Can We Stop With The Less Products Equals More Argument?

I hate when news like the Topps axing comes around, not just because of the actual news itself, but of all the stupidity that starts flooding the internet like a biblical storm. Whether its people giving their good riddance to whatever went down, or people conjecturing about how the hobby sky is falling, its annoying all the way around. In fact, the net gets so polluted with ridiculous comments, that you cant escape it.

First, we need to stop with the whole "where are the children!?!" type of bullshit. Im sick of hearing that things are going south because kids arent around anymore. Fuck that. As I have said before, kids are not the primary focus of this hobby, nor should they be. Ever since the 90s, when investment crazed adults made this industry what it is now, kids have been out. That means the boom and the decline all rest on the shoulders of grown adults, not children. Ask any of the manufacturers who their biggest customers are, kids or adults. Ask them who they market to, kids or adults. Find out why a child hasnt been featured on any of those UD posters for SPX or whatever. Its because KIDS DONT FUCKING MATTER. From what I have gathered in talking with different people, kids who still remain in this hobby function like the adults that drive the market anyways, so dont shove that argument down my throat unless you want me to ignore you.

Secondly, less does not equal more. Yes, I get it. You want to go back to 4 products a year so you can get every card, but that isnt going to happen. Companies cannot survive on a few products, nor would having less products, in any understanding of the concept, be a good thing for anyone. Having variety in our lives is the reason why collecting is fun, as it gives you choice on how to mold your collection. It also gives you a chase element which keeps you coming back for more. If there were only 1 or 2 products per company, people would have what they needed so fast that it would be boring to wait for the next product. In addition, there wouldnt be any way to account for the massive amounts of mid year happenings in card form, an aspect most collectors love. Also, if one of those few products sucked, it would fucking blow to have to lose out on it because it was a badly conceptualized set.

Third, the hobby is fine, and the industry is not in any immediate danger, so shut the fuck up with your worrying. I dont need to be bombarded with people telling me that cards are done because Topps lost football. Cards are not done, the industry is adapting to lower sales, and people will collect until the apocalypse. The sooner that the idiots realize this fact, the better. In all honesty, there really is no solution to any of the problems affecting card sales until the economy fully rebounds. At that point, things will return to a different shade of normal, and we can all go back to our happy go lucky Beckett world without the fear of Armageddon.

Lastly, I dont think this part of the industry's nose job was the fault of the companies themselves, despite the chatter. NFL Players Inc sure lives in a wierd bubble, and I dont think they really get what they just did. Plus, with Topps getting their exclusive baseball license, I dont think they really care about losing football the way we think they do. Baseball is the biggest yard on the street, and they are now the only real, whole dog in the yard. Everyone else is a cat or dog with three legs. That counts for more than anyone could imagine.

So, in other words, it sucks that Topps and their history is gone, but shut up with the stupid noise about everything else.

The Fake Rookie Premiere Autos Are Reaching A Point Of Parody

Now they are just plain stupid. If you fall for this crap, I dont pity you at all. Seriously, you are bidding on this?!? Fucking idiots.

People Think This Is Real. They Are Dumb.

Over on the blowout boards, there is a typical real or fake thread going over this Felix Jones. I did a facepalm at least 3 times during the thread. I mean, if you have to ask? Seriously.

First, here is the card:



Yes, he actually wrote inside the swatch window to simulate a signature on a patch card that is already signed.

Besides that fail, there is no question of him selling fakes after I saw this card on his list:



Its so bad, its funny. Funny in a sad special olympics sort of way.

He also has a few of the fake Rookie Premiere Autos available, so you know he is a member of the band of theives.

Im not sure what is more hilarious - people who think the jones is real, or the guy who thinks that Matt Ryan shows he "haz skillz" at cardboard pimping. That's his choadtastic name, right?

h/t to PSAD for the graphic.

Book Value Idiots: Message Board Edition

Thanks to Bad Wax for this idea.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Me: What other stuff did you find?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BVI: I will.

