Is There A Solution To The Jersey Card Problem?

I have been talking about design a lot lately, mainly because of the sheer crap that is being churned out at record paces this year. However, this is not going to be one of those posts. An interesting thought crossed my mind, and it made me wonder if we should just do away with Jersey cards that don’t have autos on them. Keep it to patch cards and auto jersey cards, so that the staleness of the plain swatch cards starts to go away.

Here is the situation that led me to this, many of you are already clued in. When it comes to jersey cards, just the plain ones, they don’t sell for more than a buck or two, even if its Tom Brady or Albert Pujols. Most of the time they are just clumsily placed swatches on parallel cards that make my eyes burn, especially when done by Donini. Despite being practically worthless due to the numbers in which they are produced, these are still considered to be "hits" and count towards the normal allotment of the box. Personally, I am bored with these cards, and it seems as though the general buying public is too. Of course, that doesn’t stop Topps from releasing ass loads of "relics" from practice sessions and old timer games, slapping the name sterling or triple threads on it and trying to market it as a high end product.

What is the solution, especially if the companies continue to use the hits per box ratio as a way to draw in buyers? Well, UD has used the non-auto manupatch letters in the past, and that will continue with Icons this year. The letters go for about the same amount as the crap jerseys, so they thought it was a reasonable switch to sway from the monotony. I applaud the creativity, but the cards don’t live up to the status of THE solution to this overwhelming issue.

When you look back and see that 10 years ago, jersey cards were still going for $15-$20 each, you can tell that things have gone in the wrong direction when some don’t even get .10 these days. It used to be that getting a Jersey card meant you had a good box, now it means you have a bad one. I think that we need to address now that those plain swatches arent going to cut it anymore.

If this means that we get boxes with less guaranteed hits per box, I think that’s fine. Maybe guarantee one or two autos, and have the jerseys be an added bonus. Low number them, design them as stand alones, and make sure all of them are patches. I think that may be a start, see where it takes us.

The problem with implementing a solution in this respect is that you need to get all the companies to do it at once, which will never happen, especially in football with 3 competing companies. The minute that one company does away with plain swatch cards, the other will market that they are offering more for the money, no matter the fact that what they are doing is actually worse. Hell, Donini still thinks they have the most on card autos for the market, even though they are the sticker label capital of the industry. They even marketed a product with no redemptions, not mentioning the fact that BOTH competitors have on card autos as their offering.

Guys, its pretty simple. We have become complacent in our tastes. Companies continually exploit the fact that collectors are fucking sheep, and it grinds my gears to no end. I told UD yesterday that all you have to do is slap 38 "relics" onto a card and all of a sudden you have the product of the fucking year. That’s all it takes these days! Seriously! Design doesn’t matter, content doesn’t matter, all that matters is that people feel like they are moving away from the normal swatch card. What they don’t care about is that most of the products that try to do that, only accomplish it by piling more wood on the fire, not putting out the fire all together. That does not fly with me. The solution stays true to the idea "less is more" rather than "A FUCKLOAD MORE is more."

Donini's Recent Fails

I have been saying for a long time that Donini has no idea how to design a jersey card. After the ugly display in Elite, I want to go over a few things that I just cant understand.

Here are 5 cards that I think are very, very poorly designed. The swatches are all over the fucking place, and half of them just shouldnt be there. See, Donini really needs to understand that not every card should be jersified. That means that you may need to create more cards, god forbid, but thats your job, and I am fucking sick of having sets built around these pieces of shit.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Match the letter above to the letter below:

A - I am not sure why they decided this was a good place for the swatch. This card is so fucking busy there really isnt ANY place for a swatch, it needs to be more simple.

B - Why put the Pats logo on a helmet? It looks fucking wierd and fucking stupid. Logos were designed so that they could be displayed as solo standing items, no reason to show it this way without explanation. It doesnt fit.

C - The script "elite" and the swatch should be in different spots. Im not really sure why they decided to do it this way, probably because they were too fucking lazy to switch the card around. Either way, the whole card looks ridiculous, not sure what is up with those assymetrical lines.

