Long Wait

You may be asking what is so special about this card that prompts me to write about it? Well it's just a short story about my collecting habits. You see I have a weakness for triple autographed baseball cards.

These three players Cody Ross, Josh Willingham and Jeremy Hermida are not my favorite players. They are baseball players that just happened to sign this card. Well I got this card in the mail today to my surprise a big surprise I may add.

Well you see I bought this card off ebay in 2007. I never got the card and just gave up on it. I figured it was a small loss and I was not going to make a big deal out of it. Surely I was not going to lose sleep over a $10 baseball card.

The other side of this story is also how the USPS works, very, very slow. Well at least I got my card, after three years of waiting.

Not sure if it's visible but the date on the stamp is printed Feb. 26. '07

Why can't Baseball Cards go Green?

We see it everywhere now, every company is going green and Eco friendly. So why can't baseball cards?
I'm saying this because I see countless sports cards of no name and scrub players been made in every product. Don't they need to use paper to make these cards? Don't they also need plastic and whatever else to create those flashy inserts? I have not heard of any company stating "We use 98% recycled products" on their baseball cards. Sure we see it on the boxes that holds the cards but they can do so much more.
Better yet why can't companies give us collectors the incentive of sending unwanted cards back so they can recycle it for future uses. Mostly products from the mid 80's and mid 90's are only good for fire fuel. And on top of that they should cut down on player selection in their products. Nobody wants a player that has a lifetime batting average of .180. No we are not fans of garbage players and we surely don't need something we don't care about to take up more space.
Just the other day I saw a Burger King using a panel that gives energy every time a car drives over it. So I'm going to ask again, why can't company like Topps, Upper Deck and whomever else that makes sports cards go green?

Baseball Cards. Forward or Backwards?

We've all heard that MLB is giving Topps an exclusive contract to produce baseball cards. Stating that they believe Topps can change this hobby for the kids. So with all due respect lets take a look at the products they have made so far.

Bowman Chrome - Chock full of rookies that kids know nothing about. Who is Lars Anderson? I guarantee that most kids that's not heavily into card collecting already even knows who he is. This product is aimed at the adults looking to make money on the secondary market

Allen & Ginter - Right away look at the price tag, $70-$80. Definitely not aimed at the kids. Also the fact that they have autographs of non MLB players will turn kids away.

Topps - Bland, ugly and boring design. An eight year old can make better looking cards. Autographs are hard to pull and when you do pull one please keep that Justin Ruggiano ($0.99 no buyer) nicely protected.

Sterling - $195 a box. Nuff said

If you look back towards when Topps was the only company making baseball cards you can clearly see what they made. Off centered, bland, boring and overproduced baseball cards. Clearly they were aiming for the kids.
At least Upper Deck has made products aimed towards the younger collectors. UD Heroes. Upper Deck and among others. I say competition is good. It keeps other companies on it's toes and makes sure they are producing quality products.
Truth is the only thing that will make collecting fun for kids is the adults who collect baseball cards. They are the ones teaching the next generation the beauty of collecting sport cards.
I don't think this is a step forward. I think this is a step backwards for this hobby.