(end of PMs)

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

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

Frame Of Reference

Just FYI, normal Ruth cuts 1/1s go for around 4-7K. This seller doesnt seem to think that reference range is for him. He also doesnt think that normal pricing schemes are for him either as he wants a cool million for this card. Yes, I have never seen a serious auction start an asking price at 1,000,000 dollars (pinky to lip). I have seen some stupid shit, but none of them were acutally auctioning off something actually worth having. This is completely different.

Now, this is a dual cut auto, and the person opposite of Ruth does have a pretty rare auto, so the value will be above a normal cut. Yet, for some reason I dont think this will break 10K if you put it up normal style. Unless the card is a high grade vintage piece, its very tough to break the ten thousand dollar barrier with a modern card. It is very rarely acheived.

Regardless, lets run down the list of stuff you could buy with $1,000,000:

- Any current card ever produced
- More than one house
- A McClaren F1
- A Meibach Mercedes x2
- Three Ferraris
- Two top of the line Lambroghinis
- A personal U2 concert
- An Aston Martin Vanquish with all the weapons upgrades from Bond.
- A helicopter
- Personal jet service for three years
- 10 stretch hummers with living capacity
- A card shop with inventory
- A producer credit in a movie
- A night with Michael Douglas' wife
- Surgery to make you look like Megan Fox
- An Island in the Pacific
- My Soul
- The entire printing of Exquisite FB for the year.
- A controlling stake in some companies
- A factory capable of making baseball cards
- Signed letters of every president of the United States
- The ability to fly without a plane

Wow, that is a lot of you could buy instead of this card. Personally, all those top my want for a Babe Ruth cut auto.

I Saw This And Just Laughed

Ill file this under message board fails. Seriously, if you arent going to be contributing more than one to two words at a time, its really about that time you reevaluate your reason for posting.

I think the purpose of a message board was originally to offer a place where like minded people can talk about a topic they share in common. In most cases that fails completely and it degenerates into meaningless diarrhea, and this guy is a prime example. There are 44 pages of his posts, Im putting the over/under at two words per post. He must have missed the whole quantity over quality lesson in kindergarten. I really think a sloth put in front of a computer would offer more to the discussion than this idiot.

Right Sunny?

"affasdfjjkl;j;lkjggi8iuijn4"

See, Sunny's large sloth finger claws have already contributed more. It took her an hour, but it worked...

Just an FYI, Its almost like the majority of people on any message board going to be blithering idiots with little or nothing to do but sit around waiting for someone to

Click here to see what I mean.

The Stupidity Of This Auction May Never Be Eclipsed

If you have seen this, you are probably as shocked as I am. Not because he wants $12,000 for the lot, or because he has THAT many Kobe Bryant autos from ONE set, but because he has graded every last fucking one of them, including the 1/1. I almost had to cover my mouth to keep the belly laugh from getting too loud.

Lets run this down, here. Cards from an extremely condition sensitive set (check), cards numbered less than 25 (check), graded 1/1 (check), ludicrious price (check), cards a lot of people would want, minus the graded case (check). Im sorry sir, you must be castrated to prevent you from contributing further to the gene pool. Personally, I would put his sharpness at that of a bent spoon. He is a few colors short of a paint set to say the least, if not only because the cards range from a 7.5 (!) to 8.5 (ha!). That is what you get for being the biggest mark this side of WWF Wrestlemania.

Stupid Graded Cards: Volume 28

Can someone please tell me why in fucking god would you grade this card? Do you have a nice hamburger mush where your brain should be? Lets go over why you took a fucking awesome card and made it worth half of what it should be:

- Card was encased in Topps holder, you removed it (decrease in value)

- Card was uncirculated, that is null now (decrease in value)

- Card was sent to Beckett despite all of the above (possible increase in value)

- Card was graded a fucking 9 (comedic decrease in value)

- One would be unable to restore the above if they crack the case (Awful harsh reality)