D - This swatch is placed well, but it is the wrong shape. The whole card is an ill fitting combination of straight edges and circles, but this card would look much better with a circular swatch and inward curving edges to the box that approaches either side of it. Considering that this card is about targets, not sure why they chose a design similar to that of the universal symbol for atoms.

E - More logos on helmets, completely unnecessary.

F - This swatch is completely in no mans land, but it fits the design of the card. Yet, because the card is split into quadrants in such a weird way, im not sure why they thought it would make a good fit for a swatch. Another floating window, another fail.

G - Another card that has no room for a swatch, despite the out of place presence of the one they forced in there. When you cover up the player, something done on many of Donini's awful designs, you takes everything out of the card that it was created for.

H - Brady's name just looked so ridiculous in that spot to me. Im not sure why it was done in that font in that allignment. They should have done a different font and had it cover the whole box. Get some better designers, my 5 year old cousin could do better with a crayon.

Now, its pretty simple to solve all of this freaky deaky ugly design work. Either design cards around the swatches and find places for the rest of the stuff later, or maybe dont shove the swatches down our throats at all. UD and even Topps have come up with some other filler ideas besides sets crammed full of relics, some good, some epic fails, but at least they are trying. This is complete fucking laziness in action.

Product Review: 2008 Ultimate Football

2008 Ultimate football is live, and this leaves 2008 Exquisite as the only remaining football set of 2008. If you take out your personal crystal ball and look back to mid 2007, you would see ultimate as a stale product, badly in need of a revamp, put together as an afterthought. The cards were cookie cutter-ed and basically slapped with hundreds of worthless stickers. The design was ridiculous, and the product just plain sucked. Hell, even upper deck knew they had a stinker on their hands when they look back on it. Fast forward to Uitimate Baseball 2008, and again, you have a cookie cutter-ed set with not much variation or value in the cards. It had some cool ideas with the signed jersey pieces, but to make an entire set out of that is boring and lame. 2008 football is much different, with a brand new approach, a brand new case system, and some kick ass cards. It has its issues, but we will get to those in a second.

The Good

I always liked Ultimate because it was the first 100 dollar per pack item on the market that was available to everyone. Of course, when it first came out, Jerseys were not that common, so it was okay to put that price tag on things. Now, its really tough to justify that price tag unless you have some nice hits. Luckily, Ultimate does have some nice hits. Not only that, but it has a very sleek design for just about all the subsets, and I am a big fan of any set that has a nice design (See Premier 2008).

I really like the dual inscriptions cards, as they are dual autos with inscriptions, both on card, with a cool design as well. This part of any set is usually forgotten, but these cards are awesome. I think its always cool when you get something in addition to the autos, especially when its two players on a card, with two extra inscriptions. I saw one with the two manning brothers, both inscribed with their super bowl MVP years. Call me a JC, but I think that’s awesome.

As for the 1997 legend sets updates, I think it is an awesome idea. The original set is collected by people like the Piece of History 500 home run club set for baseball, and to finally get an update is beyond awesome. The design still holds as one of the best ever, and to have Favre, Elway, Faulk and others added to it is a really, really good way to draw people in. Some of you may not like the set checklist selections, or the design, but for those of you who were around the first time, will no doubt love these as I do.

Aside from the designs or the legends, having a complete set with on card autos is really deserving of a great ovation. I don’t think you guys really understand what it takes to get a bunch of stickers signed, let alone all the actual cards. It’s a great feat, and I think to have 3+ full sets with all on card autos is a huge step away from stickers. It shows the planning, execution, and follow up that most of us crave in a manufacturer, and I will be the first to give my applause. You may say that I have my head up UD's ass, and you are probably correct - but at least the sets are worthy of that. DLP and Topps have churned out a few good ones this year, but nothing like the horrid mid year releases that were LCM and some of the other high end diarrhea that Topps put out. UD has had a pretty solid calendar, and I am not afraid to admit that I have a little man crush on some of the 2008 sets they produced.

