Beckett's Box Breaks Arent Even Worth My Comment Any More

Topps Tribute has lived up to my under-billing and then some. Outside of the fact that the cards look as terrible, if not more terrible than last year, the box breaks have been some of the worst this side of Topps Paradigm we have ever seen. For the amount of money collectors are paying for these boxes the cards that are being pulled are complete junk. There was even a case break on blowout where one person pulled FIVE Duke Snider autographs. Not one, not two, but FIVE. Of course, Beckett's two box break was a COMPLETELY different story. Par for the course, right?

First, a little history. A lot of you probably have started reading this blog after the first few months back in early 2008, understandably. But, back at that time, Beckett was breaking boxes almost daily, and they were never without an eyepopping hit or two, especially when it came to high end products. Even before the infamous Exquisite ass ream, they had a number of products that were so obviously loaded on purpose that it was tough to ignore. I mean, go back and watch their break of 2007 National Treasures. It wasn’t even subtle. The box they had that contained both a 1/1 ridiculous patch auto of Brady Quinn (who was a top rookie at the time) and two other awesome cards didn’t even come with the normal advertising info that comes in every single box. No checklist, no kodak thing, nothing. It was just the box and the pack. That's only the beginning. They had one of the craziest cases of Topps Sterling I have ever seen, and they made it seem like it was all just their luck. Right, just like my scrub auto pull from Classics is worth high book.

Then the 2007 Exquisite break rolled around and everyone FINALLY caught on to their obvious deception, mainly in partnering with the companies to get boxes sent to them that contained cards that made the products seem better. Go back and watch, tally all the pulls, count the number of boxes they break, and then tell me its all LUCK. In fact, Upper Deck faced such a terrible reputation over that break, that they did not resume regular publicized box breaks with Beckett until the 2009 football season. Sure says a lot about what is going on with what Tracy Hackler refers to as the readers favorite part of what Beckett does. Cmon.

Fast forward to yesterday. Tribute is falling flat on its face, especially in the realm of customer satisfaction. Beckett posts a video of two boxes of the product supplied by Topps. In those two boxes, they pull one of the most coveted non-1/1 cards in the entire product, a bat of the most collected player in hobby history, a 1/1 of the best player in baseball, and another auto of a popular player. Two boxes. That’s it. Funny how that works. In fact, if you go back and tally the price of all the pulls of a lifetime Beckett has had, the total equals close to twenty thousand dollars. And they only have broken one or two boxes of every product. Some kind of luck.

In fact, if you go back and look over the cases that have been broken on all the message boards, there isnt a lot of evidence that collectors are pulling that kind of hauls out of entire cases, let alone two boxes. The main point here is whatever cards they pull are being taken out of the hands of collectors that actually pay for the products. I have said a hundred times before that it would not be hard to solicit collector breaks of the product and post those instead of their own boxes supplied by the company reps. They are purchased from real stores with real money, and considering that the collector's reactions to the product will be more genuine, more realism will also be presented.

Yeah, I know, Beckett's arrogance and their commitment to providing the most unrealistic view of the hobby possible will prevent this from ever happening. That is really too bad, especially for the schmucks that still believe every piece of info they put out.

Don’t get me wrong, Topps is just as much to blame, as the companies are. However, Topps has a bottom line to uphold and they are not the media source that is responsible for reporting on the product. It would be like Rolling Stone getting an album with three extra tracks on it and reviewing that instead of what the normal customer could buy on iTunes. The company will take whatever steps it can to pad its profits, and its up to the outlets to refuse the deception. We all know that Beckett is more than happy to trade morality for a few extra views on their video, so Im not surprised.

Its just absolutely terrible that people are still putting stock in their breaks.

The End Of An Era - My Reaction To Upper Deck's Departure From Football Cards

Now that everything has officially been announced and commented on by Upper Deck, I want to put a little perspective on this whole situation. The reason is that there seems to be two sides of the aisle on whether or not this is good, and I think its time to go over what this truly means for the industry and for the hobby. The reason I separate the two is because of their intrinsic makeup of the people that populate each group. In the hobby, the majority of the population is collectors who would collect regardless if there is an industry or not. They just want to better their collections, and in some cases make the most money off said collections. This part will probably live on for many years to come. The industry, on the other hand, is made up of manufacturers and hobby media whose sole purpose (aside from producing the cards) is to make as much money for their company and shareholders, all while keeping the hobby happy at the same time. This part has a limited lifespan, now possibly made shorter by Upper Deck's inability to secure an NFLP license for their cards.

Now that we are familiar with the players, its time to talk about the game.

Basically, Upper Deck's departure from football and baseball cards now puts some people, like myself, in a pretty ginormous predicament. As we saw with the first time this news was brought up a few weeks ago, there are a lot of people who love what Upper Deck puts out every single year. Those people are now left with a void that is unlikely to be filled with cards from Panini and Topps due to any number of reasons. Because Upper Deck was the only company that focused as much on design and layout as they did on set makeup and product development, we are now entering an age where stickers and poorly conceptualized sets will reign supreme. In fact, products with on card signatures of veterans and stars just went from 5 complete sets (Philadelphia, Black, Ultimate, SPA, and Exquisite) to a big fucking goose egg. Of course, Panini will lead you to believe that their signed manupatches are on card, but they are not, and we are left with 100% stickers for the foreseeable future. Sets that feature on card rookie autographs went from 5 complete sets and 9 partial sets, to 3 partial sets if Classics still features those terrible School Colors paint pens shit and Contenders comes back with the bubbly shit. National Treasures, if everything remains as is, will be the only set that features signed memorabilia cards, and they will be 100% rookies.

I get that there are people out there who don’t care about on card sigs, or even that the industry has basically regressed to the dark ages of 2004 and 2005, but this is absolutely terrible for those of us that live for them. Even if Topps were to come back on, they bring a product slate of huge foil stickers and triple threads. How does that replace a set like SP Authentic? It doesn’t. Basically, for the collectors who care as much about the way a card looks as they do about the relics or autos, we are left with one or two sets that I could see being a viable target for purchasing singles. I have a feeling that this may shrink the base of collectors who buy current stuff more than people think.

