Sunday, March 31, 2013

FUTURE TRADES DONE HERE

I have been very bad on trades lately, not on purpose.  As some may know I suffer memory issues from several explosions to the head during my three tours in Iraq.  I depend a LOT on Google and my Nexus Tablet to remind me of various activities.  If any of you are Google people, you may have noticed the past several weeks Google has had extreme problems with Google Drive to also include Calender Sync and Email with hackers/drive crashes.  When I put information in my Google Drive and it disappears forever, I can easily forget or lose track.  I have also tried writing down information, but with 4 kids, that one piece of paper, my 10 year old quickly turns into a paper airplane. In addition since I started blogging I have gotten so much spam from internet crawlers looking for email addresses, and I guess I had one that was not protected.  I get easily 200 or more emails a day and an email is lost before I sometimes even have a chance to respond.  So I decided to make a Joe Average Collector Trade forum for anyone who wants to set up a trade or just even see if I have any cards you may be looking for.  I don't have a trade bait page, and I just have scans of my hits on my site, but I have hundreds of thousands of cards.  If you are looking for anything, just ask on the forum and as I get time I can easily find a way to respond!  I know I have dozens of times seen a card that was up for trade, posted on the comments in the blog and before I know it, I can't remember where the post went.

Again, feel free to post in my forum not just for trades, but request to see if I have certain cards or players.  Players like Griffey Jr. I have nearly 800 cards, Helton's over 1,600, so if you are looking for a certain card(s), just list them and as I get time I will get back you.

FORUM LINK IS HERE  and it will also be on the top border of my blog under POST TRADES HERE!

I know it is kind of a hassle, but I really think this will help me out a bunch in not forgetting someone again.

APRIL GROUP BREAK - 6 DAYS LEFT TO JOIN!

The boxes are going to be shipped to me tomorrow, so there is ONLY 6 more days to get in this months break.  This month I have one less box than I had last month, but I have almost double the amount of hits to be had. There are a few changes with this months format, but on the flip side the price is also less.  There are two key rookie cards randomly given at the end of the break.

CLICK HERE FOR THE TEAMS, RULES, BOXES AND SPECIAL CARDS TO BE RANDOMLY GIVEN AWAY!







Card Values - Vol 4: 1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg #83 RC

I love to look at trends of cards to see how the peaks and valleys relate to the years in the hobby.  Again we see another boom to bust value, but in the last few years has seen a small $5 bump in book values.  Regardless of what book values say, you should be able to easily find an '83 Topps Sandberg online for $10.  Last week I found one at a second hand store in my home town for just 25 cents!



Joe Average Collector - 2013 Predictions

After watching ESPN MLB for the past three hours make predictions for just about everything including what color under ware Barry Larkin is wearing, I decided what the hell, why not make it 1 million and 1 predictions.  One hour ESPN says the Blue Jays are a front runner to win the East, next hour they say they will struggle building chemistry like in Miami.  ESPN should be called FFSN (Flip Flop Sports Network).

World Series:  Atlanta Braves
AL Champs:    Detroit Tigers

NL playoff teams:    St. Louis Cardinals
                               Washington Nationals
                               LA Dodgers
                               Cincinnati Reds

AL playoff teams:     LA Angels
                                Tampa Bay Rays
                                Texas Rangers
                                Toronto Blue Jays

Bottom two teams in AL and NL

Miami Marlins
Chicago Cubs

Houston Astros
Minnesota Twins

Pretty much same powerhouses I feel from 2012 with Toronto and Dodgers moving into the playoffs.  Detroit I feel has the strongest shot again making it to the World Series, but I feel that the Braves have a very good all around pitching and hitting team.  They want revenge from the Wildcard 2012 Infield Fly Rule game vs. the Cardinals, and the 2011 meltdown.  The bottom teams haven't done enough to move out of the gutter yet, though I do expect the Rockies to be more in the middle of the pack, and still a few years from a playoff contender.  PLAY BALL!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Good Luck Houston Astros In Your New League!

Several months before the Astros made public their move to the American League, and their new retro uniforms, I came across one of my dad's July 1979 SPORT Magazine with a very colorful photo of J.R. Richard.  I don't ever recall ever seeing an Astros game in person while they ever wore their 70s/80s retro orange look.  Plus growing up in the 80s we didn't have the high color HDTV that makes colors pop off the screen.  I remember my TVs always displaying the playing fields dark, night games on TV also appeared to be very low in true color.  I could just imagine a hitter trying to concentrate on the baseball while J.R. Richard, Nolan Ryan, and Mike Scott in flashing around those loud orange uniforms.  Maybe bright orange is just what the doctor ordered in Houston!



One thing I forgot about the Astros uniforms, were that they had their numbers on their pants.  I love the look from hat to stir ups!  I do feel Astros fans pain in having a team come in last place, or course my favorite team, the Rockies having 98-loses last year was no fun to watch.  One of the greatest feelings a fan can have is to watch a team that EVERYONE has counted out win.  Do I think the Astros in '13 will get to the playoffs?  Of course not, but I hope they can make it as tough as possible for the Rangers and Angels.  Growing up in St. Louis I had a somewhat dislike of the Astros, mostly because of their time in the same division as the Cardinals.  I do wish them all the best moving into their new place in the American League and getting back on the winning track!

