Another Comment On Grading

Chris over at Blowout Cards just tweeted on Beckett's story that a near "perfect" Michael Jordan Fleer RC has sold for over $200,000 per the people over at Scamville, USA. Let me respond by saying that this is further evidence that shows grading is about as subjective and arbitrary as PSA and their autograph fraud detection services. Basically, a guy in texas gets a good copy of a Jordan RC in for "grading." After seeing that it is a good copy, he has a choice - as a human being - about how to continue with "grading" the card. I mean, there is very little concrete differences about what can be a 9.5 and what can be a 10, and no one would ever question a good grade on a card like that, so who is to say he doesnt act with bias.

See, as a human, not a machine, he makes arbitrary and subjective calls due to his inconsolable nature. When Beckett created a grade higher than mint, despite this problem, the goal was not to show the perfection of a card, but to add more reasons for people to submit their cards for "grading." If it was just a scale from shitty to mint, it would only be used as the service it was supposed to be (a fraud prevention device for online sales), rather than a way for people to make money.

Let me put it this way, grading is a complete scam, like most of the other shit Beckett does on a regular basis. Because it is done with only loose standards applied to human eyes, with little reason to question any positive result, Beckett has created a loop hole for their ad vehicle, as well as their big customers.

Ill give you an example to illustrate what I am saying.

Because no one will question a positive "grading" result (no matter how fraudulent it may look), due to increased value of the card in the slab, Beckett has an out. This means if you buy a Beckett 9.5 slabbed card that is really an 8, it is now a 9.5 and no one will question that. Same with the 10 above, as it could really be a 9.5, but no one in their right mind would ever try to dispute that with the prospective loss of thousands of dollars. This also means that for each customer that submits huge orders on a regular basis, Beckett now has the ability to reward them for their business without establishing that the "graded" cards are done so at a lower standard as a favor. If a guy sends in thousands of cards each month to be graded, and consistently receives 8.5s and 9s, he has every reason to stop his submissions or go to another company. If he continually gets 9.5s and 10s, thats more and more business Beckett would receive. Because the "grading" process is so arbitrary and subjective, there is no ability for me to prove this happens, but I have definitely seen the possibility in action with sellers like Wolverine24 and others.

The possibility of helping out a high profile card can also be used as a ridiculously potent ad vehicle, as we saw with the absurd Montana 10 sale, and the previous Jordan 10. Its almost like people cant see through the thinly veiled attempt at promoting the service, and pay the price of a FUCKING HOUSE to get these cards, despite the fact that cracking them and resubmitting them would almost surely result in a lower grade.

There sure are a lot of people out there who cant understand why I despise Beckett as much as I do, but I have my hundreds of reasons for doing so. The fact has always remained, with no objective non-profit regulating body, Beckett has ZERO responsibility to provide a service to collectors that doesnt have huge conflicts of interest built in. Every single thing they do is designed to make them money, not provide you with real information or a realistic view of what is actually happening in the hobby. For that reason alone, the tip of my iceberg was created, and luckily for me, I have developed a great vehicle of my own to show how much of it lies below the surface of the water.

The Fake Rookie Premiere Autos Have Not Gone Away

Let me say this straight out. Just because I havent posted on the blatantly fake rookie premiere autos in a while, does not mean they have gone away. If anything, Burge and company have gotten better at them. Practice makes perfect right? Although there are still close to 200 of each card floating around with the bad, bad, horrible fake autos on them, the band of thieves has adapted a little to change it up.

Here is a recent fake:

Please tell me how someone with an untrained eye could pick that up as a fake. It looks 100 times better than the five year old with a crayon from before, and has now made it practically impossible to identify for a collector that doesnt know what they are doing.

Here is another (different seller), a quad:

I can say with 100% certainty that this is completely fake. However, the auto styles have changed slightly, and the Calvin Johnson sig almost looks passable. As for the Peterson, it looks exactly the same as the one above, and the Lynch is still ridiculous looking. The Ginn isnt bad, but it isnt good either.

Personally, I think its puzzling how these cards got into the hands of the sellers. Some have suggested that they get blues and wipe off the sigs to replace them with reds. Others are saying they are stolen from Topps, or that someone on the inside is passing them to the fakers. After seeing the Harvin I posted about before, it wouldnt surprise me either way.

Listen. Its pretty simple. If you are at all uncertain about the rookie premiere you are buying, DONT FUCKING BUY IT. Find one that looks good compared to others that are graded, and always let the doubt in your mind back you out of a sale. They prey on unsuspecting people, and from what has been circulating around the net, Burge has made a small fortune on these cards.