Another factor is the outstanding redemptions from a company that needs to issue them due to said on card signatures. There are many collectors out there who have a ton, and its very plausible they may get screwed on ones that they pulled or bought. That is not a good sign for anyone, although it is still possible that they may continue to pursue athletes to sign their outstanding cards. Basically, if you have some you have been waiting on, I would start an email campaign to get them replaced while you have the chance. Although there has been little comments on this from UD themselves, its better to be safe than sorry. If you are going to purchase UD redemptions, I would definitely think twice before doing so.

Most importantly, unless Topps is reinserted into the mix, the lack of competition for an already inferior Panini brand could result in a black hole of innovation and creativity. Remember, this is a company that puts out at least 5 sets (absolute, elite, prestige, gridiron gear, and limited) that are practically the exact same as the year before. Before they at least had to compete with both Topps and Upper Deck for industry market share, but now there is not a single reason to break away from their formula. Where else are people going to go? I understand that they have tried to improve upon content with adding minor amounts of on card stuff to sets like Contenders, but in just about every case, they have failed harder than a beginner skater on a high rail. Get ready for year after year of rehashed product with little more to offer than the previous year. It was the reason I hated Triple Threads originally, and its now one of the main reasons I wont need to buy any set from the official card manufacturer of Rainbow Foilboard City.

Upper Deck may have made some awful mistakes that probably cost them the company, but they never ceased producing cards that people went ape shit over. They were so many miles ahead of anyone in mid to high end, that it made Topps and Panini look like they were working with a team of five year olds. If you compare products from Topps and Panini side by side with what Upper Deck offered in practically every god damn set, the difference in quality was unfathomable. Topps may have low end cornered with the chromes and their flagship set, but they are still gone from the market as of now. When it came to everything above the low end price point, Upper Deck won every single race by multiple lengths due to their ability to secure on card signatures and create innovative ways to get fans what they wanted. Whether it was the introduciton of crazy amounts of player inscriptions, ridiculous 1/1s, or even something as simple as social media from a manufacturer, they took it to the next level. Say what you want about their business ethics, but its hard to deny that their shit was the Bentley of the collecting world. Sadly we are left with a Chevy now.

Adding to the plight of the collectors in this hobby, I don’t think this bodes well for the industry, either. When you practically chop off one of its appendages, it puts more strain on the other ones to maintain control. Though Topps and Panini have large companies behind them, those companies just lost an advertising vehicle that brought people back to the hobby or introduced them to it for the first time. Its not unlikely that someone hooked on cards would buy from all three companies, and now that they only have one company to choose from in each sport, there will be a drop off. Plus, if recent trends continue to be status quo, the quality of the products they can choose from will be sub standard to where they were just one year ago.

Basically, if you like busy designs, stickers, and foilboard on top of foilboard on top of foilboard, this is your football golden era. Have a blast with all the crap coming down the sewage line. I havent bought a box other than Chrome or Upper Deck in almost two years, and now I will be left to existing Upper Deck products to fufill that itch. Hopefully, Panini stops using the stock backgrounds on photoshop for once and turns it around soon. Then people like me will have something to buy again. Prestige, Prestige Chrome, Classics, and also Rookies and Gridiron Limited Treasures will not keep me interested.

I sincerely believe that the industry will find a way to trudge on in the landscape post Upper Deck football, but it will not be at an elite level any more. The cards that got me going and kept me salivating are gone and in most probabilities, will never be coming back. I will have to come to terms with that fact, but I doubt it will happen until one of the other companies decides to pull their head out of their ass and deliver at the level that UD did. Upper Deck may continue to produce NCAA licensed cards, but I think my feelings on Press Pass and SAGE will supercede any shot I would give those products.

People, this is the end of an era, practically 20 years in the making. Thanks for the Memories Upper Deck.

Is Twitter's Packout A Sign Of Things To Come?

Over the last few years of writing SCU, I have always taken a stand against the douchebaggery that plagues the hobby. Whether its fake cards, fake patches in cards, or fake autos, I have never shied away from letting my site be a haven from those people who seek to take advantage of the mis or uninformed.

Over the last few days, Upper Deck has brought something to the forefront of the hobby consciousness that I have been wanting for a VERY long time. Through Twitter, much to my elation, they are taking pictures of the Exquisite cards before they are being packed out and showing us. Of course, Exquisite is hand packed, which makes this 100 times easier, but it is a true defense against fakes. Because Exquisite has moved towards using more of the desirable parts of the jersey instead of moving away from it, nothing is outside the scope of reason. This has led to rampant faking and more gray area cards that are hard to authenticate.

If the Twitter packout were to become more complete, with each of the main hits of the product being photographed and posted for the public, my job would be a lot easier. Im hoping this is the beginning of the road towards a national database, despite the objections to the cost and time needed given by UD brass to accomplish it.

Secondly, if all were visible to everyone, they may be forced to include more 2 color + patches. People's complaints tend to circle around the amount of shitty patches in the top notch product, but that may be forced to change with everyone seeing everything.

Lastly, cards are becoming easier to track, and so are the fuck suckers who perpetuate all the scams. A national database would lead to a proof of wrong doing against the people who sell, hopefully enabling more of a policing of the sales on eBay. Of course, eBay would need to cooperate, but that idea may be as much of a pipe dream of a complete print run photo.

We Have Our First SP Authentic Fakes

If there is one thing I have always preached, its that completed auctions are damning evidence when trying to figure out if a seller is a douche. There has been some big discussion lately on blowout and among the readers of this site about whether or not sports_royalty's cards are fake. After looking through his items for sale and his completed auctions, I would definitely file him under that category.

The most unusual thing about this is that the guy has a ton of hot packs for sale. This is almost always a sign that something isnt right. Although Im sure the hot packs contain what they say, its obvious that they will all contain the rookie scrub autos and not the patches. Its not the nail in the coffin, but his resume is getting worse. This could also mean that his crazy patches are all coming from the cases that he busted, but with the hobby, we have been forced to assume everyone is guilty until proven innocent. That is pretty sad.

When you factor in that the guy is already engaging in one thing like hot packs, and then you see his patches, the bad stuff floods your mind and becomes very tough to ignore.

