Card Shows: A Response

Ahh the card show, a place where every card collector can go to be with their brethren. According to Mario, they are dying because sports card sales are declining, but I don’t think that could be farther from the truth. I think the real reason has to do with a number of things that are mostly stemming from the rise of eBay's prowess in the hobby, as well as a decline in the number of people who could benefit from going. I want to go into this a little further because I think it’s a topic that many of us think about every time we walk into that stale air filled ballroom.

Card Show Pros: Why Its Still Good To Go To Or Sell At Shows

1. It’s a place with a lot of collectors, its something to do

Lets face it, we have all become accustomed to faceless dealings on message boards devoted to gathering like minded people. Instead of actual interaction with actual people, we have all decided to go anonymous and spend hours fighting over who is the gayest in an argument. At a show, you get to be around collectors and actually watch the hobby in action. Its fun to have people to discuss things with, and though I think this is an overrated plus to the overwhelming amount of minuses, its still something that would draw me to a show.

2. People Who Arent Looking For Expensive Cards

Im not talking about people who want to buy a few 10 dollar singles, im talking about the people who will spend the time to go through bin after bin of 4 for a quarter cards to complete their set, or people who are looking to spend very little and get a lot. The shows are filled with tables who use this as a way to pay for their spot, which means there are tons of places for you to scavenge.

3. Sellers Who Do It As A Hobby Rather Than A Source Of Income

A lot of sellers still think there is lots of money to be made at shows. There probably is some, but only in VERY specific situations. Those are the people who will populate my list of why not to go to shows. Every once in a while you find a guy who sets up at a show to make connections, or find new customers to his shop. This is the guy who goes to shows as a hobby rather than a career. The shop is the career, not the show. This is the guy who will chat you up, give you what you need, be a nice person. He isnt there to make money, and will more than likely have all the things mentioned in number 2. Because there are a captive audience of people, it’s a good place to advertise your shop for those of us without a regular money pit. However, this could be dangerous if you are already in the red for your business.

4. People Who Want To Trade And Not Buy

When I say trade, I mean trade with other people there, and not with the dealers. There is no reason to go and trade at shows unless you are okay with taking a bath on the cards you are giving away. However, if you deal in inexpensive cards, it may be worth your while to trade with the dealers to get the stuff for the people in number 1. For the rest of us, there are a lot of people there who will be available to trade, and those are the best people to make friends with. Its basically message board trading without the mail, which is a great situation.

5. To Watch or Window Shop

It is great place to go just to see what's out there. Until I went to a show in Minnesota, I had never seen an Exquisite card in real life, it was always on a site or youtube. There are going to be a lot of amazing pieces at these shows, though at highway robbery prices, but its still worth seeing what they are like in real life. Think the Triple Threads XXIV Relic cards look amazing online (shame on you!)? Try seeing them in person, it’s a true eye sore. Also, if you like watching case and box breaks on the tube, this is your chance to see them in person. If you do breaks on message boards, you can avoid the douches who post pack by pack and scream like 12 year olds whenever they pull a jersey card. OMG! BARRY-JO!!!! Fuck you.

6. You Get To See What You Buy Before You Buy

But you will pay through the nose to do so. Yes this is a good thing, but with high quality scanners today, its becoming less of an issue.

7. No fees, no chargebacks, no scams

We all know what feebay is capable of, and we definitely know what the sellers and buyers are capable of. At a show, what you see is what you get. That means, if you want the card on the table, it will be the card on the table and not a similar card or a completely unrelated item. All of those have happened to me online.

Card Show Cons: Why The Above Stuff Means Absolutely Nothing

1. You Have To Pay To Get In

See, everyone is out to make a buck, including the people who run the show. Want to do any of the things I just talked about? You will be forced to pay to get in, most of the time. Guess what? Ebay is free, and has four thousand times the number of cards you will see at the show. It also has a money back guarantee on paypal, which can USUALLY work to your advantage, and you don’t have to drive anywhere. I cant tell you how liberating it is to buy cards in your draws.

2. You Have To Live In Beckett's World

Yup, just about every single dealer will still be living in 1992. They will pull out a Beckett every time you want to trade, and they will pull out a Beckett every time you want to buy. You will be forced to buy on percentages of BV, and we all know what a fucking joke that is. The best thing? You have to lie through your teeth to support them or they may not give you as good of a price. Oh yeah, I love Beckett and think the book is the bible of cards. Right.