Just one more random thing to note about the Astros this year, their opening day 40-Man Roster will make less this year than A-Rod will make this year, and there is a chance that he may not even play till after the All-Star Break.  Astros just need to draft well like the Royals and A's have, and in just a few years could be a playoff surprise!

March 31st, 7:05 PM CT
Rangers Vs. Astros
@ Minute Maid Park

SURVEY INFORMATION UPDATE DAY 1

Hey everyone!  I thank the so far as of this morning the 13 online takers of my survey.  Trust me, there actually is a method to the madness with every question I asked.  I didn't actually just randomly think of information, but I actually used a variety of things I have read over the past year either in blogs, forums, and even in Beckett.  This isn't a "TRUE" whole hobby study, but more of a snap shot on current events that have happened recently in the hobby.  When a collector says that "ALL" collectors think a certain way on a specific thing, I wanted to add that bit to my survey.  This is my first go at doing a survey, already there are a few tweaks I see I could have done, but I will learn for my next survey.  I am going to use these findings to also fine tune questions for future studies.



Today I was able to survey over 25 collectors at various areas around the St. Louis area, and with that and looking at some of the online surveys, there may be some information that could surprise some of you  (even me).  As collectors we do tend to rant and rave, I'm guilty too, of trying to state if I hate or like something in the hobby.  I hope to have my 100 surveys filled in the next week, and I will have a nice write up and breakdown of all the information.

I need 50 online entries, so please email the link or share with other collectors.  Once 50 is met, the link should no longer be active.

CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE SURVEY
https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=8BsA38itpM8lWgpboxXHPg

Thanks again everyone!

Jason aka Joe Average Collector

Friday, March 29, 2013

SURVEY IS LIVE! Reminder Of April Group Break

CLICK HERE FOR THE HOBBY SURVEY

If you would like to email to invite friends and other collectors, please feel free!  The more information I can get the better the snap shot I can get for my study.  I thank you all for volunteering, I will also email the links to make sure you get it! I do have an online limit right now of 50. The online survey will close once 50 submissions are reached. 50 in person interviews will make it to 100 total.  If you would like a PDF copy please email me and I can send if you want. Jasonjasonp12@gmail dot com

APRIL GROUP BREAK:

Still have a ton of great teams with 4 great boxes of cards with 8 total hits. Plus there are two great giveaways, a 1983 Topps Boggs RC, and a 1987 Topps Bonds RC.





Thursday, March 28, 2013

Survey Update and ALL My Relics Autos Are Now LIVE!

First I want to let everyone know that responded to the online hobby survey that you should be getting information on the link tomorrow.  I am also going to be conducting random surveys at a few local card shops and plus I am going to hang out at a couple retail card isles for survey takers.  My goal is 100 collectors surveyed, but I would be very happy to have much more!

Second, I wanted to let you all know that I have FINALLY scanned all my relics and autos!  There is a link on the top of my blog page (there are 2 sets since I could only put 1,000 images per folder).  If you want to take some time and check out some of my cards, feel free!  Sorry about the watermark, the scanner program I used doesn't work on Windows 7, so I had to use a freeware.

Here are the links also!

JOE AVERAGE COLLECTOR - RELICS/AUTOS FOLDER 1

JOE AVERAGE COLLECTOR - RELICS/AUTOS FOLDER 2

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Need Collectors For A Survey

I am getting ready to conduct a hobby study for my blog, I need a total of 100 participates.  If anyone wants to do an online survey when it becomes available please comment below.  I will also be conducting interviews to several in person at LCS.  I would like to have all different types of collectors, recreational to addicted to card crack.

Surveys will begin in April.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Card Values - Vol 3: 1968 Topps #177 Ryan/Koosman RC

PREVIOUS CARD JAC VALUE STUDIES:

#1 1993 Topps Finest Refractors
#2 1999 Upper Deck Game Used

#3 Value Study: 1968 Topps #177 Nolan Ryan/Jerry Koosman Rookie Card

I have a collection of baseball publications going back to the great depression era, to include Beckett Baseball Monthly Price Guides from 1987 to present.  I love looking back at value changes and information from the hobby past.  For the most part, very few people get book value for cards, but for these studies I use Beckett Price Guides

I wanted to go vintage on my next card to study the price trends, so I picked an iconic rookie card from one of the best pitchers of all time, Nolan Ryan.



October 1988 -    $160
July 1995 -        $1,500
September 1996 -$950
March 2006 -       $500
December 2012 - $500


As you can see from the chart, the 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan jumped $1,350 from 1988 to it's peak value in 1995.  Since 1995 it has drastically fallen to it's consent value of the past 7 years of $500.  If you were to have purchased this card in 1988 for $150, it would have only gained an added value of $350 today.  (unless you had a graded 9 or 10)  Some of the reasons why there is such a drastic spike could have been it was shortly after Ryan retired, causing a price boom because of it.  If you paid around $1,500 for the Ryan in 1995, you would be looking at a loss of near $1,000 BV over a 17 year on a key vintage rookie card.  Several times you hear collectors say that the vintage cards keep their value the best, but here is an example of a card with a $1,000 BV plunge in a ten year span.  Would I ever expect a NRMT 1968 Nolan Ryan to be booked for less than $500?  No, but you can buy today on eBay easily mid grade slabbed cards for around $300-400.


