Some Buyers Leave Me With Questions Instead Of Money

A bit of a rant today.

I have cards listed on COMC and I keep up with the pricing, changing them about once a week depending on the market. I have a 2015 Contenders autograph card listed at $1.15, there is only one card cheaper. I got an offer last night of .63 cents, I countered with .85 cents, probably more than fair and considering I paid .60 cents to have it processed by COMC so I was being reasonable. The guy came back with .63 cents again.

Who they hell does that? I mean come up a penny or two but to come back with the same offer I just countered what did he expect? Needless to say I just declined it outright, I probably should have come back with $1.25 just to be an ass.

A Price Way Too High To Be Believed

Recently a rare Ryan Bader card showed up for auction, not super rare but it is #/25. The card is a 2009 Topps UFC Round 2 red autograph and this specific card is #14/25. This is only the second copy of this card that I have seen since I started collecting Ryan Bader six years ago (the last card sold in 2012) so it is not something that shows up every day.

While I knew that I would not be bidding on the card because doctor bills come first, I still watched the card. Recent low serial numbered Bader autographs have sold in the $25 range, which is what I expected of this card too. Like I said, this is a rarer card and it is from his first year in the UFC so I figured if there was a bidding war it could possibly end a little higher, but no higher than $35-38 range.

Before I went to bed it was at $47, which completely surprised me, and when I checked when I woke up I was floored to see it end at $255. That is seriously insane and I thought maybe shill bidding was involved but it does not appear to have happened. This was just a straight up bidding war that nobody wanted to walk away from until it was over. Someone paid $200+ over what this card is worth.

I have five Bader #1/1 cards and ten #/30 or less and the most I have paid was $26 plus shipping so I cannot understand what would drive a person to spend this much money on a card. This kind of price is what you would expect from top tier fighters like GSP, Rousey or McGregor not what you would expect to see from a mid-level Light Heavyweight fighter who has never gotten close enough to sniff a championship belt.

File Under 5 Years Of WTF?

One of my blogging goals for the new year was to follow up on stories, this will allow me to expand on some stories or cover card sales or trades.

I began reading through some of my early posts the other day and I came across a post I wrote about Maurice Clarett and his problems after leaving Ohio State. In the story I had some links to a seller who was selling a couple of unique 1/1 Clarett cards at an insane price. Prices that were unbelievable even during Clarett's short time in the NFL. Imagine my surprise when I clicked the links and not only does the seller still have the cards, nearly five years later, but he has increased the prices from the original $1,000 price. What would make a sane person think that cards that don't sell for five years of a never-was player/criminal who’s entire NFL career was a pre-season with the Broncos has increased in value over those years?

Here are the current listings: 2005 SPx Spectrum and 2005 SP Authentic 

Maybe I should check back in 2019 to see if the cards are still available at $2,000. When you do a search of Clarett's card you find that after this seller's cards ($999-$1,499) the next highest card is $100. I understand his cards are 1/1 but there is a reasonable price range and a unrealistic price range, these cards would be the latter.

Perception Or Misconception?

Does perceived scarcity affect the price of a card? When a card is numbered we know exactly how many are out there floating around the universe but when a company releases a card with no numbering all we can base numbers on is what we see, hear or read about.

Case in point, the 2007-08 Chronology “The LeBrons” Blue Bordered card. There are currently 6 of these cards up for auction on eBay ranging from $4.99 to $800. Between May 24th and June 21st 8 of these cards had been put up for auction, some selling and some not. The highest card to sell was at $31.00 and that was in early June. Now there is one that has hit $46.00 on 18 bids and there is still 2 hours left on the auction.

After I pulled the card 2 weeks ago I began researching it, reading through a number of hobby entities including Upper Deck and Beckett’s Facebook pages and blogs, various sports card blogs and forums I came up with roughly 50 posts of varying degrees stating that they have this card. This would lead me to believe that we are looking at probably 100 or more of these cards out there, and considering that UD is inserting them in to 2009-10 UD Basketball Blaster Boxes I expect it to be even more common then what I have found.

I laughed when I came across the guy selling one for a BIN of $800 and even claiming that people have told him that there are possibly only 10 of these. He posted a couple of the questions submitted to him, one guy states that there may only be 2 of these and another guy claiming UD told him there are probably less then 10 around. We all know that is BS considering UD does not make a statement on the print run of any card that is not serial numbered.