Im serious, there is ZERO point in grading a card that is numbered less than 10. There is even less of a point for grading a card that is already encased in a holder when you got it. If the card is worth more than 600 dollars, it wont be worth more when you grade it, especially if there are only 10 to grade overall. Here are the rules:

Never grade 1/1s

Never grade cards worth more than 600 dollars

Never grade cards you know wont grade 9.5

Never grade cards that are from super high end sets

Never grade base cards from sets past 1990

Never grade cards that wont increase the value past the price of grading

Never grade low numbered cards

Never grade uncirculated cards

Im sure there are more, but thats all I can think of right now. God, some people are fucking dumb, and even if you are new, its still easy to see why grading that Peterson is not a good idea.

Im Sorry Topps, You Are Idiots (Not News, To Be Honest)

I know we have all heard that the Finest RCs from this years set were supposed to be numbered, but arent. Despite them looking like they just rolled out of the suck bin and into the packs, people are obviously pissed that they arent getting numbered cards when they should. God forbid there be an unnumbered rookie card these days, right?

Regardless of how stupid the concept is, and even more regardless of how awful the set looks, people do have a right to what is on the sell sheet/box. So, to make up for their mistake, you can send in your card to be numbered in the factory if you want. It is on your own dime, so Topps is already making it harder than it should be. Reader Tim expressed his discontent with having to send in two cases worth of RCs to Topps, and how much that will cost. Yuck.

In all seriousness Topps should pull their heads out of their tight rectums and offer a little more than a factory stamped number. How about some packs? How about a mini box? I think that is only fair, because you shouldnt expect your valued customers to have to spend THEIR money to fix YOUR mistake. Its like Apple asking all their Mac users to send in their keyboards for a missing "A" key. Total crap.

EDIT: Thanks to Holy Hitter for finding out that Topps will actually be distributing hobby packs for the error. Is it one per card? What happens if you bought a few cases?

Product Review: 2008 Topps Finest

Right now Topps has a big goose egg when it comes to great products so far. Chrome was okay, if not only because of the price point, TSC and RC Progression were two of the worst sets ever produced, and Finest aint that much better. I would say I am boycotting Topps products, but really they are giving me nothing to WANT to purchase. Funny enough, Finest was so bad last year, that I didnt think it would be produced again. Then after seen what seemed to be a cool sell sheet, they pull a bait and switch (a common thing these days) and give us utter crap.

The Good

I think the Finest Moment autographs arent bad this year. However, I would always want to pull a base auto of my guy than a subset - with few exceptions. Of course, once you see the base autos, you may want these instead.

Normally, I dont like X-fractors because its so tough to look at the card without getting a headache. However, this year, they arent that bad, only because the photo is normal.

Also, the 1/1 gold Xfractors are usually really nice. The Peterson from last year was one of the best looking cards out there. Of course it went for 1500, so yeah, not getting that one.

The Bad

What is with the color schemes for these cards? Its a bunch of pinks and teals and I could not want these cards any less. Everything looks bad with these awful colors and I hope that next year they maybe decide that colored parallels are not the way to go with these cards.

The base RC autos look ridiculous, although they dont have recessed windows from what I can tell. I usually go to the money vacuum on wednesdays to see people break the new stuff, but no one touched this crap. Therefore, I only have scans and pics to go off of. Seriously though, the off centered autos only work when there is not a visible border underneath the sticker, or the border is around the sticker. Both are not true with these, and it looks like someone slapped on the stickers with no regard for human life. Also, I may just boycott Topps until they jump out of 2004 with these foil stickers. Awful.

Lastly, the price point on this product is baffling. Its understood that you will get two no namers and one better auto per master box, so why are they charging like they give you three better ones? Topps products must be priced by the same guy who picks Beckett's prices out of the pricing hat. Fuck that.