The Bad

Im kind of pissed that they added a jersey swatch to the RC autos this year. If you look at 2006, they were some of the simplest, yet coolest card I have seen in a while. 2007 weren’t great, but they surely werent bad either. This year, I like the design, but I feel like they cheated a little by tossing in a swatch. As a subset, those autos would be pretty fucking cool, but as the base RC autos, Im feeling a little slighted. That’s just me.

Im still not sold on the pack configuration, as I told Gregg, mainly because there is just no guarantee anymore that you will get any of the previous year's box hits in your packs that you buy. Although Gregg assured that the ratio of duds to scores is very low, I cant put my seal of approval on it until I see more breaks come Wednesday.

The Ugly

Although Ultimate is vastly improved over last year, I still don’t think its justified to keep around as a set. It doesn’t have the niche to me that SPA does, and Exquisite is in a different league, though the box prices used to be similar. With the rising cost of producing a set, Ultimate may just be better as left on the cutting room floor. It used to be THE set, but now its just lost in the shuffle. Honestly, did any of you even remember that Ultimate wasn’t released as normal this year? I forgot until about a week ago. I think most of us would rather have another mid end product rather than another shot at a high end one. Maybe Im alone on this, but Im sure there are better uses of this slot.

Overall, Ultimate is a really good end of the year offering this year. Although the set is not really needed a month before Exquisite, it does have its merits to prevent it from being completely irrelevant. I would say it may be worth your time to pick up some singles and maybe a pack or two in place of your normal 100 dollar purchase for the month, but I think with Exquisite on the horizon, I might just think twice before plunking down any money.

First Images of Ultimate FB Hit The Web

One of the Blowout Cards forum users busted a case of Ultimate and posted the results and pics on the site, and I must say, I am impressed so far. The UD legends additions look like they could be everything that people want them to be, and the fact that all autos seem to be on card is amazing.

I also like the design, and I think after last year, anything is an improvement. The only thing that I dont really like that much is the addition of a swatch to the previously swatchless RC autos. That was unnecessary, and I think the previous ones were great just the way they were. No reason to overjersify them.

Overall, I think this product could be a home run if things turn out the way this break looks, and I have a feeling Exquisite will probably be the same.

Check it out!

A Crisis We All Can Relate To: IM BORED!

You know, as a card blogger, I had a feeling it would eventually come to this. Right now there is a huge lull in the product release, and just not much going on in the hobby really. On the personal side, the Twins are done and the Vikings are REALLY FUCKING BORING, so its tough to not want to run to the shop and rip through 800 dollars worth of crappy boxes.

Originally I thought this lull would be cured by the best or second best mid end product of last year, Gridiron Gear, but after seeing some of the acutal card designs, wow, I am disappointed.

Who put these jersey windows on the design plate? They are further into no-man's land than George Costanza's shirt button. Someone needs to alert them that the lack of an auto on a jersey card is not an excuse to leave the jersey window there. Wow.

As for the RC Gridiron Gems, the pullouts look fine. In fact they look so fine, that the rest of the cards look out of place when they didnt make up for the fact that their design doesnt fucking fit the other parallels of the card. Last year's white borderless design was good enough to bring a tear to your eye. This year they went into design overdrive and it looks awful. Really too bad.

I am praying...

...PRAYING that Limited has potential. If limited sucks as bad as Gridiron Gear may suck, National Treasures is a lost cause. Also, with UDs seemingly endless parade of on card autos, the stickers just dont do it anymore for me. However, after talking to a few shop owners over the weekend, we may have to see some adjustment in High End stuff because they cant sell it anymore. Premier was great in my opinion, but the product is out en masse with no buyers. That is really too bad as well.

I would not be surprised if 5 years from now, there are no remnants of the hobby wax as it is today, but rather a new way of thinking about it altogether. I mean, look at the configuration for Ultimate - I have a feeling that is just the beginning.

Please Line Them Up And Shoot Them In The Testicles

You know, I dont check the IBMB at all anymore for comedic gold because their new website blows donkey ass. Yet, as usual, SCU readers come through in the clutch. One of my faithful readers, Jeremy, alerted me to an article I cant resist to completely destroy. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Beckett has previewed 2008 Triple Threads to the idiot conglmerate over on their site, despite being a few weeks tardy on the news.