The 1990s seen the boom of prices of vintage cards, but in age of internet buying and auction sites have made it much easier for collectors to get key vintage cards for a fraction of the price.  I also believe that having card companies making reproductions of key vintage cards yearly desensitizes the hobby to the true beauty and value of the vintage cards.  Some collectors could be fine buying a 2011 Topps 1968 Topps Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Back for $1 rather than spending $500.  The first modern Topps 1968 Rookie Re-print that I could find was in the 1999 Finest set.


Today you can buy this nice looking Rookie Reprint Refractor on Ebay from $5-10.  

I understand if a collector is a true Nolan Ryan fan, of course the holy grail is a true 1968 Topps Ryan Rookie Card.  What collector wouldn't love to have a Ryan Rookie, but I have a couple dozen rookie reprints that I am perfectly happy with.  

Colorado Rockies Pitching Through The Years

The past few years I have read about many baseball writers state that the Colorado Rockies have a problem drafting talented pitchers. I wanted to go back to 1993 and look at all the pitchers drafted by the Rockies to see for myself. Plus I want to see how many drafted Rockies pitchers who pitched in the majors and successfully. Many writers and fans tend to think that the Rockies need to buy pitching talent. The Rockies need to buy pitching talent is way too high, the Rockies first priority is they need to draft much better.  Being a small market team, the Rockies can't buy a championship like the Yankees can.  They need to take a book on other small market teams like Tampa Bay.  Here is the year by year break down of Rockies drafted pitchers, the round, the years pitched in the Majors, and their Major League pitching record.

1993
Jamey Wright (1st Round) MLB 1994-present     90-124
Bryan Rekar (2nd Round) MLB 1995-02     25-49
John Thomson (7th Round) MLB 1997-07     63-85
Juan Acevedo (14th Round) MLB 1995-03     28-40
Mark Brownson (30th Round) MLB 1998-00     2-2


1994
Luther Hackman (6th Round) MLB 1999-03     9-10
Mike Saipe (12th Round) MLB 1998        0-1

1995 
Scott Randall (11th Round) MLB 2003     2-5
David Lee (23rd Round) MLB 1999-04     5-2

1996
Jake Westbrook (1st Round) MLB 2000-present      98-95 (All-Star) (Never pitched for Rockies)
Shawn Chacon (3rd Round) MLB 2001-08       45-61 (All-Star)
Tim Christman (11th Round) MLB 2001     0-0


1997 
Aaron Cook (2nd Round) MLB 2002-present          76-79 (All-Star) 
Justin Miller (5th Round) MLB 2002-10              24-14


1998
Matt Roney (1st Round) MLB 2003-06               1-10
Jermaine Van Buren (2nd Round) MLB 2005-06       1-2 
Luke Hudson (4th Round) MLB 2003-07              17-18
Mark DiFelice (15th Round) MLB 2008-11          5-1

1999 
Jason Jennings (1st Round) MLB 2001-09           62-74 (Rookie of the Year)
Craig House (12th Round) MLB 2000            1-1
Justin Hampson (28th Round) MLB 2006-12          5-4
Manny Corpas (FA Draft) MLB 2006-present           12-18


**Dan O'Dowd Takes Over

2000
Jason Young (2nd Round) MLB 2003-04               0-3
Cory Vance (4th Round) MLB 2002-03                1-3
Scott Dohmann (6th Round) MLB 2004-08           9-8
Sean Green (12th Round) MLB 2006-11             10-12
Justin Huisman (15th Round) MLB 2004                  0-0

2001 
Ubaldo Jimenez (FA Draft) MLB 2006-present              69-66 (All-Star) (No Hitter)
Ryan Speier (FA Draft) MLB 2005-09                         7-3


2002 
Jeff Francis (1st Round) MLB 2004-present              67-73
Micah Owings (2nd Round) MLB 2007-12               32-33  (never pitched for Rockies)
Mike Esposito (12th Round) MLB 2005                 0-2
Franklin Morales (FA Round) MLB 2007-present            11-16


2003 
Ryan Mattheus (19th Round) MLB 2011-present           7-5
Esmil Roger (FA Draft) MLB 2009-present               11-12

2004
Steven Register (3rd Round) MLB 2008-09                0-0
Jim Miller (8th Round) MLB 2008-present                 2-3
David Patton (12th Round) MLB 2009             3-1
Josh Newman (19th Round) MLB 2007-08           0-0
Xavier Cedeno (31st Round) MLB 2011-present       0-1
Jhoulys Chacin (FA Draft) MLB 09-present               23-31
Matt Daley (FA Draft) MLB 2009-present               1-2

