have to buy a box or two, keep it within reason. As I said before, everyone gets the itch to bust, and this may be the one time you can scratch until it bleeds. Dont. Buy a box or two and call it a day, you will feel much better about yourself in the end.
3) Focus on getting one or two key singles. You may think that the rush isnt there if you just buy the card instead of pulling it. But let me ask you this: Can you remember every box you broke? No? Can you remember the favorite cards you have in your collection? Hmm, interesting. Why not add to the latter and have something you like for the rest of your time in this hobby instead of getting 2 dollar jersey cards aplenty.
4) Save your money to use throughout the collecting year - YOU ARE GOING TO NEED IT. Just because you have the money now, does not mean you wont need it later. Why throw it all away now, when you can have some scratch for the rest of the year instead?
5) The most important one - Dont buy any cards! Most of us have tons of bills to pay. Knock a few of them out and forget it. Trust me, if you do this, the money for cards will be there later. Dont get behind on your shit because you want to buy shit you dont need.
See? Its not that hard. Dont be the guy on blowout with 1700 dollars of cards that turns into 200 worth of pulls. Instead, watch that guy, laugh, and then revel in the fact that you are a better man and a better collector.
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.
Thanks to Wheeler for passing this on.
I guess that the Forte logo out of SPA has been pulled and sold, and it went for an INSANEULOUS amount of money.
Let me refresh your memory of my hatred for the popularity of Forte's cards: the guy is a mid level prospect, playing for a team that didnt make the playoffs, and did not make ROY. He had a good rookie season, by rookie standards, but things sort of tapered off for him at the end. Usually, stupid things drive a cards worth like what I mentioned above, pro bowl appearances, etc, and yet without that, his still went for a down payment on a car.
When he ends up as the next Rudi Johnson, I just want a big I told you so.
Cue the Forte lovers telling me I am an idiot...
Its like they grow somewhere dark, watered by 2 dollar jersey cards. I just pulled that.
h/t Wax Heaven
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!!
Ladies and Gentleman, as self appointed President of the hobby, I am here to address you today about the state of the things we love so much. Even though, this 100% completely legitimate presendency is only recognized by this blog, the state of Idaho, and three small towns in Alabama, the following address is something we all need to take heed of.
Fellow blogospherians, I am here to say the state of the hobby is GOOD! However, despite our positive state right now, this is not a mandate to coast through the months ahead and expect this speech to be the same at this time next year. Right now, due to concerns in our economy, the state of the hobby depends on you! If you are one that is ready to buy a card - BUY IT! Do your fellow collectors good. Do not wait for the price to drop, even though it will, because that is BAD for this hobby and bad for America.
To begin, be sure to break tons of wax, as this is the lifeblood of this hobby. I guarantee you freddie and fanny shop-owner are better off because you bought their boxes. They need your support because it is tough for them to survive as a small business in a time when it is common to get 10 dollars as a return investment of a 100 dollar box. If you continue to buy, I promise this to you, my friends, I will work tirelessly to make sure that your plight in this hobby improves by demanding our manufacturers give us more value on each investment we make. We will also not stand idly by while they give their boxes away to the people who don’t deserve them. I am not talking about the Secretary of Wax, Mr. Alejandro of the great state of Florida, I am talking about Beckett, Tuff Stuff, and most importantly, the Media. My friends, we need to help the people who deserve it, not belittle them. Save your anger for those who need to feel the wrath of this 'sphere!
Right now, I want to take a moment and talk about Joe the Collector. Joe was simple man from my campaign trail who brought up the fact that he was getting scammed by predators on a weekly basis and he was tired of being the "dunce of the hobby." He outwardly blamed me for his problems, even going so far as to say my policies were making his life difficult. In between his unintelligible remarks about "MOJO" and youtube maildays, he asked me to take pity on him and for help. Well Joe, I promise you and your bretheren to continue to push for manufacturer inclusion of not only anti patch faking technology, but also a scanned database of all high end cards for all to see. I ask you today, do we not deserve that?
I want to move on to another topic, one that plagues both you and I on a daily basis. When most of you look for that card you want, trading is your first instinct. As of late, trading security has been a hot topic, especially in my administration. I promise to you that in the coming months, we will establish a way for the citizens of this blog to trade without fear! Ladies and gentlemen, if we don’t trade, they win. They win, and we lose everything we stand for. Don’t think I don’t feel for you, I do, and I will use my power to make it happen!
