I don't know if the "missing" auto from the Gypsy Queen boxes was a pack out mistake or a bad business decision, but it looks like Topps is going to try to do the right thing.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Topps Did What?
So I'm reading that Topps has deviated from the sell sheets for Gypsy Queen by including only one autograph instead of the promised two per box. They also cut the set from 450 to 350 cards.
That's not good business if you ask me. It doesn't seem to have hurt sales as the price of boxes/cases is up and most places are out of stock already.
That's not good business if you ask me. It doesn't seem to have hurt sales as the price of boxes/cases is up and most places are out of stock already.
If you pre-ordered your box/case and you're only getting half the number of autos, I'm thinking you have a right to be a little pissed off. If you bought into some group breaks and your odds hitting an auto have been cut in half, I think you have the same right to be pissed off.
Before I start exercising my rights, I guess I'll wait and see what happens in the group breaks I'm involved in. Even if I hit some good cards, if the numbers of autos aren't what was originally "sold" by Topps, I'll still be ticked.
Not that it matters.
It's a monopoly don't you know.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
On Target
Potch Wheeler and His Cardboard Heroes pulled a Heritage Black Bordered Parallel Neftali Feliz from one of those Target 3 pack blister packs. I put a claim in on the Neftali. Understandably, he wanted a black bordered card (Cubs, Tigers or Reds) in return so I needed to buy one of these blister packs to get some trade bait. Potch and I have already arranged our trade, but here are some of the highlights of my three blister packs. By the way, the Target only had three of the blisters so I bought all three.
As you probably know already, the blister pack has three Heritage packs plus three of the black bordered parallels. I was hoping to pull some trade bait for Potch plus a few extra Rangers for myself. I wasn't disappointed.
The first black bordered parallel in pack 2 was this Rangers Danger card with Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. Obviously I'm still having issues with my horizontal card scans.
That was all the Rangers black bordered parallels, but I'll be posting the others as trade bait in a few days.
I did notice a few other quirky things about my packs.
Two of the cards in one of the packs look like this Hot Corner Guardians. I don't know how much you can tell from the pic, but the lower portion of the card is purple-ish instead of brown and burlapy. I'm guessing it's just a production error. The other purple-ish card is Skip Schumaker.
Also quirky, in one three pack blister I got a Ryan Braun Sporting News All-Star in each pack and one of those packs had two different Babe Ruth cards.
I also got a chrome card in each blister pack.
First up was Delmon Young. This shiny Twin is #1112/1962 and was immediately snatched up by my son. The Twins have become his second favorite team thanks to Joe Mauer.
The second blister pack revealed this shiny red beauty. The Home Run Leaders card is #200/1962.
The last blister pack contained my first Heritage Chrome Refractor of the year. Ty Wigginton is #439/562.
That's probably about it for me and Heritage this year. At least for purchases. I'll have to collate what I've got and see how close I am to having the whole set. I should have some dupes to trade when I get organized. Ha...I've been trying to do that for months now with very little success.
As you probably know already, the blister pack has three Heritage packs plus three of the black bordered parallels. I was hoping to pull some trade bait for Potch plus a few extra Rangers for myself. I wasn't disappointed.
Nelson Cruz was the very first black bordered parallel I saw. That was a pleasant surprise.
The second blister pack didn't disappoint either.
The first black bordered parallel in pack 2 was this Rangers Danger card with Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. Obviously I'm still having issues with my horizontal card scans.
That was all the Rangers black bordered parallels, but I'll be posting the others as trade bait in a few days.
I did notice a few other quirky things about my packs.
Two of the cards in one of the packs look like this Hot Corner Guardians. I don't know how much you can tell from the pic, but the lower portion of the card is purple-ish instead of brown and burlapy. I'm guessing it's just a production error. The other purple-ish card is Skip Schumaker.
Also quirky, in one three pack blister I got a Ryan Braun Sporting News All-Star in each pack and one of those packs had two different Babe Ruth cards.
I also got a chrome card in each blister pack.
First up was Delmon Young. This shiny Twin is #1112/1962 and was immediately snatched up by my son. The Twins have become his second favorite team thanks to Joe Mauer.
The second blister pack revealed this shiny red beauty. The Home Run Leaders card is #200/1962.
The last blister pack contained my first Heritage Chrome Refractor of the year. Ty Wigginton is #439/562.
That's probably about it for me and Heritage this year. At least for purchases. I'll have to collate what I've got and see how close I am to having the whole set. I should have some dupes to trade when I get organized. Ha...I've been trying to do that for months now with very little success.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Why I end up buying retail
I've had a couple of people, one being an old childhood friend who no longer collects cards, ask why I buy cards at Walmart and Target when I have a card shop so close.
For starters, the card shop isn't that close to me.
For finishers, you've read in previous posts on this blog that the prices at my local card shop are unrealistic. I'm well aware of the overhead required to run a business in a storefront that you don't own. I know it costs money to keep the doors open as well.
The guy I'm talking about has a fairly well organized shop. It's sort of a horseshoe design with him in the middle. He keeps a clean shop and he and his wife are the only employees. He's meticulous about inventory. He may not know off the top of his head if he has something, but he can find out. When I recently bought some overpriced 1984 Donruss singles for Night Owl, he made me write down the numbers of the cards I bought so he could remove them from his inventory. The problem at this place is pricing.
Those 1984 Donruss singles started at 50 cents a pop. No volume discount. When I questioned him on the price, he said I could get them on Ebay but I'd have to pay shipping. That's true, but you can get lots of '84 Donruss on Ebay for less than a nickel per card.