The Ugly

Besides 95% of this set being beyond ugly/stupid, there is one set that stands out above the rest. The NFL equipment patch autos from each RC could be worst looking and most poorly conceived cards in history. Topps went out and manufactured their own little NFL patches to put in these cards with an auto. Instead of making them 1/1s and using the event used crap they have laying around, they made their own and numbered each to 15. Are you fucking kidding me? Not only are these cards ugly, but they now contain manufactured patches. Wouldnt it be funny if they just put the patch over the guy's face? Or maybe put the sticker over the patch like they did in Paradigm. Who green lights this shit?

Overall, if you have to make a decision on a product coming up, either buy a box of Absolute, or 3 boxes of chrome instead of this stuff if you must buy a topps product. To those of you who look back, over the finest cards from the years before the meltdown and cry, I feel your pain. These used to be the best in the hobby, now they are one of the worst.

Can We Hunt Idiots For Sport?

Sometimes I trade online because im bored. Sometimes I trade online because I really want a card. Every once in a while I get a deal I can live with, although very rarely does that happen. Of course, when it does happen, I am almost assuredly trading with an idiot. This time was no exception.

It started last week, when someone threw up their Topps Peterson Rookie Premiere Auto for trade. Despite the goofy helmetless look Peterson has, I like the way the auto looks on that particular design. I looked at his scan and the auto was nice, compact, and very bold - exactly what I wanted.

Now, as I viewed the scan, the borders were whited out, which is usually a sign of some problem with them, but the trader advised that there were none. I also noticed that the card in the scan was a little offcenter, but not more than any other card. I wasnt grading it, but sometimes you just want a clean card.

Here is the before scan (cropped to get rid of extra white):



Looks nice, dont it? Its tilted as some scans are, but that was addressed before the trade to make sure I wasnt getting a tilted card.

I agree to the trade and we both send off our cards at the same time. I get excited the day I see it will be in my mailbox when I get home. As I open the package after work that day, my dreams are crushed with an out of ink sharpie. The card is completely different than the picture. Its not even close. Here is what I ended up getting:



Notice the differences in the signature? It almost goes off the card, and it is much less than bold. Its still not *AWFUL* but its pretty close. The worst part of this is not the signature though, its the centering. The card is around 60/40 up and to the right, which is problematic for having a nice card to display.

I was fucking pissed and PMed the trader on the board. I asked for one of my cards back that I had traded or paypal to even out the misrepresentation. Here is what I got back:

"thats a joke, now i am willing to negotiate with you, but as you can tell from the scan the card dosnt have perfect centering. and yes the auto isnt the best but i give the (card of lesser value than the one I requested) back and thats pushing it. to get into details its not like the cards you provided in the trade are perfect either."

No mention of the swapped scan and no mention of what was the actual problem. At this point I send him a long message of why I deserve the money back, and I forward it to the mods on the board. The mods side with me (so far) and tell him to send me the money, cancel the trade, or return the card I requested by friday. He still doesnt get it:

"the problem is me not having a scanner and getting scans from other people. but that puts me in between a rock and a hard place. not you. i can do paypal but it would have 2 wait till friday. also (one of the cards I traded) does have a scratch on the card but since its going into pc i dont mind. i want to keep my perfect rating here so i will do it"

So he is pulling this bullshit with people other than me? He doesnt have a scanner but trades with scans regularly? This is a fucking douche and a half. I forward this to the mods, who say they will put a trading restriction on his account. I cant believe people function like this.

Sadly, this guy has OVER 70 completed postitive transactions, and I had no reason to not trust him. Again, even I get burned still, so just because I crucify the idiots who fall for the old tricks, doesnt mean I dont fall for them either.

Lesson: Dont trade unless you know the guy, and dont trade with people who dont have scanners or cameras. Kill me now.

When Describing My Feelings About Stupid People, Hate Is An Understatement

Gents, let me present to you the newest idiot in the eBay ranks:

The guy who bought this card.

First off, it has to be bad karma to destroy one of the most expensive cards in the set, but it is just plain retarded to buy said destroyed card. I used to think it was shocking that there are 25 people stupid enough to bid on this. After writing this blog for 9 months, I have come to see that there are more stupid people than smart people. Now, that is a sad revelation to come to.

So, lets take a trip down this seller's journey.

