Monday, January 16, 2012

Interview with a Packsearcher: Postscript

I appreciate the positive response to yesterday's post about the Interview with a Packsearcher. You should know confrontation isn't my style, but I get tired of those guys.

Speaking of confrontations, I got an email late Sunday from a guy who read the post and said he sometimes searched packs, didn't see anything wrong with it and would be inclined to kick my a** if I confronted him that way. I told him I didn't like packsearching, I did see something wrong with it and I'm 6'3" and weigh 250+ pounds so I would be inclined to let him try to kick my a**.

As for the whole "getting the manager" routine, I don't talk to managers about the packsearchers anymore. They don't care. Those packs/blasters are brought in by distributors and Wal-mart/Target doesn't have anything to do with them except to sell them. They just don't care. The distributors don't really care either. I've talked to two different distributors who stock those shelves and they even laugh about guys bringing in scales to weigh packs. I've seen blasters that were opened and the distributors say they just write them off. I have yet to run into anyone involved in the process who cares.

Just keep in mind that retail, while the only option for many of us, is a crapshoot. Hits are few and far between, even if your card shelves haven't been ravaged by packsearchers. Check your blasters to make sure they are sealed with the manufacturers plastic wrap. After reading some reports earlier last year about the overwrap being taped shut, I've started checking any blasters I buy. I haven't seen that yet, but it won't surprise me if I do.

Having said all that, I'm going through a little pack ripping withdrawal. I need some 2012 Topps or better yet, a discounted blaster.

7 comments:

  1. The guy who said he wants to kick your a*s is a loser. He almost proves your point by saying that. People who don't actually have any moral ground to stand on resolve to threats when they realize logic can't defend themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just read your first post and this one, and the stuff just boggles the mind. I think pack searching of any kind is wrong, but the kind that messes up the cards is almost worse because (as you mentioned) it also messes up the actual cards. I buy probably 98% of my packs from retail because my LCS does not have much in the way of packs, and I don't really expect to get any hits, but that doesn't stop me from hoping. Also, it is almost easier to comprehend those pack searchers who sell what they find: they are just doing on a smaller scale what many corrupt business people did to mess up the global economy. However, for a collector to do that, someone who should empathize with those of us who open packs with that hope I mentioned before, is just a different level of messed up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Did the ass kicking tough guy who emailed you leave his name? (I'm thinking NO)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I actually work for Target. I work at an offsite warehouse as a driver. I clock in at the store and leave out the back in the truck. I am only in the store for a few minutes each day. If I arrive to work early to check the blasters for any discounted ones to purchase with my store discount. The other day I saw a pack searcher and just stare the guy down. I didn't speak, I just looked at him. He grabbed his already searched packs and sprinted off.

    I am 5'9 and weigh 150. I am not a big guy but, my stare was mean.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have a slightly different take on pack searchers. I really feel sorry for them. Seriously. How sad is it that they spend all that time and effort for the chance to get a retail hit that might fetch them a few bucks on EBay. They are the hobby's equivalent of a bedraggled guy standing at a busy intersection holding a cardboard sign that reads "Will work for food. God Bless."

    ReplyDelete
  6. I remember the distributor for the Atlanta-area WalMarts (as far as cards were concerned) searched packs. He then sold them at shows. Yup, that's when I stopped buying packs at WalMart (though I never did much before that anyway). The packs never even made it to the shelves for searching!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Let the badass that said he would kick your ass to holla at me too. i would love to pound the fucking guys face off. And if he's reading this post, fuck off you fucking tool.

    ReplyDelete