I was hoping to shed a bit of light so this seller would be informed; I contacted the seller on 6/21 with my findings, which I have posted here. The seller’s response was to add another sentence to his posting: “It has come to my attention through some eBay members that there are under 10 of these cards in existence. This may be possible but I cannot confirm or deny this information as of yet.”

To add to the horror, the guy actually received an offer that is awaiting approval. Hopefully it is a levelheaded collector who is making a mockery of the posting and not an ill-informed person buying in to the perception.

Right now the hobby is running amuck with Strasburg cards selling for insane amounts, do people just arbitrarily believe what is being told to them? If I hold up a card and say this is limited will people toss money in my direction?

Death Of A Tall Man

Not just anyone can block a shot, it requires a degree of skill… well that or being 7’7” and having long spindly arms. Obviously I am talking about Manute Bol, who died today at the age of 47 of kidney failure and complications of Steven-Johnson Syndrome.

Bol was a freak of nature when he was drafted by the Washington Bullets in the second round of the 1985 NBA Draft. He looked like a Stretch Armstrong doll stretched to its limits, but with his height came the ability to block shots. He actually set the NBA record for blocks by a rookie, he is second behind Mark Eaton in blocks per game and he is 14th overall in career-blocked shots. On a side note, he is the only NBA player that has more blocked shots then points in career. He is also widely known for his charity and efforts to rebuild his war-torn nation of Sudan, a real humanitarian that cared about his countrymen and honestly this is how he should be remembered.

With his death comes the sudden dirge of eBay Toads who hope to cash in on the death of an athlete, though you can still find many of his autographs and even his 1986 Fleer rookie card for under $20 many of his cards have suddenly garnered bids where they sat dormant just 24 hours ago. Oddly enough Panini recently added him to the checklist in the 2009-10 Panini Rookies & Stars set, not someone you would expect to see in a current release.

Who Dat?

The New Orleans Saints are 11-0 this season, Drew Brees is on track to throw for over 4,500 yards and has a 3-1 TD to INT ratio and Marques Colston should top 1,000 yards received for the season. The Saints even topped the New England Patriots Monday night to show that they are a team to consider for the long run.

You have to wonder then, why are the Saints player’s cards selling for pennies compared to some of the other top players in the league? You can get a Drew Brees 2009 Limited Auto/Jersey card for under $2 with 4 days left. His rookie cards are selling for literally cents. A Marques Colston 2008 Limited Jersey/Auto #/25 is going for .99 cents with no bids. Even Reggie Bush, once the darling of the 2006 NFL Draft, has autos and jersey cards under $10 each. These same cards were selling for hundreds of dollars a few years ago but are now being used as kindling.

I understand that Bush has been producing less and less each year but the rest of the team has been putting up significant numbers. There is so much production from this team, WRs Colston, Devrey Henderson and Robert Meachem are all there willing to take a pass from Brees and don’t forget TE Jeremy Shockey. Running the ball are RBs Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas, who are sharing the load equally. This team should be a collector’s dream but there does not seem to be much love outside of Louisiana.

I have been a Saints fan for quite a few years; Bobby Hebert and Sam Mills were two of my favorites. Mario Bates, who played with the Saints from ‘94-97, was a personal friend of mine (even though he ended up choosing ASU over U of A)and I have always been a huge fan of the underdog Drew Brees and Univ. of Arizona product Mike Bell. I am a Saints collector but I seem to be alone in this endeavor.

Is Tony Worth The Hype?

We are now ¼ of the way through the NFL season and I believe we may finally be seeing Tony Romo’s true colors. I have always felt that he is more hype then talent, someone more interested in who he is doing compared to how he is doing. He falls apart in the big games and is hyped based on a few good games. He is even currently ranked behind “superstars” like Matt Schaub, Jason Campbell and Kyle Orton.

This season Dallas is 2-2 no thanks to Romo and could have easily been 1-3. Game 1 has been his big game of the year and it was all because Tampa’s Defense faulted horribly. Against Tampa he threw for 353 yards and 3 TDs for a 140.6 QB Rating, but dissect the game and you will see what I am talking about. The 3 TD passes were all long plays going for 188 total yards, a 42-yd catch to Austin a 66-yd catch to Williams and an 80-yd catch to Crayton. What is not shown in the box score is that all 3 passes were short passes and Tampa’s Defense had broken coverage. The yards were all after catch.