Here are some examples of questionable SPA's:

LeSean McCoy

Jason Smith

Knowshon Moreno

Josh Freeman

Juaqin Iglesias

Knowshon Moreno Again

Nate Davis

Pretty questionable cards, but that is only the beginning. Check out these AWFUL fakes that he has sold. When I say AWFUL, I mean Paris Hilton acting bad:

Mark Sanchez Tag Patch
Eli Manning/Mark Sanchez fooball
Manning/Favre Worst Dual Football Ever?
Manning Family Football

Anyone who sells autographs as fucking terrible as those should be automatically added to your bad list. This guy is nothing but problems. STAY AWAY.

EDIT: Kurt just sent me this from the same fucking asshat, look what else he just HAPPENS to be selling! He even has 10 of them for sale, wow.

Thanks to Justin, Brandon, Leonard, and Tim for the heads up.

NEW SCAM: 2001 Pujols Chrome Fakes Spotted At Philly Show

I just got an email forewarning me of a scam that is on the verge of hitting eBay with full force. Kevin Burge, aka shoelessjoejackson, had quite the situation on his hands at the Philly show last weekend when he tried to get JSA, PSA, SGC and BGS to slab his COUNTERFEIT 2001 Albert Pujols Bowman Chrome autos.

Here is the thread containing a confirmation from SGC.

(STOCK PHOTO)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the douchebag that this guy is, he is the mastermind behind the Topps Rookie Premiere fakes that are all over eBay, and have made it practically impossible to figure out which of the cards are real or fake. Per some preliminary reports, some of the fakes even made it past BGS, thus making things even more difficult. Burge has been a known patch faker for years, but creating actual fake cards is something new for him. Obviously he has found a way to get his grubby fucking fingers on some way to produce the Pujols chromes, and it wont be long before they get out of control.

The fact that the Pujols fakes are a new breed of fake is quite frightening. At least his usual stupidity got the best of him when trying to pass them through the graders. Apparently, Burge didnt do his research, as always, and tried to forge a later style Pujols auto on the 2001 card, therefore setting off all sorts of red flags for the people who examined the cards. To add to it, a few of the numbers were off, so it was pretty easy to see why the cards failed inspection.

People, things are getting pretty fucking bad, and I encourage you to do MASSIVE amounts of research before making any sort of big purchases now. As long as asshats like Kevin Burge are out there, we are all at risk to get our money ripped off. More importantly, with this info, watch out for the Pujols fakes that are sure to start popping up on eBay soon, and email me if you see one at sportscardsuncensored@gmail.com. How he has not gone to jail for the amount of money he has stolen from people is beyond me.

Here are a few of his names we know of:

shoeless-joejackson
peopleschoice7373
cardsrahabit
jmvariety09
blameitonthealcohol (buying account)

cauckcards

Pack Searchers Are One Thing...

Ever since the advent of jersey cards in products, people have been there to beat the system when opening packs to make money. These morally deceptive people have camped out at retailers across the country with their system, all with the goal of finding jersey and auto cards without ever opening the pack. These “pack searchers” have become some of the most hated people in the hobby, and have made buying loose retail packs for hits an unwinnable venture.

After obtaining these searched packs, they often sell them on eBay as “hot packs,” or packs of product for sale with guaranteed hits inside. Collectors often buy the packs expecting a chance at a nice card, but usually end up with nothing more than a plain jersey card. It’s unethical, damaging, and underhanded, despite the fact that manufacturers have used decoy cards to try and fend them off. As the companies have started to clearly label their retail packs, coupled with the decreasing value of plain jersey cards, pack searchers have diminished in numbers. It doesn’t stop people from trying their hand at it, but really, it’s not as much of a problem as it used to be.

There is one thing I saw recently that made me cringe, and that is the number of sellers out there who flat out cheat buyers who don’t know the logistics of the practice. Recently, an auction was posted, featuring the claim that the hot pack for sale contained a 1 of 1 superfractor out of 2009 Topps Chrome Football. Superfractors are extremely valuable for top tier rookies and players, and are some of the most sought after cards in the hobby. Every red flag I had in place started to go off in my head, rightfully so.

For those of you who have opened the packs of this product, its no surprise that this is a completely impossible claim to make. A superfractor is physically impossible to search out in an unopened pack, as the card features no discernable difference from the regular cards. They are not thicker, they don’t weigh more, and they are not a guaranteed hit in any box. Therefore, any claim that any unopened pack contains one, is 100% false.

Of course, because not everyone is familiar with these facts, there are bidders on the pack, which should end upwards of 100 dollars. I feel horrible for the winning bidder, because whoever buys the pack will end up with a superfractor that isn’t worth anything, out of a pack that has been opened and resealed. The seller has opened the pack, saw that the superfractor was probably a cheerleader card or lower tier player, glued the pack shut, and is selling it under the suspicion that the sale will get him more money.

DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM.

The easiest way to punish any scam artist is to not buy into the scam, especially when there are very few avenues to take corrective action on this person. The seller’s pack will deliver what it says, but only because the person has advanced knowledge of what is going to come out of the pack. It’s completely unethical and unfair to the buyer, and I recommend never trusting anything you can’t verify with 100% certainty.

Personally, I would avoid hot packs all together, even if the sale seems legit. It encourages cheating, and provides funds for people who do not deserve them. You will NEVER make back your money, and the risk will never be worth the reward.

A Comment On Beckett's Most Recent 1/1 Pull

Mario just alerted me that Beckett has pulled ANOTHER 1/1 out of an early box of Topps Ticket to Stardom. I still cannot believe that there isnt someone who has pulled the plug on this video crap yet. This time it was a ticket stub to a Presidential Inaguration, but the principle of the matter remains. Sadly this brings the pull list from Beckett box breaks to a fucking retarded number of cards, with now over six 1/1s alone from a very small number of boxes.

I CONTINUE to have no idea why companies continue sending boxes out in this respect. It creates more problems than it solves, and its even more stupid for Beckett to post them due to the encited hatred. Of course, due to the extreme douchey arrogance the magazine has over its place atop the hobby media, they would never believe they are anything but invincible. Therefore why not post it, right? Fuck the haters, they cant do shit.