First he starts small, with a 50 cent card turned into a 10 dollar card.

Then he starts to move on to bigger fish, by turning a 10 dollar card into a 140 dollar card.

Lastly he takes a huge leap in mangling a 210 dollar card to make a 590 dollar card.

People, how many times do I have to say: THOSE OLD VIKING HEAD PATCHES FROM THE 2005 JERSEYS WERE NOT USED IN ANY 2007 PRODUCT FOR ALL DAY. HE ONLY WORE CURRENT STYLE JERSEYS AT THE RC PREMIERE.

The only Viking head logos used were the tiny ones on the back of the jerseys, and they were only put into National Treasures cards for DLP and SPA and Exquisite Cards for UD. Get it through your thick stupid heads.

A Comment On Determining How Many Colors Are On Your Patch Card

Dear Idiots,

This is not a 4 color patch card. It is AT BEST a 3 color patch card, if you insist on counting the fucking sliver of white as a color. Just so you know, you dont count the number of colors by the breaks in the patch. If the colors on the card are Red and Black, but happen to be separated like Zubaz pants, ITS STILL A FUCKING 2 COLOR PATCH. I dont care if it is borderline hypnosis inducing - STILL TWO COLORS.

Also, there is no such thing as an 8 color patch card. No team has that many colors on their jersey, so its not fucking possible. Stop trying to make a case that your multiple 2 color patch card is 8 colors because it has four windows with 2 colors per patch. Fuck you, you are the dumbest piece of shit I have ever met.

Infor-med-ly Yours,
Gellman

Someone please remove these people's reproductive organs so they cannot procreate.

A Comment On eBay Item Descriptions

As part of my research on eBay auctions, I have compiled a list of 10 or so claims that must be included in every auction you post if you are the smartest/coolest/MOJOist collector around. Now, for our audience at home, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE CLAIMS IS ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT TRUE. It was verified by a guy at a friend's shop. I saw it with my own eyes. Because of this, you must put this in your auction so your item will sell for more.

1. This card is MINT condition
2. This card is a 1/1
3. The player on this card is going to be a hall of famer
4. The player on this card is going to do amazing this year / have a breakout season
5. Get this card before he blows up like ____________
6. This is the best card in the set
7. I am selling this card for a friend who pulled this amazing patch card
8. This is the only one on eBay, so its very rare / 1 of 1 / expensive
9. I will consider any offer
10. Another card just like this sold for _____________

Thank god all of these are true, because I am going to bid at least 50 dollars more because of that.

Tales From TWGM: How Not To Do 1/1s

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...

*cue ominous music*

TALES FROM TWGM!!

People, in this episode, I want to explore 1/1s, the bane of eBay's existence. I have talked endlessly about grading 1/1s, what are and are not 1/1s, and other aspects of 1/1s, but today I want to talk about some of the worst of them.

First, I want to talk about this chase pull out of Triple Threads that hits the block once every six months. Its an eye-abortion and could be the worst use of a signed Mantle ball ever. They cut off the hide of the ball and had Arod and Wright sign it too. Why Arod and Wright? I have no fucking clue, and it takes away from everything that is good about this card. So, not only do you have three autographs on a baseball sweet spot (*puke*), but you have it in the form of a holofoil triple threads card (Awful). Hey, at least it wasnt a cut with two silver topps stickers.

NOTE: Is anyone else REALLY glad that Topps never got the chance for Mick to sign those awful stickers? Yeah, me too.

Either way, this guy wants a TON of money for this eyesore. People, sometimes you just need to set it at .99 cents and let it go. This guy didnt get the memo.

Next we have a Roberto Clemente 1/1 out of sport kings. Despite having each card in a top loader - bravo - this card is complete bag o' crap. Because its Clemente, lets call it Senor Bag o' Crap. Now, was this card some special bat name plate? No. Was it a logo patch from the jersey? No. Was it a cut auto? No. It is a manufactured Sport Kings logo patch. Yuck, who thinks of this shit? My favorite thing here: look at how much this assface wants for the card. Fuck that!