2005 

2006 
Greg Reynolds (1st Round) MLB 2008-11              5-8
Will Harris (9th Round) MLB 2012-present              1-1
Juan Nicasio (FA Draft) MLB 2011-present            6-7

2007 
Matt Reynolds (20th Round) MLB 2010-present            5-3

2008 
Christian Friedrich (1st Round) MLB 2012                 5-8

2009 
Rex Brothers (1st Round) MLB 2011-present             9-4
Rob Scahill (8th Round) MLB 2012-present                0-0

2010-2012 
zero

1993-1999 Pitching Record:  571-695
2000-2012 Pitching Record:  291-305

NOTES:

*Chris Sale, White Sox star pitcher, was drafted by the Rockies in 2007, but stayed in College.
*2010-2012 most draft picks are still working through the minors.

OVERALL RECORD: 846-1000 
4 ALL STAR APPEARANCES 
1 NO HITTER

This list isn't exact, I tried the best I could to compile the names and records using baseball-reference.com.  What surprised me was the Rockies had drafted pretty well in their first 10 years (pre humidor).  A few pitchers actually slipped through and pitched great for other teams.  One good pitcher that was traded before made the Rockies was Jake Westbrook.  Indeed there seems to be a trend downward of Rockies draft pick pitching prospects that has been successful in the majors.  The last pitcher drafted by the Rockies that has had any real success as a starter was drafted in 2004, Jhoulys Chacin with a record of 23-31.  The Rockies have been plagued in the past several years having hard throwing pitchers, with arm trouble or that have little control causing high walk totals.  It seems since about 2002 that the Rockies are basing pitchers on how hard they throw and not the quality of their pitches.  Several pitchers like Ubaldo Jimeniz, Esmil Rodgers, and Jhoulys Chacin have had a history of throwing near 100 MPH, but also pitching very erratically and over throwing, missing their targets.

Before 2002 the Rockies seem to favor the pitchers who weren't hard throwers but could work the zones and get people out.  In a 20 year period the Rockies have only produced 4 1st round pick pitchers with credible MLB success.  Since 2005 (7 year total) only SEVEN Colorado Rockies drafted pitchers have made the major leagues.  From 1993-2004 (11 year total) a total of 49 Colorado Rockies drafted pitchers made the major leagues.  In 2007-2009 the Rockies always stated they had a "home grown" championship team.  Yes, a good amount of the hitters/fielders were drafted by the Rockies, but in the NL Championship year in 2007, only 7 of the 29 (24%) pitchers who pitched that year were drafted by the Rockies.

Pitchers such as Jake Westbrook, Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis, and Jason Jennings never blew batters away, but they can eat innings while keeping the game in hand.  They all tend to have a bit of a higher ERA than star pitchers, but one thing is for sure, they can throw strikes.  One of the biggest things about throwing at Coors Field is to limit the free passes, don't try to over throw causing the ball to sail up in the zone creating a potential hard hit ball.  Looking at some of graphs from the past few years, the Rockies pitchers tend to pitch middle out to batters.  Hard throwers don't have the control or confidence to throw low and inside a 100 MPH fastball to keep a batter uncomfortable.

Is buying pitching really going to help?  Historically no, most pitchers that came to Colorado found out that they weren't successful here.  Mike Hampton got paid nearly $20 Million for 2 years and had an ERA near 6.00.  Lets face it Rockies fans, it is growing clear that the Rockies will always have a high team ERA no matter if they draft or buy pitching.  The bigger the pitching talent a team buys, the higher the talent traded out of Colorado and could even lessen the amount of early round draft picks.

A example of a bad free agent signing  was last year the Rockies paid $8.2 Million for Jeremy Guthrie (a career 47-65 pitcher with a mid 4 ERA).   Just three months into the season it appeared Guthrie was a flop.  In the years since Dan O'Dowd took over for the Rockies as GM late in 1999, only 22 Rockies drafted pitchers have made the majors, the lowest of all the 30 major league teams that I compiled. (adding only 2 Rockies pitching draft picks to the MLB per year on average)

The fewer quality Rockies draft pick pitchers causes the team to go after sub par pitching in the likes of Guthrie, Sanchez, and Moyer.  As a former pitcher in college, I understand that pitching can be a total crap shoot.  It only takes one bad pitch motion to blow out an arm and ruin a career, but several of these pitchers drafted in past almost ten years had problems just making it out of Single A Ashville.  If a healthy high draft pick pitcher can't make it out of Single A, there has to be some issues either in the scouting or development departments, or even both.  The Rockies need quality scouts who can really evaluate mechanics before the drafting pitchers.  Sometimes scouts can peg a pitcher as a great prospect on basis of their record and pitching speed alone.  I am encouraged that the Rockies notice they have a severe problem in development of pitching lately and hopefully it is a successful.   During Dan O'Dowd's time as GM the Rockies home grown pitching has had an MLB record of 291-305, which is 14 games under .500.   The Rockies are one again one of the lowest of the 30 teams with the lowest home grown pitching record since 2000. There is really only two pitchers who have had much longevity during O'Dowd's time and that is Francis and Ubaldo.