One of the main messages of my campaign was to end the vicious cycle of creating cards based on an autograph sticker spot. We need to demand a change from the powers that be. We are strong and we have the means to make sure that there is an on card auto in every set, and a swatch placed correctly on every card. No longer will we be hungry for well designed cards, as we have fought the trend and won!
Of course, it will continue to be important that you participate in the group box breaks we have from this administration. It is your duty to the 'shpere to serve your blog by helping others. It will be fun, this I promise you, and the boxes will be amazing. No longer will you watch high end videos on youtube without a stake for yourself, as you will be involved just as much as the next guy! I will also be moving for a price cut for all middle end collectors so that they will get the benefits of all the top 1 percent of everyone in the hobby. It is a tough time, and everyone needs the help.
Lastly, I want to assure you that the integrity of the blogosphere must be maintained, or we will suffer. As recent as last week, close to 100 people let me know personally that they thought blogs made a positive impact on this hobby. With that I charge you, the reader, to blog your thoughts and make this 'sphere stronger. Make your opinions known. You are the future of this great population, and I want to invest in you! When you make your blog, email my administration directly and ask to be included in our links. We will strengthen you and use our umbrella to help you get the readers you need.
Thank you very much, and God bless America!
Well for a lot of people out there, today is the day of repentence, and I feel its time that maybe I offered some apologies to those I have hurt while doing this blog. They may not deserve it, but I feel its time.
First, to Topps, I am sorry for making fun of your awful products and your ungodly foil stickers from 2004. Even though the rest of the industry has become a design factory, you stick with the same old shit every year. I guess, for some people, static is better than dynamic and I am sorry for reveling in your incompetance. Your foil stickers may be the worst looking thing I have ever seen on a card, but you probably have a stash of them somewhere that you bought pre-2000, so I guess thats fine. Im sorry.
Second, to the Baseball Card Blog, I am sorry that I completely owned your posts on a few occasions when it comes to a world without a price guide. I am also sorry that I made fun of the lack of connection with the current hobby, I know you probably have a lot of fun looking at base cards from 1988. I guess if I needed to relive my childhood through cards, I would pick that year too.
Third, to all the Joe Collectors out there, im sorry for making you a focal point of idiocy for our hobby. Most of you seem to enjoy posting maildays on youtube and your seemingly never ending flow of "last pack mojo." You are right, I am completely jealous and I am just doing this because I feel empty inside. I am sorry.
Fourth, to all the patch fakers out there, im sorry for showing people that you dont have souls. I know you are just trying to make a living and you cant help if there is a dork out there who will buy your Adrian Peterson NFL logo patch numbered 5/1500. I am sorry.
Lastly, and most importantly, to everyone at Beckett, I am sorry for convincingly destroying your rep with close to 40,000 people who have visited this site. It wasnt fair for me to expose you as the douchebags you are without warning, and it was not cool that I showed everyone how irrelevant and underhanded you constantly are. You deserve to die a respectful death in the bargain bin at Barnes and Noble, and it was not my place to speed it up. Yes, it will be a sad day when you go under, because I will no longer have anything funny to write about you.
Whew, that was tough. Some times its good to get things off your chest.
When it comes to Stale Gum, there are not many blogs that go back further. Really. Yet, when I continually watch him take my term that I made up for idiot douchebags in the hobby, and make it into a term that describes every person that doesnt think exactly like him, I start fuming smoke from my ears.
When I created Joe Collector to vent my frustrations of people I cant stand, readers could identify with the steaming bags of oxen shit I was talking about. They hated the people I was talking about just as much as I did. It was a mantra people could stand behind, because those people were more annoying than Keenan Thompson on SNL. Thanks to Stale Gum, that is gone, and a "Joe Collector" has become the "not Chris Harris" people in the hobby, which is pretty much everyone.
Here is his latest use of my wonderful brain child:
"This year's UD Masterpieces appears to follow the same formula, with a $7/pack Hobby version for Joe Collector, and a $2.99/pack retail version for Actual Collector. But there's one huge difference between Hobby and retail this year, and this is 2008 UD Masterpieces' fatal flaw."