Either way, im not going to say much more because its all been said before. When they close their doors sometime in the near future, I hope they finally will realize how awful they really are. Considering that they have pretty much turned the entire internet against them, I think its slightly apparent already. Hell, two years ago, it was against the grain to hate Beckett, now, its an exception to the rule to side with them. I think its hilarious. Even more so when I get emails from shops saying they have stopped carrying Beckett. Those types of emails are becoming more frequent due to the moral ambiguity the magazine displays on a regular basis. Glad to see things are working out for them. Number one source indeed.

Nice job there guys.

Why Are People This Stupid?

Kickstand forwarded me this auction of a fake SPA Peterson Viking head logo, and I am shocked for a few reasons. Obviously, there is not even a question that this card isnt real, and Kickstand even included the pic of the real card to prove it. Ill get to that in a second.

First, its almost like no one understands that the stiching on any Vikings NFL authentic jersey is not flat like it is in this patch. The Vikings heads have much different stitching, which most of the time can be determined simply by going on the NFL website. If you are going to spend 500 plus dollars on this card, why wouldnt you just go take a look? Its fucking ridiculous to me.

Second, and even more shocking, this fucking douchebag destroyed a three color patch card to create this abomination. If you look at the before pics, you can see why the actual real card will be worth MORE than the money he gets for the fake. For this I fucking laugh, because you know he is too dumb to buy a regular one color patch for his crime, and instead uses the most expensive one available. I dont think I have ever seen a douchebag fail so hard.

Lets all laugh with me as we report this assfuck.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Here is a link to Kickstand's album, he has some pretty good ones.

In The Times Of Great Douchebaggery, It Becomes Our Responsibility

Over the last year and a half, there has been a lot of stuff that I have written about in terms of the dark underbelly of the hobby. Much to the chagrin of a few people, Beckett has been the center of about 90% of it. I really dont think that people understand just how bad it can get, as its still unclear as to how far down the rabbit hole goes. Most people just think about it from a standpoint that its just a hobby and they dont care as long as they get whatever they usually do via ebay or the local shop. The issue is, that this hobby is one based on chance and random, so any dillution of those factors has an impact on anyone who participates in the purchase of cards. Therefore everyone should feel the effect with each card that is taken out of circulation.

One of the major pain points for people like me, is that the stuff that is given to people who have no business receiving it. Whether its product, swag, or just ad money in general, free stuff complicates everything, especially when you have done nothing to receive it. Since I first started up March 2007, Beckett has been the prime focus of my anger, mainly because of all of the stuff they do that compromises the integrity of their perceived place as THE hobby news source. Most of the time, with every product release, Beckett gets a box full of stuff to pass around to their lackeys, with wax being a main focus. I have gotten emails from former Beckett employees talking about all the stuff that comes through the door, and just how little of it actually makes it to the people its supposed to go to - you. So far this year alone, Beckett has received close to 50 boxes of product from companies that have actually made it onto video. There are many more that dont, according to my sources. This is completely frustrating to collectors once they find out how much money they are actually getting, in addition to the ad money for products in the magazine. Why is this acceptable for a "news source" to receive? It creates a huge problem.

Then we have the recent video, where Beckett has received a full case of Exquisite Basketball from Upper Deck. This is the first public box of Exquisite they have received from Upper Deck since the 2007 fiasco, despite the fact that we have been told a number of times that it wouldnt be happening again. When you think of the fact that a case of Exquisite can cost in upwards of $1,800, its a little bit more apparent how much money Beckett receives from the companies each year. I think this is a direct reflection of the companies themselves, as they should know better than to flaunt their subtle kickbacks to the magazine that can easily make or break a product. As for Exquisite, a product that features one of the lowest print runs of any product ever produced, it is also unfair to expect collectors to sit back and watch Beckett receive all they do, when so few of the cards actually exist. Its funny too, because they tell us how all these cards are going to be available for the public to win in contests, but I have yet to see how that is even remotely true. Sure, some the fifteen pulls of a lifetime and 1 of 1s they have pulled since 2007 have been given out to contest winners, but why are those enormous pulls even going to Beckett in the first place? What does that accomplish for the collectors in general? More and more are seeing through the practice of doing the video box breaks, so why even risk it?

Its become a disgusting display each time Hackler and the Giant appear on their vid player, as we can see the grease in the wheels being replentished with each turn. Its pretty much become a display of the constant arrogance and douchebaggery that Beckett displays every time. This is the same arrogance that makes them spit on the blogs saying they dont deserve the news, when in reality, many blogs are ten times the news source they are. On top of all of this, there is zero reason why Beckett cannot tap into the thousands of collector videos on youtube, or why the manufacturers cannot do the same. Video box breaks have reached a point of parody, as we have seen with "Packs to the People," a feature created to break the monotony of the breaks. Based on that premise, Beckett's breaks should go the way of the dodo as well.

As for the rest of the shipments that Beckett gets almost daily, its time for the general collector base realizes the giant conflict of interest at work. If Upper Deck decides that providing thousands of dollars worth of product in one shipment is worth the exposure when the boxes are broken for the world, its our job to continually voice our disapproval. Beckett has become an organization whose sole purpose is promote an agenda of certain interests that pad their bottom line. When you see that the only reason for their existence is to make money for the parent company, it becomes very clear that they have zero responsibility to maintain content that has informative purposes rather than advertisement purposes. Look down the product lines, and really see what is being sold to people. Is it information, or is it instead ways for the companies to garner more revenue on product sales resulting from what is laid out in the pages?

The one indisputable fact is this:

This whole situation is a double edged sword, bloodied by the wounds of the dishonesty displayed by both Beckett and the card companies. When the companies, like Upper Deck and the recent Exquisite break, send the boxes for Beckett to break, the collectors lose. Not just because the cards in those boxes are no longer available for collectors to pull, but because it creates an environment where people who dont know any better are preyed upon. Its obvious that Upper Deck didnt care how much backlash they would get from the people in the know, because they knew there would be thousands who would see it. Also, it may have begun to repair a damaged relationship with the magazine over relationships created with blogs like Wax Heaven and this one. Clearly Beckett didnt care about any voiced disapproval because they got those thousands to watch it and come to their site. Because of this, it is now our responsibility to call them out as publically as possible, just to show them the thousands who will now spread the word against their practices. I may only get 600 visitors here per day, but if 200 of those people tell one friend, and they tell another, you can see what I mean. Its time for you guys to really show what you are about.