Lastly, if you have any questions, just email me at the link on the right. Ill be happy to help in any way I can.

Some People Are Too Stupid For Words...

Every once in a while you see something on eBay and you just know the story behind it without even reading what happened. Most of those times, you can see the stupidity shining through like a beacon, especially when it’s a card like this one:



Here is the story of the card, as told by me.

One day, Senor Jose Collectadora was on ebay and saw some SICK MOJO CARDZ!!! posted for his favorite player Tony Romo. He immediately hit the 19.99 buy it now because he knew he was getting a MAJOR STEAL!!!!! on a Romo NFL logo patch 1/1 that usually sells for hundreds. When he got it, he picked it up only by the edges because he knew he had to send it in for grading and didn’t want it to be messed up in any way. Fingerprints are BAAAAADDD. Of course, before he sent it in, he made sure to check his bible to see the book value for when he posts it on the message boards for his "daily steelz thread!!!!!!!!!!!"

Upon seeing that 1/1s were "too scarce to price" he began to think he had more SICK MOJO than he thought he had before! This could be a card worth thousands of dollars! He posts his steal on the board, and people laugh him off the page. When he sees the laughs, he starts to see a little bit of the stupidity behind his purchase. He pulls up the auction and sees that in the description, its listed as a custom card and is not real in any way. Jose doesn’t care, and posts it on eBay thinking that he can get someone else to fall for the plan. I mean, he cant stand being made fun of, and this is the way to make him feel better.

Nice job Jose, some day you will get exactly what you deserve. Fucking idiot.

H/T Joseph

I LOVE Being Right

Last year, I posted on this card, saying there was no question that it was fake. Now this guy, who obviously didnt follow the golden rule of patches, is FINALLY catching on. Glad to see some people do eventually see the light, despite it being about a year too late.

In the auction, the guy has basically come out and said it was fake, which is good. Thank you for that. However what is really funny, is that he has a reserve on the card, and he is actually looking for people to bid on it. Yes, he even had to send it into Beckett just to get that last bit of confirmation. You know, because its not completely fucking obvious already. For fuck's sake, he could have sent me 20 bucks just to reiterate everything I posted on last year.

This is where I say I told you so and laugh, because some people are so fucking stupid that it makes my head hurt.

This Could Be The Worst Fake In The History Of Fakes

Ebay seller Blackberrycards has pissed me off. I get emails from eBay every day with Peterson stuff, and I didnt read any of them in the last few days. When I looked this morning, this one was right on top of one of the emails. Its so bad that I actually laughed pretty hard.




In fact, I dont think that many people are falling for these, but its the principle of the matter. If you are a big enough douchebag to do this type of thing, you deserve to be castrated to prevent you from reproducing. Its just bad, no other way around it.

Now that I think about it, someone should start a fake card hall of fame. His Topps RPAs that he sells would definitely be a part of the inaugural class with the TRIPLE NFL logo Eli Manning fake patch/fake auto card.

First Look: 2009 Donruss Certified Football

Ok, big preview day today thanks to the boys over at Freedom Card Board. Either way, looks like Donini decided the only change to the LCM set from last year would be a name change. Im not kidding, the rest of the cards (minus FOTG) looks exactly the same as last year. This is such a fucking cop out from the way the previews look, that I am surprised they can even submit these mock ups without leaving them on someone's doorstep and running away to hide. The stamps havent changed, the frosh fabrics havent changed, and the whole set looks AS ridiculous as it did last year. Fuck them. Seriously. They have to think we are fucking mental to buy into their laziness and lack of work ethic.

On the other hand, this specific Fabric of the Game card looks fucking great. AS IT SHOULD. These cards are the flagship collector set of every Donini card year, and I think there may be a mutiny if the preview for FOTG sucked as much as the rest of the preview. I do see a problem for the rest of this set fitting in for the lower parallels with single swatches, as this particular card will probably be the one /5. I hope they dont fuck the rest of it up. Im not holding my breath.

I loved 2007 LCM, I fucking detested 2008 LCM, and now 2009 looks like someone just changed the gradients on the foilboard and said they were done. Message to Donini: Hire some fucking professionals rather than letting the idiots who produced the early 2009 sets continue.

I cant fucking believe I have to make these posts. They shouldnt be necessary.

Some People Deserve It...

Today I was reading on FCB about a guy who bought this 1952 Mantle "PSA 6" for 8 thousand before realizing it was a fake. A few months ago, I posted on the fake slabs and was talking about how hard it could be to spot one, this is one of those instances. To the trained eye, there are lots of things wrong with this auction, but for some people, they come out firing without doing any reasearch WHAT-SO-EVER.