The opening card pictured on their ridiculously late preview slideshow is the "24-piece relic" of Adrian Peterson. This card, pictured below, is the most ugly, stupidly conceived, hard to read, needlessly multi-jersey card ever created. There is a penny sized picture of peterson on the card instead of a nice large pic, it is an impossible to display foldout card, and the card has eleventy billion parallels. You may ask, who would buy this shitty product that hasnt changed in three years? Umm, let me display the comments here, because I think you may get the idea.

"WOW! that is the greatest card i have ever seen in my life and of my favorite player. that card is to die for.I wish i had that in my collection. the slideshow is awesome too!! You guys need to let one of us board members come on and do a box busters with you. keep up the great work GUYS!" - mblackmore01

"Those are some SICK cards. I'll be buying..." - stangy24

"Absolutely one of the greatest cards I have ever seen!" - Lprimus

In response to above: "+1" -AFFF

I am asking someone to please risk the jailtime and remove the testicles of these fucking retards so they cant procreate and fill the world with people who know as much about card aesthetics as Sarah Palin knows about foreign policy.

Imagine The Possibilities...

I have always wondered how close we are to a set made up of all 1/1 cards. Nothing else, just one of one everything. I know that Razor is coming out with their extreme high end cut signature set, but I am talking about a sports based set.

I would expect that this new type of set would be around exquisite prices, if not much more than the already high price, and would contain an array of cards. It wouldn’t be all logos and other special cards. Im guessing it will be an Upper Deck product, and it will cause a huge reaction, both good and bad, from collectors everywhere. Each pack, would contain a 1/1 base card, a 1/1 jersey card, a 1/1 Jersey auto card, and one other special card. I would expect it would be at least $800-900 per pack, and it would sell out in a second.

If you think about it, its not that much of a novelty anymore. I mean, each jersey they get has at least 6-15 potential patches that could be used for 1/1 purposes, such as logos, letters, team name neck patches, laundry tags, buttons, etc. Of course there is never a shortage of autos, so im sure that this would be huge. Also, with the 5-16 patches per jersey (on average, ha!) we could expect a print run of 100-200 per player, all with 1/1 serial numbers. Face it, it could be done.

I would also like to see what they could pull out for 8-10 person autograph cards, as the octographs are usually pretty stunning, and I think it was UD portraits that had the decagraphs with 10 players on one 8x10.

Now, I would never buy this in a million years, as it would be pretty obvious that my 900 bucks could be spent elsewhere, but that wouldn’t stop everyone from purchasing. I have seen people bust cases of Exquisite at once, even with the expectation that they will not make their money back. I expect this new product would be no different. However, if Topps were to get ahold of this idea first, you can kiss it goodbye, as it would just be Triple Threads with more 1/1s (as if that was possible). Personally, UD would be the only one I would want to make it, as they are the originators of the ultra high end products, and they do it the best - most of the time.

My guess is that it would be called UD White Label or UD Extravagence, so that it would seem "better" than Exquisite. But honestly, is this type of thing "better" for the hobby? My answer is a muddled gray mess, as it seems like this is the next logical step, but also its fucking crazy-go-nuts. Im hoping that when (not if) this product is created, it will be done with the collectors in mind. It has endless possibilities for cool, never before seen cards, and I think it is a pretty obvious place to screw people over with one color jerseys and awfully paired duals, triples and quads.

Either way, here's to a card that looks like this:

Sounding Off On Jersey Cards

So far this year, Topps has not used the term "event used" on their cards, but instead changed it to "Player Worn" to fill the gap (see below). This is plain deception in my mind, as new collectors have no idea that the rookie premiere is a sham when it comes to "relics." In fact, when it comes to the big three companies in the big three sports, I trust topps the least with their jersey cards. They never refer to them as jerseys, but rather as "relics" because they don’t know if the swatches are actually jersey stuff in some sports. It could be pants, it could be warm ups, it could be a fucking coat they wore on the bench.