More Craziness Over Subjectivity

Mario posted recently about the Jordan rookie BGS 10 that has popped up on ebay with a feeding frenzy in tow. Wow, already over $50,000, right?

The question I have is whether or not we should actually trust that these cards are not just publicity stunts that have benefitted one fortunate collector. Since one cannot challenge the subjectivity of the grading process without destroying an obviously valuable piece, it falls on the shoulders of the buyers to avoid those cards .

As soon as Beckett created a higher-than-mint grade, we should have already questioned whether this was the point of the grading process in general. If you look at the cards that get the 9.5s and 10s over the 9s, even with a magnifying glass, show me the difference in grade between each of those levels. Each of you would have different answers. Considering the grading process was created as a service to help with internet buying, why should we believe that the graders have the means, as well as the expertise, to tell us when some piece of cardboard has exceeded the worldwide standard of mint? On the post, one of the commenters suggested this is a "we go to 11" type of standard to differentiate their process from others, and I wholeheartedly agree. As a result of this, when a card like the Jordan and the Montana receive those types of grades, things go nuts. If not only because it is publicized by the company that is responsible for the service. With that understanding, we should not have faith in the people known for having more conflicts of interest than any other hobby company in history. By giving a card that grade, especially one like this Jordan, having a system that prevents people from questioning the result, and the fact that Beckett receives almost national attention, its easy to see why its beneficial to manufacture an event like this. Obviously, the Jordan was graded a while ago, but it hasnt come up for sale since that time. Now that the Montana has sold for crazy go nuts prices, this card was sure to follow.

One of the things we have to realize is that there is not a specific standard that applies to each card without subjectivity. In the end, its always a human with emotions who makes the decision. Obviously when you price, sell and advertise these cards as well as providing the service itself, things are going to get suspicious with every public result. So, if a 10 to one person is a 9.5 to another, why do we allow these stunts to continue to grab our attention? As buyers, in an age when digital cameras and scanners are in the 10 megapixel range, this type of service isnt needed any more. Add in that most of the valuable modern cards are worth what they are regardless of condition, mainly due to contrived scarcity, the grading process then becomes even less of a necessity. As of now, the only reason to have this service is to allow people to exploit the grades they get for more money, make more money for a failing magazine, and to give another way for people to wrongly invest money in a medium that has a subjective element.

Until grading becomes more than a guy in texas examining your card, it will never be a worthy expense. Save yourself $80,000 and go buy a regular card. It will look just as nice, I promise.

My Take On The National

There have been a ton of posts on all the blogs already about what happened at the national, lack of foot traffic, dealers not giving two shits about it, etc. And though Beckett seems to think this National was "teh best natty con EVAR," its become undeniable that something just wasnt the same. It could have been the city, it could have been the economy, it could have been all of that or none of it. One thing remains, however, the national card show has a few problems and they arent going away.

The main thing that I believe is the reason the national attendance has been going downhill is because its a card show. That is one reason that no one seems to get. Who wants to pay $250 for plane fare, 100 bucks for hotel, 8 bucks for parking, 20 bucks for admission, and all sorts of money for food, just for a card show? Yes, there are a lot of people there, but in all reality, there is now a free card show that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in ebay. In any economy where people arent scrounging for money, it wouldnt be too much of a factor. However, when disposable income is at a complete minimum, why even make an effort?

Add in the fact that you have mediocre autograph guests charging hundreds, and there is an even bigger problem than before. When you have someone at the show like Barry Sanders, thats all great and everything, but when he charges as much as he does, it loses appeal for collectors who normally would pay under 100 bucks for a great photo and or football on eBay. The same prices were true for last year, but the economy was different.

Then, when you have hundreds of dealers all competing for the dollars of the few consumers who live in the area or made the trek, you would expect that it would be a buyer's market. From the many reports I got through email and on the boards, however, the dealers were not able to make it a buyer's market due to the fact that they were having trouble making rent for the show. Also, they had such poor service that people were turned off by their actions and went elsewhere. Its been quoted on a few places that the dealers' biggest customers were other dealers, im guessing because so many people needed stuff to sell to the dwindling customer base.

My thought is that even though the economy will rebound, events like this will not. People are starting to wise up on the best places to get deals, and will go to these events more to be around other collectors and to see their favorite card company's booth. They will not go to buy cards from a dirty old man who charges high book. Beckett wants you to think that the national is the best thing since sliced bread, because they know its the one place where they can do more than average bloggers, and because book value is everywhere there. It makes them seem relevant in the hobby more than they really are. The fact is, many bloggers dont need to go to the event because of the lack of interest to most readers, and because there is already enough communication with the manufacturers outside of the show. Bloggers WANT to go to the show to meet people in person, but I guarantee you that none of them spent more than a hundred bucks or so, give or take.

Under that assumption, I would encourage the bloggers to make a trip next year to Baltimore, but not with the idea of providing the "OMG, we are everywherez!" coverage that Beckett did. I think it should be more about educating the public, showcasing our talents as hobby media personnel, and getting to know the reader base. If you want to do interviews, why wait for a once a year event? Its your responsibility to seek them out for your readers the whole year long. Use the national the way it should be used, as a gathering of the populace, not as a place to show readers that you can get interviews with Scotty Prusha and Tracy Hackler. These are people who would normally scoff at your attempt at providing news as a "cesspool of misinformation," and shouldnt be the people that get the stage at any time, let alone at a card show.

Bloggers and message boards are the new number one source for hobby commentary and news. Everything else is stale and outdated. Its time to show what we got 24/7/365 instead of just for one weekend.

Carrying the Banner - Rob From VOTC

My friend and yours, Rob from Voice of the Collector, should be walking around the national show this weekend with a very special shirt that was produced especially for the occasion. His idea, posted on his blog, was to produce a custom "Beckett Sucks" t-shirt for him to walk the show floor in, to which I offered to pay for his costs of creating said shirt. After the money was donated and the shirt was delivered, I realized this could be a pretty worthwhile adventure due to his tenacity and hatred for all things douchey. Personally, I wanted him to put "Ask me why!" on the back of it, but then I thought he wouldn’t be able to enjoy his trip with constant bombardment from the thousands of JCs that are at the show.