Last year's 75 pitch count was an historical and embarrassing front office flop, given the department shifting around this winter, I would expect this to be a make or break year to the front office.  Though Walt Weiss is on a one year contract, the team's pitching mess was given to him by a bad front office.

Jon Garland Signing

With it looking like there could be a few injuries and the lack of success from Chatman and Outman, the Rockies had to make a move.  The Rockies needed another bandage, and they needed it quick before opening day.  Jon Garland is a similar move to last years Guthrie signing.  Garland is a career 139-119 with a high 4.32 ERA.  One concern is he didn't pitch in 2012 due to shoulder injuries, but on a bright spot he can be an innings eater.  He pitched over 200 innings in 6 of his 12 years pitching.  He has averaged giving up 1 home run per 8 innings, and 1.1 hits per inning.  He does have a quality of not giving many free passes, he has just given up 700 walks in 2083 career innings.  I would expect if Garland can stay healthy would be an ERA from 4.50-5.00, which is actually in a step better than last years team ERA near 6.  Good luck Garland!
 
I know all of us Rockies bloggers have our pitching views, but the Rockies fortunes will not magically change until better pitching prospects are developed.



April Group Break - Sweet Extras

For the most current information on teams, rules, and price please
CLICK HERE for the April Break Page

There are 4 great boxes, 8 hits on average.  Click above to see the boxes.

The break will be open till noon CT 4/6/13.

I have two cards that are going to be randomized at the end of the break.

ALL PEOPLE will be in the running to win a 1987 Topps Barry Bonds RC


Just added in this break, another randomized card for everyone WITHOUT an auto or relic hit.  That card will be a 1983 Topps Wade Boggs RC.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

APRIL GROUP BREAK - NOW OPEN (4/28)

UPDATE:  I moved the break back one week because of 1. order hasn't shipped yet   2.  I am hoping for a few more teams to get picked.  THE BREAK DATE: 4/28/13


TIER ONE                                   TIER TWO
Orioles (NY)                                    D-Backs
Red Sox    (MJHeap)                    Rockies  (JoeAvg)
Tigers  (Jeff)                                   Astros
Dodgers  (Jbarker)                       Pirates (NY)
Reds   (Jbarker)                             Mets  (Madding)
Yankees (JoeAvg)                          Rays
Indians                                           Marlins
Cubs                                             Royals  (MJHeap)
White Sox                                     Brewers
Phillies                                           Twins
Cardinals (Madding)                    Padres (Jbarker)
Giants                                           Expos/Nats (Hannah)
Rangers                                        Blue Jays
A's                                                 Mariners (Jbarker)
Braves (Hannah)                          Angels (Jeff)

COST
 $17 for two teams (one in both tiers) and that covers shipping.  

LAST BREAK DISCOUNT
Those people who were in last month's break, the cost to you will be $16.

$17 FOR TWO TEAMS, YOU PICK ONE IN EACH TIER.  ($17 COVERS BOXES, SHIPPING AND HANDLING)  THEIR WILL BE NO INTERNATIONAL ON THIS BREAK AS I AM WORKING ON WAYS TO SHIP TO CANADA CHEAPER.  THIS IS THE TIER SYSTEM I WILL USE ON EVERY ONE OF MY BREAKS. $17 IS ABOUT THE SAME PRICE OF A BLASTER BOX, IN THIS BREAK THERE SHOULD BE A LARGE AMOUNT OF BASE AND INSERT CARDS.  THERE HAS BEEN A SMALL BUMP IN SHIPPING RATES WITH THE USPS, PLUS I AM TRYING TO REDUCE MY COLLECTION A BIT SO YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO GET A LOT OF EXTRAS.

EXTRA TEAMS
IF YOU WANT TO PICK ANOTHER TWO TEAMS (ONE IN EACH TIER, JUST ADD ANOTHER $14.

A NEW PAYPAL ACCOUNT:  
$17 AS GIFT TO jasonjasonp12@gmail (dot) com

In order to keep my few items from my wifes Ebay chaos, I had to create a new account.  Please send as $17 as a GIFT to jasonjasonp12@gmail (dot) com please include your team picks and address in the comments section on the paypal pay submit screen.  That just helps me find addresses much faster!

EXTRAS
I TRY TO ADD SOME EXTRAS TO EVERYONE'S PACKAGE.  THIS IS JUST A LITTLE EXTRA TO SAY THANK YOU!

DOUBLES
UNLESS YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR DOUBLES, THEY WILL GO IN A DOUBLES PILE TO RANDOMIZE AT THE END OF THE BREAK.  THIS GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET OTHER GREAT CARDS FROM OTHER TEAMS.  TO KEEP YOUR DOUBLES PLEASE STATE IN YOUR COMMENT.  THIS BREAK SHOULD HAVE VERY LITTLE DOUBLES.

MULTI TEAM CARDS
THERE ARE GOING TO BE MULTI TEAM CARDS SUCH AS LEADER CARDS.  THOSE WILL BE SET ASIDE AND WILL BE RANDOMIZED BETWEEN THE TEAMS ON THE CARD. 