Now, if you are buying a card like a 1952 Mantle, you need to know your shit. There is no way around that, especially when you are buying from a seller with single digit feedback. Then you see the auction title, and you feel your face slowly moving towards your palm. Yet, even with all of those red flags about this auction, there still happens to be one rule that should never....

...EEEEEEEVVVARRR...

...be broken. This card SCREAMS too good to be true, especially at 8k for a fucking PSA 6. Does anyone in their right mind think that this card is worth as little as 8k? PSA 4s go for more than that, though a good example hasnt come around in a while. Obviously, this idiot had no idea about anything before dropping the price of a compact car on this card, and really after all of these things I have mentioned, you gotta go the other direction instead of bidding.

The last part is the funniest, by far. On the thread on FCB, the OP also posted the seller's feedback profile. This guy LEFT POSITIVE FEEDBACK. I have no idea why, but he did. He then spoke with PSA after getting that little voice in his head that said he is a huge mark and found out the card wasnt real. Really? Wow, I had no idea.

Most of the time, I feel bad for people who get taken, I really do. However, when you dont see the signs right in front of your fucking face, I gotta put most of the blame on you.

Oh, and for the record, the PSA profile from this slab does read Mantle 52 PSA 6. Duh, of course it would, thats the point.

Superdouche Afternoon Theatre

Its been a while since I have posted my hatred for people who act like 13 year olds around the net, and today I experienced an interaction on a message board that made me think things are hopeless for informed people. I got an email that someone I didn’t know had PMed me and asked if Topps Triple Turds was a good buy now that the price has dropped from an astronomical MSRP down to something like 120. His words were, "Dude, I have a place to get Trip Threads for 120, and I am thinking of buying in. I mean the MOJO potential is huge and the price is really low. What do you think?" I almost set my monitor ablaze to dance naked around its smoldering remains.

For those who are unfamiliar with my feelings, people who say "MOJO" when not referring to Homer Simpson's helper monkey, Austin Powers' libido, or the channel on TV, are by far the scummiest of the scum. Whenever I see someone refer to any card as "MOJO" I literally puke a little in my mouth. It lowers my low respect level even more when someone uses it for every fucking video for their channel on Youtube. The term sucks, I want to punch people when I hear it in person, and if I even hear the words "last pack MOJO" come out of someone's mouth in consecutive order, I will go get my flamethrower out of my trunk.

When you use "MOJO" in any fashion, worse if you say a player's name in conjunction with it (i.e OMG PETERSON-JO!!!!), I cannot respect you as an equal. You are the definition of a Joe Collector. You are the person who posts maildays on youtube. You are the person who buys Triple Threads. You are the person who looks up every card in your beckett to see how much it is worth. You are the person who will only trade cards when book value is exactly even. You post a steal with every auction purchase. You have 1,000 comments posted on Beckett's blog. You buy blasters for hits. You buy manufactured letters with sticker autos. You are captain doucheface.

Then, to have the nerve to ask me if Triple Turds is a good buy at 120 dollars only adds fuel to the fire. Triple Threads wouldn’t be a good buy at 10 dollars a pack. I am 100% dead serious. You get 2 hits per box, which most of the time will have a crap RC auto with three nonsense diecut windows, and a jersey card of some mid level guy. For 170 dollars. Bring it down to 120 and you are still 100 dollars above a good buy. First off, the stickers on these cards look stupid as hell with carved out windows for them. Second, the design hasn’t changed in 3 years, they just added some of the most ugly cards ever with the fold outs. Third, it breaks the topps high end rule, and for 2 hits at that price, I stand by it. Fourth, the price has dropped over 30% since release, that should show you how bad this shit really is. Lastly, the actual 'good' cards you can pull still don’t break box price. Go ahead, check it out.

So, let me reiterate, Triple Threads is the worst recurring product of the year until Topps Sterling hits the market, and MOJO should never be used in reference to cards unless you enjoy me reaching through your computer and mouse whipping you until you cry.

When Stupidity Attacks

I am putting the scam pulled by MelbourneBrokebackCowboy at the same level as this ridiculous auction. This seller is selling his "UNCIRCULATED" Jonathan Stewart UD heroes auto, and I almost want to shoot anyone who even thinks of bidding on this card.

