More 2013 Allen and Ginter Retail Blasters

It seems I am getting hooked on this years Allen and Ginter. Once again I passed by a Target next to me and found two more blasters. The funny thing is, someone was there before me and had one in his hand reading the box. I patiently waited (at least thats how I appeared to be :) ) to see if he wanted it. But when he put the box back I did not hesitate and grabbed both blasters.

Not to say I had the greatest pulls, but sometimes you just have to buy the product. So here is what I pulled out of two boxes. One Will Middlebrooks No Number Mini and one Vida Blue framed autograph.

Checkoutmycards.com, Their Changes and Their Ways of Doing Business

Lately it seems that Checkoutmycards.com the website that acts as a middlemen for sports cards sellers are implementing new rules. For anybody that collects baseball, basketball or whatever sports cards they should know about this site by now.
So recently they have decided the information they have been giving out from Beckett should no longer be free. I understand that nothing in life is free except for the garbage on the streets. I also understand that Checkoutmycards.com is a business that needs to make money.
I also understand that both Beckett and COMC are businesses that needs to make money and that when you're a businessman your going to try and maximize your profits. I really do believe that Beckett is trying to force COMC to pay them for the rights to use the information, nothing wrong with that, as I have said before, nothing is free.
What I don't understand is why is COMC catering to a business that is now considered obsolete? Not too many collectors use Beckett's prices as the means to value a card. The value of a card is how much it has sold for and that is usually found on ebay. Also the news of implementing the rules to charge their customers to pay up for this information has led to a huge fiasco on their blog.
There a few things that COMC needs to understand. Nowadays there are not too many options in selling and buying sports cards online. COMC and eBay are the two largest companies, there is no need for Beckett to get involved.
Another thing COMC needs to understand. People will always bitch, whine and complain. You can never satisfy everyone and you know what? Let them bitch, whine and complain. As I've stated before there are really only two options. Sell on eBay and deal with all the deadbeat bidders which eBay loves and cradles. Or deal with COMC and their rules and fees.
Now COMC has claimed that they're trying to create a database for previous sales. Why are they creating more work and headaches for themselves? Not to mention they are opening a huge can of worms. The easiest solution in my mind is this. Get rid of Beckett once and for all and free yourselves from their contract or blackmailing
COMC has to grow as a company and throw out that philosophy that they can satisfy all collectors. Its never going to happen. They really think the buyers and sellers that use their site really loves them? Even though they're using COMC a lot of users still don't like them, what does that tell you?
Now you can call me a pessimistic SOB, but this is what I truly believe in. You can never satisfy all collectors, you can never satisfy all people on this earth. If COMC wants to implement rules/ fees just do it. eBay has grown into a huge company, do you see them catering to people that whine and cry? They don't, people hate them, but you know what? People still use eBay.
So to COMC my conclusions is this. Grow a pair of you know what and stop bending over backwards for everyone. Remember there are only two options to buy and sell sports cards. COMC and eBay.

Whatever happened too.... ?

When you look through your baseball card collection, have you ever wondered. Whatever happened to this player? They were highly touted as top prospects, five tool players and #1 draft pick. But it has been 6 years and they are nowhere to be found, there career is invisible and that rookie card you paid $40 for is now selling for 99 cents, if even.

Let me throw a few names out there. Andy Marte, Chris Lubanski, Matt Bush, Delmon Young... ok so maybe Young could be an exception, at least he is playing in the MLB. But have you checked his bowman chrome rookie card? What was once a $60 card is now selling for $10. Thats a pretty big drop considering Young had a pretty good year for the Tigers in 2011.

But the other players listed have disappeared from the radar. They have either struggled in the minors or have been arrested one too many times. Products like Bowman Chrome are great to buy because you never know when you might get the next Albert Pujols. But then again if you think about it Pujols' rookie card was in 2001. That was 11 years ago, it has been 11 years since we had a breakout player like that. You could argue about players like Jason Heyward but even he has been struggling in 2011 and his cards have dropped considerably in value as well. Sometimes it feels like playing the lottery when choosing which prospects to buy. You might get lucky, but you might also get Matt Bushwhacked.

The future of autographs in baseball cards

So whats the future of the baseball card hobby? Will the cards we have now go up in value? Will new collectors flock to get that new shiny baseball cards? Or perhaps nobody will care anymore and baseball cards will become a thing of the past only to be forgotten?

I hope that last one won't come true but sometimes I feel we are on the verge. It seems that every time you turn around another shiny card of the same player is been produced. Players like Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter and other stars are signing cards left and right. Its watering down the collectibility of baseball cards. I guess you can also say the same thing about any other sports cards.

So here is what I think is going to happen in the future. Collectors who collects cards by players will start seeing a softer market on their cards. Every time a set is made we have at least one autographed card in that set dedicated to a player if not more. Now baseball card companies produces multitudes of products each year. If this process is repeated we have at least twenty autographs per player, per year.