3. You Have To Pay More Than A Card Is Worth

This will kind of feed into just about every other thing on the cons list, but basically you will have to be prepared to pay more than you should for a card, mainly because of number 2, but also because you are a captive customer. On eBay, you have the choice of what price to pay, and you can avoid the whole book value thing unless the guy is a clueless tool. See, on eBay, most of the cards are posted thousands of times, and you will only pay exactly what the card is worth, as long as you can use auction format. Even with BINs, most of the time you will be able to negotiate TO market value, unless, again, the guy is a clueless tool.

4. You Have To Associate With People Whose Only Goal Is To Make Money

You may say that ebay is the same thing, but it is and it isnt. People's goal on eBay is to make money, but most of the time its very hard to make more than you should. At a show, you live in a Beckett world, so the dealers have the ability to charge more. Its kind of like a shop. Never buy singles from either because prices are always adjusted for the fact that the storefront is not free. At a show you also will get nothing in terms of trade, because they will need money on their side to make it worth it. Even if the market value is exactly the same, they will not accept the trade because it doesn’t make them any money. Ebay provides all of the ways to buy cards at or below market value, and message boards usually provide a good way to do trades without having to put up with the 66% rule of how much ill give you for your card. That is, unless you are dealing with a clueless tool who has no idea that Beckett Value is about as relevant to the hobby as a Model T is to cars.

5. You May Get To See The Cards, But Do You?

Yes, you can see the cards in person, but the presentation is controlled by the seller. That means they decide what cases they use, how you see it, and what you can do with the card. Want to take it out of the holder? Its up to them. With eBay, you get the same kind of presentation, but you usually have quite a few cards to choose from. Plus, most people place hi-res photos on their auctions which are almost as good as picking it up. Don’t think they are representing the card correctly? You are the sought after customer, so most of the time they will give you what you want. At a show, you are there for them, not the other way around. On eBay sellers usually want to sell at the best price, so they are there for you. Most of the time.

6. Personalities Are Always On Display

This can be a good thing and a bad thing. At a show, its usually the latter. Again, number 4, so they are usually scrot-astic douches who think you are just another sheep in the herd. Because most of the dealers at a show know when they have something they want, you have to gravel to them, where on eBay, its different. 90% of the sales I have done have been 100% communicationless, and yet I am still satisfied because I got what I want. Whether you are talking to them or just handing them your hard earned money, you will get a good idea who they are, and them you. Its usually quite off putting to give a douchebag your money regardless of what you get. Although douches are all over eBay, most of the time you don’t have to deal with them face to face.

7. On Ebay People Are Specifically Looking For The Stuff You Are Selling

Which means that you don’t have to cater your presentation to anyone other than the people you want to sell to. At a show, its every type of person and then some. On eBay its one card at a time if that’s the way you want it. That means your steelers auction can be filled with steelers shit rather than just putting it on display for everyone, including the cowboys fans. You may have to pay the fees on eBay, but there is a bigger guarantee that your stuff will sell if it’s a desirable piece. Even if its not, it will probably still sell, and it wont have to take up space on your table. At a show, you have to sell only your a-list stuff if you want to make any sales. Go up with a bunch of 1990 Hoops Basketball cards and people will pass you by. Not usually so on eBay if catered correctly.

When it comes down to it, would I care THAT much if shows or shops went the way of the dodo? Not really, as long as the internet was still running strong with sales. I also know for sure that it is all the reasons above as to why shows are going bye-bye rather than a nebulous decline in sales. If anything, its not the sales themselves that have gone down, but rather the ways the sales are completed.

In the end, its going to be eBay or the highway, and really, im okay with that.

Buying Habits Of The Stupid and Uninformed

Ryan Grant can suck my left testicle. You know why? He is littering my
products and he doesn’t deserve to be printed on the cardboard he is. People are paying upwards of 200 dollars for his Sweet Spot RC and his Playoff RC, which is fucking ludicrious, and his Topps Progression auto redemption is going for more than most of the other vets in the set. People, seriously, what the fuck?

