Blog Bat Around Tomorrow - Extension Granted

For those of you who want to participate, I have extended the deadline by 24 hours. There have been a few people asking for more time, and frankly, that is something that I desperately need. I thought I would have some time this weekend to gather all the posts, but I was way too busy in San Antonio looking for a place and doing stuff for work. So, tonight at midnight, please have the posts done and posted in the comments section where all the rest of them are. Thanks!

The Aura Of The Viking Head

The Viking head is the pinnacle of Adrian Peterson patch cards, all Vikings player cards for that matter, but when should you take the chance on one? Because it’s the patch that all the fans chase, its also the target of a ton of fakes. Some are good fakes that are hard to decipher, others are bad fakes that are easy to spot. Whenever I see a Viking head, I immediately kick into fake detection mode and start snooping. Some are harder to determine than others, especially when they are low numbered or 1/1s.

Adrian Peterson NT Viking Head 1/1 - They may have a cool logo for their auctions, but I feel like ive seen this card before without the Viking head. This seller may not have been the culprit, but im not sure if I trust them, even with the 1/1 stamp on the card.

Percy Harvin Leaf Limited Viking Head /25 - I really feel odd about this one because its out of Limited and it just looks to be fake. He has a lot of questionable patch salesin his past, and that sends up even more red flags. I wouldn’t go after this one at all.

Percy Harvin National Treasures Viking Head (Partial) - This one actually fits the mold of legit more than fake. The patch autos /25 are usually patches like this and because its only half of the head, it adds to to the reasons I would think it to be real.

Percy Harvin National Treasures Viking Head (Partial) - Further adding to the legitimacy of the other one, here is the bottom half of that Viking head.

Basically, each team has their most faked patches, especially teams like the Ravens, so do your detective work before you go and drop a few bills on a patch you think is real.

SCU on Cardboard Connection

If you havent been to Cardboard Connection lately, go check it out to see how its grown as of late. It really has become a one stop shop for hobby info, and the facebook style collector pages really separate it from other sites like it. I was recently contacted by the editor for an interview, and I think Brett did a great job with it. If you have a few minutes, go check it out at the link below:

http://www.cardboardconnection.com/sports/sports-cards-uncensored-protector-of-the-everyday-collector

SCU and the Topps Blog Round Table

As I have said yesterday, Topps is organizing the first blog round table discussion, and a lot of your favorite blogs are participating. Because space is limited, Topps is not going to publish each response to each answer. Therefore, I thought I would post my answers in full so everyone can see.

1. How long have you been collecting? What are your favorite players, teams, sets, etc. to collect? Which card in your collection means the most to you and why?

I have been collecting on and off for the last 15 years when it comes to cards, but I have been an autograph collector pretty much my whole life thanks to my dad. Being from Minnesota, I obviously love the Twins and Vikings over any other team out there. My main collecting targets are centered around those teams, with Adrian Peterson and Joe Mauer naturally at the top of those lists. As for the card that means the most to me, that’s like picking between my hundreds of cardboard children. The piece that means the most to me personally, though, is probably the autographed game model bat I got signed by Kirby Puckett when I was really young. He was a class act on the field, especially when I had the pleasure of meeting him. Its really too bad he was taken so early.

2. In the time that you have been collecting, what is your favorite story, memory, experience, etc?

I would say the best story I have is probably the story of when I got to meet Joe Mauer. I wrote about it for one of the first blog bat arounds on my site, and it still makes me laugh to this day. Basically, I waited six hours in line to be at the front for a signing he did, and when I got to the table, he signed my baseball in the wrong spot. Knowing that I wasn’t going to be selling the piece, I asked him if he could sign it again on the sweet spot, to which he laughed and happily obliged. When I met him a second time at Twins fest a few months later, he remembered the previous encounter and promised to sign it right for my now wife.

3. What are the effects on the hobby of major card companies moving toward exclusivity deals with sports leagues? Given that this could be the direction that the industry is headed, what should card companies do to continue to provide a quality product to collectors.

