Anyone Collect Basketball? Scottie Pippen RC Trade Bait

I don't collect basketball much and I have a super great card I would like to get into the hands of a collector who may enjoy it more than I do.  I have a 1988 Fleer Scottie Pippen Rookie Card Graded PSA8

If you are interested in a trade, look at my want list page and shoot me an offer at jasonjasonp12@gmail (dot) com  Sorry about the glare, I didn't scan it, I took a picture from my phone.  I will delete this post when I complete the trade.

Thanks!

Red Sox Collectors, Make Me An Offer!

I have two Red Sox cards that are burning a hole in one of my boxes.  Since I'm not a huge Red Sox fan I am hoping one of you out there maybe is, and hoping someone has some good Rockies cards for trade for these two good looking cards!

I want to unload these two cards:

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Grey Jason Varitek Jersey

2008 Upper Deck SPx Winning Trios TRI David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Varitek  # 04/25

If you really want these cards and don't have any Rockies cards to trade, you can email me at jasonjasonp12@gmail (dot) com and shoot me another offer!  You can look at the players I collect on my want list.

.01% Of Card Collectors, Topps Says This Is For You!

First of all, Topps I love you, I love your cards, but there are some things you all do that I just don't get.

If you are one of those collectors who can buy $10,000 of Topps products a year, then this club is for you!  Topps now has an application to be a Topps Five Star Club Member, FREE OF CHARGE!  (if you can afford $10,000 of cards a year, using the word free shouldn't be an issue to you)

Now I take a step back and take a deep breath...I want to just blast Topps for such a stupid club, I can't get over this enough not to have to clear my mind and rant...

Here are the requirements to become a member of this Topps exclusive club:

*  A letter of reference from your hobby store or online retailer. 

*  You must provide evidence that you spend $10,000 or more on Topps product per year.  

*  You have to fill out the Topps Five Star Club application along with a 500-word essay explaining why you    should be a member of the Club.

Here are some of the rules:

*  Members are admitted into the club for one year, and it is at the sole discretion of Topps to remove a 

    member at any time. 

*  Members are expected to remain in “good standing” for the duration of the year, or they may be 

   removed from the club at Topps’ discretion. Good Standing includes:

 Topps will kick you out of their club if you tell them one of their cards suck, or if you don't like a product.

*  Members must attend most Five Star Events (Conference calls, meetings, events)

Topps wants you to talk good at events, they are using members to tell other collectors how great Topps is.

*  Members must present Topps in a positive light in any statements made by Member, including but 

     not limited to, press, blogs, and social media postings on sites such as Facebook and Twitter and 

     cannot bring Topps or its products into disrepute (e.g., conviction for felony) 

Where is the freedom of speech to let a company know that a product is disappointing or has issues? This is a company trying to pay off a portion of their collecting public with free stuff.

As someone who buys a good amount of Topps cards a year, from Wal-Marts, Targets, K-Marts, Card Shops, and online, how would I ever spend that much at one location?  Is this a spit in the face for those average card collectors who shell out $19.99 here and there for blaster boxes?  As someone who is now disabled from the Army and a wife who is a nurse, and have four kids how could I ever think about spending $10,000 on one brand, at one location, in one year?  Does Topps really think that these small percent of people who can buy cases like they are candy really have a true pulse on collecting?  To these people if they don't get a cut Mantle or a sick mega ubber patch card of God that every card they got was trash to be put up on Ebay or COMC.  I value my collection at having a lot of diversity, I don't lay homage to one card company because where is the variety.

Topps disappoints me year after year with all these games and LCS deals.  I live hours from any LCS and unless I live down the street, it isn't worth me keeping dozens of open packs to get one or two cards.  I'll just wait for those people who have the money to dump them on ebay or COMC for a few quarters.  Just like we seen with the Topps Heritage Update $100 box set, at least in the blog world we laughed at that.  Plus to be in Topps Ubber Special Club, you can NOT have freedom of speech about Topps if you want a special autographed card!  

Listen Topps, you don't get it one bit.  A TRUE collector will not censor themselves for a few random autographs because half the time they suck anyways.  Either the design sucks with an on card signature, or you get a great design with a sticker signature.  Topps if you want a TRUE feel on the pulse of the hobby you need to listen to the collectors and what they want.  Overtime you just piss off more and more collectors.  In light of the recent fake relic issues, I have read the past card conventions have been harsh for Topps.  Why not pay off some of the big players of the hobby to get out the word that Topps is some great company who gives to the rich and takes from the poor!  If you are reading my blog, most likely you aren't one of the .01% of collectors out there that qualify, but if you do qualify, or want a good laugh yourself...here you GO

How about this Topps, don't worry about how many pack wrappers one gets, or how many thousands one spends, just worry about making a good quality product for us collectors and showing to us average collectors that you care about us, not the few that can buy cases of cards with their spare change.   