Personally, I think event used jerseys suck. The players wear them for literally two seconds, if that, and then throw them into a basket. All of this is done in a tent, where the public cant see, and then they are labeled as "event worn." Some of the time, they aren't even their own jerseys. Sidney Rice threw on at least two different Tarvaris Jackson jerseys at the 07 premiere. You can guarantee it happened again this year. Also, you know that picture on the card? Those jerseys from that picture are never cut up, according to my source at the rookie premiere. They are given to the players to do as they please, many of whom have never worn or seen the official team issues yet.

Topps has been known to use jerseys from non-official games, that’s why they are called "relics." You know those stark white jersey pieces from a guy who played in the 50's? Yeah, those aren't game used. Topps buys numerous jerseys from old timer games and public appearances to insert into their cards. As said before, older jerseys are becoming more expensive and more scarce, so rather than conserving what they have, they find other ways to do it. They have cut up Mickey Mantle's suits, ties and pants, among other stupid excuses for swatches, and for this reason I don’t buy Topps jersey cards. Right now, every single Topps Triple Threads card is labeled, "This relic was not used in any specific event, game or season." What the fuck is that? Seriously! I just paid 170 bucks for this box, and you cant even guarantee that this shit is game used? Give me a fucking break.

I have stated before that there is a possibility that the jerseys on the cards are not real. There is no promise other than the word of the manufacturers that the jersey came from the player on the card, and there is no reason to believe that they are being 100% honest with us. As recent as a few months ago, a Michael Jordan UNC warm up jersey was sold by Mastro Auctions for 11,000 dollars. The problem was that authenticators believe that the real nameplate was ripped off and Jordan's was put on. What does that say about the companies that buy from these places?

Lets face it people, this industry is more scam ridden than most of the idiots believe. The reason I first mentioned the (now retired) Joe Collector was because he was the person who refused to believe that nothing was going on behind the curtain with Beckett, UD, Topps or anybody. I can guarantee that is not the case, as any time there is money involved, douchebags migrate to that place like its a fucking pilgrimage.

The funny thing is that no one seems to care that they are being scammed. Instead, they live their existence believing that the Event Worn card they have in their hand is from an actual game, or that the auto they have hanging on the wall is actually real, or that the graded BGS card they own is actually the low 8.5 it says on the tag. Bullshit, that’s what it is. Those people make the hobby a shitty place because they help to blur the line when it comes the things you don’t do to people. Because they keep buying, the companies will keep finding ways to screw people, spend less money doing it, and will eventually ruin the things we love for good.

A Comment On Stadium Club Football

I was going to write a product review for Stadium Club just like I did for Threads, but honestly I cant find many good things to say about this product. The price point is an abortion at 170+ dollars and the cards look awful. I really thought this set had potential, but holy fucking fuck this stuff is not worth even a pack purchase. Topps has not understood the art of clear stickers, and I think it has become as ugly as the foil stickers that UD used FIVE FUCKING YEARS AGO.

Not only that but all the stickers are off centered on the RC cards, and from what I have seen they are also embedded into the card stock. Are you fucking kidding me? You want me to pay 170 bucks for this? Its as bad as the basketball version.

Baseball collectors - WATCH THE FUCK OUT!!

Wagner Sells For 1.6 Million

Im sure there isnt a collector on the planet that doesnt know about the Wagner card. Its seriously the most talked about collectable ever created. Well, we can add another chapter to its enigma as one of the few to be known to exist has sold for 1.6 million.

What is more interesting about this article is that the guy who bought it is a long time collector and not necessarily a person who wants to dump this card in a few years. I love the story of him cutting out a copy of the card and saying that one day he would own it. He was 6. That is the kind of person that should have this card.

Another interesting note, he also purchased a Gherig GU jersey for $240,000, which makes me happy that Topps wont get their hands on it to cut it up.

If you guys havent gone to Sotheby's and searched through their auction catalouges, I would do it one day when you have a few hours. The stuff up for auction is amazing, and you WILL get caught up in the legacy of it. My favorite was an autographed Ruth bat that hit the first home run in yankee stadium. It, not surprisingly, sold for over a million.

Here is where I say again that it is so beyond fucking stupid to cut this shit up for cards. Preserve the game's history for fuck's sake.

