No Matter What Beckett Does, They Just Dont Seem To Get It

So I got an email from a few readers that Beckett was introducing "real time pricing" for the new, awful, and confusing site. They describe it as updated pricing every day and that you will finally be able to get NRP the day the cards are priced by their Sr. Market Analysts (The Pricing Hat).

You would think this would make them more relevant, but really it continues to show how incredibly irrelevant they really are. They are so stuck on keeping this ideal of a "price guide" around, they dont understand that the way they price cards is made completely fucking useless by new(er) innovations over the last 20 years. Yes, Beckett prices their cards the same way they did 20 years ago (the Pricing Hat). They dont get that People get their info from the computer now. I guess no one at Beckett got that memo.

So, for the first time ever, here is what I would do if I were them:

First I would send my people over to go on eBay over the next six months and find out as much about as many cards as they can and then give it to your "Sr. Market Analysts." Then start a beta program where selected card sales are monitored and averaged every day. If there is no market data, they would leave it blank and not assign a random price from the hat. After about another three months, I would start promoting the real centralized pricing trends and show people how it works, mainly because 100% of the people who go by book value are complete idiots.

Now you wont be able to show a steady price, because like the stock market, things change hourly. So, you can give a range, which is more than anyone ever needs. This would help buyers who use eBay find out if what they are getting is actually a good price. No fucking multipliers and no fucking hat drawn prices.

People with a "My Collection" will be able to see "real time" graphs of the eBay market trends of the real value of their cards, and it will finally make Beckett relevant again. I would even use it. It would be a great tool!

For those of you who deal at shows, you could submit the prices you paid for your cards. Granted these prices would be off, because dealers jack up prices to make a profit. Yet, my fledgling economic mind believes there could be a formula established to generate a real value for these. In fact, I believe it would be PRETTY FUCKING EASY.

Then, instead of releasing a hobby magazine based on one fucking huge conflict of interest, you could promote a magazine that gave commentary, showed real market trends, and gave people a good expectation of what the hobby was really like. Hell, I would buy that too. You could even have readers submit their own store bought box breaks to show other readers a fair expectation as well! Wow!

Instead of doing all of the things above, thingsI just came up with off the top of my head, they are using their centralized website to give daily updates on THEIR prices, not REAL prices. I also think its pretty fucking hilarious that they have Sr Market Analysts. Besides, if they make as much money as their Sr. Graders (The Sr. Grader is pictured below with his Jaguar) maybe people will see what I am talking about with these douche nozzles.

See people, its a business for them, not an objective guide for you. I have said it countless fucking times that Beckett is the number one authority on douchebaggery. However, every time I fucking trade online, or every time I hear someone quote book value, I just want to scream that the price expectation they have is not real. It is a hat drawn number influenced by the manufacturers to create a false ideal of how to price a card. Manufacturers know that higher book value means more sales, so they find ways to inflate those prices - hmm, how does that happen? Ad revenue given to Beckett, boxes and swag given to Beckett, favorable press given to Beckett, who knows what else. If you think integrity has a place in this business you are fucking stupid.

I have exhausted myself trying to combat this, and others have taken up the mantle to try and stand with me (Thank you also to Rob from VOTC). Also, I know there are bloggers who privately feel the same way and do their part off the record. Granted, I know I make very little difference from this blog, but for every person that stops paying attention to Beckett's stupidity and false idols, I am a success.

Product Review: 2008 SPX Football

This is the first high end procuct to be released this year, and usually it does pretty good in terms of value. Despite what people said about last year's product, I think it did pretty good for design and overall appeal. As for this year, I actually had high expectations due to the sell sheet, but boy did that give me false hope. I saw an early case break today at a local shop during lunch, and I was shocked as to what I saw.

The Good

SPX is usually a product focused around the RC autos, as with most sets for the year, but I think that the subset autos are usually overlooked. This year's subset autos are BETTER looking than the base RC autos, and I think that if I were to buy singles from this set, I would go for these. The designs look more complete and there is no event used bullshit to get mixed up with. Its just the normal signature on holoview card stock, and I think they look great. This was pretty much the only good part about this entire product.

The Bad

Why in the world are there so many fucking "Winning Materials" jersey cards? Its every fucking card plus a billion due to parallels, die cuts, and other bullshit, which would lead me to be VERY angry if I pulled one of these pieces of crap. Each RC has 25-30 it seems, and then there are veterans, and of course, duals, triples, and quads. I would rather have a base RC card with nothing on it, than have to endure these fugly messes.

Another bad thing here is the fact that the stickers are so "rodixulus" in the way they look. Normally the stickers are clear and barely noticible, but the placement and film used for these ones make them the focus of the cards. I hated that, and it most definitely detracts from what the set is presenting to everyone.