After reading this, I am about five seconds from throwing my dog out the window. Seriously, did he acutally use the term "actual collector" for people that choose retail masterpieces over hobby? What the fucking hell is that supposed to mean? If you dont go and waste twenty bucks on retail blaster to get a bunch of fucking base cards you arent an "actual collector?" Fuck that arrogant bitch ass statement. To call the people who buy retail "actual collectors" is borderline fucking insanity to begin with.
Now, im not going to go into my retail versus hobby rant again because it isnt even a fucking contest. Ill sure as fuck stand toe to toe with him over what a fucking Joe Collector is too, mainly because he is blantanly fucking abusive when trying to pass it off as his own shit.
Here is the tag list for Joe Collector. I hope you guys understand why I am so fucking angry after reading what a real JC stands for.
Chris, you are becoming more of a Joe Collector every day, and that is sadder than buying retail all together.
EDIT: Thanks to Chris for being the bigger person and apologizing.
Well, thanks to the Acheiver Card Blog, I have found out that there are, in fact, rules to being a dumbass in the hobby. Luckily I still had my old copy of the Idiot Conglomerate bible to dust off, so here's the "10 Commandments" from the first chapter:
1. Thou shall find a way to make everything a 1/1 - if thy card is the first printed, the last printed, numbered to the players jersey number, numbered to the college jersey number, or any other way, it is henceforth a 1/1.
2. Thou must post all thy steals on a message board - if thou gets a card for .01 cent less than normal it is a a steal.
3. Thou must make a YouTube video of every pack break and mailday - it is essential to show off all thy cards for the world to see, even if they are jerseys numbered to 1100.
4. Thou must call every hit MOJO! - Because it is a great pull even when it doesnt cover the cost of the pack.
5. Thou must break a box of Triple Threads each year it is released - It is the best product of thy fair market, support it.
6. Thou must look up every card in thy Beckett - Thy magazine is the number one source for the hobby, it must be consulted. Consider it the new testament to this old testament.
7. Thou must get exact book value in return for any card thou decides to trade - book value is there so you can make money, not lose it.
8. Thou must consult a message board before any trade is completed - This goes for fantasy sports and for sports cards. Let the people decide for you.
9. Thou must say that every detractor lives in thy mother's basement - Because they obviously do.
10. Thou must defend these principles to the death - I am thy god.
I get it now. So much clearer.
Getting into any hobby or area of expertise is always a challenge. Then, even after you have endured the training phase, there are always new things to learn. This can be especially frustrating if the training part of the new venture has left you with a bunch of stuff that is irrelevant to a lot of the elders. I think that the hobby we have chosen falls under this description. I get emails EVERY DAY from new people in the hobby, some who are just starting, some who are coming back after a long absence, and the first words are always to the tune of "wow, I had no idea it was like this..." You know what? I agree with the feeling. Its is shocking that there could be this much wrong with a hobby that has been around for over 100 years. Granted, around 1996 a lot of things changed with the first jersey card, maybe even 1993 with Finest, or 1989 with the creation of UD, but that doesnt mean that the widespread dumbfoundedness of new people is any less tolerable.
Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, here is what happened to me, and I am sure a lot of people who returned to the hobby did the exact same thing:
Around 2001, I was about to go off to college when I discovered an old shoe box filled with Shawn Kemp cards. He was my favorite player growing up, and I had everything of his - even the fugly shoes. I was curious what they were worth, so naturally, I picked up a Beckett from the newsstand and started my hour long quest with a calculator. After coming up with a number I went to eBay, because I knew that TWGM was the place to sell this kind of stuff. Plus, I needed a ton of money, and the Beckett gave me considerable hope. What I saw on eBay was fucking appauling, as the number from Beckett was off by 95% in the WRONG direction. I couldnt understand how something could be 95% wrong and still be considered a price guide.
Either way, I didnt think much of it, and took my cards to the local shop to see if they wanted them. I knew that I didnt, and I knew I wouldnt get much, but I thought I would get some. I got 5 bucks, about 1/100th of what I had spent as a kid! With that, I took the money and bought a pack of cards and a burger. It was a tasty burger and the pack contained a Mark McGwire jersey card, much to my happiness. I had heard about recent revelations in the industry, so I thought I had something...