It seems like every single guy who comes in and rushes for 100 yards is all of a sudden worth a shitload in this hobby. Ahmad Bradshaw, Kolby Smith, Selvin Young and Ryan Grant are all prime examples of this, which makes me want to slap people considering that they arent even starters. This happened with Ahman Green a couple of years ago, and the guy put up one good season before becoming a nobody. People just don’t learn, and I laugh at them. The bad part with this phenomenon is that people like Ryan Grant get more face time in products because people buy like pigs when he hits it big the first time. Now when I pull his stupid ass out of boxes, I have to wonder why I just threw 150 bucks down the drain for a box hit based on the buying habits of idiot fucking jackasses. I want people that actually make a difference, and this guy wont amount to anything other than a few good games.

Any response from the Joe Collectors?

"Baaaahhh."

Ahh, right, that’s what I thought you fucking sheep.

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.

Beckett Doesnt Learn

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.

Base of Operations

I want to ask a question that has been on my mind for a while, and I think it may be a source of some controversy for some old timey collectors. Over the last year or so, companies have been moving more and more towards the "tin-style" box rather than the actual size box with 18-24 packs. Usually in these tins, you get the box hits and one or two base cards to satisfy your hunger. If you are opening a box of UD Black, you get 2 cards for 250 bucks. This begs the question of whether or not base cards are becoming obsolete in the industry, due to the overjersification and overautofication of sets in the market (I know those words are made up, but they are AWESOME). For most of you, the basic concept of this makes the kid in you die a little, but let me go over some pros and cons.

First off, this obviously wouldn’t be for EVERY SINGLE set. It would only be the ones that are based on the auto/jersey subsets and not the base set. I mean, what would Topps be without a base set? Nothing, that’s what. This would be for products like SP Authentic, CoSigners, Triple Threads, Gridiron Gear, Leaf Certified Materials, Threads, etc. Instead of having to rip through pack after pack of base for SPA, all you would have to do is pop open the collectible tin. Products like Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome would still be base ridden products, but sets like Triple Threads would no longer be two packs of base with 2 hits. Instead, it would just be the two hits, or at the most, one base card with the box hits. I support this concept because I think it will force companies to live up to the price point a little bit more efficiently. Look at UD Black Basketball, which is the product of the year for Basketball collectors. They can get away with two cards per box because they make the boxes/cases worth buying.

Secondly, when it comes to Natty Treasures and Exquisite, no more base. Forget that shit, they would either have to shrink the box size or add another card that isnt a base card. No one buys those sets for the base, so im not thinking there will be a mutiny over this. In fact, this brings up a general microcosm of the hobby, mainly that the sheep don’t care about base cards in their mid-end products because you cant make any money off base. Making money aint my thang, but personally, I couldn’t care less about the base. I just throw them in a box in the closet, yes, literally throw. Hell, if I could get SPA in tin form with my three hits, I would be happy as a fucking pig in shit.

On the other hand, I didn’t get into the hobby as a kid to get Jersey and Auto cards. In fact, they werent even around much other than a few scarce cards. I loved ripping through packs and pulling out my favorite guys for the albums I had. I would trade with my friends and we were pleased with nothing but base. Our guilty pleasure was the insert cards and we loved those bastards like they were our children. You couldn’t even touch my Shawn Kemp Jam City card without my permission, if not only because I had pulled that sucker myself. Now, if the base cards are gone, collectors like this probably would dwindle to the point of extinction with lack of product. Actually, I think this is already the case, mainly because companies know where their bread and butter is coming from already. Set collectors are dying off as high end products become more attractive and low end sets continue to get the short end of the stick. I think Topps has finally realized that its pointless to spend much time putting together a good set, so they try to include "error" cards like the Jeter to make it more buy-worthy for the big whales.

Another disturbing trend that I could see happening is a complete base set with Jersey pieces in every card. No card is not a relic, and people would fucking flip a shit over it. Once this happens, its over for the normal sets. Because there isnt a set today without autos or jerseys, it says that the direction of the industry is heading for more cards like this rather than less. For people like me, I don’t really care. For people like some of the bloggers out there who thrive on busting cheap packs and writing good articles on them, it could be pretty bad. Awesomely Bad Wax, A Pack a Day, and all the others out there are great blogs from collectors that still get joy out of base. It kind of makes me sad that the kid in me has died that loved that era of card collecting.

