Before they were rookies : Dave Justice

So what do you do when its so easy to get a rookie card thats massed produced? You go and look for something more rare or scarce. In this case Dave Justice came into the league in 1990. Leaf / Donruss, Topps and Upper Deck all had printed millions of Dave Justice's cards.

Besides his 1990 Topps Tiffany card in gem mint condition, Dave Justice's cards are just not worth much. Besides the ones stated the only other one that comes close is the 1994 SP Holoview Red      Die-Cut card. But, this card is nowhere near his rookie year, not to mention that the card is considered an insert.

So what do you do when you are a Dave Justice fan or like a challenge? Well as my previous blogs has stated, I go looking for pre-rookie cards, Minor League Baseball Cards.

Here I have a 1986 Dave Justice Sumter Braves MiLB card issued by ProCards. Now unlike other players, for some reason Dave Justice never had another MiLB card which leaves only one to choose from unless I'm wrong. This card was issued four years before his rookie year, which is quite a time lapse. Also, this card is not expensive even in gem mint grade. A typical team set would set you back twenty dollars. This specimen of a gem mint example set me back a total of twenty dollars excluding shipping.

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.

Before they were rookies : Jeff Bagwell

Since I began collecting baseball cards I have always been interested in rookies. I guess it was the fad back then but then again its still popular today. Growing up in the 80's was a time you get baseball cards for fun rather than for investment. The grades of the cards was not important, kids stuck cards in their bike spokes or flipped them on the floor like playing cards. Some even put them in their pockets without a top loader... the horror.

But that was back then and now we are in a new era of baseball card collecting where every single detail is important. Corners, edges, centering and surface are important in getting your moneys worth. No longer are collectors touching, feeling or handling their cards.

So like I said, I have always been interested in players from the 80's and 90's. But most of these cards are not worth much even in high grades which is perfect for the collector. If you liked a certain player most of their cards were produced in the thousands if not millions which provided easy pickings. Knowing me though, I always like a challenge.

Enter MiLB, Minor League Baseball cards or small market produced cards. Many of these sets were promotional, regional or just issued in small quantities by a small company. Many of the players in the sets are not known since they never made it to the MLB level. But how about the ones that does?

So here we have a Jeff Bagwell P&L Promotion card issued in 1988 three years before his 1991 Topps rookie card. Its not rare by any means but they are produced less then a Topps rookie card. And the fact that its graded gem mint doesn't make this card expensive. In gem mint condition this card can be bought for twenty dollars, about the price of a bowman chrome autographed rookie. But yet, Jeff Bagwell is a star already, so there is no need to wait.

2013 Allen and Ginter Retail Blasters

So once again, I decided to get some retail boxes. My excuse is trying to get in early on the product. Though I have always liked Allen and Ginter I have never bought any boxes from previous years, well this year will be a bit different. So I passed by Target once again to see if they had any in stock and there was four blasters.

These are the results. Byamba framed relic (sumo wrestling), Scott Hamilton framed relic (figure skating) and a Jim Palmer mini no number on back SP. It also seems that its fate I'm not getting a Yasiel Puig card, at least not yet.

2013 Bowman Platinum Retail Edition

Although I prefer buying single cards online, sometimes I still buy boxes of cards. The most recent buy is Bowman Platinum retail which I have had decent luck with and for some reason I always kind-of-liked if that makes any sense.

So after two blaster boxes and two value packs which equals six packs, I ended pulling nothing special. The best card was probably a Bryce Harper gold parallel, I did not get a Yasiel Puig. Hoping to get something better I passed by the Target again and bought another 4 value packs. The second time was a charm, though there was nothing spectacular I did pull some decent cards.

Here are the notable cards I got. Nate Roberts autograph, Orlando Calixte autograph, Joc Pederson green refractor numbered out of 399 and a Blue Sapphire Refractor of Ryan Braun. But still no Yasiel Puig.

Now it probably makes more sense to buy a hobby box instead of all this retail stuff. But I keep telling myself I like the purple refractors.

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.

Are rookie cards killing or helping the baseball card hobby?

Rookie cards as we all know are currently dead. The MLB no longer allows a company to label first year cards as rookies since technically they are pictured in a minor league uniform. But this is old news, this happened a few years back and Topps as we know have changed their Bowman product to bypass this. We now see cards as prospects and first year cards, but is this helping or is this making the hobby worse?
So I'm trying to figure out exactly how this works. A drafted player has one card labeled prospect and another labeled first year. Then they have another prospect card that is autographed and then another first year card that is autographed. Seems like Topps has found a loophole in the MLB license agreement or is it that MLB and Topps are working out a special deal?
Well okay, enough with the questions. I have stated before that there are too many cards of certain players already. We have players with dwindling ERAs and batting averages, but now we have players with non-existant stats, wonderful. Now I understand that Topps and other companies are a business and must find ways to make a profit. But how about doing it in a way that won't damage the hobby or confuse the heck out of us collectors?
I think this hobby is turning more and more towards an adults only thing. Seldom do I see a collector chasing a prospect card because they are on his favorite team. And even rarer do I see a collector buying a first year card because he is a huge fan and how can they be when they never heard of said player? This hobby is turning more into an investment form.
There are way too many people that buys tons of prospect cards hoping to make money on them. Gone are the days of a collector holding on to every player on their favorite team. Gone are the collectors that wants one card ever made of their favorite player. But that happened when they released one-of-ones and cards serial numbered to five. I will say it again this hobby is a mess and I don't see it improving anytime soon. There are still good money to be made but the word collecting and baseball cards, I believe don't really exist anymore.