Either way, if you see Rob and his t-shirt tribute to the hobby's number one source on douchebaggery, go and take a picture with him. Send them to me so I can get a gallery going of our exploits. Obviously this shirt isnt going to be an OMG!! type of thing at the show, but it’s a good inside joke for the people who read the blogs here and at VOTC. Be sure to give him a whistle or two just so he feels pretty, or at least the call of a dying giraffe so he knows you are with him.

As for Rob, he shouldn’t get kicked out of the show, nor cause a ruckus, yet, I wanted him to hang around Panini's booth and Beckett's booth and take some photos himself. I hope he comes through big, it’s a great banner for his site, and I even have a feeling that they will think he is me. Even though I couldn’t be there in person due to work, I will at least get to have some lame fun at the expense of a few people I dislike.

We all have seen Beckett walking around Panini's booth on video, highlighting all the offerings from their butt buddies, how great would it be to get him in one of those? I would laugh pretty hard.

Rob, Here's to your reckless and humorous take on sticking it to the man.

Beckett Grading Has Issues

Check out this thread on SCF about a member getting their cards jacked from Beckett's grading service. Considering the shear stupidity of grading cards in the first place, I am tempted to give a big I told you so. However, I still feel bad for him...

http://www.sportscardforum.com/showthread.php?t=855165

Beckett's Upcoming National Show Report: REVEALED!

Guys, I just got an exclusive preview of Beckett's national card show report, as my personal psychic has dictated it word for word to me per her vision of the future. At this point in our technology, we are unable to time travel into the future, but this is a pretty good replacement. For your warning, I want to post this just so you have an idea of what is going to go down this week, before it happens. Thanks to Madame Cleo for this:

Beckett Is A Bright Star At The National Card Show

By Tracy Hackler, Editor, Beckett Everything Magazine

Golly! What a week at the national card show! We had a blast showing everyone the awesome things that Beckett has done over the last year as well as what is coming up for 2009 and 2010! I cant believe how many collectors we met, as well as all of the amazing things that at the best booth at the show! Here is a recap of what went down.

- Most of you heard about the Pristine 10 BGS Montana RC from last year's show, but just wait until you hear about this year! In front of everyone, we graded the first ever Pristine BGS Michael Jordan 1986 Fleer RC! It was a sight, and a great investment for a collector who wished to remain anonymous. At least he was wearing a Beckett shirt, which was great for working the booth after the commotion died down! Who would have guessed that the biggest card grade in history would have come from the biggest show on the planet? We didnt!

- There were also a ton of people who came and told us how much they loved seeing us do our Beckett Box Busters! Unfortunately, there are a few vocal people out there who tell us that this is a huge problem, but the ten or so people we talked to all told us how much they loved it. Shows how much those downers out there know about collectors! Then, when those Beckett fans broke the boxes we gave them, they told us about how much more they loved the Beckett Box Busters! We aim to please!

- On Friday, our own Chris Olds and Timmy, a ten year old collector from Cleveland, got a chance for his own special episode of box busters! Thanks to our "friends" at Panini, they were able to break dueling boxes of Panini's upcoming Absolute Memorabilia, more than 2 months early! To our amazement, Chris ended up pulling a 1/1 Michael Crabtree auto patch! Talk about luck, right? As for Timmy, he pulled a sweet Andre Caldwell auto, so he went away happy too!

- Beckett also unveiled that in addition to grading cards on the spot at the show, they were also starting up the first ever completely graded card live auction! We opened the huge Beckett vaults, pulled out as many 9.5s of some of the most important cards in history, and made them available for the first time to you! The auction was a huge success, and it also allowed us to pay the electric bill we have been trying to avoid paying for so long. People may have complained that the cards we sold didn’t look right, but our grades are completely legit, as they always truly are. These are the ones graded by our top graders over the last few years, and the grading standard has been accepted by collectors worldwide. Also, some of these graded cards will be available again on the new Beckett Graded Card Marketplace, where you can buy the 9.5s directly from us!

- We also got compliment after compliment from kids at the show who told us how happy they were to find out that their collections were worth so much in the price guide. After using our "my collection" station, 8 year old Joey C found out that the cards his dad had given him from 1987 were worth over $1000 dollars due to the sheer number he had! Again Beckett satisfies another collector, good luck selling those million cards Joey!

- Fresh off his sweet box break, Chris Olds was also a big hit! He wowed us with material from the best blog on the net, showing everyone why the Beckett blog should be the ONLY stop you make on the blogosphere. We are so glad to see that his work paid off in talking about the Craigslist Collector Corner, where he tried to educate a few people on how outdated their ads were. He also showed a few previews for his expose on the fake Topps rookie premiere autographs, as well as his "man on the street" features. Chris is definitely the most innovative blogger out there.

- Lastly, Panini and Beckett embarked on a long standing relationship with our teams formally announcing that all high end Panini products will feature Beckett/JSA authenticated player autos, as well as a special Panini page on the Beckett site. Despite accusations that the new partnership stood against everything that is right and just in the hobby, we promised that no favoritism would occur. In fact, we even showcased the first pricing for Panini's Donruss Elite, the most valuable set of the year so far! This is great news for this new company on the block, as well as great news for our new special Panini Market Analysts, who will be working directly with the manufacturer to make sure all pricing reflects exactly what the cards are worth.

The folks here and in Texas cannot wait for next year's show, so be sure to check back to Beckett.com for more overage and pictures!

Im so glad that Madame Cleo had such a good vision of the future! This is some gold right here!

ITS BAAAACCCCKKK!

For those of you newer readers of SCU, im sure you have seen a recent focus on scams and fakes. Exposing scams are actually nothing new to this site, and its always fun when a past expose comes back around for a second helping of disgust.

Shit, did I say fun? I meant totally fucking idiotic. Unfortunately for us, there is a sucker born every half second in this hobby, and even worse, they have tons of fucking cheese to spend.

A little backgroud:

Last year, a viking head logo Peterson Exquisite surfaced on eBay, with an "authenticity" letter provided by Gregg Kohn of Upper Deck. Seemingly at the same time, an identical patch auto was also posted with the same viking head logo. Gregg, upon my request, confirmed the authenticity of the letter for the first one, and confirmed that the second was fake.