USA/WORLD CARDS
THERE IS A CHANCE OF USA/WORLD CARDS.  IF THE PLAYER IS A JR OR COLLEGE USA PLAYER IT WILL GO TO THE TEAM THAT DRAFTED HIM.  SUCH AS HUSTON STREET USA CARD WILL GO TO THE A'S BECAUSE THEY DRAFTED HIM.  A MLB IN A WORLD/USA JERSEY WILL GO TO THE TEAM IT PLAYED FOR THAT YEAR.  THIS INCLUDES THE FUTURE GAME, WHERE EVER THAT PLAYER PLAYED THE YEAR OF THE FUTURES GAME WAS PLAYED WILL GET THAT TEAM.

MULITI TEAM AUTO/GU HIT
THIS SHOULD BE VERY RARE, BUT IF THIS HAPPENS IT WILL BE RANDOMIZED BETWEEN THE TEAMS ON THE CARD.  WHAT TEAM DOESN'T GET THE CARD I WILL COMP A GM USED OR AUTO FROM MY COLLECTION TO SUBSTITUTE THE HIT AS A GIFT. 


LIST
I LIKED THE IDEA OF LISTING EACH CARD EACH GROUP MEMBER GOT AFTER THE BREAK.  EACH GROUP MEMBER WILL GET A CARD BY CARD BREAK DOWN ON WHAT THEY GOT, PLAYERS NAMES, AND INSERTS.  I WANT YOU ALL TO GET YOUR CARDS AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE SO INSTEAD OF POSTING A VIDEO A DAY, AND TAKING SO MUCH TIME MESSING WITH THE VIDEO PART, I'M JUST GOING TO LIST AND SEND WITHIN THE WEEK.  I BREAK ON SATURDAY AND WILL USUALLY SHIP BY THE NEXT FOLLOWING SATURDAY.  HAVING A WIFE WHO IS A DIRECTOR OF NURSING AT A HOMELESS SHELTER IN DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS, AND FOUR YOUNG KIDS, I DO THE BEST I CAN TO GET YOU ALL YOUR CARDS WITH EXTRAS!


RANDOMIZED SPECIAL CARD(S)
EVERY BREAK I THROW IN A SPECIAL CARD(S) AND RANDOMIZE.  THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL CARD TO BE GIVEN AWAY IS A 1987 TOPPS BARRY BONDS ROOKIE CARD.  THIS BONDS WILL BE RANDOMIZED BETWEEN ALL PEOPLE.




ONES WHO DON'T GET A HIT (RELIC OR AUTO)

** The people who DO NOT get a hit will get randomized to win a 1983 TOPPS WADE BOGGS ROOKIE CARD!  




MAKE PICKS BY: APRIL 6, 2013 NOON CT, BREAK WILL HAPPEN SOMETIME AFTER THAT TIME.  WILL BEGIN POSTING THE CARDS FROM THE BREAK LATER THAT NIGHT, THE CARDS WILL BE LISTED INDIVIDUALLY UNDER EACH PERSON.  (AS LONG AS I HAVE THE BOXES BY SATURDAY, I WILL BREAK THEM ON 4/6/13.  I HAVE YET HAVE HAD TO MOVE THE DATE.)

4 GREAT BOXES BEING BROKEN (8 HITS ON AVG.)


2003 UPPER DECK S2 BOX - 1 HIT

2007 TOPPS S1 HTA JUMBO BOX - 2 HITS

2004 BOWMAN HTA JUMBO BOX - 4 RELICS

2002 UPPER DECK HONOR ROLL BOX - 1 HIT

Just comment below your teams, if you don't have the money now but want in this break...no worries.  If you have the money now that is great, but I can wait till the APRIL 1st if that helps on some of your paydays.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Anyone Want To Trade Basketball Hits for Baseball Hits

I am not a real basketball fan anymore, I do collect the Denver Nuggets and sometimes a card that really catches my eye.  I am looking for a collector who is willing to trade for 8 basketball hits (7 relics and 1 auto, one of the relics is graded) for 5 baseball hits (autos or relics).  This is a blind trade, since I don't collect basketball cards, these guys could be good, or not.  So the baseball relics could be your doubles, or cards that you don't value.

YOU GET 8 HITS AND I GET 5 HITS

Message me or email me at jasonjasonp12@gmail (dot) com if you are interested in making this trade!

April Group Break Preview

The past two months I had took a huge hit on shipping having to use boxes.  But one thing that I want to make sure is that everyone who gets in the break gets a good amount of cards and value that they spent.  Almost on all my breaks I have had 5 to upwards of 13 boxes that I have broke.  This month I am going to experiment a bit on my format, but still should be a great value for everyone.  April I will have only FOUR hobby boxes, but all of them are great boxes with a chance of some great hits:

2004 Bowman HTA JUMBO BOX - 4 HITS

2007 Topps HTA JUMBO BOX - 2 HITS

2003 Upper Deck Series 2 Box - 1 HIT

2002 Upper Deck Honor Roll Box - 1 HIT

There will be 8 HITS in this break.  Last month I was pretty disappointed by the 02 Donruss box only yielding 2 numbered cards, this month every box is a guaranteed HIT(S).   I will open up the break tomorrow night with the teams and price.  The prices will be less than previous, but I am going to use a two tier system for this break to see how it works.  Even with two teams you should still get a good amount of cards, because I hate when I spend $15-25 on a break and get an envelope with 5 base cards in it.  I am going to look at the checklists and try to make the two tiers even.  I hope I see you all tomorrow, just make sure to follow the tab on the top of my blog for details and updates on my group break tab.