This is a very touchy question, and I am glad we get a chance to discuss it. Basically, I think exclusivity is a terrible thing for any collector, regardless of whether its player focused, or league focused. As collectors we develop a good idea of what we gravitate towards, and exclusivity does nothing but prevent collectors from having choices in what they could buy. People often cite the increase in product lines as the reason for the decline of the industry, but in my opinion, that could not be further from the truth. The reason there are so many products is because there are that many people who like to buy them, and variety always has been the spice of life in the arena of collecting. When part of that variety is taken away, it limits how deep someone can dive into a hobby that they love. On the other hand, I think it also limits advancement because there is no reason for companies to provide a better product when they have no one to measure up to. Since the beginning of the industry, this has been the spark for just about every innovation, going back as far as the battles between Topps and other companies over the right to produce cards with baseball players on them. Due to this fact, I think the companies involved need to continue to innovate and show creativity in order to prevent stagnation in the products that hit the shelves.

4. Pick a timeframe- 5, 10, or 20 years. In that timeframe, what has been the single best and worst development in the hobby?

Over the last 20 years, I definitely believe that autographs have been the best innovation, but also birthed one of the worst innovations. Autographs have given this hobby a longevity that it wouldn’t normally have had, and brought it to an audience that was never thought possible. The reason I am referring to autographs is because it is what brings people like me to the hobby, and its also what keeps me around. Talk to any fan of any team and ask them if they would like to have a signature of their favorite player. I guarantee you it would be tough to find a person to turn you down. Because of the inclusion of signed cards in packs, those people have started to dominate the collecting populace more than any other type of collectors. Then, when you factor in the rampant faking generally associated with autographs, and the fact that the industry has become a foolproof alternative to buying signed memorabilia, it all starts to make sense. On the other hand, the inability to secure these autographs in a timely and cost effective way has led to the innovation of using stickers instead of hard signed sigs. That invention alone has caused more problems than it has solved.

5. What are your thoughts on prospecting? Do you do it personally? Why? Has the clamoring to find the next big rookie affected the quality of products, either positively or negatively?

Prospecting is an inevitability among collectors because of how money focused card collecting is. Although I do not do it personally, I see the allure for someone that has the time to do it. The funny thing is how different prospecting is among the major sports. In baseball, investing in a draft pick or rookie may afford you months or years before you can get a good ROI on your purchases. In Basketball and Football, the players have impact so early that its almost impossible to prospect some rookies. However, that has never stopped anyone from trying to prospect in those sports, especially when you look at the success of late round picks like Tony Romo and Tom Brady. However, that has also brought a downside, as now everyone needs to have access to every player’s signature and memorabilia, and it has led to a watering down of many checklists as a result. It’s a double edged sword.

6. We are collecting tangible products in an increasingly intangible world. As our lives move more and more online, what will the effects on the industry be? Will the next generation of kids be as excited about collecting cards as we are? How should the major card companies respond?

I want to only respond to the kids aspect of this question because I think it’s a topic that is blown so far out of proportion that I can barely function when it is brought up. Kids are gone. Period. They aren’t coming back, and we need to come to terms with that. Because such a huge super-majority of the people in the hobby are adults, its time to stop trying to bring them back, and instead focusing on making the products more friendly to the adults. People will often say that kids are the future of the hobby, and that resource needs to be renewed, but that isn’t correct. Refueling the adults and casual sports fans will grow the hobby more, because 18-45 year old people have that much more money to spend. If the companies focus on bringing in the casual sports fans and adults, the hobby will continue to expand. Thanks to the advent and extreme popularity of video games the cards will never be able to compete. Therefore its not worth sacrificing the existing base for a demographic that is never going to be won over.

7. How has new media changed the way you collect? How should the major card companies utilize new media to connect with their consumer base? How can new media change and/or revitalize the hobby?

New media has become the number one source of hobby information, and any attempts to ignore or discredit it will have very dire consequences. Bloggers, tweeters, message boarders, and facebookers have made and broken products and concepts, and its because communication is the new transparency. With manufacturers coming aboard, it gives people access that they never had before. This leads to more excitement, better sales, and of course happier collectors. When you look at blogs, especially, all of them are written by people for the fun and love of what they do. No advertisers to please, no editors to worry about, and much more pure commentary for the fans to read. They also have the ability to comment on things that many places wouldn’t touch, and that is a luxury that should not be taken lightly.

8. How has the recent rise in counterfeits and scams affected the way you collect? What advice would you give the major card companies to help combat this?