TJCL: A Response? Kind of.

As I mentioned before, Chris Harris has taken to writing about Joe Collectors in a defining fashion, and to tell you the truth, Im pretty happy about it. His latest entry on Things Joe Collectors Like, is a little off though, and I want people to get the real(er) story based on my take of things.

Chris isnt completely wrong when he says that JCs love hits, that’s assumed. But, the problem is that 95% of the collecting hobby does the same thing. We look for the stuff that makes us the most happy, and an Autograph or Jersey card usually does that for me better than a base card. Ive said before that I don’t bust THAT much stuff, but when I do, I enjoy getting cool "relics" and autos of my favorite players. When I search for All Day, Mauer and Morneau on TWGM, I don’t search for the base, I don’t need to buy those. However, when I see a ridiculously cool Auto, im in it like a soldier in the shit.

The difference between the JCs and the PP, or Privileged Portion of collectors who are up on what they need to be up on (Please update your SCU glossary), is that when a JC pulls a "hit" they go fucking nutso, and they must post said hit on a message board with tons of exclamation points and some brain fart incarnation of MOJO. When someone who doesn’t have a mental imbalance pulls a hit, we put it aside and bask in the bright light of coolness for the card. If it ever makes it on to a message board, or blog in this case, we are realistic and calm, and no exclamation points or MOJO is used. We don’t say "SICK HIT!!!!!!!!!" and we don’t say "OMFGKGFLK MOJOZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUPERMAN-JO!!!!!!!!!!!" for any reason whatsoever.

Ladies and gents, welcome to the PP. Wear your badge proudly.

Five for Fighting

After reading this blog for the few months its been in existence, you may think that I hate the way the hobby is heading. You are pretty much 100% correct, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think that it is a bad time to get involved in collecting cards. I think collecting SOMETHING, whether it is cards, comics, stamps, or whatever is a great way to spend time away from your work or school, and I think that collecting cards is one of the better ways to do it of those mentioned. The reason is pretty simple, as most employers gravitate towards sports and the world of sports, one can gain a great knowledge of that world by starting up a card collection. I cant count the number of times my card expertise has helped me make connections at work. Because my job deals with each and every state in the union, talking to the clients about their favorite team/player is a great tactic. I can thank my love of football and baseball cards for that.

With that, here are two top five lists on why I think it is the best time to get into the hobby, and also the worst time.

Top 5 Reasons Why It Is a Great Time to Start Collecting Cards

1. eBay

Ebay has allowed every collector access to almost every card out there at any possible time. It has also provided us with a way to determine price without looking at some douchebag's idea of what a card is worth in a monthly publication. It has become the stock market for sports collecting and has shrunk the hobby expanse into one singular website where you can find exactly what you want at market price at any time. It also gives people access to those 1/1s that normally wouldn’t see the light of day, and makes show dealers who price gouge collectors almost obsolete. There is a dark side to everything, but ill get to that later.

2. Wide Range of Products

Today, unlinke the golden age and silver age of collecting, you have a ton of products to choose from when deciding what box/pack to buy. If you want to spend $500 bucks, there are products out there for you, just like those of us who want to spend $1.00. Each product has different sell points and features, and you no longer have to buy a product just to collect the base set. With so many options out there, it has also benefitted the collector in mid range products because the companies will fight to give you the most bang for your buck. Products that once had one hit for the hundred bucks, now will have three to make sure they can compete with the other products at the same price point. Believe it or not, we benefit.

3. Blogs

Thanks to the interweb, collectors now have other sources for hobby news that don’t stem from people that accept money from the manufacturers themselves. People like Chris Harris have been braving the blogosphere for 10 plus years now, and he has yet to sell out to Topps and UD - as far as I know. Other blogs like this one, Wax Heaven and others have taken it upon themselves to make sure that the wool is not pulled over our eyes without a fight - making it harder for the donkey rapers and scam artists that litter this hobby to get one over on people. Thanks to the blogs, card companies realize that the collector is not silent any more, and have actually made strides to please us by instituting ways to contact them other than through customer service. Also, it seems that some companies actually send their reps to read the blogs, even if they may publish disparaging remarks. I know for a fact that this blog is read by the three biggies, without a doubt. Thanks sitemeter!