A 1989 Score Airbrush

This very flattering card of Paul Gibson has been floating around since early 1989.  If you are like me, you have seen this card since it first came out, so it may not be new to you.  Though some of you out there that find or have a few boxes of junk 89s around, why not see if you have both versions.  Too bad the card of of Paul Gibson and not a better pitcher like Glavine. I have gotten rid of most my common junk cards, so I went on a search to see if I did have a ball grabbing card.  I am happy to report, that I don't even have any more 1989 Score Paul Gibson cards!



TOTALLY SWEET 25 Cent Finds! 1983 Topps

I went to drop off a few items at one of our second hand stores today.  Most of the store is mostly furniture, clothes, and toys.  Every now and then they get a sports item.  9 times out of 10 the sports item is priced 1000% more than it is worth because the older ladies who do the prices don't know what is worth what in the sports world.  I passed the toy area when I seen something catch my eye, it was a 1983 Topps Cal Ripken with a price tag of 25 cents on it!  That made me go on a frantic search knowing that there was a good chance there had to be more cards in this section just thrown on a shelf.  When it was all said and done, I walked out paying $1.25 for 5 1983 Topps Cards, and here they are! (don't mind the time stamp, I have never set my date code on my camera)

1983 Topps Wade Boggs RC X 2

1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg RC

1983 Topps Cal Ripken X 2

I did find one other card, it was a 1989 Topps Pete Rose marked $9.99.  I guess those old ladies have heard of him!  Of course I passed on that card since I have over one hundred of them.

If anyone is interested in one of the Wade Boggs RC or an 83 Topps Cal Ripken, shoot me an offer at jasonjasonp12@gmail (dot) com, just check out my want list if you need any help, or if you have an auto/relic or two you don't want.  There is no bends in the cards like the photos appear, they are almost in perfect shape (just a tad off center).


Friday, March 22, 2013

2013 Topps Turkey Red - NOW SELLING FOR $62.95

2013 Topps Turkey Red at Blowout Cards going for....$62.95!  Everybody try not to all at the same time go there to buy all those boxes at that cheap price! ha



I got an email for deal from blowoutcards.com today and was looking for anything that could spark an interest when I found this.  They are selling Topps Turkey Red 11 Card Boxes for $62.95.  Just last month you could buy directly from Topps at one point for a pre sale price of $19.99 to regular price of $24.99.  My wife got a box for me even though I told her I didn't want one for a high price of $40 on Ebay.  The cards and auto were cool, but I would only value those 11 items for about $10-15.  The chances of hitting an auto that is going for over $62.95 plus shipping is almost zero.  Most breaks I have read about found that almost 5 of 8 boxes were common autos.  So if you bought 8 boxes now you would spend $504, and chances of getting multiple of the same autos and 80 base cards (I'm sure with many doubles also), you may get one auto that would be worth $50.  For $504 you could hand build a set and buy maybe 8 or more good autos and still have some money left.  I have seen some 1/1 autos go for higher, but I just seen a Felix Hernandez go for $53 on Ebay.

Either way, $63 is highway robbery for this product full of sticker autos of common players with just a very small amount of anything good.  Another reason I sometimes I feel sick of collecting.  Look at it this way, all those Topps Turkey Red boxes they don't sell maybe on their Black Friday Sale for a discounted price of $59.99!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Board In The Card Isle

Today I went with my wife to Wal-Mart and of course I always got to check out the card isle.  My wife said that I could spend $25 on cards, and usually that is music to my ears.  Mind you that the Wal-Mart I live by is almost always stocked.  In that isle there was a card distributor putting out a few Topps blasters on the shelf.  I asked him if he was putting out anything good, and he said just a few Heritage blasters, rack packs, and re-pack boxes.  The isle which used to be 50% Pokemon and 50% Sports has now shrank in the past few weeks since my last visit.   The sports cards section decreased by half, and are now overshadowed by Magic and Pokemon cards.  I left to let the man finish and came back when my wife was ready to check out.  I stood there looking at a freshly restocked sports card isle:

There were just 7 MLB boxes: 4 boxes of Topps, 3 Heritage, and some loose searched packs.  Sitting right next to the Heritage were 5 re pack boxes.  So my choices were pretty slim.  I love when I come across old discount hobby boxes like ITG boxes I found a few weeks ago.  When I asked the distributor about if he has any more good discount hobby boxes, he said they have been using them to fill in all the voided areas in several stores.