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!!

This Is Beyond Ridiculous

I was reading through a few blogs today and I came across a post at The Baseball Card Blog that I thought was one of the most arrogant, non-collector friendly articles I have ever read on a sports card blog. His post titled "For The Love of Sitting Around and Flipping Through a Price Guide" took the stance that price guides are necessary to help keep the hobby in check, if not only so your local mom and pop card store wont go out of business competing with big bad eBay.

Let me reinterate what I have said countless numbers of times on this blog - BOOK VALUE IS FUCKING USELESS. We should be thankful to have a free enterprise marketplace on eBay that allows us to find the TRUE MARKET VALUE of any single card we want. Want to know what your 1/1 logo patch is worth? All you have to do is put it up and watch for 5 days.

My favorite paragraphs from the article (not altered):

"I'll admit, that's a dire read on today's hobby, but let's examine the situation. The hobby doesn't need price guides to exist, and yet would be chaotic without them. Beckett and FW Publications (publisher of Tuff Stuff) provide infrastructure for the secondary market. Dealers consult them when setting prices. You want to see a world without the consultation of book prices? Look no further than eBay.

With its low prices and open-source approach to assigning realistic value to cards and memorabilia, it's the new face of the hobby. It's slowly killing independent in-shop dealers. It's taken the bottom out of the value of game-used, relic, auto and other seemingly hard-to-find cards. That Poley Walnuts insert of the squirrel at Yankee Stadium from last year's Topps? Tuff Stuff has it at $40. Here are two eBay auctions: one's at $1.25, the other at $0.99."

Give me a motherfucking break. Chaotic without price guides? Youre worried about a squirrel card? I just threw up in my mouth, that is the dumbest thing I have ever fucking read. Listen buddy, I know your favorite store may not be able to hold up selling 1980-1990 rookie cards at full book, but that is the way of the world now. Other ebay competitive industries are adapting fine, and both of my local stores are doing fine selling what dealers should be selling - WAX. It sucks that you cant have a good ole half hour conversation with your ebay seller about the state of the hobby, but I am damn glad that I dont have to pay double what a card is ACTUALLY worth. Its a trade off I am glad to take.

The Grading Service Vs. The Grading Business

Grading cards started as a practice to help collectors identify things they may not see with the naked eye when buying cards over the internet and in person. Basically, it protected the buyer from unforseen condition problems when they don’t have the card in their hands (eBay) or when the card is not necessarily available to look at outside of a case (high end buys at shows). In my opinion it went from a service geared towards protecting the buyer to a service geared towards helping the seller make money.

High grade cards carry a huge premium, as expected, and are the staples of many seller's inventories. I don’t really have a problem with people buying high grade cards, because it is only natural that the high grade ones sell for more money. I have a problem with the services themselves. The reason I say this is because I see certain sellers on eBay with a plethora of pristine graded cards from PSA and BGS when the population reports for those cards show that a high grade is usually outside the status quo. I also see BGS selling their own cards as discussed before, which creates a conflict of interest, and I start to wonder how much of grading is being the best at grading a card and how much is being good business people.

Being a good business person means you reward your good customers and still maintain your quality of product and your ethics. This makes me think that services who receive thousands of submissions from a person are more inclined to reward them with higher grades because they spend thousands of dollars on the service. Now, im not saying they take cards that should be a 5 and make them a 9.5, but I question whether they look at every card close enough to determine whether it is a 9 or a 9.5. Once its in that case, no one will question the authenticity of the grade because collectors know that it isnt worth the idea in their head. Yet, I can see that a collector submitting 1000 cards per week would be more likely to get a 9.5 on those 9s because he/she is spending so much money. I also see that the guy who has nothing but PSA 10s cant possibly have THAT many high end cards in THAT condition. It spreads beyond possibilty that every card he gets is a PSA 10, especially when most of them are bought from other collectors.