It has most definitely affected the way I collect, especially when buying online. My personal mantra has digressed into ‘guilty until proven innocent,’ something that I am not happy about. Whether its buying autographs, patch cards, high end lifetime pulls or even the base cards themselves, nothing is sacred anymore. Then, despite the horrible road we are traveling down, there is an unacceptable and inexcusable lack of coverage in the mainstream hobby media because of a fear of scaring people away. That’s where blogs, message boards and similar sites need to step up. So far they have, and I hope that continues, because Im questioning the direction of the companies when it comes to this topic. See, people will no doubtedly respond with the creation of a national photo database as the answer to many problems for the existing product lines, but that is small potatoes compared to what actually needs to be done. There needs to be task forces set up among the manufacturers, people that are responsible for seeking out and destroying fakes, as well as that database. Most importantly, eBay needs to be approached, because they are complacent in the progression of scams among us. If eBay actually acted against the people who take advantage of others, this hobby would be a much better place to exist in.

9. The poor economy has affected all of us in recent years. In what ways would you like to see card companies respond to provide interesting, affordable products for collectors?

I honestly think we are in a pretty good place in terms of where things are right now. Everyone has something as I have said before. Basically, the issue is not the cost of the sets themselves, but rather the content of the products. Instead of cheapening the costs of the boxes, its better to amp up what is offered inside them. Take the chrome products for example, as they are not only some of the most cost effective boxes on the market, but also some of the most fun ones to bust. Its because the cards look amazing, the content is great, even outside of the box hit, and the product holds true to its concept each year. Cost is a relative entity within each product, mainly in relation to what collectors perceive they can get out of each and every pack. When a product succeeds, almost all of the time it is because the collectors who buy it believe that they get their money’s worth out of the box. When there are problems with the checklist, the design, or the box content, they get frustrated and the product falters. Collectors know what to expect out of chrome, so they buy it each and every year. If manufacturers are looking for a way to provide great products in a failing economy, deliver on what is promised. In other words, concoct a way to replicate other success with more variables in the equation that can be changed year to year to keep it fresh.

10. We’ve done autographs. We’ve done just about every kind of relic/game used product you can think of. What’s next? Where do we go from here?

There are a few logical next steps, but cost is always the limitation. Can a company provide great innovation with out jacking prices so high that people wont buy. I think redemptions for full sized game used memorabilia or full sized autographed items would be a great chase for a high end product. Why cut up everything? There is just as much a demand for the full item as there is for the small scale one. In that same vein, if a company is going to cut up relics for use in cards, give some provenance to those cards. If possible, determine a game, season, or whatever to bring us closer to the card we have in our hand. If I knew that my two dollar jersey card was worn in a deciding game, or in a milestone game, it would add value where there wasn’t before. Who’s to say that companies couldn’t also tie a sound byte from the player talking about said game or season. That would be even cooler.

11. If you could say one thing-anything- to Topps and know that the CEO will read it, what would you say?

I think Topps has rested on their brand loyalty way too long. Basically, it seems to me that the product designers mail it in on products like Triple Threads and similar sets because they know there are people that would buy it just because it says Topps on the box. Inject freshness, inject innovation, and focus on better designs. Forget stuffing as many relics onto a card as possible, make those cards look awesome. When you look at a card like the Triple Threads XXIV cards, there is no focus on that design. Stop making cards like that, and start making cards that we all will chase because we love the way they look.

Oh, and STAY AWAY FROM THE RAINBOW NEON COLORED FOILBOARD!

.....annnnd scene.

Check out the full discussion on monday when it is posted, it should be pretty interesting to read. Until then, im sure you will be able to see some previews from the few blogs that are participating.

Topps is Going In The Right Direction

Two weeks ago, we were in the midst of a debate over the legitimacy of the UD awards, and not many people were happy with the way it turned out. That is now in the past, and since then, Topps has picked up the banner and started running with it in the opposite direction. Although they were second in line to embrace social media, they have organized a wonderful new event that really does a better job of celebrating than any award could do. As you may have seen posted on any number of other sites, Topps' Hobby Roundtable will start this Monday with a catalouge of responses from bloggers of every category. These bloggers, including myself, were given 11 questions to answer without any limits on what we can talk about, and the answers given by the 12 people involved will be posted at the beginning of next week.

The reason that I think this will work better than any other manufacturer attempt at a similar discussion is because of the questions that will be covered. Whether it is the direction and future of the hobby, or even scam prevention, its all there. The list of questions has been posted over on VOTC, and from what I can tell, Topps is taking this opportunity as pure discussion. This is in place of worrying about how hard it will be to prevent us from speaking poorly about their goals and products, and that is terrific. This idea has never been done this way by anyone on their side of the table before, and I applaud them for putting it together. Their new social media consultant has taken their online presence in a completely awesome direction, starting with their oft-forgotten twitter account, and there are many bloggers who are happy they did.