Here are his words:

"08 UD FOOTBALL HEROES- JONATHAN STEWART UNCIRCULATED AUTO RC SP# 158/250! PANTHERS! PERFECT TO GRADE![...]DO YOU REMEMBER A FEW YEARS BACK, TO COLLECT YOUR FAVORITE STAR ATHLETES WAS REALLY FUN? YOU WOULD COLLECT, AND HAVE AS MANY DUPLICATE CARDS AS YOU COULD HANDLE. BUT, IN THE SAME TIME IT WOULDNT PUT A DENT IN YOUR WALLET! (OH YES, THE GOOD OL' DAYS!) WELL, I AM BRINGING THOSE DAYS BACK HERE AGAIN! WITH ALL NEW AUCTIONS BY TRUBLUE87! ALL OF MY AUCTIONS WILL START OUT AT $0.55! AND I WILL COMBINE ALL SHIPPING COSTS!!!!!! ALL CARDS ARE IN NM-MT CONDITION (UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED!)"

Good story. Compelling, and rich. Despite all the caps, the stupid concept, and the ridiculous description, there is one simple problem with this auction that most people would spot in a second...

...the card is a UD card in a Topps uncirculated holder.

Good call there chief, really top notch work. On top of all this, the person brings forth a follow up to my post from yesterday, or more importantly brings forth the fucking stupid ass idea of grading an uncirculated card. Why in god's name would you de-case an already encased card, just so that you can get it into ANOTHER ugly holder with an obvious grade. Stupidity at its finest, I really love these.

A Comment On Grading and Idiots

I just want to write a comment on grading, again. See, Im not sure people really get the concept of when to grade cards, especially cards that would have no reason to be compared in terms of condition. Besides the fact that grading is completely subjective and arbitrary, sometimes problematic ethically, and generally a crook's business, there are still a few reasons why you should and shouldn’t grade a card.

When you look back at grading, it was created FOR eBay. Despite what the official tag line is, grading was created for people who were buying in a marketplace where direct examination of the item they were buying was usually impossible. What that similarly created was a marketplace of cards that competed for the highest grade, and on top of all that, sold for hundreds if not thousands more than a raw version of the card would go. Add in the fact that Beckett single handedly created a new genre of condition with "gem mint" and number grades, instead of going with the condition guides of mint, near mint, blah blah blah, and you can see where the conflict of interest starts.

Rather than going into that long discussion of Beckett and their ethics, or lack there of, I want to discuss which cards should be graded in this day and age. There is quite a short list of cards that are worth your time, actually, and here it is:

1. generally mass produced rookie cards with or without autos (note the mass produced lingo)
2. vintage cards
3. bowman chrome cards or other prospecting ventures
4. certain numbered cards that would normally not be in good condition

That is it. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but there are also cards that should never, ever, EEEEEVVVVER, be graded.

1. 1/1 cards
2. cards with extremely low print runs (excluding prospectors)
3. logo patch cards
4. printing plates
5. cards that would gain nothing from a high grade (junk)
6. cards that could never be replicated
7. condition sensitive cards that will SURELY get a horrible grade (IE sweet spot cards or absolute cards)

You may ask why this list is what it is, and well here is the basic explanation. If a card has a print run of 1, 10 or even 25, there is no reason to expect that grading would do anything for the card. Even if the card would get a good grade, the subjectivity of the process should discourage anyone. Usually if your card has a low print run, its worth a considerable amount of money. Also, cards with low print runs are not usually made with condition in mind for the sole reason that a gem mint grade would not do anything for them. This means that when you grade your card, you can only hurt it, not help it.

Ill give you an example:

You have a Tiger Woods patch auto from exquisite of this year. You inspect it, you look it over, and you decide to give it a shot with BGS. As far as we know, there are only 5 tigers, and this is one of those number two's from the list above. Most likely, the Tiger would get a 9 or below, and you would be stuck with a card in a ridiculous holder, a bad grade, and no ability to take the risk in cracking it for fear of damaging the card. You have damaged the value of your card for sale, and there is no way around that. Granted, Beckett would probably be selling the card for you anyways, because if you were stupid enough to grade it, you are definitely stupid enough to give it to Beckett to sell.

On the flip side, lets say you get a 9.5 out of it. Was it really worth the risk of shipping it to the facility, having the card in someone else's hands, sending the card back to you, and getting a bad grade, all for a few extra bucks? Probably not. Would it getting a good grade be that much of boost in price? Someone who wants this card, probably wouldn’t care about the grade, but may care about that awful holder. Since there are only 5 other tigers, is condition even that much of a factor? No, especially when Exqusites are more about the auto and the jersey than the condition of the card. In fact, the card stock is so thick, there are that many more places for dings to happen without being seen by the naked eye.

