Last week, an employee dismissed from his job at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Ill. opened fire against several of his co-workers, tragically killing five people. Among the victims was the company's Human Resources Manager, Clay Parks. The shooter was ultimately killed by police. Sports card collectors may be familiar with Parks, who operated the popular group breaks … [Read more...]
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Josh Brikis Went From From Poker Aces To Breaking Cases
Whether he is playing poker or busting cases of cards, Josh Brikis knows it’s all about the breaks. “There are a lot of similarities between poker and breaking,” the Pittsburgh native said. “Sometimes you get something great, and sometimes you get nothing.” Brikis, 37, was a big-money winner on the professional poker circuit for nearly a decade, and said he … [Read more...]
Asia-Pacific 2015 Bowman Draft Breaks in Japan
A distributor and case break company are heading back to Japan, hoping to drum up more business overseas while inviting North American fans to tag along online. GTS Distribution and Ripping Wax Inc. say they’ll be in Tokyo for two weeks, kicking off the release of an Asia-Pacific edition of 2015 Bowman Draft Baseball. They say it’s part of an effort to increase awareness … [Read more...]
What’s Hot in the Shop? Everything
Usually I put together my What's Hot pieces between midnight at 2 AM with a full complement of Sportscenter or low-budget horror movies from the 1980s to serve as background music. This effort had the benefit of Game 5 between the Blue Jays and the Rangers (specifically the 53 minute 7th inning if you must know). It made me appreciate the difference between this year and … [Read more...]
What’s Hot in the Shop: 2015 Topps Series One Party
There are certain days of card store ownership that stand out each year. There is the day after the Super Bowl when people are flocking in for whoever starred in the biggest game of the year. Black Friday and other promotional days always carry a larger significance because of the opportunity to reward collectors with freebies. My personal favorite is release day for the new … [Read more...]
Ramblings: Card Sharks and the 2 Decades Since
I received an email from Pete Williams the other day. If you don't remember Pete, he was the USA Today writer who did many columns on sports collectibles and also wrote the book called Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business, which chronicled, among other hobby history, the Upper Deck Company. We arranged to speak to each … [Read more...]
Ramblings: 1954 Topps Set Break Proves a Hit
When ideas are conceived, sometimes the popularity of the concept far outweighs what was predicted. A recent example in the baseball card collecting world was the first Net 54 (a popular message board for primarily pre-war collectors) "set" break. The idea was to purchase a complete vintage set, sell ‘slots’ in the break, draw randomly and have some fun. The group there opted … [Read more...]