...I didnt. But I was hooked. Over the next few years, I casually bought stuff here and there, mostly with the local players. Due to limited funds, I didnt have much, but it was still cool to have autographs of my favorite players. My favorites were the Sweet Spot autos, because I thought is was beyond a great idea that they had put the leather of a ball in the card and got it signed.
Soon after I bought my first Sweet Spot auto, I bought my first sweet spot box. I dont think I could have had a worse pull. Something like Geoff Blum or some shit like that. Beckett had it at 25 bucks, but that was still much less than I had paid for the box. So, I went on ebay, sold my card for 2 dollars - yes, that is correct - and stumbled across something that I had never seen before, hot packs. I thought, why buy the whole box when you can buy the hit for less? I bought three and waited for my packages. When they came, the packs looked weird, but I didnt know anything, so I opened them. I got a Jacque Jones, and two pitchers I had never heard of. Needless to say I was crushed, so I started searching for info on who these people were. I came across the BMB, and low and behold, I was litterally lynched for my purchase. No one understood how I could be so stupid.
NOTE: Ill admit, I constantly write about these stupid people on here a lot, and just to let you know, I was one of them. Call me a reformed Joe Collector (the term is still retired, but it fit here).
After a while, I learned about fake patches, trimmed cards, grading tendencies, and all the other scams in the hobby. Most importantly, I learned about the biggest scam artists in the industry (Beckett), and I didnt feel so bad about before.
This process to get to an acceptable amount of understanding took about a year and a half. Thats a long fucking time, people. Why do you think it takes that long to get aquainted with how the business works? Thats easy, as people are presented with tons of information they believe to be correct, when in reality, it is a shell of what the actual info is. People develop expectations based on what they consider trusted news sources, and those expectations are crap if your news sources are Beckett, Tuff Stuff and the Mainstream media. If you think I have a superiority complex because I have this blog, you are dead wrong. This blog provides expectations that are closer to what they should be, but it is definitely not all of what it should be.
Let me tell you, I know I am overly critical of stupid people, and Im sure some of them dont deserve it. Im sure some of them are new just like I was, and I am sorry to those people, especially if I savaged you and you didnt know better. Yet, I know that for every new person that didnt deserve it, there were four that did - so a continued "fuck you" to them.
Lastly, if you are new and you are reading this blog, dont hesitate to contact me via the link on the right. Also, be sure to check out the following posts, as they explain a lot of the problems your expectations may not have included. That is the most important thing - expand those horizons of thinking. Remember, correct information is always at a premium, and will be worth more than any of your prized cards.
The First Post Here and Explanation Of The Exquisite Scam
Say no to MOJO
The First Explanation of Why Book Value is a Scam
My Take on Jersey Cards
A Few Comments On Busting Wax
The Grading Service vs The Grading Business
The Overwhelmingly Craptastic Printing Plate
A Comment On Ebay Tendencies
More Book Value Bullshit
Joe Collector Makes His First Appearance
Five Reasons Why The Hobby Is Good And Why It Is Fucking Awful
My Take on Hot Packs and Pack Searchers
What to Expect When Watching Breaks on YouTube
Ebay 1/1s are the Devil
My Beckett War Cry - If You Read One Thing, Read This
Why Manufactured Letters Suck
Maybe a Good Way To Approach A Card Show?
Yes, you have signed a bunch of new HOFers to your stable, and yes, you have added some content to the set, but in reality, I am way too fucking bored with this set to even think about wanting to buy singles. It seems like every year, this set has the same guys with the same cards and just different die cut windows. Last year, I was kind of interested to see what was added to make it better than 2006 and I was thoroughly disappointed. This year, although a lot of players have been added, the set really hasnt changed.
Of an 18 box case you are guaranteed 18 auto cards. 1 will be a triple auto and there is also a guaranteed 1/1 auto too. Of course, these 1/1s are actually like 1/18, but thats a different post entirely. If you look at the rest of the 16 auto cards at least 8 of them will be no-name rising star auto/relics. These sell for an average of $1.99 on TWGM, and they are the reason I wont touch this shit with someone else's 10 foot pole. So, that leaves you a 8 autos besides the two 1/1s that will be worth your time. I would say 4 of these autos are base versions of some non-important player, leaving you with a mere 6 boxes out of 18 that will have something worth your time. Of those 6 boxes, I would say 1-2 will contain an auto card worth more than 100 bucks, and most of the time it those arent the awfully designed triple auto cards. As for relics, most of them will be 5 dollar cards unless you pull a rare president, foldout (still awfully designed), or Mantle(non-game used relics), Ruth, Maris, or Gherig Relic. So, for a $2000 case or even a $170 box, there is no reason to even think about busting this. Warning, the following is:
Lets face it, the Coe Jollectors love to jump on products when they are hot. THEY LIVE FOR IT. What they dont get is that after the first weeks, you can pretty much cut the price by 20-50% for the remainder of the time. No matter what happens, TWGM jumps in volume sold and price when things are first listed.