Here are a few eBay examples:

This card is a Tiger Woods buyback auto jersey /8. This card is worth a fuckload of money, and I am only using it to show what I mean from the above example. The person, unbeknownst to me, decided this card was worth grading. Im not sure why. That card is not worth the risk, for the sole reason that it came back the way it did. I know I would much rather have this card in a nice magnetic holder than in the holder it is in right now, most people would probably agree. Add in the fact that it came back a 9, and there is that much more reason to dislike this version of the card. If it had come back 9.5 would it have made that much of a difference? Probably not. Why take the risk, idiot?

The second card is a similar card in that it is a 1/1 that came back a 9. Why in the world would you expect a leaf limited card to come back with a good grade, let alone a grade that would help your sale? Total crap.

I encourage you to go on eBay and take a look around. Search for BGS 1/1 and see all the different idiots who graded their printing plates or other cards that are now ruined. You wont get any of the idiots who graded their sweet spot autos, or graded extremely rare cards, but you will get the point.

This Is A Pure Example Of Ignorance

I cant even remember how many times I have told people that you dont grade low numbered cards, if not only because most of them never come in good condition in the first place. On top of all of that, is a 9.5 really going to do anything to the value of a 1/1? Probably not enough to justify those ridiculous cases. Then, if you consider that your card will probably end up like this idiot's, it becomes a completely ridiculous idea.

Secondly, who titles the auction like that? You didnt think that putting Peyton Manning's full was not the most important thing? I guess it only goes to show that if you are stupid enough to grade this card, you would be stupid enough to title your auction that way.

Lastly, its kind of a bad statement when Exquisite cards arent up to par with condition. I doubt that this card has ever left a holder except when going to the douches at beckett, and from personal experience, Exquisite cards are never perfect when coming out of the box. I have said before that they need to encase the cards, but I was informed that the cost in dollars and time would make it pretty much impossible. Either way, lets hope whoever gets this has the smarts to crack it, because right now I wouldnt even want it like that.



h/t Wheeler for the auction link.

Breaking Down Value Into More Realistic Terms

Rob from VOTC posted a quiz from mentalfloss.com where you had to guess the value of the card they show you. I went and did some of my own research and found out some intriguing figures for all you BV lovers out there. See, its pretty much established that BV means ABSOLUTELY SQUAT, and this is proof. 

Before moving on, please take the quiz and let us know how you did. Then come back and read.

For this, I basically looked over completed auctions and took a price that looked to be consistent. If the card was under 5 bucks, I didnt bother because I knew Beckett would be destroyed. The numbers arent even close to exact, but even with my error and favoritism, these cards are so off, its still makes my point.

Quiz:

1. Bo Jackson, 1988 Topps

Actual Value: Around a dollar

Beckett Book Value: $5

Percent Change: 500% Over value

This is pretty crazy because I would think that cards from that time period are about as worthless as they can get. The cards were ridiculously over produced, and Bo was good, but not THAT good. Some interesting info there.

2. Brett Favre, 1991 Upper Deck

Actual Value: About $5.00 (and that is surprising)

Beckett Book Value: $10

Percent Change: 200%

I think this is crazier than the Jackson because this card should not be worth $5. I personally think that recent favre news has added to the value, but regardless, we are still on triple digits in percent off.

3. Barry Sanders, 1989 Score

Actual Value: About $20

Beckett Book Value: $40

Percent Change: 200%

Barry is one of the best valued players of all time, and I am still surprised that this card sells for $20 bucks, even in perfect condition. 1989 was in the throws of over production again, but it helps that this is one of the most popular cards of all time. I would be interested to see the other cards from this set. We may be in quadruple digits in change for those, although with dollar amounts that small, who cares?

4. Lawrence Taylor, 1979 Topps

Actual Value: 7 bucks (and this one looks pretty good).

Beckett Book Value: $20 dollars

Percent change: Around 285%

Although this card is before the production boom (sort of) its ridiculously obvious that this is a hat drawn price. How did they come up with $20? Its so arbitrary!

5. Warren Moon, 1985 Topps

Actual Value: About a Buck

Beckett Book Value: $15

Percent Change: 1500%

Our first quadruple digit card, absolutely amazing that people can still use this guide with a straight face. 

6. Steve Young 1984 Topps USFL

Actual Value: 40-50 bucks

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 60-100%

Topps USFL was not as widely produced as the normal Topps set, but that still doesnt excuse the price that its set at.

8. Jim McMahon, 1983 Topps

Actual Value: About 2-3 bucks

Beckett Value: $8

Percent Change: 266-400%

I skipped the 7 because the value was so low that the numbers would have been ridiculous.

