Did This Really Happen?

Just a few months ago we all learned about the FBI investigating that our game used "relics" could not be real in our cards.  Here is an Upper Deck Advertisement from 1998.  Back in 1998 Upper Deck had a "jersey acquisition team" to make jersey cards (haha).  According to the ad, they are trying to prove that these jersey cards are really cut freshly off a game used jersey.  Fast forward to this year, Upper Deck "jersey acquisition teams" makes calls to Dick's Sporting Goods Stores to see what their cheapest Jeter jersey they have in their store for their upcoming top tier product.  In 1998, Upper Deck wants you to know that these cards are hard to get.  Unlike today when you get a cheap relic card that is maybe real or maybe fake in every box. In 1998, Upper Deck tells us that the jersey and bat relics are indeed really from that player.  Today they let us know that indeed that relic came from something, but nothing in particular. 

Funny how much propaganda was feed to us collectors in the late 90s by card manufactures, no wonder why so many collectors got tired of collecting.  Us collectors spend our hard earned money for pieces of cardboard, all we ever wanted was an honest and dependable manufacture.

Remember This...?

Every few weeks I like cracking open some of my old Beckett's or collector magazines and make fun of how silly us collectors used to look. The 90s for collecting both is viewed as an innovative age but also where many collectors got disconnected from the hobby.  It was the 90s when people stopped collecting for the love of the sport, but started collecting to make money or as an investment.  Once collectors realized a few years later that just because Beckett said a card was worth $1,000 that nobody was paying even a quarter of that.  I have nearly every Beckett in the 90s and every year each product was topping the charts in the hundreds to even thousands.  Then some years later, that thousand dollar set is only worth one hundred.  So where is the investment there?  In the 1990s people would only want to sell their cards for what the book value was.  You had kids saying, Beckett says it is worth $100, I want $100!  We today are a different collector, we understand that NOBODY usually pays anymore what Beckett states.  Beckett is merely a guide, but if you are a true collector, you know without opening up a Beckett what things cost.  Below is the mindset of collectors in the 1990s.  This is a young kid who is only thinking of value and how much he can get for a card.  I was brainwashed by Beckett in the 1990s to think the same way as the kid below.

 

The kid above looks like he is maybe ten years old.  You pick up a few items that tells you how he collects:

1993 Griffey Jr. #110 Topps Refractor

• I like to do business with other collectors.  He thinks of collecting as a business, not a hobby.  Plus how many ten years olds do business?
• If you could own any baseball card, it would be 1993 Finest Refractor Ken Griffey Jr. because it's so expensive.  He is again only thinking of the book value, or money, not just the enjoyment of owning the card.
• I like the Finest Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez because their flashy and the price of the cards.  He again is only thinking of the value, or the prices of the cards.

Almost every Beckett in 90s has some kid talking about the prices or baseball cards like they are as good as money.  We now know that isn't the case.  A baseball card is not like an ounce of gold.  Gold has an actual rate per ounce.  Beckett tries to price cards like gold, but we all know we are not going to pay $8 on a common minor league autograph or a no name relic.  Here is the price of 1993 Finest as it looked in that vary 1998 verses the 2012 Beckett prices.

Card shops boomed in the 1990s on the hopes that people would come in and pay book prices for cards, and that kids would come in and rip pack after pack hoping to get one of those $1,000 cards.  After awhile those kids realized that the values were going down, card shops started losing collectors because pack prices were going up but card prices were going down.  Then Ebay started and people could bid on what they wanted to pay for cards instead of going into a card shop and paying full book price.  Again this is more proof that whatever Beckett prints as a price of a card doesn't matter one bit.

Here is around what you would expect to pay today for that Griffey card, and if you were the sucker that spent $2,000 or more ten years ago, I'm sorry.  I love the card, but I don't know if I $548 love it.

COMC Purchase with an NL WEST and Rockies Flavor

Today I got in the mail my most recent Check Out My Cards purchase.  This purchase I was trying to get not only Rockies, but getting some good NL West flavor players.  Here is my grab!