So, for arguments sake lets say Tampa’s Defense actually shut down the plays after a 22-yard gain each, which were Dallas’ avg yds per pass for the game. This changes Romo’s numbers to 16 of 27, 231 yards and 0 TD and a QB Rating of 87.1 and without those 3 TDs the game would have actually ended up as a loss for the team (13-21).

Now lets take a look at his season using these more realistic numbers:
Romo: 76-131 58.0% Completion 868-yds 1 TD 4 INT and a 67.9 QB Rating

Who knows, he may turn it around this season. He may even end up following in the footsteps of QBs like Elway who didn’t win the big one until the end of his career. But until that point when he can prove that he has the talent can anyone please explain to me why his cards are in demand and commanding the prices that they are?

What Drives Some Dealers?

What is wrong with people? Apparently no matter what oddball card you have, if it is graded a 10 with a population of 1 the card is apparently worth twice its weight in gold.

Is this Ken Griffey Jr 1989 Starting Lineup card really worth $7,500? Even being the only PSA 10 out there I find it hard to cough up the dough for this one. You can walk in to any number of card or toy shops around the Seattle area and still find a 1989 Griffey SLU hanging on the wall selling for less then $75-100. But I guess there are some collectors out there that must complete their collection no matter what the cost.

I can come up with a number of options I would opt for before I laid down a dime for a graded SLU card. Just a few random selections: A Game-used Autographed Away Jersey, Game-used Autographed Shoes and the ULTIMATE Ken Griffey Jr Autograph card. This card is the shit; it is the autograph to have no matter whom you collect. Griffey and Mantle together, does it get any better?

When the card came out a friend offered me the single-signed Griffey version of the card for $50 but I was holding out for the dual-signed card, I kick myself now.

So, in the end the choice seems obvious… a game-used auto jersey, game-used auto shoes and the Gold Crown of Griffey & Mantle autograph cards with well over $2500 still left over. Being a Griffey collector the choice is easy.

To Bid or Not To Bid...

I am selling off a portion of my collection and decided to break them up in to lots to sell on eBay. So while looking through other collections that are being sold to get some ideas on how to present my auctions I came across this wonderful offering.

I am speechless; I believe this may actually top some of the delusional Craigslist Idiots.

Insane for Favre

Now that product including Favre as a Viking has gone live you figured it would not be to long before the cards started showing up for auction. Amongst the handful of custom created Favre cards comes the opening shot, a 2009 Donruss Threads Brett Favre SP for a starting bid of $9.99 or a BIN of $39.99. The card may be limited to 4,444 (Limited… really?) but this Short Print will even be showing up in Target Blaster Boxes. It should not be to long before we see a tidal wave of Favre Viking cards showing up for auction.

I know collectors want players in their most up to date uniform, but $10 for a base card of Favre? Wait until Week 8 or 9 when his arm starts to fail and his numbers drop dramatically and you will see this card at a buck or two or better yet, wait until February or March when he announces his retirement again and you will probably find neighborhood kids putting the card in to their spokes.

Really... Carlos Delgado even?

The hobby does not need another black eye but here we go anyway. According to a recent report, Carlos Delgado filled a $2.4 million lawsuit against a couple memorabilia dealers. According to the release Delgado signed a contract with 4 men who run a shop on Long Island where the men agreed to sell roughly $400,000 worth of Delgado’s autographed and used memorabilia but instead kept the merchandise for themselves and never paid Delgado for the items.

I understand collecting can be a compulsion but honestly stealing items from a player under the guise of selling the items and under contract no less. This is a situation where these men need to look back and consider if it was worth stealing $400k worth of items from Delgado and in turn end up paying out on a potential $2.4 million lawsuit?

Is This Really Needed?

I picked up a couple of packs of 2009 Topps NFL cards and while busting the packs I noticed something on the back of the pack that I have never seen before. Normally I do not pay much attention to the back of packs outside of checking the odds the various inserts. I grabbed a pack of 2009 Topps Magic football to see if it was on other Topps packaging, and there it was right behind the seal fold.