9. O.J. Simpson, 1970 Topps

Actual Value: About $27 depending on condition 

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent change: 296%

10. Troy Aikman, 1989 Score

Actual Value: About 8 bucks

Beckett Value: $30!!

Percent Change: 375%

11.Jim Kelly, 1984 Topps USFL

Actual Value: 46 Bucks, if it looks perfect

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 174%

12. Emmitt Smith, 1990 Topps Traded

Actual Value: 2 Bucks

Beckett Book Value: $12

Percent Change: 600%

13. Joe Montana, 1981 Topps

Actual Value: 49 bucks

Beckett Book Value: $150 (could be 225 now?)

Percent Change: 306%

14. John Elway, 1984 Topps

Actual Value: 30-35 bucks depending on condition

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 228-266%

16. Jerry Rice, 1986 Topps

Actual Value: 35 bucks

Beckett Book Value: $80

Percent Change: 228%

17. Phil Simms, 1980 Topps

Actual Value: 1-10 bucks?

Beckett Book Value: $12

Percent change: ??

This card was probably the most volatile card of the bunch, but honestly is 10 bucks going to make or break you? I think that Beckett may have just gotten lucky as you see the other cards here, I mean, the pricing has to be right once in a while... I guess.

18. Doug Flutie, 1987 Topps

Actual Value: Less than a dollar

Beckett Book Value: $8

Percent Change: 800%

According to Beckett, this guy who won this auction made out like a bandit.

20. Mike Ditka

Actual Value: About 118 bucks (PSA 6)?

Beckett Book Value: $300

Percent Change: 254%?

This card was tough because it is the oldest card in the quiz. Considering how much this guy probably paid for the grading, he probably didnt do very well on this one. According to the guide, this should be probably about where they consider high book to be in terms of a vintage card's condition, but I really dont know. Maybe someone can shed some light. 

See, ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing about BV that makes sense. Cards are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay.

An Up Close and Personal Look At a Beckett Zombie Idiot

This is freaking wonderful, im excited to finally share this with you. Over on the nennth inning, Bailey and I have been holding court for a little fun, mainly talking with a complete douche named "Jay" who thinks that Beckett is the best fucking thing sinced the invention of player pictures on cardboard. I mean, this guy is a true treasure.

After going back and forth with Bailey for a while, I decided it was time to step in. I posted the usual diatribe about book value that I have said on here a number of times, just to see what he had to say about it. Here is my original explanation:

Ok, Jay, first off, book value is a sham for every reason that I outlined on the site. Its influenced by ad purchases, through favoritism, and there is no way around that. Beckett has no responsibility to the collector to give a price that is actually based on reality. Why would they? What would they gain? Now, 20 years ago, before the advent of the net, there wasnt a free marketplace to see exactly what current pricing trends are minute to minute, which in turn allowed beckett to have undisputed reign over the prices of cards. I mean, who was going to disagree right? Even if they did, it was next to impossible to communicate the shortcomings to the public. Then, when ebay came around and the preferred method of selling became the net, there was no reason for a guide anymore, especially with the type of market place ebay provided.

See, my father always said that something is only worth exactly what someone else would pay for it. If it sells for one thing one minute, and then half the price the next minute, its obvious that the price is solely based on need at that exact moment. No guide involved.

The same thing goes for the stock market. It is volatile because value is always volatile. People use volatility as an excuse to use the book, despite the fact that it is the very reason why you shouldnt. Why use the month old book, when its obvious through ebay that price changes each time an auction ends? Plus, the prices never really change THAT much, maybe around only 5-10 bucks either way for higher end cards. If that kind of money matters to you, maybe its time to find a different hobby, because the love just aint there anymore.

Now, when you bring condition into it, condition really isnt that much of a factor with the contrived scarcity that is out there. If there is only five of a card, it really doesnt matter if its bad condition or not, because of a lack of supply. If its not one of those cards, condition matters more, but again, its goes back to only being worth as much as someone is willing to pay.

Compound all of those things into a monthly guide with widely skewed pricing that is affected by nothing other than the whims of disconnected douches in TX, and you have a major issue with determining value of anything. Go further and offer a free place to buy cards at EXACT market value, then why go anywhere else.

Lastly, you talk about people using it to their advantage when possible, well… duh. Of course people will take advantage where they can - thats human nature. If you are smart enough to recognize that, its not an argument.

Jay, if you need further schooling, feel free to stop by the site and wait for the bell to ring.