The Ugly

First, is the price. Last year this sad excuse for a set jumped from 110 a box to close to 180, just so that they could put a hit in each pack. Please, spare me this shit-for-brains excuse to drive up prices. I would rather get three hits with an auto for 110, than 9 crappy hits with a crappy auto for 180. Its so beyond funny that people buy this crap because it was bad for the baseball set, it was bad in basketball, and yet they think it will be a good product for football? Yuck.

Whats uglier than the price is the way the box hits look. The cards look beyond awful, the stickers are out of place, and I still think its dumb to diecut SPX into the cards. Plus, who chose the green hologram cardstock? I dont think these could look any worse, oh wait, forgot about the pictures on the cards. Those are probably the worst of all. This all comes together with the fact that there were more duds at the rookie premiere than ever. So, with your 180 bucks, you could end up with a piece of crap that will never play a down.

Advice to wax breakers: Save your $180 and wait for Absolute. You WONT be disappointed.

Please Legally Change My Name To "SwearBlogger"

Chad Johnson has entered a whole new unexplored level of stupidity by taking the first few steps to change his name legally to "Chad Ocho Cinco." Im guessing this is kind of like getting a tattoo of your number on your arm, but this is a little bit more, well, visible. Personally I think he deserves a name like "Chad Awfule-TD'danzer" or "Chad MeFurst-Noe'teem" because they are more fitting, and because his parents always wanted a hyphenated last name for him. In fact, here are a few other names that may fit some of the current idiots in the past and present NFL:

Orenthal James Thaglovedontfit
Emmitt Tackelosityness
Randy Bongracer
Adam "Pacman" Strep'teezegunshot
Marvin Quieterthanasilencer
Cedric Speedtwocruzcontrol
Daunte Captainstubingboatrocker (He switched to dual citizenship with Germany too)
Ron Mexico
Brett Enduplikeunitasonchargers (His great-grandfather was ethiopian)

Back to Mr. Ocho Cinco, I think it would be legendary if someone traded him to a team that has 85 as a retired number. Justice for the stupid, then.

Message To Manufacturers: STOP WITH THE HUGE ASS SETS

Ok, this is getting fucking ridiculous. First Topps does Moments and Milestones, which could possibly be the worst set ever created. Then the Yankee love fest starts and UD does a card for every single goddamn game in Yankee stadium. Now this:

2008 MLB Documentary

Product From Opening Day, Jon Lester's no-hitter, Ken Griffey's historic 600th homerun, to the last game of the season, Documentary baseball chronicles the entire 2008 Major League Baseball season with one card for every game. The most extraordinary set ever to be completed, this 4,980-card base set is the only one of its kind and unites the rare and unique opportunity to collect a full base set as well as complete sets for each individual team.

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

o One (1) Seasonal Signature in every box, on average!
o Twenty Four (24) Gold Parallels per box, on average!
o Collect the complete 4,980 card set which includes 166 cards for each of MLB's 30 teams!

PRODUCT BREAKDOWN:

Regular Cards
o Base Set- 4,980 Cards
Inserts and Parallel Cards
o Regular Card Gold Parallel
o All-Star Game Insert (1:4)
Autograph Cards (1 per box, on average)
o Seasonal Signatures

Release Date: 12/15/2008
_____________

Can we stop with this shit? No one needs this crap. Fill these slots with cooler ideas like a throw back to the SP Holoviews. Now that would be cool.

Alright, You Win, This IS the Best Box Ever Of 2008 Donruss Classics

Warning, the following is:

I was going through the idiot bomb message boards checking on some A & G breaks, when I couldnt help but notice that this guy did indeed break the "BEST BOX EVER!??! MOJO!!!! LOOK!"

Recap ("HITS!!!!!!"):

Tony Romo Jersey /9 - 30 bucks (only because cowboy fans are stupid)

"Classic Quad Sanders, LT, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith!!! Holy Crap!!! MOJO! 81/100!" - $46

"DeSean Jackson Jersey Auto 10/10!!!!!" - 50 bucks, I cant see it worth more than that on TWGM

So, this was a box that BARELY broke even on the box price, and even if I am off a few bucks, its still not THAT much more. Of course, its not really about the hits themselves, its about the person posting them (and his use of more than 50 exclamation points during the course of his post).

Kill me now.

New Train Wreck Posted On Beckett

ALERT. THE FOLLOWING IS:





This time we get to see roman helmet lover Tracy Hackler open two boxes of Donruss Americana II. Commence with Bash Beckett Day II (BBD II).

Again, no one cares that they do this except for a select number of rightous people, and the hobby's number one authority on douchebaggery lives to see another day.

Funny enough, it seems like they werent sent any UD Football Heroes to open. Im crossing my fingers on this. Maybe UD has finally wised up. If this is the case, I might consider lifting the ban until I see that Beckett is getting boxes again. Then the ban is back in full force.

DLP, you suck for continuing this horrible practice.

Anyone want to call what they will get in their 08 Topps Football boxes? I say AT LEAST one Rookie Premiere autograph. AT LEAST.