Im sure a lot of you are wondering if I have ever graded a card or if I own graded cards. The answer is yes and yes. I own two graded cards, an 8.5 2002 Joe Mauer Chrome Auto, and a BVG 4 1953 Eddie Mathews Topps. The Mathews is graded because it was losing condition sitting how it was in my collection, and the graded case protects that. The Mauer I bought graded because the set is so condition sensitive that I knew I couldn’t trust eBay to provide me with a good card. 8.5 was cost effective so I bought that one. As for grading cards I have only used it once for profit. I graded my Topps Finest Santana Rookie and got a 9.5, then sold it for a ton.

Do I say that grading should go away? No, I think it is a necessary service. Do I think that the sheep collectors should maybe question the business part of it before buying? Hell yes, all is not what it seems. In fact, I think that "Sports Card Buying: All is Not What it Seems" (AINWIS) should be the slogan of the industry. There is so much deception, that I think we have just accepted it. Its like the OJ Mayo situation in that we all know its going on behind the scenes, but we will wait for that big story before taking action. Until then, its all swept under the rug.

First Look: 2008 Score Select

Here is the design. I really dont even need to say anything because this set should have died years ago. It consistently has the worst photography, the worst design, and is completely worthy of its 50 dollar post 2008 season price tag. If you pay sticker price for this shit, say "baaaaaaaah," Mr Sheep. Jesus, someone needs to give the design team some TLC, these are getting bad.

If I Had a Million Dollars...

Well, there is still a ridiculous amount of time until the NFL season is even close to getting started, and naturally I am bored. So I decided to put together my own prospecting sheet for the 2008 season on some players you may want to get your hands on cheaply while you still can...

(In no particular order)

1. Sidney Rice - WR - Vikings



Yeah, yeah, I know, hometown bias. Still, this guy is going to be a beast. In an injury shortened season he led the team in just about everything, even though thats like saying I led my little league team in everything when I was 25. I would say that with Bernard Berrian on the other side of the field and All Day requiring 8-9 in the box every play, he should have a mammoth year. Tarvaris Jackson (another awful, awful first name that should never be used again) should come into his own this season now with a few under his belt. I am one that believes they should have gone for Brohm in the second round, but now we gotta work with him. He definitely has the chops, but maybe not the intelligence. This is a make or break year for him and I would expect Sidney to benefit greatly.

Approx Price for Exquisite Auto /225: 80 dollars
Approx Price for 3 clr SPA: 65 dollars
Approx Price for standard auto: <30

2. Kevin Kolb - QB - Eagles

This guy was a second round pick that I never put much thought into, honestly. This year, however, he is worth more than a thought to the sheep out there. If you guys think Donovan McKneeinjury is going to make it through the year as the QB of this team, forget it. He hasnt played a full season in 3 years, and Mr. Kolb will be the shoulders it all falls on. When this happens his cards will jump and you will profit - even if he does shitty at first. They drafted DeSean Jackson to build up their WR corps, a great move with Westbrook tearing up D's like they are tissue paper. I think by next year Kolb will be a starter for good and you can expect good things from him on a playoff caliber team.

Approx Price for Exquisite Auto /225: 90-100 dollars
Approx Price for 3 clr SPA: 50-60 dollars
Approx Price for standard auto: <30

3. Marshawn Lynch - RB - Buffalo

Im putting Lynch on here because he deserves to be. His cards are already expensive, but to tell you the truth, I think they will be more so come next year. He broke the 1000 yard mark last year with a handful of TDs and you can expect he will do it again. Unlike All Day, he wont face 8-9 in the box every play, so he will have some room to run. I expect him to blow up - and I expect the same thing from his cards. If you have some extra coin laying around, you may want to consider dropping some on his SPA or at the very least, his Limited auto.

Approx Price for Exquisite Auto /99: 400-500 dollars
Approx Price for 3 clr SPA: 300-400 dollars
Approx Price for standard auto: <70

4. Laurence Maroney - RB - Patriots

Maroney is a beast, dont let anyone tell you different. He had an okay first 2 years in the league and will definitely be better come next year. He was kind of the forgotten son of Bellichek's offense, but this year I have a feeling he wont be ignored. His Exquisite is already expensive because he is a Patriot, but his SPA and other autos are still quite affordable. I would check him out and maybe spend the 20 bucks to get his lower end autos.