Here is his response for shits and giggles:

First of all mr Gellman I dont need schooling on the value of cards[...] Im 38 years old I have been collecting before Ebay was around, and im sure I will be collecting far after it is gone. Im sure the way the economy is going you should be able to get just about any card you want for a cheap. Then a year later the poor guy who sold it will be kicking himself in the ass because he only got 20.00 for his 2003 Hanley Ramerez Bowman Best Auto. Please dont disrespect me however. THe fact you say I need schooling. Or I have a lot to learn is nonsense. If you saw my collection you shit your pants.

Yeah that is what we are dealing with. Go check out the rest of the exchange, because I guarantee its great for a laugh and a half. Oh, and he is "friends" with Chris Olds (obviously), so he has apparently gained the support he needs to start a blog. I cannot fucking wait. Ill keep you posted.

Lets Clear This Up For The Clueless People Out There

People, people, people, do you really think these cards are from the Jerseys the players actually wear in the all star game? Wow, its stupid to me that people love these cards. First off, they are player touched, at least I hope they are. Secondly, this piece is from the Jerseys they wore either during the derby (not likely), during warmups (not likely), or during a special event sponsored by topps (very likely). They were definitely not warn during the game.

Dont believe me? Here is a picture for proof.

See? No name on the back of the jersey, and the letter above in the card is white, not black, regardless. Guys, dont be stupid and pay five million dollars for this card, it isnt worth your time. Stick to the autos and other crap you can get. This stuff is junk with no picture on it (or a very small one).

Seriously, sucker born every minute.

Well Lets See If It Works...

Yesterday I documented pure stupidity on the Blowout Card board when one of their members said this GEM of knowledge about Triple Suck:

"Why sell your break if you know you going to get killed ? If I pay $150. for a box of TT and know I'm only going to get $25. back if I sell then why even bother selling ? I'd try trading it for something I want OR just hold everything til I had a huge lot of GU together and flip it that way. Never understood just throwing money away listing stuff on fleabay when there are other options to try maxing my return."

The idea about Triple Threads, mainly that its a good idea to buy it, is retarded, but the theory may work in practice with other cards. I decided to try it out and see how it works. If it sucks, who cares,  the cards arent important to me.

Here is what I did:

 I went through my collection and pulled out every card I didnt want. I put them together with some of the more expensive non-important-to-me cards for exposure, and let it fly. I put BIN on it to see if maybe someone would bite, though I am more interested in the result of the auction.

[LINK TO AUCTION]

Ill keep you posted.

The Hobby Is Chaulk Full of Smart and Vastly Intelligent People

I was perusing blowout cards' forum today because I am in the process of navigating a mind numbingly boring day. Of course, hobby retards always brighten my day with their blinding beacon of intelligence that they are always shining my way.

The topic at hand was whether or not Triple Threads was worth the money to buy, considering that the best hits are going for less than the price of a box. After a plethora of people who said that they bought boxes at 200 bucks and sold the contents on ebay for 25 bucks, there was this GEM of a response:

"Why sell your break if you know you going to get killed ? If I pay $150. for a box of TT and know I'm only going to get $25. back if I sell then why even bother selling ? I'd try trading it for something I want OR just hold everything til I had a huge lot of GU together and flip it that way. Never understood just throwing money away listing stuff on fleabay when there are other options to try maxing my return."

Aside from the ultra intelligent reason that Im sure this person has for buying a high end Topps product, the response to the topic is borderline brain dead. The question he asks is about why he doesnt understand people who wont sell their accumulated crap in lots, but what he should have asked was, "WHY ARE YOU BUYING AN ABORTION OF A PRODUCT FOR 200 DOLLARS WHEN YOU COULD HAVE JUST BOUGHT A NICE ASS SINGLE YOU NEED INSTEAD?!?"

For 200 bucks, there are a lot of nice fucking cards you can buy, and yet, that doesnt even cross his mind. Nah, lets buy a shit ton of the worst product of the year. Hell! We could pull one of those ridiculously awesome printing plates! No, even better, one of the foldout relic cards that I cant read! YES!!! MOOOOJJJJJOOOOO!!

Fuck dude, I love these people. Just amazing in their stupidity.

Topps Continues To Suck At Everything

Printing plates are my least favorite type of 1/1, especially when they are done by topps. It’s a fucking asinine way to appease the Beckett thumping Joe Collectors, and I don’t think I would ever pay for one or recommend even keeping one. If I pulled one of Adrian Peterson, you better believe that it would be on eBay the next day. Just a fucking stupid pull, yet people still go fucking nuts when they pull them, screaming "MOJO!!!!!!" like they are that kid who got the Nintendo 64 for christmas. God I hate people who say that shit, but that is a different post all together.