Now for the people who buys to resell cards I think now might be the time to abandon ship. Not to say there is no money to be made but if older cards keep dropping in value your really just flushing your money down the toilet. Cards from years ago unless severely short printed will probably drop tremendously in value. Now of course there are certain players who just don't sign much and their cards are more expensive. Having said that, this could be an insight and a possible solution to fix the future of our hobby.

When something is limited it makes it more collectible. There is a reason why cards from the 90's are not worth the paper they are printed on. Its because it was overprinted and soon the autographed card market might follow suit. So the simple solution would be to limit the amount of autographed cards.

Perhaps they should limit each player to only one autograph per set per year. I can understand rookies having having multiple autographs across each product since they're still unproven. But the overabundance of not only star player autographs are killing the hobby. I don't mind a great player signing cards but sometimes enough is enough. And we have absolutely no need for players who are doing horrible in the major leagues to sign filler cards.

2010 Bowman Platinum Retail Blaster Boxes

So I've been on a buying spree after seeing getting some 2011 Bowman Platinum. I was passing by retail stores looking for boxes, and you may be wondering why I'm buying retail. Well, with almost no sports card stores left in the NYC area the only options I have is either online or retail.

So I walked into Toys'R'us and looked at their small selection of cards. This was a very small Toys'R'us and their selection was even smaller then other locations. But to my surprise they had two 2010 Bowman Platinum blaster boxes which was a year old already. Needless to say, I bought both of them.

Well the first box yielded nothing, and I was hoping I would at least get an autograph in my second box. Halfway through my second box I pulled an autograph of Miguel Sano. Needless to say, I was pretty happy getting not only an autograph but one of a pretty good prospect.

Young baseball card collectors and their vintage collections.

I often hear new collectors talk about vintage baseball cards. They start talking about rookies, second year card, what to buy and grades of cards. Then they post the years of the cards they were talking about and... it appears to be cards from the 80's. When this happens I don't know whether to laugh or feel old.

To a young collector I suppose cards from the late 70's and on are considered vintage. But to the more advanced collectors we know that vintage means cards before the 80's. And its funny to hear a collector refer to their vintage collection when you know the oldest card they have is a 1982 Cal Ripken Topps.

I don't mean to rain down despair on the young collectors but vintage is usually older than that. When a collector starts speaking in codes like t206, Sweet Caporal or Goudey then you know you've hit the advanced mark. I do welcome young collectors to collect vintage as well as modern cards. Vintage cards teach us the history of baseball and usually has an older generation feel, if that sounds right.

A dream fulfilled by a baseball card

Every kid who is into baseball cards have that hero they admire. Every kid who got into baseball cards have that one card they have always wanted. They don't realize the sticker price on that baseball card they want so badly so when they hear their mother's reply in shock "no way are you spending that much money on a baseball card" their heart sinks a little.

They dream of owning that baseball card one day, they dream about that player. So they collect the modern cards of their heroes and work backwards hoping that when they grow up they can afford the one their parents said no to. Welcome to my dream card

A 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card.

No its not the most expensive card in all of baseball card history. But its my hero, I grew up idolizing Nolan Ryan, the ruggedness, the toughness and the way he pitched. This was a man that threw fastballs in the high 90's towards the end of his career, had nearly 6,000 strikeouts and was not afraid to go out and beat the crap out of Robin Ventura.

This is my dream card, and after nearly 20 years of baseball card collecting I can proudly say. I own a Nolan Ryan rookie card. Maybe one day I will get an upgrade of it but right now I'm satisfied with my card.

Busting old Wax

Well it's only been a few days since I busted some wax but I've decided to try my luck again. Passing by a Sports Authority by where I live I saw two blaster boxes of 2007 Bowman Heritage. And since it was only $10 I decided to see how it was. Here is what happened.
First box yielded two Mickey Mantle cards. One regular and one short print. A Joba Chamberlain rookie and a Corey Koskie game used bat. Along with some Rainbow cards.
Second box got me some more Rainbow cards. Some notable names were Philip Hughes and Alex Gordon. A Tim Lincecum rookie. And a Fernando Martinez Prospect card.
All in all it was alright. Nothing spectacular but not bad either. And since it was only $10 each I can't really complain.

A trip to Cooperstown Hall of Fame reveals an A-Rod Auto

Here is a little story I like to share with everyone. A few days ago I decided to take a trip with my father to the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. Being that we live in downtown New York it was a trip we had to plan. I had my doubts about going since it was a long drive plus overnight stay just to see a museum. But at the end I decided to go since I am an avid baseball fan.
The museum was awesome. Showing everything from Babe Ruth's jersey and bat to Dice-K's Japanese jersey. It was also a lifetime experience showing me the history of baseball as well.
To make a long story short. I passed over a few hobby shops after the visit. A few uneventful stores later I passed by a store called Legends are Forever. A pile of boxes to the side of the store attracted my attention. Upon further inspection I saw a few boxes I liked on clearance. It was one rack pack box of 2007 and two boxes of 2006 Topps series 2. I decided to get the two 2006 Topps since I was drawing a blank on the 2007 Topps.
It took me five hours to get home and by that time I was dead tired. Not wanting to stay up longer I decided to open one box and keep one for later. In the middle of the box I saw a nice green autographed card. Not knowing who it was yet I slowly pulled the card out. And there it was, an Alex Rodriguez Topps series 2 auto, short printed to 50. It took me awhile to recover and then I saw the odds on the rack pack, odds of Group A auto 1:60,000. What about the other box? It's still there waiting for me to open it.
This proves a few theories in life such as "Being in the right place at the right time". Nonetheless that one decision made my day, and probably a few days afterward too.