Approx Price for Exquisite Auto /225: 200-250 dollars
Approx Price for 3 clr SPA: 70-80 dollars (watch out for fakes!!)
Approx Price for standard auto: <40

5. Anthony Gonzalez - WR - Colts

Marvin Harrison likes to shoot his gun and Anthony Gonzalez will benefit. He was a first rounder last year and his non-exquisite stuff is dirt cheap because of the colts depth chart. I would expect him to have a better year mainly due to the fact that his QB is probably the smartest person in the league, and the fact that they love to pass even when ahead - despite having an awesome Joseph Addai. I would say he is a good investment to take a look at.

Approx Price for Exquisite Auto /99: 150-200 dollars (Tier 1 price)
Approx Price for 2 clr SPA: 40-50 dollars
Approx Price for standard auto: <20

Other mentions:

Steve Smith - WR - Giants: Not impressed with play during playoffs or reg season, stuff already at its peak even if he has a good year. Needs a GREAT year for stuff to boom.

Patrick Willis - LB - 49ers: Defensive guys never do much in the hobby with few exceptions. If he has another monster year, expect his stuff to go up - just not that much.

Reggie Bush - RB - Saints: His stuff is so down that it may be the time to get it. If he has even an inkling of a good season his stuff will jump. So many people are sitting on his stuff and waiting, that I think its a good idea to buy low. Its definitely a risk.

Santonio Holmes - WR - Steelers: He's a Steeler so that helps, but the Steelers dont pass much, and when they do its to Hines Ward, so thats bad. He still has major potential, despite having ANOTHER fucking awful first name. Man, some people should not be able to name their kids.

Maurice Jones-Drew - RB - Jaguars: Another great buy, but still very expensive due to a great year last year. I would say that you should wait to see how he does this year before making a large investment. You could save yourself some dough - just a hunch.

Its All a Bunch of Jibba Joba

I just have to talk about this, because personally, I think it is fucking nuts. I was going over some of the sell sheets for Baseball and I saw how much face time Joba Chamberlain is getting. He is the poster boy for 2008 Bowman Chrome and has more hobby love than I care to admit. This love-fest comes from three undisputed facts: he is a Yankee, his name is Joba, and he performed above expectations in the half year he was up.

My problem? HE IS A SET UP FUCKING RELIEVER. I don’t care if he turns out to be the Yankees second starter, he isnt worth this much of my precious time. If his name was Jerry and he played for St. Louis (still a big market city), he wouldn’t be worth 1/8 of his value right now. What this shows is that the Yankee sheep collectors are fucking ridiculously weird. Im not saying that Boston is much better, but I didn’t see Alan Embree on the hobby radar, ever.

Now For Something Completely Different: UDTube is Up and Running

Upper Deck Diamond Vision opened May 1 so that collectors can FINALLY have that well needed spot to post their video box breaks. I guess the 19,000 box breaking members of YouTube werent enough to convince UD that maybe this was overkill. I do give them props for offering the boxes for the winners and the grand prizes for the eventual "box break of the year(?)".

Its a nice idea, but I have to savage them for doing it so freaking late in the box breaking genre. Most film scholars will agree that the stages of a genre are primitive (documenting breaks in the monthly mags), classical (The Doc and company), experimental (Most of the YouTube breaks), and eventually Parody(See the breaks posted in response to the Exquisite Fraud). This is basically just taking all the YouTube breaks that people have done and using them as an advertising module for their products with the promise of a "premium box" as a possible prize. What the sheep may not notice is that UD takes all rights to your break when you post, and you are giving them free reign to use it as they please.

I will not be posting any breaks on the Diamond Vision site regardless of the prize due to the ban as well as the reason mentioned above. I posted my breaks for the benefit of the collector, not the benefit of UD. Also, I wouldnt put it past them to post breaks from "collectors" who get amazing stuff in their boxes and then post it on the site. So far, as of 5/5/08 at 10:26 am, I know all the vids are legit because I have interacted with the breakers before the site was active.

As for the future, who knows.

NFL Draft: 4 Months of Football-less Boredom Ensues

Fuck, its over. Well, on to bigger and better things right? I know my copy of Madden 2008 hasnt seen play since last december. Maybe ill go do that. Although I did want to discuss one thing, so ill get my Sesame Street on and learn you folks some good info.