Lastly is this new generation of "1/1s" where the seller tries to pawn off a grade population 1 card as a 1/1 because no one else has a card listed at this grade. That is fucking bullshit. Its almost as lame as a guy who says his card is a 1/1 because the jersey swatch in it cannot be replicated in another card. Wow, talk about a reach, this is as far as you can get, especially because of the number of cards like this produced.

People, lets think before auctioning - people arent THIS stupid.

Cracking The Case!

I wake up this morning and I find a resolution to my paypal claim against the douche who tried to pawn off a graded BGS 8 card on me. As I opened the email, the blood in my veins started to boil as I saw that I had lost. Big time.

Well, all is not lost as I remembered that Dayf, who definitely deserves a link here, told me that someone had posted a pretty good system for cracking these beasts out of their case. I searched the internet for "TribeCards" as that is where he said it was. I followed the step by step instructions of cracking the hell out of the case and "pulling out the prize," and to my suprise, it actually worked! Thank the LAHWD!

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the newly freed and wonderful Adrian Peterson Sweet Spot Autograph #8/25 (thanks again to dave from TribeCards):



Its so fucking nice, Im going to keep it.

See people? The lesson here is two fold - dont buy a card unless you are fucking sure that all is what it seems, and that not every card gains value when it is graded, so dont be a fuckhead. In fact, I created this checklist for you before you try it:

Is the card in immaculate condition?
(if yes, proceed down the checklist)
Is the card serial numbered to less than 2?
(if no, proceed below)
Will the card gain significant value if graded?
(if yes, proceed below)
Is the set known for being graded (ie Bowman Chrome)?
(if yes, proceed below)
Is the player worth spending the money to grade?
(if yes, proceed below)
Will this card sell for more than $200 without the grade?
(if no, proceed below)

If, and only if, all questions have been answered correctly, you may consider grading your card. However, I would always reccommend not doing so out of principal.

That is all.

I Am Not A Fan Of Stupid EBAY Sellers

I used to believe that feedback provided a great picture of who a seller was. However, I found out that was a sham quite early. Then I figured that if I do my own research, I could counteract a lot of the shitbag sellers that are out there. That worked for a good seven years until this month. Now I cant trust myself or the fucking system.

Here is the situation:

I buy an Adrian Peterson autographed card with birthday money on eBay. The picture is a little blurry, but it is clear enough to see that everything was as it should be. Nice auto, nice card etc. I pay for the card via paypal and the seller ships it out.

4 days later I receive the package and it is ridiculously heavy. Concerned, I open the package to find that he has graded the card and the card is a fucking BGS 8. Enraged as to why someone would fucking grade a card like this, let alone sell it, I contact the seller and let him know that this was completely fucking ludicrious. I show him that the grade, nor the fact that it is graded is not in the auction pictures, description or category listed. He immidiately responds with the excuse that he checked the graded card box on the auction (which he had), and that he is not responsible.

Thinking I had been beat, I tell him to go fuck himself and his shady dealings, and I resign to trying to trade it under less shady circumstances, mainly with a full picture. Now, because this card is one that SHOULD NEVER BE GRADED, EVER, no one wants it. I cant get half the value of what I paid - even as a BGS fucking 8. Meanwhile, this whole time I am cursing the Idiot Conglomerites who grade these fucking stupid cards that are not known for their condition.

After being unsuccessful in my unloading, I decided that it was time to make a claim with paypal to see if something will work itself out. Low and behold, there is a box to check that says "I have received my item but it is less valuable than described." Of course, I check that box, write up a long description of the transaction, and submit my claim. I called paypal to see how to submit the deliberately cropped pictures, and they said they have them from the auction. Hopefully this guy gets fucked in his ignorant fucking donkey raping ass.

Oh, and one last thing. As a local card shop, he offered a return policy for any dissatisfied customers. Funny enough it was only three days - not long enough for any one to receive their card and dispute it for a refund. Im wondering if his customers are just as fucked up as he is.