Obviously, people never learn, as there is now a THIRD fake Peterson Viking head logo patch, with this one already up over 1000 dollars. The reason I know its fake is because Gregg was positive that only one Viking logo was known to be in the product, making this one a fraud. Also, the colors and stitching style of the viking head, as well as the material its sewn onto are completely wrong. This would stick out like a Beckett box break to any informed collector, but that doesnt stop the idiots from jumping on it. To think that someone would destroy this amazing card with a fake patch is completely fucking ridiculous in the first place, but it isnt the first and wont be the last. It is the best non 1/1 card of 2007, and now this one is destroyed. Wonderful. Maybe UD will pull it down, doubtful though.

Glad to see that douchebaggery faces us at every turn.

h/t Wheeler and Jason

Please Start Filing 2008 Rookie Premieres Under The Possible Scam Umbrella

Ever since the obviously fake 2007 rookie premiere autos have surfaced like a spreading disease, I wondered how long it would take before the other years started their infections. Unfortunately, 2008's RPAs have entered that status much earlier than I expected.



The issue with some of the 2008 ones that I have seen is that some of them are questionable, but given up by some of the other cards the seller has for sale. Take this guy for example, as his 2008 rookie premieres look off, but not awful. Then look at the other cards, especially this Cutler and Winfield, and everything comes into focus.

Guys, this type of thing has been a problem from the inception of the rookie premiere autos, but never like this. Hopefully Topps will do something about it.

h/t Voluntarheel

A Comment On VOTC's National Show Coverage

The National is nigh, and Rob from VOTC has posted a great guide to making it the card show experience of your life. I do have a few things to add, as I see it a little differently than most of the others out there. Obviously, I cant go due to having to work this weekend and being across the country, but I hope a lot of you do. It looks like a lot of fun, and you are really going to have to watch your wallet.

Before you go splurge on your future collection centerpieces, remember that eBay is still the best way to get cards, hands down. Even though this show will pretty much have everything you could ever need, its still a show. Also remember that when you go from table to table, the prices are still show prices, and that most of the regular cards wont be worth your time unless you are trading your stuff away. Even in that case, I would probably wait before handing your collection to a dealer booth, as they will only give you trade values based on them making money(we all know what that means).

What I would suggest is trying to find those cards that wont be available anywhere else. You know there are going to be some ridiculous cards, in a good way, and this may be your time to A) see what is out there B) window shop and C) secure some nice rarities and oddballs. Other than that, I would be very careful if you are going to buy mid to high end stuff at show prices.

Second, the manufacturers booths are the way to go as Rob said. They have awesome giveaways and ways to get free stuff. If you do one thing at the show, its go to these booths.

In terms of buying versus trading, this is a show that has thousands of collectors there for one reason. I would not hesitate to set up some trades with collectors instead of the dealers, as you know that they don’t have to pay overhead for booth space. I have heard so many amazing stories of trades that go down, and I assume that if you look, you should be able to find a lot of the action.

Another great thing is the case breaks that go down, because as you can imagine, collectors from all walks of life will be there. Last year I heard there were so many Cup and Exquisite breaks that they almost devoted a whole room to the people who spend 20K and break it all there. Keep your eyes out as you may see something that you will never be able to see again in that respect. Also, many of these people bust for stuff to sell at the show, so it’s a good chance that you would be able to work out a deal for any card they pull. Not always, but I got an email from a guy last year who said he purchased a Brady Quinn Exquisite Patch Rookie Auto for 20 bucks. The scan alone was worth that.

Of course, Beckett will be there, and they are going to be surrounded by everything that makes them the devil in this industry. They surely will grade your cards on the spot, and they will also have something called "Raw Card Review" like they do at every show. It is the biggest rip off ever created, don’t fall for it. RCR is basically them stealing your money, as they take a quick look at your unslabbed card and give it an "expected" grade. The problem is that these grades are NOT guaranteed to transfer to a slab and are not held with the same premium as the regular slabs. It will still cost you a long wait and some cash you could spend elsewhere. Also, there will be about 100,000 cards they will need to slab in three days, so the attention your card will get will be minimal compared to the regular process. This could work to your advantage, but it could also screw you out of getting a deserved higher grade. I don’t support grading at all, but if you have to do it, wait for better ways, or don’t request on the spot service.

With Beckett, they seem to think that the people at the National justify a lot of their horrible existence, but you will see why I have some of the problems I do with their practices, just from observing their booth. From what I have heard from my industry sources, there may be Panini reps AT the Beckett booth, and many of the Beckett giveaways will be Panini in nature. No surprise there. Either way, I am confident that Tracy Hackler will be sure to give his report of how much positive feedback they get at the show, but as an enlightened collector, I would stay far away from anything they have to offer. That is, unless you actually want to be surrounded by a bunch of price guide thumping idiots who want to suckle at the teat of the hobby's number one source on douchebaggery. Really, I'm sure there will be enough price guide propaganda outside of the area around their station, as this show will probably be ripe with JCs who don’t know anything about the sheer stupidity of everything Beckett preaches.

Also, Blowout and DACardworld are going to be there and they always have some sweet deals on wax. If you are looking for older stuff, or stuff that has been out for a few years even, check out the booths, they will have some rock bottom prices.

Just be sure to remember that it may be the national, but its still a card show. It will be a blast even if you don’t buy anything, so don’t think you are wasting time and money if you just go there to see the gathering. I think that because so many of your contacts from the blogs and the message boards will be there, it would be a great way to put some faces and personalities to the names. Keep your eyes peeled for good deals, and avoid tables with price guides sitting in prominent places.

Most importantly, send me the pictures!!

A Result Of Collective Stupidity

One of the more awesome trends in the industry is that regular cards can have amazing patches. What this means is that you dont need to face astronomical retail type odds to get a team logo or something amazing in terms of a patch. This also means that products like Triple Threads, and other products that rely on contrived scarcity to bolster value, no longer can justify the fact that 1/1s are special in any way from the rest of the product. Right now, more than a giant handful of Topps 1/1 cards are either printing plates or paralleled cards that share nothing more than a different finish on the stock.