Rockies Flavor: Wilin Rosario became the Rockies all time leader in home runs by a rookie hitting 28 while only playing about 115 games in 2012.  The sky is the limit for Rosario.

Rockies Flavor: Garrett Atkins quickly faded out of baseball in 2010 but during 2005-2008 there was not many hitters better than Atkins at third base.  In his short career of 2003-2010 he hit 99 home runs, and 488 RBI's.

Rockies Flavor: D.J. LeMahieu a second round pick came over in the Tyler Colvin deal from the Cubs.  LeMahieu made a big splash in limited playing time hitting .299 in 229 at bats.  Look for LeMahieu to work hard in spring training to become the Rockies everyday second baseman.  I expect LeMahieu to win the spot and have a good career.

Rockies Flavor: Jason Jennings career lasted from 2001-2009 and had a record of 62-74.  But his first two years he was a big success for the Rockies and even winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2002 with a 16-8 Record.

NL West Flavor: Trevor Cahill is now one of the top pitchers in the NL West holding a career record 2009 of 53-74 and an ERA of 3.87.  Cahill should be a dependable pitcher for many more years.

 This one actually has an NL Central Flavor:  Nyjer Morgan is a torn in the Cardinals side but is a very good dependable everyday or utility player.  Last year was an off year, but he is still a .280 career hitter.

When I seen this card and how much it was going for, it was a no brainier.  LaRoche has had two 100+ RBI seasons and hit 33 home runs last year for Washington.  He is going into Free Agency so could be a huge part of another teams plans.

 Rockies Flavor:  Other than having a great baseball career, Don Baylor was the first Rockies manager.  He managed the Rockies from 1992-1999 leading them to their first playoff appearance in 1995 and also winning manager of the year with the Rockies in 1995.  He was also a Rockies hitting coach for many years.

Rockies Flavor:  Pacheco is my pick for the NL Rookie of the Year voting.  Him and Chris Nelson will be fighting for the everyday third base job.  Pacheco may not be a typical Coors Field slugger, but he is a great two hole hitter and can hit for average.  He was 6th in the NL hitting race with an average of .309 in his rookie year.

Rockies Flavor: Pomeranz is the 5th overall pick in 2010 but was thrown into the Rockies a year earlier than he should of due to pitching staff injuries.  He struggled the first half of the year, but the second half of the year became a better pitcher.  Don't let the 2-9 record fool you, the Rockies the second half of the year limited starting pitcher to a 75 pitch count making it hard for any starters to get wins.  He did pitch much better towards the end of the year.  I look for a bounce back year, I expect him to have a 10 win 10 lose type of year and I hope the wins will start out numbering the losses.

NL West Flavor:  Arias has been quite for a few years in and out of the minors, but he was traded to the Giants and helped them on the way to another World Series win.  Arias hit .375 in limited play in this years playoffs for the Giants.  Could make a great platoon player for many teams in the future.

Rockies Flavor:  Francis has a 67-73 record, but had a terrible year with the Royals with a 6-16 record before coming back to help save the Rockies pitching staff in 2012.  He isn't overpowering but he is one of the best all time pitchers for the Rockies, and there isn't many pitching greats for the Rockies.

Rockies Flavor: Mike Jacobs was traded to the Rockies in 2011 but never made a call up from Colorado Springs.  In 2011 for the Colorado Springs Jacobs had one of the Sky Sox's best years hitting 23 HR and 97 RBIs.  Jacobs has 100 career MLB home runs.

NL West Flavor: Montero has and should be the catcher for many years for the Arizona D-Backs.  Picking up a Montero rookie for cheap is a must!

NL West Flavor:  James Loney was always a Rockies killer and had a great career for the Dodgers before falling a bit and being traded to the Red Sox.  I'm hoping he can have a comeback season for the Red Sox next year, only if Boston media and fans don't get to him first like the did to Carl Crawford.  

I was able to get all these for a price of two blaster boxes!  I love COMC!!!