4. YouTube

Ever want to see what it is like to bust three cases of Exquisite? Done. Ever want to see what a product is like before you bust it? Done. Thanks to YouTube, collectors now have a haven where they can show the ups and downs of the box break and show other people what they have been wondering for years prior to its creation. Dr. Wax Battle has been filming breaks since at least 2005, and his videos are watched by thousands. His customers have become the stars, while the products are shown in a raw state with no interference from the producers themselves. Chri5784 has also created a way to see the products opened through his store, Cards Infinity, and even offers ways for people to have their boxes opened on camera by purchasing the boxes online. This would be higher, but the Joe Collectors have taken it upon themselves to make YouTube more of a burden than a blessing.

5. The Companies Actually Listen

Since I have gotten back into the hobby a few years ago, a lot of bad things have changed for the better. Redemptions are no longer taking 2-3 years to fufill, UD is going to let collectors choose replacements online rather than having it randomized, DLP is authenticating patches from their products with a special technology, and more and more auto cards are becoming on card rather than stickers. You know how all of this happened? Collectors from blogs, message boards and other venues have all said how much the above makes us fucking pissed off. For all the bad things that are STILL going on, its good to see that some of them listen to us.

Top 5 Reasons Why It Is a Horrible Time to Start Collecting Cards

1. eBay Scams

Due to the faceless transaction created by eBay, it has become commonplace for people to scam others by a number of ways. Whether it is trimming cards to make them seem like they are in better condition than they are, resealing crap autos and jerseys into packs and calling them "hot packs," or inserting fake patches into cards to make them more valuable, it is no longer 100% safe to buy anything anymore. Personally, due to this fact, I wont buy from overseas, I wont buy ridiculous looking patches unless it is obvious that they are real, and even PSA/BGS cards make me think twice now. It sucks how many people there are that take advantage of others. What sucks even more, is that the more money the scam artists make off the Joe Collectors, the more likely they are to continue, and the more likely eBay is to do nothing due to their own interests in the deal. For shame…

2. Card Companies and Hobby Authorities Using Our Mediums Against Us

If you think that blogs and YouTube are a blessing, you are only partially correct. Thanks to these mediums, people like the manufacturers have the ability to peddle their products and make it seem like they are giving us what we would normally get from a regular non-affiliated collector. Beckett and UD consipired to shit out the worst thing to happen to the hobby in years with their awful staged Exquisite break on YouTube, that made it seem like what they got was actually possible for all us regular people out there. Most of the Joe Collectors thought it was all 100% luck, and therefore Beckett and UD accomplished their goal. Beckett also has a blog and a message board where "collectors" can go and speak their mind. What most people don’t understand is how much the manufacturers are actually involved. It is no longer a collectors voice like it used to be.

3. Graded Cards

Ebay created a necessity for collectors to know what they were getting in terms of condition without actually looking the card over themselves. Who were the first people to jump on that idea? Why, Beckett of course! They turned condition into a business by starting to grade cards that were submitted to them by collectors. The problem? Well, despite selling their own graded cards for profit, Beckett created a way for more and more people to make this hobby into a business venture. High graded cards have started to carry an enormous premium, and there are thousands of collectors out there who believe there is no marketing element involved in letting a third party grade cards. Not many people question the grades from BGS and PSA, but they should. The cards are not looked over as thoroughly as you would expect, and the bigger the order, the less time is spent on each card. Another way Beckett screws you over.

4. The Dumbing Down of the Joe Collector

Most of the bad things about the hobby are easier to spot than a black guy at a Knicks game, yet the Joe Collectors out there are getting dumber by the day. Every single day I see posts on the message boards or I get emails from people who just don’t get it, or refuse to get it. My favorite are the latter. They refuse to believe that they are being scammed or had, and even when presented with overwhelming evidence, they couldnt care less. I documented their life in my post earlier, so please check that out before going any further here. Plus, they have more money to spend than ever because they think that card collecting is the best possible way to make money. Forget stocks or gold, they want jerseys and autos and they wont stop until their PC is filled with "Sick MOJO cardz!"