The reason I am bringing this up is because Topps Football was just released and not only are people falling all over themselves to buy in at the 85+ dollar price for a box (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!), but they are also killing any surviving brain cells by paying "REDICOLUS" prices for the rookie premiere autos.
This has led more sellers to post enormous BIN/BOs on their auctions, while others dont even bother with the BO, and just expect people to buy their third string WR red ink auto at $250. Lets go over something:
1. All Day (ROY, all time yds leader single game, beastly runner with tons of hype) - $300 Bucks
2. Matt Ryan (Plays for a shitty team and wont be good for three years) - $199
3. Darren McFadden (shitty team, wont do half of what peterson did) - $310, sad
4. John David Booty: Red Ink /10 (5th rd pick, 3rd stringer) - $149?
Am I missing something here? I dont know many JCs that would even buy in at these prices. Hell, even I wont buy in on Peterson because I know those prices are going to drop like a rock, not to mention the fact that he has played a year. Yet, people are buying Rashard Fucking "NO SIG" Mendenhall at 230 plus? Fuck!
Someone really needs to have a mass murdering rampage across TWGM, I am super cereal about that.
As I mentioned before, Chris Harris has taken to writing about Joe Collectors in a defining fashion, and to tell you the truth, Im pretty happy about it. His latest entry on Things Joe Collectors Like, is a little off though, and I want people to get the real(er) story based on my take of things.
Chris isnt completely wrong when he says that JCs love hits, that’s assumed. But, the problem is that 95% of the collecting hobby does the same thing. We look for the stuff that makes us the most happy, and an Autograph or Jersey card usually does that for me better than a base card. Ive said before that I don’t bust THAT much stuff, but when I do, I enjoy getting cool "relics" and autos of my favorite players. When I search for All Day, Mauer and Morneau on TWGM, I don’t search for the base, I don’t need to buy those. However, when I see a ridiculously cool Auto, im in it like a soldier in the shit.
The difference between the JCs and the PP, or Privileged Portion of collectors who are up on what they need to be up on (Please update your SCU glossary), is that when a JC pulls a "hit" they go fucking nutso, and they must post said hit on a message board with tons of exclamation points and some brain fart incarnation of MOJO. When someone who doesn’t have a mental imbalance pulls a hit, we put it aside and bask in the bright light of coolness for the card. If it ever makes it on to a message board, or blog in this case, we are realistic and calm, and no exclamation points or MOJO is used. We don’t say "SICK HIT!!!!!!!!!" and we don’t say "OMFGKGFLK MOJOZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUPERMAN-JO!!!!!!!!!!!" for any reason whatsoever.
Ladies and gents, welcome to the PP. Wear your badge proudly.
From time to time, I like to peruse the high price listings of the card section of TWGM just so I can find comedic hobby gold. I warn you, stupidity is to follow. I dont even think the guys who sell this stuff are Coe Jollectors because they seem to be even dumberererer than that. Either way, I bring you...
First, we have a delightful AND informative auction where you can have 40,000 baseball cards for $1,000,000. THATS ONLY 25 bucks a card!!! Wow!! You know what's great? You can have 120,000 cards for 3,000,000 bucks, as this auction is up 3 times!! If you use eBay's 10% off coupon, it could bring it down to 900,000 per lot, but yeah, who wants to give up the bragging rights of dropping a mil on some cards? Nice.
Second up we have the oft auctioned Braun Superfractor out of 05 chrome. For 13 grand, you would think that this card should be a little bit more of an investment than a "fun purchase." Man, too bad it isnt graded, that would make it worth at least eleventy billion dollars if it was a 10. I would say that this card is pretty special, but it takes a certain kind of guy to buy something at this price., maybe Olbermann? Nah, not a Yankees player.