What a douche. Ill keep you updated on this.

UD Icons Football Introduces A Whole New Level Of Crap

On the Blowout cards forum, a user has busted a case of Icons for some god-forsaken reason. In his listing of the stuff he pulled, he mentioned that he had pulled a a "presidential campaign letter."

I just about puked on the screen, I mean, full on family guy on ipicac puke. What the fuck was Upper Deck thinking? Not only do the continue the asinine trend of Presidential Subsets in sports products, but now they are copying one of the worst ideas in the history of cards. Topps brought crap to an undiscovered limit with their inserts in the Topps baseball set, but this is crap to the nth power.

Check it out!



ITS A FUCKING REDEMPTION!!! Jokes on you, member of the idiot conglomerate! You cant even get your non-sports related presidential non-autographed manufactured letter right away! You have to wait! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Another funny thing that I found is that in the only auction for one on TWGM, it lists it as a "must have for any team or player collector!" Ha, yes, you have hit the nail on the head my stupid friend. It is a must have.

Note to Topps and Upper Deck: IF YOU ARE GOING TO MANUFACTURE THE LETTERS, YOU BETTER GET THEM FUCKING AUTOGRAPHED. That is all.

A Comment On Shipping Prices

Ok, im pissed. I want to buy a card on TWGM, but the shipping costs are astronomical. He wants 8 dollars for shipping, despite this only being one normal sized card. He mentions nothing in terms of insurance and when I emailed him, he said it was for packaging, handling etc. That is fucking bullshit. Basically this guy wants to recoup his fees, plus some, and per eBay, this is illegal.

Let me break this down:

Card cost: $65
Normal shipping cost per USPS: 2.20 (w/delivery confirmation)
Normal shipping cost plus insurance:$3.59
Bubble mailer: 89 cents at any walgreens or target
Total imaginable cost: 4 something?
Actual cost: probably less than 3 bucks

I charge 3 bucks for shipping when I sell something, please explain where he gets 8? That is almost double the price of shipping plus insurance! I guess my card will have to wait as this is fucking high way ass fucking robbery.

Two Unbelievable Auctions, I Cant Stop Laughing

Well, since every single person and their mother uses Beckett to sell their shit, Im not suprised that they got these two cards. Both cards are amazing, really huge pulls that have the possibility of breaking $15K. However, a few things about these auctions make me laugh really fucking hard.

The first card is one of the Hair Cut cards I discussed a few posts back, with this one being the best of the best. The cut is nice, the hair is creepy, but overall, its not suprising to see it reach the price it did because of the circumstances. The funny thing about this auction is that the card has a 5 cm piece of the hair. At least the Washington card had a good strand, this one, however, is crap - despite it being weirdly included in a baseball card set. Again, a piece of our country's history is destroyed for profit.

The second is a 1/1 Mantle Bat Barrell that was out of Topps Sterling. Besides it being sold by Beckett, this auction screams "I AM THE STUPIDEST PERSON IN THE HISTORY OF CARD COLLECTING!" about its seller. Let me elaborate: first mistake, this fucking idiot sent his prized pull to the hobby's number one source on douchebaggery. Good idea, idiot. Secondly he had them slab it in this fucking "ROZDUCKULOUS" case because its obvious the foldout cards are beyond Beckett's capabilities. Big suprise there. Lastly, Topps couldnt include some game used jersey in this card? Instead they used some stark white old timer game jersey? Cmon, that is fucking stupid. However, the funniest thing about this idiot and his card? He had them grade it.

Let me repeat that so you get the full gist of this.

HE HAD THEM GRADE HIS 1/1 MICKEY MANTLE BAT BARRELL CARD. Please, someone, tell me why he decided to do this? If the slab wasnt funny enough, his card is forever a 7.5 for all to see. Did he think it would be worth more as a 9.5? Who fucking cares! This could be the dumbest thing I have ever seen, no doubt. Just to remind you, if you grade a 1/1, you deserve to be shot.