Of course, this has led to a major devaluing of the 1/1s, because they arent worth the chase anymore. I can get a Topps Sterling 1/1 and have it look WORSE than the card out of ten. Shouldn't we just let the cards showcase what makes them special instead of forcing me to stomach a whole product's worth of cards numbered to 3, even though its really something like 103?

A while ago I said that they should get rid of inserting the print plates into packs, as they are worthless, fugly pieces of scrap metal that are marketed as a chase for people who dont know any better. Im saying now that we should abolish the non-special 1/1s for all non-chrome products. If they want to put a logo on a card and number it 1/1, be my guest, but if they are just going to say the card is arbitrarily a 1/1 because of a different color on the card, a different die cut swatch, or even if there is NOTHING different, I wont support it.

Parallels are ridiculous in this hobby and I think that Topps high end and Donini mid and low end are the worst possible offenders. Donini parallels each SUBSET card at least fifteen times, you have the regular, numbered parallel, jersey parallel, second lower numbered parallel, auto parallel, etc, etc. That sucks, there is no reason to do this at all, other than accounting for laziness in filling the needs of a product.

Im now a supporter of letting the card's features speak for themselves. If you get a great looking card with a ridiculous patch, it should be worth more because of that, not because its numbered to 7 or whatever. If you get an auto'ed version of a card rather than a regular one, that should be the reason that its worth more, not because its red rather than green.

Its become apparent that this hobby has thrived on greed and ego for many, many years. Someone needs to feel good that they have the ONLY ONE of that one card, someone has to know EXACTLY how many of a said card there are, they need to be the biggest shit out there. No longer are we focused on buying the cards we like or the cards that make us happy, we have to have the most of the rare, the most of the special, and we need parallels to tell us that we do. That is crap.

This fact has allowed the manufacturers to exploit our need to feel special by numbering things lower and lower, yet in reality just letting design quality slip so that the number on the card is the only thing we care about. Look at Upper Deck SP Authentic Baseball, there is so much confusion over the numbering on the letters, that people have literally freaked out. Upper Deck makes it worse by numbering each letter rather than the total number of autos to make the cards seem rarer, and we eat it up. Is your signed G numbered to 5 different than my signed G numbered to 25? NO! Its the same fucking card with lower numbering.

Ill give you this, the collective stupidity of the normal people in this hobby will prevent any semblance of a different hobby from ever surfacing. Collectors are generally so fucking stupid, that companies are even forced use numbering as a way to deter fakes. How absurd is that? People cannot survive in this industry without it BLATANTLY spelled out for them, no one is capable of thinking for themselves. This is why jersey cards have become so overdone, and why parallels are everywhere, because the idiots shit themselves with anticipation over whatever is the latest marketing ploy. It would be one thing if they were clever, but really these ploys are always mind numbingly stale.

It may be a problem in every industry, mainly because Americans are intrinsically stupid, but I get the aura of simpletons more from sports cards than from any other consumer group I follow.

The Donini/Beckett Love Affair Continues: How Far Does It Go?

So, Donini sent over another box to Beckett, again a week early. Im sure it was for all the "favors" to be named later, but this one gave us some indication of how deep the love affair really runs. Not only was it a week early, fresh from the factory, but it contained an auto that Donini has been publicizing non-stop since the Premiere last month.

They managed to "pull" (being a subjective term) a Percy Harvin School Colors fugly silver paint pen auto, which in itself isnt that big of a deal. The reason I am mentioning this is solely because of the sheer fuckload of marketing they have done on these cards. They have released digital galleries - twice - as well as provided extremely visible coverage from the premiere signing of the cards.

After seeing all of this marketing crap, I guessed that it was happening because when Donini releases an on card auto subset, its a holiday! No matter that they are fugly beyond belief, they are just happy to be a waiter at the on card auto dinner table, right?



Obviously, post-beckett break, its making a little more sense to me. Considering that Beckett was delivered a box with a top of the class auto from this set, we are now seeing the purpose of the Beckett box break. Its no longer about setting unrealistic expectations for the box breaks that are done by real collectors, but now its about pimping your ugly ass subsets to draw up needless buzz. My uncle, an emmy award winning writer, once said that hollywood only advertises early when its a dog, otherwise they let the stuff speak for itself - then blow it up. Here we clearly have the dog, being blown up as long ago as the fucking rookie premiere. Then you send a fresh box to Beckett with a "great" example of that target? Cmon, im not that dumb.

Im not even going to talk about the 2 patch cards they received in the same box, something that NEVER happens in boxes of Classics.

Lastly, on an unrelated note, Im happy that Donini has sort of solved their floating swatch problems, as some of the jersey cards look good. However, they majorly fucked up the base formula by editing out the field and replacing it with a weird ass brown background. Im not sure why, as I think the field is ABSOLUTELY necessary to do a picture it's due justice. Without it, you just have overdone photoshop abortions with no character.

Spoilers on Donini's "Big" Announcement

Yesterday, Donini said they had a big announcement to make via facebook, and I have gotten some information that it is to announce some NBA exclusive contracts from tomorrow's draft. Blake Griffin will be one of these people, which begs the question of why the fuck are they making such a big deal out of this WHEN THEY OWN THE EXCLUSIVE LICENSE? More importantly, without LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant, should they be wasting money on exclusive contracts when they should be figuring out how to overcome the obsticles that Topps faced when producing their basketball cards.

I am guessing that UD made no attempt to gain exclusivity with the top draft picks from this year's class, and that Donini was probably negotiating against themselves. This will mean that there will be a few things they have grossly overpaid for, instead of just one. Im guessing that they already lost many fans when UD leaves, as they are the only ones who produce cards of three of the only people who are worth anything in Basketball. Seriously, all UD has to do is put out a product with Bryant, Jordan and LeBron, and it will automatically sell more than any Donini product rookies or no rookies, team logos or no team logos.

I think its fucking hilarious that Donini thinks this announcement is worth a press conference from NYC the day before the draft, especially now that their products have about as much clout as Topps Opening Day. In fact, maybe Topps and Donini should have a sit down to discuss the level in which the basketball products will fail. Shall we talk about Eschelon, Lettermen, and Triple Threads? They definitely did not live up anywhere close to their price.