Hype (per dict.org):
noun. n. blatant or sensational promotion [syn: ballyhoo, hoopla, plug]

Hype is what drives the rookie class each year, mainly because you cant judge anything other than on field college performances. Trust me, UD, Topps, and DLP would all like to put Rookie Premier Stats on the back of the cards with the stupid event worn jerseys but that would make the whole thing moot. (Sample: Matt Ryan: College – Boston College, Height - 6’4”, Jerseys worn at the Rookie Premier – 126.)

Either way, based on pretty much nothing, collectors assign value to the cards. Last year, Brady Quinn and Calvin Johnson were the most valuable, followed closely by Adrian Peterson and JaMarcus Russell. Little did people know at the time that Derek Anderson would break out, All Day would have a behemoth of a year, and JaMarcus would hold out until he was worth about as much as a long snapper to the Raiders. Alas, this is hype (Although, I could have told anyone that Johnson would never be a good investment because he is part of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NFL). It’s the nature of the sheep to buy into who they think will be the best – of course, being sheep, most of the collectors are stupid. The select few who invest in the right players are the ones who ignore the hype and make the most money. Me? I just buy the Vikings because my prospect-wang is small.


Honestly, who let this guy fall to the Steelers? WTF?

This year we have a few guys that everyone will want. Ryan because he is the “top” QB, Brohm because he is a Packer, McFadden because he reminds people of the Purple Jesus, and because he is the top RB, and Mendenhall because he is a Steeler. I think the best bets for good investments will be Devin Thomas, Mendenhall, and Felix Jones because they all play for good teams with huge fan bases and because they should put up pretty damn good RC seasons. I would say McFadden too, but I don’t think there is much room for improvement based on where he is right now. Also, a look at Chad Henne might be good for long term because I guarantee he will be on the field as a starter by mid next year.

As the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm – and I have some birds circling for some guys that I think will be very, very good. Then when they explode, and I have spent a whole zero hundred dollars on them, I can laugh at all the people who didnt invest, and then cry because I am a poor bastard.

I Pulled a 1/1 and All I Got Was This Shitty Card

Over the last couple years, the 1/1 has gone from a mystical unicorn to a burro in the eyes of many collectors – myself included. It used to be that 1/1s were reserved for the cards that everyone wished they could get, a la Babe Ruth cuts, MLB and NFL logos, sick patches and other holy grails of the hobby.


It may be an NFL logo 1/1 - but its still EVENT FUCKING USED!

Although the logo cards still have the aura of that elusive unicorn, there are now sets that function solely on either printing plate 1/1s or factory numbered 1/1s like Topps Moments and Milestones that completely ruin the fun of it all. This year, Topps Triple Threads Basketball, a product that most look forward to for the whole season, seemed to have an endless supply of worthless 1/1 jersey cards and autos. Despite a lack of LeBron, Durant, Jordan, and some other key rookies, the product sold well due to the enormous amounts of plates, 1/1s and logo cards that collectors seemed to pull at an alarming rate. This continued into 2008 Moments and Milestones where the disgusting design and 10,000 card base set promised a 1/1 every other box!! People went fucking nuts over the set last year because their chances of getting their “my first 1/1” Girl Scout patch was in their favor for once. This year, the 15,000+ 1/1s didn’t have the same price sticker they did last year on eBay, but people still wanted them for some god forsaken reason.


1 of 1 of 13,000! A collectors gem!

The way I think about it: Topps is beating the 1/1 dead horse to a pink bloody mush. Thanks.

My favorite practice in 1/1 buying trends is the eBay 1/1. Any goddamned time someone pulls a card numbered to the jersey number of a player, the college jersey number of the player, the apartment number of the player growing up, or the number of hairs on his balls, it’s an eBay 1/1. Of all these – the jersey number can command quite the price tag for the more expensive Exquisites or SPAs. I think this is fucking ridiculous and only shows that collectors are sheep in this world of making a quick buck. Hallmark created the Valentines Day hype, greedy sellers helped create the jersey number 1/1 hype. At least eBay removes listings – sometimes – when they abuse the 1/1 keyword. It has even spawned the “true 1/1” lingo just because there idiots who cant figure out that just because it’s listed as a one of a kind doesn’t mean it is. Yes, despite what you think, there are literally millions of these people who love to be taken to the cleaners.