Alhtough I am not sure how the discussion will turn out, mainly due to the space needed to post answers, I have a backup plan. With 12 or so people answering questions on the biggest topics in the hobby right now, its going to be an epic post to get them all in. We were already notified that 4-8 answers would be used per question due to that restriction, and once he sees the length of those answers, Im guessing it may be less than that. Luckily, I have SCU where I can post the unabridged responses to the questions he sent out, so be sure to check this site if you want more answers. I may even take it a step further and actually compile EVERY answer from everyone because I don’t really care about space. We'll see how it turns out.

Speaking of taking it a step further, I have been tossing around an idea ever since Card Corner Radio has gotten the response it has. My idea originally was to get one blogger from each sport and do a roundtable discussion similar to what Topps is doing on paper, and take it to a place where we can actually respond to each other. I have yet to put it into motion, but depending on the success of what this roundtable turns out to be, I may do that sooner than expected.

Lastly, it looks as if social media has gotten a good foot hold in the hobby, and I think its about time. We have a great base of people who know tons of information about the cards they collect, and I am glad that Topps has stepped to take advantage of the information we hold instead of the popularity of our sites. Hopefully this will be the start of something great, and with the Blog Bat Around in ramping up for next week as well, I think the next few weeks should be a highlight reel of our talents.

Upper Deck Responds To Rumors...Again

Yesterday I posted that Upper Deck had seemingly postponed their entire calendar based on information I had received from a distributor. It was confirmed by one other unrelated source who also got the same news.

According to a response from the company, the Hockey and Basketball calendar is still in place and will be released on time per UD's main people. This is contrary to the news originally posted that their calendar has been postponed. Personally, I am very glad that this is their response, and hopefully things will be as they say they will.

That being said, I received a lot of criticism for posting unconfirmed rumors about the loss of their NFL license, but in the end, those rumors turned out to be more true than many cared to acknowledge. Really, rumors are just that, rumors, and you can take them however you want. However, for a lot of us, many of these "rumors" are turning out to be more solid than we would like them to be.

Although I dont always have 100% confirmation on the stories I present, the sources I use are ones that I trust and are very much more connected than I ever will be. At this point, I am unsure of who to believe, but I will take Upper Deck's word for it until further news is posted.

Here is a Tweet from their Twitter.

Do Your Best To Avoid Buyback Headaches

Buybacks suck when it comes to the real/fake debate. Don’t let yourself think any differently, no matter how legit they seem. Its one thing if they are the 20th anniversary Ken Griffey Jr buybacks from Upper Deck with a matching COA, but its another thing if it’s a random Pujols card. Topps and Upper Deck spent a lot of time coming out with buyback auto cards over the last decade, and it has led to people trying to take advantage of those cards more than anything. It is too easy to fake them because the cards werent autoed when they were first released. Scammers pull any card they can find out of their common box, sign the front, put a peeled sticker from another card on the back, and call it a day. If they have honed their trade, they get one of the topps uncirculated holders and use that to give it more "legitimacy." Don’t fall for it.

The main target of many of the fake buyback sellers is 2006 Bowman Originals, a product based solely on thee cards. In this high end product, Topps bought some good cards and some really crappy cards and had them resigned by players like David Wright, Pujols, and others. They put out boxes with one buyback auto per pack, and sold them at a ridiculous price for people who wanted to own the "original" cards signed by those players. There were two main problems with this set, primarily stemming from the way it was produced. First, for every one of the great players that graced this product, there were 20 that werent so great. In fact, the Wrights and Pujolses were numbered low enough that they became very valuable to player collectors who wanted a shot at them. This led to the second problem, stemming from the hand numbering of the cards. Because Topps hand numbered each of the cards in this set instead of serially numbering them, it was easy to see where scammers would have a field day. Topps also failed to provide a COA or foil stamp on the cards, which means that the uncirculated holder was the only thing standing between a scammer and the buyback gold.

Now that you have the background, it should be clear why you SHOULD NOT buy a buyback auto unless you are 100% sure it is real. That means a correct price, a well regarded seller, and a history check on the auto/card/seller itself. Compare and contrast with similar cards, study the makeup of the set, and try to determine a reason why it would be real. Approach guilty until proven innocent, because I have yet to see anything convincing to show me that buybacks are actually worth my time.

Here are some obvious fakes and the way scammers get you. I even saw a topps holder on a UD card once. Yes, they are that dumb sometimes.