Get real Topps, this club is a JOKE!

Like We Didn't See This Coming...

Collectors and baseball fans out there, lets be real for a second...when the Marlins threw out hundreds of millions of dollars to Jose Reyes, Mark Buehle, Heath Bell, Ozzie Guillen, merged them with already big contracts of Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson, we all knew the Marlins were trying to buy a Championship for the opening of Marlins Park.  Once the team went bust in mid summer, the owner couldn't wait to unload his players.  Even though the new name, Miami Marlins, they have new colors, we once again see their true name and colors, they are still the teal Florida Marlins.  The one true star player left on the Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton said on Twitter, "Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plan & Simple"

As a fan it disappoints me that the Marlins franchise has two World Championships because I feel they harm the game of baseball.  Every ten years the Marlins spend tons of money for one year to attempt to win a Championship then the owner gets the glory of winning a championship and dumps the players around the league.  The power in baseball has shifted from southern tip of America to north of the boarder.  As the Red Sox restock, the Yankees get even older, we could see a great NL East battle between Baltimore, Tampa, and the Blue Jays.  I would expect this trade makes Toronto one of the favorites to win the AL East, and maybe even the World Series.  

I was really hoping that the Marlins moving into Miami and a new stadium would usher a new excitement into the team and the league, but between the trades during the year and today it would be hard to be a die hard Marlins fan.  This type of atmosphere the owner has with if he wins or loses he trades the whole team is the reason why so many in Southern Florida don't get excited year after year about Marlins baseball.  

RIP 2012 Miami Marlins, you never had a chance to show your true potential!  

The Year of Harper...Finally Over!

I don't want to take anything away from Bryce Harper, it isn't his fault that he is on every single box and pack Topps has produced the past two years.  I do have problems that Harper is getting more news about winning Rookie of the Year than Mike Trout, who had an Albert Pujols type rookie season.  Of course Topps the past two years has done all they can on making as many Harper cards to entice us collectors to buy more of their products.  I'm sure if Topps could they would make rookie cards of Harper for the next five years.  Do I think that Harper is going to be the next Babe Ruth?  No I don't, but I think he'll have a good career.  I didn't agree that he should have made the All Star team, and I didn't think he was the tops for Rookie of the Year.  Of course I don't have a vote, so I have zero say.  Here is how Harper compared to all other NL Rookies.

Harper Comparison to Rest of NL Hitting Rookies (Avg. Minimum 400 At Bats)

Average     .270 (5th)      .309 (1st) Pacheco
Home Runs   22 (2nd)        28 (1st) Rosario
Hits             144 (4th)       150 (1st) Aoki, Alonso
Doubles         26 (6th)         39 (1st) Alonso
Triples             9 (1st)          --
Stolen Bases  18 (2nd)        30 (1st) Aoki
Runs              98 (1st)          --
RBI               59 (4th)          71 (1st) Rosario
Walks            56 (2nd)         62 (1st) Alonso
OBP            .340 (4th)       .355 (1st) Aoki

In addition, overall he was 38th in the NL in hitting and 78th in the majors in average.  I didn't compare him to Miley, pitcher to the D-Backs which placed 2nd in voting.

You have a good mixture above of rookies, Bryce Harper, Jordan Pacheco, Willian Rosario, Norichika Aoki, and Yonder Alonso.  Out of all those players, only one made the playoffs and that was Harper with Washington.  Looking at this as a collector, most Harper autographs out there are running $200 or more.  The other rookies you can pick them up autographs for about $8 each.  I understand that Harper started playing as a teenager, but he is not the only one to have done that.  I did not get to see him play daily but I did watch about two Nationals games a week, and still don't get the hype.  I am going to go on record to say that I expect he will be a .290/25/90 type of hitter.  That is a solid stat line.  The hype that the media and card world gives Harper you would assume he would hit .350/50/125.  I'm glad that the year of Harper is coming to a close!  Years down the road if someone asks me about 2012, I would tell them, "that is a clown question bro!"

My pick for Rookie of the Year was Wilin Rosario of the Colorado Rockies, and I'll tell you why.  First of all Rosario came into the year as a back-up for the starter Ramon Hernandez.  After Hernandez got hurt in late spring, Rosario began to play everyday.  Rosario had a tough task to catch pitchers who were not ready for the big leagues who came straight from Double-A due to extensive pitching injuries.  Rosario also broke the Colorado Rockies single season rookie home run record with 28.  His stat line was .270 (same as Harper), he had 71 runs batted in (12 more than Harper), 28 home runs (6 more than Harper), all having 137 less at bats as Harper.  If Rosario would have had 137 more at bats we could be looking at Rosario having 35 home runs, and over 100 runs batted in.  One great thing the Colorado Rockies have is Pacheco also a catcher and can back up Rosario if he needs a break behind the plate.  I expect many more big years from Rosario in the coming years!