His jumbo packs of 2011 Topps are just a shade under $20. I've never bought a jumbo pack or box, but that seems like a steep mark up.
The kicker is this price. I bought more 2010 Topps Chrome than I should have and everyone knows the warping of the cards has sent the price of that product fairly low. Blowout has them right now for $44 per box. I've seen them as low as $35. He still has his marked at $79.95. I wouldn't buy one at $40 at this point, but that's a crazy price. I know one of the recent bloggers posted about the state of card shops and one thing they needed to do was not keep money tied up in old, unmovable inventory. Well that's exactly what a $79.95 box of 2010 Chrome is if you ask me. He could drop the price down to $40 and have pack wars with those boxes and they would all sell and he could get something out of them.
He has an entire wall of boxes going back to the late '90s and even though they are behind locked glass, they're covered with a very thin layer of dust and the same prices he had on them when they were new.
I know this isn't a big deal for most of you, but it sends me to aisle 10 of my local Walmart when I need a card fix. I don't normally have enough to spend at one time to buy a hobby box from Blowout or Dave and Adams Cardworld. So I pick up retail packs or a blaster now and then. I'd love to support my local card shop, but it would be like going to my friend's gas station to buy gas even though he charges $1 a gallon more. I just can't do it.
Anyone in the Dallas area that knows of a good shop, let me know. It might be worth the drive to spend my money at a card shop that I can walk out of without feeling like I got the shaft.
For starters, the card shop isn't that close to me.
For finishers, you've read in previous posts on this blog that the prices at my local card shop are unrealistic. I'm well aware of the overhead required to run a business in a storefront that you don't own. I know it costs money to keep the doors open as well.
The guy I'm talking about has a fairly well organized shop. It's sort of a horseshoe design with him in the middle. He keeps a clean shop and he and his wife are the only employees. He's meticulous about inventory. He may not know off the top of his head if he has something, but he can find out. When I recently bought some overpriced 1984 Donruss singles for Night Owl, he made me write down the numbers of the cards I bought so he could remove them from his inventory. The problem at this place is pricing.
Those 1984 Donruss singles started at 50 cents a pop. No volume discount. When I questioned him on the price, he said I could get them on Ebay but I'd have to pay shipping. That's true, but you can get lots of '84 Donruss on Ebay for less than a nickel per card.
His jumbo packs of 2011 Topps are just a shade under $20. I've never bought a jumbo pack or box, but that seems like a steep mark up.
The kicker is this price. I bought more 2010 Topps Chrome than I should have and everyone knows the warping of the cards has sent the price of that product fairly low. Blowout has them right now for $44 per box. I've seen them as low as $35. He still has his marked at $79.95. I wouldn't buy one at $40 at this point, but that's a crazy price. I know one of the recent bloggers posted about the state of card shops and one thing they needed to do was not keep money tied up in old, unmovable inventory. Well that's exactly what a $79.95 box of 2010 Chrome is if you ask me. He could drop the price down to $40 and have pack wars with those boxes and they would all sell and he could get something out of them.
He has an entire wall of boxes going back to the late '90s and even though they are behind locked glass, they're covered with a very thin layer of dust and the same prices he had on them when they were new.
I know this isn't a big deal for most of you, but it sends me to aisle 10 of my local Walmart when I need a card fix. I don't normally have enough to spend at one time to buy a hobby box from Blowout or Dave and Adams Cardworld. So I pick up retail packs or a blaster now and then. I'd love to support my local card shop, but it would be like going to my friend's gas station to buy gas even though he charges $1 a gallon more. I just can't do it.
Anyone in the Dallas area that knows of a good shop, let me know. It might be worth the drive to spend my money at a card shop that I can walk out of without feeling like I got the shaft.
Tease
That's all you get for now. I have a post scheduled for later, but right now I'm sitting at the tire store getting one of my month old tires fixed. I should be home sleeping in preparation for my double shift later. I see grumpiness on my horizon. Nelson and the Rangers aren't grumpy after their sweep this weekend. See you later.
Friday, April 22, 2011
I want you back
Dear Blog,
I've been neglecting you lately. I used to feed you twice a day every day. I gave you scans and witty (at least in my mind) conversation. We shared trades and rants and even a contest or two. Well, at least we still have our contests.
Then it all fell apart. We had some health issues. People close to us broke leg bones. Six years of working the night shift has taken it's toll on one of us. To top it all off, they actually started giving me real work to do that has cut into the time we spend together.
I say enough is enough. We have a choice to make. Break up or rekindle the fire that burned so intensely when we first met. I'm all for going back to the early days of our relationship when I couldn't wait to spend time with you. What do you say?
Let's take a little of that money Uncle Sam returned to us and replace the scanner and get back to our normal selves. We owe it to our family (you dear reader). If they even want us back to normal.
I miss you blog.
And I want you back.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Anyone want some Giveaway cards?
I don't know if anyone is even participating in the Topps Gridiron Giveaway, but May 1st is the last day you can enter codes. I haven't seen one blog post on that subject in I don't know how long.
I have 10 cards in my very limited portfolio and have tried a few times, unsuccessfully, to trade them for something older.
If anyone out there is still playing on that site and intends to have any cards shipped, I'll happily trade you all my cards for one lame card. I don't have much so don't get your hopes up.
I have 10 cards in my very limited portfolio and have tried a few times, unsuccessfully, to trade them for something older.
If anyone out there is still playing on that site and intends to have any cards shipped, I'll happily trade you all my cards for one lame card. I don't have much so don't get your hopes up.
This 1966 Dainard Paulson is far and away the oldest card I have to offer so if you're interested, leave a comment. First commenter gets them all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)