5. The Card Collecting Kids We Grew Up As Are Pretty Much Dead

Cards are a multi billion dollar industry for the people involved, and they are no longer focused on bringing in the kids we once were. The average box price has jumped almost 80 dollars over the last 10 years, and the average pack price is no difference. Since the way cards are produced is changing, the people who collect are changing too. Of course, the old school guys are still around, but many of them are as old as your father, or are fathers themselves. You used to be able to buy the best pack on the market for your week's allowance and still have a shot at the big boys. Forget it now, those days are over

Base of Operations

I want to ask a question that has been on my mind for a while, and I think it may be a source of some controversy for some old timey collectors. Over the last year or so, companies have been moving more and more towards the "tin-style" box rather than the actual size box with 18-24 packs. Usually in these tins, you get the box hits and one or two base cards to satisfy your hunger. If you are opening a box of UD Black, you get 2 cards for 250 bucks. This begs the question of whether or not base cards are becoming obsolete in the industry, due to the overjersification and overautofication of sets in the market (I know those words are made up, but they are AWESOME). For most of you, the basic concept of this makes the kid in you die a little, but let me go over some pros and cons.

First off, this obviously wouldn’t be for EVERY SINGLE set. It would only be the ones that are based on the auto/jersey subsets and not the base set. I mean, what would Topps be without a base set? Nothing, that’s what. This would be for products like SP Authentic, CoSigners, Triple Threads, Gridiron Gear, Leaf Certified Materials, Threads, etc. Instead of having to rip through pack after pack of base for SPA, all you would have to do is pop open the collectible tin. Products like Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome would still be base ridden products, but sets like Triple Threads would no longer be two packs of base with 2 hits. Instead, it would just be the two hits, or at the most, one base card with the box hits. I support this concept because I think it will force companies to live up to the price point a little bit more efficiently. Look at UD Black Basketball, which is the product of the year for Basketball collectors. They can get away with two cards per box because they make the boxes/cases worth buying.

Secondly, when it comes to Natty Treasures and Exquisite, no more base. Forget that shit, they would either have to shrink the box size or add another card that isnt a base card. No one buys those sets for the base, so im not thinking there will be a mutiny over this. In fact, this brings up a general microcosm of the hobby, mainly that the sheep don’t care about base cards in their mid-end products because you cant make any money off base. Making money aint my thang, but personally, I couldn’t care less about the base. I just throw them in a box in the closet, yes, literally throw. Hell, if I could get SPA in tin form with my three hits, I would be happy as a fucking pig in shit.

On the other hand, I didn’t get into the hobby as a kid to get Jersey and Auto cards. In fact, they werent even around much other than a few scarce cards. I loved ripping through packs and pulling out my favorite guys for the albums I had. I would trade with my friends and we were pleased with nothing but base. Our guilty pleasure was the insert cards and we loved those bastards like they were our children. You couldn’t even touch my Shawn Kemp Jam City card without my permission, if not only because I had pulled that sucker myself. Now, if the base cards are gone, collectors like this probably would dwindle to the point of extinction with lack of product. Actually, I think this is already the case, mainly because companies know where their bread and butter is coming from already. Set collectors are dying off as high end products become more attractive and low end sets continue to get the short end of the stick. I think Topps has finally realized that its pointless to spend much time putting together a good set, so they try to include "error" cards like the Jeter to make it more buy-worthy for the big whales.

Another disturbing trend that I could see happening is a complete base set with Jersey pieces in every card. No card is not a relic, and people would fucking flip a shit over it. Once this happens, its over for the normal sets. Because there isnt a set today without autos or jerseys, it says that the direction of the industry is heading for more cards like this rather than less. For people like me, I don’t really care. For people like some of the bloggers out there who thrive on busting cheap packs and writing good articles on them, it could be pretty bad. Awesomely Bad Wax, A Pack a Day, and all the others out there are great blogs from collectors that still get joy out of base. It kind of makes me sad that the kid in me has died that loved that era of card collecting.