Well, this one takes the cake, but coming from topps, I am not at all surprised.



This is a 1/1 printing plate of Mushin Muhammad that has some retard pooping his pants on SCF. I swear to god, there is no fucking reason this should be in the set. It is a sheet of metal that someone slapped a topps sticker on the back of. It just floors me every time I see this shit. But wait, it doesnt stop!

Below is another gem from Topps Triple Suck, wonderful how they have like 20 of these per card per player. Can someone find a name on this worthless piece of metal? No? Hmm, let me relate Triple Suck to something a little more concrete. A few years back, Kia tried passing one of their cars off as a luxury car worthy of competing with the top luxury cars in its class. They put out commercials, and all sorts of bullshit to try to make me think that their cars were good for someone looking for luxury. The whole time I was watching, I was just screaming in my head, "IT’S A FUCKING KIA!! WHAT THE FUCK?!?" That’s what Topps is to high end. They are a Kia trying to compete with Mercedes and BMW. Wonderful.

This Is What Happens When You Are An Idiot Shop Owner

Most of the JD Booty SP Authentic 3 colors have gone for around 30-40 bucks. This guy, who lives in "CARD CITY" thought that was a little low. Considering that Booty is a 6th rounder QB on a team that has been shopping for a TJack replacement, I wholeheartedly agree that he should try to get 500% of the real value of the card. I was going to offer 195, but I saw that he wasnt taking offers. Too bad really. Although the taupe pattern carpet in the background is a nice touch, CARPET-JO!

YouTube: The Hobby's Latest Dick Measuring Contest

Its truly hard to believe that over the last 6 months, Youtube has gone from the premier place to find info on box breaks and recent products, to a bunch of 13 year olds having a pissing contest on their webcams. Rather than having actual box breakers and collectors go on youtube to get info on the latest product, or watch box breaks of something they could only dream of busting, youtube has become a haven for asshats who go on only to belittle people who show that they may have a bigger Tube-dick than they themselves have.

Ill tell you the truth, I dont watch much stuff on the Tube anymore. Its just not worth my time to wade through a sea of retarded fucking maildays and shoutout videos from the latest pube-less dick face. I think its become obvious that just because you have ability to use the medium, does not mean you should. I should know, as I have reduced my own participation to only SCU breaks and a few commentary videos here and there to spread the word. Lately, all that those videos have attracted is a bunch of cum dumpsters who feel empowered by the fifth grade fat jokes they leave. Its fine for me, as I am used to it, but I could see a lot of people feeling like I did, the first time it happened.

Yeah, yeah, I know, that is all YouTube is good for these days. I should not be surprised, right? Well, as recently as july of last year, there were still quite a few channels I enjoyed watching. Guess what? Almost all of them are gone. The reasoning? The service they were once happy to provide to the collecting world had become too costly due to the sheer number of awful people that burrowed their way deep into the throws of the video blogosphere.

If there really was a person who wanted to have the biggest dick of all the micro-penised youtubers, they would create a place where the correct people could post their services for all to enjoy. No more willy nilly videos posting the daily shit that comes through your mailboxes, but rather a community approval based system that showcases the last of videos that are actually worth my fucking time.

Want to spend five minutes on camera showcasing your 2 dollar jersey collection? Take it to youtube. Want to videotape yourself berating another well respected channel because he wouldnt stroke your small dick with a shoutout? Get the fuck back to youtube hell. Want to post a well documented break of a product that we all can appreciate? Post at will, please.

I long for the days of the Chri5784 and a handful of dedicated box breakers. Hopefully we can get back to the good ole days, and fast.

Beckett Topps Sterling Break Is Coming Monday

Just so this is here, I am putting the odds of them getting a monster pull at 1:1, much as I did with Prime Cuts.

Here is a something that you may want to think about:

1. Will they get a top tier box?
2. Will they get a case hit letter?
3. Will they get a huge fucking cut auto like last year?
4. Will they be stupid enough to post the video if they do?
5. Why are they publicizing this?
6. Do they expect us to eat this shit up like its hackler's (obviously) golden poops?
7. Are they thinking that we are going to forget that this is ANOTHER hand seeded product?
8. Are they expecting us to forget that the NAMES ARE PRINTED ON THE FUCKING BOXES?
9. Will people care that this is filmed before the release date, AGAIN?

My call: A ridiculous patch of a pre-war or war era player, and yes to all the above.