Bowman Heritage Albert Pujols - Umm no. This card has a sig that isnt even close, and the fact that it’s a jersey card from Hertiage proves its fake status. He also has sold a few fake SPA patches in the last few months as well.

UD Masterpieces Ken Griffey Jr - Fake sticker, fake buyback, everything about this card is wrong. All buybacks feature on card signatures with few exceptions. This is not one of those exceptions. Plus, this card is pretty damning evidence to boot.

Tiger Woods Upper Deck Golf - Same seller, same result. These arent even close. Why even waste your time?

Basically, so many of the buybacks are too close to call, so it may be better to just avoid them. This is especially true if the player is high prestige. Although people have wised up, a lot of others have not. There are a lot of collectors obsessed with cards like this, and it continues to make demand high. My advice, just walk away and buy a nice version of another type of auto you know is real.

Uh-Oh, More Terrible News For Upper Deck?

This has not been a good month for Upper Deck. That's for sure. After losing the football license in epic fashion, seemingly right after getting it secured for another few years, there may be more bad news on the horizon.

I just received an email from a shop owner who said that his distributor let him know that ALL Upper Deck release dates have been indefinitely postponed. Not just football, but Hockey and other stuff too. Obviously, Upper Deck was in dire straits to begin with thanks to loss of their only remaining big three sport, but this may be the final straw before UD has to decide on the company's future for the rest of this year and beyond.

Who knows what this news actually means long term, but right now, its not good news for anyone in Carlsbad or in the hobby.

Return of the Blog Bat Around - Details on How To Participate

Ever since I started SCU about two years ago, I have always touted the community we have built as the reason why blogs are so important to the hobby. Now is our chance to show our chops and really give the world outside our network a view of what we are all about.

Last year, after thinking of ways to bolster the blogger network, I settled upon the Blog Bat Around, or a singular topic weighed in upon by everyone who wanted a shot at it. No limits, no scruitny, no reason not to participate. After a handful of them were done on multiple sites, it kind of died off due to a lack of direction. Now that baseball season is in full swing and blogs are receiving more attention than ever, I think its time to try it again.

The way it works is I will post the topic below and you will have a specific time frame to post your response. After the deadline, pending any acts of god, I will compile the links, do short writeups on all of them and post them on this site for everyone to click on. If you want your article included, all you have to do is comment with the link or send me an email with it.

Here are the rules if you havent seen this before:

-This is an open forum, anyone may participate at any time. I will not discriminate, nor will I leave you out if we dont agree. If you use your post as a personal attack against me or any of the other bloggers, I will not include it.

-Please make your article at least semi-relevant to the topic. You can be as creative as you want, but keep the general topic in mind. If its about Book Value, you can go on a relevant Beckett rant, but dont do a product review of Topps Heritage, or something similar.

-Keep your article PG or PG-13, as I want the most people to be involved.

- Please give your article a title, and make it easy to find when you give me the link. If you want your full name included and not just your blog title, put it in there somewhere.

- Give us something to read, so dont give me 2 sentences and call it a day. Make this a normal post, as you would want your readers to see it as a normal part of your blog.

- You do not have to include the topic in your post.

- Please comment somewhere on the site or email me the link to your article with any special instructions.

- I will not search out links, so if you want it included, it is your responsibility to get it to me. Comments on the bat around post make it easiest for me to compile - FYI.

Deadline:

You will have one week to post your response, and comment with the link or email it. This means on Sunday the 18th at midnight, I need to have it for the article to be included in the first post. I will add yours if you do it late or forget, but it will go at the bottom.

Topic:

The Ultimate Shopping Spree - after some discussion on Twitter, it seems as though people want a go at this topic.

Here is what we are going with:

Remember those days on Nickelodeon where they would hold contests for their version of a kids' ultimate shopping spree? They would let the winner loose in a Toys R Us for however long and let them keep what they could fit in the cart, right? Well, if you were given $50,000 and 15 minutes on ebay, what cards/memorabilia would you buy with the money? Break it down card by card, and give us a price and a reason for what you are buying. Not everyone would go out there and buy a Joe Jackson cracker jack, but some people would. So, with that, what would you spend the mother lode on? Happy buying.

Have fun with this one guys, Im expecting some great stuff across the card blogger network over the next week. If you have any questions, shoot me a line or ask one of the bloggers who has been around for a long time. Hopefully we can have a huge amount of participation, and in the meantime show how the blogs have become the new number one source for hobby info and commentary.