So with my $25 I got one re pack and two packs of Ponies for my daughter.  Ugh, I think I feel sick.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Topps Exclusive MLB Till 2020...My Two Cents

As I sat reading about Topps extending their exclusive deal till 2020 I had to chuckle at many things Topps said in response.  Topps stated the following: "Having a long-term deal and a long-term partnership allows you to invest in the business and plan the business."  When I read just that one sentence this is exactly what I hear, "suck it Upper Deck and Panini!".  Topps needed to ensure it had an exclusive rights to logos to ensure it can invest even more into the hobby.  Plus they "JUST NOW" wanted kids to get back into collecting.  JUST NOW Topps is worried about "planning the their business".  We are going to be going on year 4 of the MLB exclusive rights, and they are just now stating they want to make more kid friendly cards?  I'm going to say that again, Topps needs to invest more money into making more kids friendly cards.  What about all that money they put into products like Five Star (and their little club), and all the other dozen or so products they make.  How about instead of making a Heritage High Series 100 card set that nobody liked, and make "three" kids sets for the same money?  I don't buy that Topps needed an exclusive deal to still keep making money, but I'm sure to keep the MLB happy by throwing out one or two kids  sets.  
If Panini was able to make MLB cards, I'm sure they can make a pack of cards called "Score" for 99 cents they do for the NFL.  Upper Deck almost every year made a kid friendly card, Collectors Choice, MVP, and First Edition just to name a few.  Yes Topps makes "Opening Day" but that is nothing more than a Topps basecard with Opening Day on it.  Not too original there.  I would expect now that Topps has inked a deal to 2020, we may see some more boring designs, lack of editing, repeating players, and yes...EVEN MORE GIMMICKS!  

It sounds that I'm being hard on Topps, but I am growing bored in a hobby that I love.  I have grown more and more bored during the time that Topps has produced almost every set at every card shop or retail outlet.  At least in 2008 when I went to Target I had maybe a dozen different products to choose from in Baseball Cards.  Today we have one or maybe two depending what month it is.  Then for the rest of the year you still see those same three brands of blasters that a part of you just wants to smash them.  (I wouldn't really smash them, I would open them first!)  Another reason I don't like an exclusive deals, it tends to make card shops shelves bare and boring.  (at least near where I live)  

What does this exclusive deal mean to me?  I used to buy three blaster boxes a week, now I buy one a month.  I will still check out one or two blasters per product, but I will let the deep pockets pay all that money then I will just pick and choose those cards I need.  Since the exclusive deal I would estimate I spent 25-50% less on cards last year than I did before 2010.  This year I have spent 50-75% less than I did before 2010.  I understand there are many collectors out there that no matter what will still spend a bunch no matter the brands.   Ever since 2013 started, I have thought about hanging up my "card sleeves" for greener pastures.  Lets hope it really does get better, because I hope this exclusive deal doesn't kill the hobby any more!


2013 Topps MLB Chipz

Chalk this kids friendly set up as an oddball.  I have only seen the product with online images so my thoughts may change a tad in favor or worse after I get them in my hand.  Topps has designed a new low end product for kids.  But here is the kickers everyone, there will be game used relics and autos.  Why does having autos and relics really matter?  By having relics and autos you now took the kids right out of the product.  Now you will have eBay buyers trying to scoop up as many of the boxes, break/resell or just resell the boxes.  
Before I go on, I'm going to show you some images first.





I think this is "KIND OF" a good idea, and a dumb idea, here is why.  These look like nothing more than a glorified poker chip, or one of those POGS that used to be popular.  I don't really dig the an autograph on a tiny poker chip, if I pay for a players autograph, I would rather it be on a card.  Now here is a way I "could" like this item.  If there is a holder for these chips, like a piece of plastic where the chip could snap in so it actually can be stored like a card, then I think I would love the design.  Several times in the past the disks have came and gone.  Topps tried coins many times, and as a collector I never really had an easy way to store them.  Now they sit thrown in a bottom of a box somewhere in my house.  As collectors when we come across cards that aren't the "typical" size, we struggle with how we are going to store or display them.  If these chipz were truly intended for kids, why waste autos and relics on these. I know what my kids do to their cards, they write on them, they would pop out the relic if I wasn't looking.  

I will of course give them a shot, I've thought I wasn't going to like a products in the past then I seen it and ended up falling in love with them.  Here are the 2013 Topps MLB Chipz stats:

Release Date: 5/13/13
36 Packs Per Box/4 Chipz Per Pack (144 Total Per Box)
1:2 Glow In The Dark
1:3 Gold Chipz
1:4 Magnetic Chipz (couldn't you hold a piece of metal to the pack to see if it is magnetic?)
1:4 Silver Chipz
10 Relic Players (#ed to /50) (500 total relics for the whole run)
10 Player Autographs (#ed to /25) (250 total autos for the whole run)

Flashback from past Chipz/Disk designs:  Most of all at the these were flops, but to oddball collectors they are still gold.

1997 Sports Illustrated For Kids Disks
7-11 MLB Slurpee Disks
Pop out Pogs from the Ted Williams Set in the 90s

Expos Pog Set: Pogs with a holder