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Editor's Blog
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Tuesday, 25 August 2009 |
 A mistake during the manufacturing process sent unsigned 2009 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor Autographed cards of Will Venable (#’d to 199) into packs that were missing the signature.
Topps is urging collectors to send their UNSIGNED Venable cards to the following address no later than Monday, November 30th. Topps will return the cards once they are signed by Venable and re-certified for authenticity.
Topps Company
ATTN: Consumer Relations
1 Whitehall St.
NY, NY 10004
Topps has also confirmed that Tommy Hanson, Mark Melancon and Wil Venable’s 2009 Topps Chrome Autographed Rookie Cards do not have card numbers on the back. |
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Saturday, 22 August 2009 |
There has been a lot of discussion lately about doctored sports cards; the practice of altering to change a valuable card's appearance. It's generally done to enhance the likelihood that a grading company will miss the alteration and give the card a better grade.
Some collectors who see the evidence of repaired corners and trimming are outraged, but it reminds me of the steroid era in baseball. Players looked bigger and stronger. They rarely got tired. They hit the ball a mile. The records fell.
We knew better, but we didn't want to admit it or tried to convince ourselves that it really was a new, better player stepping into the batters box as we edged closer to the 21st century. The problem was, there was no real way to prove it was happening. There were no teeth in baseball's drug testing program at the time. No real legal way wipe the books clean and say it was because the big sluggers were cheating. We trusted the game and the system too much.
It's the same with the baseball card hobby. Vintage sports cards increased in value. Grading came along. High-grade cards sold for more money.
Record-setting money.
Could there really be THAT many mint pre-War baseball cards still out there or were the numbers artificially inflated by what was going on behind the scenes? The temptation was certainly there in the form of dollar signs. The technology and know-how exist and those who desperately want the money to cheat the system will find their way to it.
The sports card grading companies try to detect alterations made by card doctors but it's hard. It's hard when you're grading thousands of cards per day. It's hard because the card doctors have become so damn good. They're not using scissors from the kitchen drawer. They're using machines. They're using chemicals. They're working within the margins of the size requirements issued by the grading companies. They're using professional restoration companies on valuable cards. There is no requirement anywhere to slap a "restored" label on anything.
Inspecting every card long enough isn't practical when you need to make money to stay in business. They do what they can under the current business model but in the end, the grading is done by human beings. It's not perfect, but it's better than the alternative. Having authentication and grading in today's hobby is better than not having it.
More collectors who own high-grade old baseball cards may have to start finally accepting what we all did after the Congressional hearings on performance enhancers in baseball.
Sometimes the images are just too good to be true. |
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Tuesday, 18 August 2009 |
You know, there just hasn't been enough written about Brett Favre today.
Here's something that might not have been brought up. In fact, I'm pretty sure it hasn't. Favre may be closing in on an autograph deal with Steiner Sports.
Like him or not, Favre stuff will sell in Minnesota (and among Wisconsin loyalists) if he gets off to a good start. He's always been relatively inexpensive from a buyer's perspective when compared to other big name players bound for the Hall of Fame. Favre has kept his autograph arrangements fairly small and localized (he had a deal with Ball Four--a small Milwaukee company for years) but might be looking to start amping up the income from the memorabilia market.
I'm guessing he pursued the deal thinking his career might be over, but the price may have gone up now that he's back in the NFL.
And yes, Favre Vikings jerseys are already on the market. eBay has been very active with once fairly dormant Favre stuff since word leaked out about his return. |
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Sunday, 16 August 2009 |
If you're shopping for sports cards or sports memorabilia on eBay, why not get some cash back so you have more money to spend next time?
There are a couple of promotions out there that will easily help you get eBay cash back. There's no real catch. You just have to sign up and follow the rules, which aren't difficult at all.
The first one is directly through eBay itself. It's something we introduced you to several months ago but it's still going strong and works really well. It's called eBay Bucks . The program records 2% of any eBay purchase you make and at the end of a certain time frame, eBay will send you that amount. For $1,000 in purchases, you get $20 back. Not bad if you're buying vintage cards, high-end modern cards, wax cases or anything else.
The other option is through BigCrumbs.com. This one works for eBay as well as dozens of other merchants, so if you do online shopping of any kind, it's really exceptional. You just have to enter those sites through BigCrumbs.com and you'll earn cash back. You also earn money for referring it to others. You get referral fees each time someone you refer utilizes Big Crumbs--forever. Just don't turn into Joe Spammer.
I'm a big fan of cash back programs on credit cards and these types of programs. Most are very easy to work with if you're a responsible buyer. I get 5% back for putting a certain kind of gas in my tank. 3% on another card for the three merchant categories in which I spend the most each month. Airline miles for staying in hotels, taking plane trips and signing up for their rewards credit cards.
Just about anything has an incentive program. Signing up for them doesn't cost anything and puts money in your pocket that you wouldn't otherwise have. Nothing wrong with that. Why should the other guy keep all the cash? |
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Thursday, 13 August 2009 |
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ESPN.com's columnists are admitting it.
They're just as geeky as the rest of us.
As we showed you several days ago, Bill Simmons, the 'Sports Guy', dove into the National Sports Collectors Convention with a great..and very funny..take on the whole affair while carting off some more items for his collection.
Now, ESPN.com's Jim Caple is recalling his childhood with a trip to a Washington card shop where he busts a box of 1989 Upper Deck in hopes of nabbing a Griffey Jr. rookie card that was the holy grail for modern era collectors and kids that season.
Here's the story and the video. |
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Editor's Blog