My Tough Reality Loving the Rockies: Group Breaks

Sorry, this post is just a rant...enjoy ;)

I know many of you collectors have at least once tried a group break.  If you haven't it usually works like this: A person/blog/site/card shop will have a box/boxes/or packs of cards to break.  All teams are up for buying.  Normally the teams are tiered, for example the Yankees you will pay more than a team like the D-Backs.  The past ten years we have seen a huge boom of historical and hall of fame players coming back into our sets, inserts, and hits.  So if you pick a team that has been around for 100 years, you not only get base cards of current players, but you have a huge chance of getting many former players on base cards, inserts, and hits.  Someone like me who collects a newer expansion team like the Rockies, we tend to only get the current players base, inserts, and low hits.  Our hits are usually only going to be current autos or relics.  Where as someone with the team like the Red Sox has the chances of getting current autos or relics, plus a chance of autos or relics of players like Fisk, Rice, Williams, Yaz, and so on.  Just look at the back of a Topps pack and look at the former players and their copyrights: Lou Gerig (Yankees), Babe Ruth (Yankees), Mickey Mantle (Yankees), Jackie Robinson (Dodgers), Sandy Koufax (Dodgers) are just a few I've seen in the current years. 

At least many of the group breaks use a tier system, but I've seen one or two around not use one.  Which means all teams pay the same amount.  I just need to tell myself before each group break I do with my team the Rockies, my best hit will be maybe an $8 Dexter Fowler Relic while others may get classic greats like Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, Dave Winfield, Sandy Koufax autographs...etc.  I can't complain because a team like the Rockies will only pay a fraction of someone who pays for teams like the Cardinals or Yankees so they have more to lose but much more to gain on the flip side.  I am currently in a break right now, not doing too good (looks like I will only get base cards), many of the boxes being broke don't even have Rockies base cards in them.  I am doing another one next year with 2013 Topps Series 1 Case, which should be a much better Rockies product. 

Braves Great

One lesson I learned is, I need to check the product checklist to make sure first they have Rockies in the product(s), and if they only have Rockies base and no hits, is it really worth paying for a group break?  Plus boxes or breaks that have boxes with the words vintage or fan favorites...it's going to have a lot of former players, and historically Colorado doesn't do well on those products yet.  It is just growing pains being a newbie in the land of group breaks, but I'll be a usual player for my team the Rockies  if the price is right and the product is good! 

My Kind Of Hit!!

Before I go, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I just had too high expectations for what I was going to maybe have a chance to get.  Plus, why is there no love for many of the Rockies greats of the 1990s in the hits world?  Why not have appearances every now and then in some retro/vintage/fan favorites of Eric Young Sr., Gallaraga, Vinny Castilia, Larry Walker, Ellis Burks, Dante Buchiete (currently Larry Walker still gets inserts, but no relics/autos that I've seen)?  Don't forget that the greats featured in fan favorites/retro sets like Howard Johnson and Dale Murphy played for the Rockies, but you will never see them in a Rockies relic/auto.  Thanks for reading, and hope to see you around the break blocks!

Retail Blaster Break: 2012 Topps Chrome

Just a few years ago I was not on the chrome bandwagon because of one reason, the curled cards.  Since then I have gotten over it and now I love the slight flex of the card that each year we get from Topps.  I might not have said it before, but my wife is an extreme coupon-er and many times she uses hundreds of coupons a visit/transaction and sometimes she gets a negative balance and then she'll pick me up a box or two to get the balance to zero since many stores don't give money back if you go negative using coupons.  Tonight she got me Topps Chrome!  Though I didn't get any hits, I did get a super bunch of players and many refractors.

Refractors Totals:
Purples: 4
X-Factors: 1
Refractors: 3

Key Rookies: Matt Moore, Jesus Montero

Kimbrel Refractor, Verlander, ARod, Ackley

Fielder, Berkman, Ichiro, Craig

Avila, Braun, A. Gonzalez, Cliff Lee

Key Rookie: Mesoraco

Mesoraco X-Factor, Sanchez, Peralta Refractors

Purple Refractors: Gordon, Pierzynski, Peacock, and "the pirate" Brian Wilson

Again, another good blaster box break!  One thing I love about blasters is you may not get hits, but you are able to get a good amount of base/insert cards of the product!