And here is the card, in all it's glory.

A look back at Baseball Cards

I remember when I first got into collecting baseball cards as a kid. It was 1989 and wax packs and boxes littered the hobby shop walls. At this time the main cards to buy was products like Score, Donruss and Topps.

Then a company called Upper Deck came along and made premium baseball cards. I remember staring at the packs and wondering if I can ever afford packs of Upper Deck which I believe were $2.00 at the time. This compared to the other dollar or cent packs of baseball cards were obviously more enticing to a young collector.

My friends were all into it and raving about some player named Ken Griffey Jr and Frank Thomas. I as a passionate collector still bought the old single cards of Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg and many other old time players. I still bought these well into the mid 1990's.
Fast forward to the 2000's and I'm still an avid baseball card collector. But something has changed, the hobby has changed. No longer were cards selling for one to five dollars. Cards began to sell for ten to hundreds of dollars. Cards with jerseys, bats, gloves and autographs were everywhere.
Then came the collectors that began trying to beat the system. Pack searching through boxes pulling all the "money" cards and leaving junk for the honest collectors. Collectors opening packs and resealing them with unwanted common cards. Dealers trimming and coloring borders of vintage baseball cards. Looking at all the mayhem I simply stopped buying waxes.
At this time Upper Deck and Topps began making ultra high end cards. Ultimate, Exquisite and other products which guaranteed autographed and game used cards in each pack. The catch? Outrageous price tags. You can spend $100 to $700 on one pack of cards which had three cards in it. And get back about 25% value of cards. Of course there were also the money cards that are next to impossible to pull. Taking a look at the price tag of baseball cards I decided to put my money to better use. Paying my bills.
I remember in the early 1980's collectors were thrilled when they pulled a Carlton Fisk. Today when somebody pulls a Carlton Fisk they wonder how much money they can make by putting it on Ebay.
Whatever happened to that baseball card shop I used to go to you ask? They're out of business. Along with at least five others in my area.
So, what do I collect? I've given up on wax packs due to the outrageous odds and the pack searchers. I've given up on the boxes since putting food on the table is more important. Now I'm just a wandering collector buying single cards that catches my eye. And they have to be graded so I won't be scammed by a untrustworthy dealer.

Baseball card: To Collect or Not to Collect

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So I hear the baseball card collectors complaining.

“The hobby is not what it used to be.”

First they are complaining that companies are overproducing cards. Now they

complain they are producing too many one of ones. So which one is it? They say that the baseball card hobby is no longer for the kids.

While I have to agree to some extent I also have to disagree. There is plenty of cheap baseball cards aimed for the young collectors. Topps produces boxes of cards that retails from forty to fifty dollars. Upper deck also produces cards in almost the same range. While both companies make boxes of cards that retails for up to hundreds of dollars they also make boxes with harder hits that retails much cheaper.

           Prices of cards seem to be too much? I have seen cards from 1970’s sell in the range of one dollar to twenty dollars. Carlton Fisk, Robin Yount, George Brett, Nolan Ryan the list goes on and on. Then there is the graded beauty of these cards. A PSA 10 of any of these superstars will set you back a grand or two.

           There are always people that have that nostalgia of looking at their old baseball card collections. The cards are all in order neatly tucked into a binder hidden away in a dark corner so the sunlight won’t damage it. They have the sets made from Topps dating back to the 1950’s all the way to the 1990’s. These are the same collectors that started at a young age. They bought the cards for the bubble gum. They didn’t care about the cards, it was mommy and daddy that taught them the value of keeping their possessions in good condition. Or perhaps it was their mom that tossed out those thousands of dollars worth of cards in which case. I feel for you.

Then there are the player collectors. Perhaps you grew up idolizing Cal Ripken? A player collector will have thousands of cards of Cal Ripken. There will be one of ones that are impossible to get, but that is what collecting is all about. It’s a challenge, if we had everything handed to us and all we had to do was open our wallets and pay for it, what fun would would that be? That would be like paying the water bill. Doesn’t sound too fun does it?

What will the collectors complain of next? Oh I’m pretty sure they will find something to complain about. So what should the collectors of today buy? Anything they like to buy. I have seen people collect their childhood heroes and I have seen people collect a one of\one autographed card with a swatch of jersey that has five colors on it. As any arguments and complaints, we have to look at both sides. Just remember, you collect what makes you happy.