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.

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.

Who said there was nothing good in retail boxes?

So we've all heard the saying when it comes to buying baseball cards. "If it's not hobby, it's not worth getting." Well I know that retail packs and boxes don't guarantee anything. And even when they do insert something into retail packs it's extremely hard to get. But to those of you who actually read my blog (I know, I can hear the crickets in here) retail stuff is no that bad. Case in point I have pulled an Alex Rodriguez autograph card out of a box. The odds of that card been in there was an astronomical ratio.

Well lately I have been buying up some retail products again. 2011 Bowman Platinum, its not the greatest product but there are chock full of rookies in it. Nothing is guaranteed so when anything nice comes out of it it makes you feel much better.

In about a months time I ended up buying four blaster boxes and four rack packs. Here are some of the hits that came out.

Plus a Alex White autograph, one Bryce Harper rookie and one Bryce Harper Xfractor.

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.