Isn’t it a sad day when a card company has to include a blurb stating that the value of a card may fluctuate along with pointing out that counterfeit cards may be in existence? What is next a blurb stating “You are about to pull cards from this pack, do not whine, complain or bitch about what you pull”

File Under WTF?

In the news today I came across a story about Maurice Clarett withdrawing his request for early release from prison. I had to go back and do some investigating to find out why he had requested his early release from prison. Turns out that he asked to be released this past April to join the Canadian Football League. Additionally his agent has claimed that NFL teams have been contacting Clarett in prison but will not name which teams. That seems odd that he supposedly has been contacted by interested NFL teams yet wants to be released to play in Canada.

This guy has not touched a football since the Denver Broncos cut him in August 2005, does anyone honestly believe that Clarett will actually ever return to the NFL? Hell, I don’t think we can even call it a return considering he never played a down of professional football.

So why am I bringing up Clarett? Because it appears that there are collectors as delusional as Clarett and his agent. Why in the world would anyone pay $1000 for an autographed logo patch card of a head-case who is in prison and has never played in the NFL and probably never will?

Apparently redhotcards thinks so: 2005 SPX and 2005 SP Authentic

If you seriously need to have an NFL shield logo patch card you can pick up a Favre/P Manning duo logo patch for $900, a Brady/McNair duo logo patch for $800 or a cool Bulger/ Lewis/ Leftwich/ Klopfenstein quad auto logo patch card currently at $92 with 8 days left, why would anyone blow cash on a has been/never will be?

Michael Vick's Return

It is official now; Michael Vick is now back in the NFL, I guess I can put aside my “Vick in the UFL” talk for now.

OK… now that Michael Vick has been conditionally reinstated back in to the NFL lets rush and sell every Vick card that we can get our hands on (I am saying this sarcastically). In the last 24 hours there have been well over 100 auctions added and while many of the postings are reasonable you do come across the random oddity. Is a 2007 Topps Chrome Refractor Vick error card really worth $750? As Susan Powter would say “Stop the Insanity!”

With that said, I decided to go take a look to see what Vick cards I have hiding away and actually came across a couple of decent jersey cards packed away in a binder. The Ultimate Super Jersey was pulled from the same box that I pulled my Omar Jacobs Rookie Patch. I don’t remember when I pulled the Triple Artifacts; damn memory fails me now that the temples have begun to grow silver. But I do know that I will be holding on to the cards for now and see how things go with Vick’s return.

Evaluation

Have you ever sat down and attempted to evaluate the value of your collection? There are a number of options to assist with determining values such as price guides and auctions. I know that some people will sit down, grab a Beckett and begin to count off all of their base cards then start to calculate the price of the semistars times the total number of base cards. This is how you get collectors claiming that they have a $15,000 or $20,000 collection when all they have are cards from the 90's onward. I have been collecting for almost 30 years now and I seriously doubt my collection even tops $10,000 but then I set reasonable guidelines for myself when considering the values.

Unfortunately not all sellers are willing to take any advice when evaluating what they have but they are the ones that are left in the end still holding the bag because they over inflated the prices.

Base cards, semi-stars and even some low-end short prints, relics and autographs are valueless. Just because it contains a jersey or is a 1/1 does not mean that the value skyrockets.

Craigslist Collectors

I find it interesting to spend some time scanning through Craigslist to see what kind of deals are available in my area. It also gives me the opportunity to get the occasionally laugh from some of these “offerings”. It is one thing to see an advertisement where the person posting clearly states that they do not know what it is that they have and are willing to work out a deal but it is a completely different story when the person posting the advertisement is delusional or just attempting to get some unknowing person to pay their bills.

This guy is attempting to sell a 1992 Front Row Derek Jeter for $250, he even posts: 1992 Front Row Derek Jeter Draft Pick #55
Valued at $750 low - $1500 high

I wonder where he is getting his values from because I can pick one up for less then $1 on eBay and another seller is offering the entire 1992 Front Row set including the Jeter for $5.99.

That advertisement had me pretty amazed until I came across this guy who is offering 38,000 cards for $19,000. They may break down to 50 cents per card but how many base cards are even worth that much? If the 4 cards he posted are his best cards then he is seriously confused if he believes that someone is going to be paying over-inflated prices on a bunch of average cards so he can buy a car.