My letter to the card industry: Why I have sold off my entire collection.

This letter is to Topps.  This letter is to Panini.  This letter is to Upper Deck, Leaf, Tri-Star and any other company that is in the business of making sports cards.

This is the first day of baseball.  For me and many of my fellow sports enthusiasts, this is the start of a new year.  Everything feels like it has the shine of potential and none of the grit of disappointment.  And before the week is over, I will celebrate my "new year" by completely being rid of my sports card collection.

For anybody reading through the last posts of my blog, you can see that I was still an active collector up through about a month ago.  I was collecting the Pirates, some base sets and Nicolas Batum rookie cards with a fever that can only be fueled by a tax refund.  I know that I'm not alone.  My collection was unique to myself, but I know many collectors use the tax season to polish or start new collections.  I myself made the same error - and I'm one of the lucky one's who has decided to sell off everything before it's too late.

I think I was under the same illusion that many people are under.  And that illusion is that we feel sports cards will always be around and will always have value because sports cards have always been a part of our lives.  But looking now with a clear vision, I can't in good faith say that sports cards are any different than Beanie Babies, POGs or any other 'collector's item' that seemingly touched the sky and crashed down to Earth.

The only thing that keeps the market going right now is hype.  If the card companies had these same conditions ten years ago without the avenue of social media to over-inflate the value of their wares, I truly think we'd have seen the inevitable collapse much sooner.  But because people have always purchased snake oil from the greatest of salesman, people are still duped into buying new product that, once opened, is only worth a fraction of the original sales price.

I truly believe that it's only a matter of time before the market collapses in on itself.  And I'm getting out now before it's too late.  I'm getting rid of everything.  All of my Nicolas Batum cards are going up for sale - even the most rare of them.  All of my 2012 Heritage is going up for sale - even though I just bought so much of it a month ago.  All of my Roberto Clemente collection is going up for sale - even though I love the cards, I can't stand to see them diminish with everything else.

The card companies main mistake is taking our money for granted.  In the past, many people collected to simply have a collection.  But collecting has given way to lottery-style chases.  And maybe the lottery system would have worked had the prize really been worth it.  But if the lottery consists of pulling an Andrew Luck autograph - how valuable can that really be if the companies have produced thousands of cards with that same autograph?

And what is the collector's best chance at winning the mini lottery?  You have to get one of the case hits.  What is the best way to get a case hit?  You should buy the case.  Let's look at pre-sale baseball cases.  Topps and Panini have products coming up that cost well over a thousand dollars.  Topps 2013 Museum Collection will run you $2340.  And that case will only have 240 cards in it.  In the advertising, you're only guaranteed 12 on-card autos for that price.  And one of the features will be a possible 1/1 bat nameplate relic.  Seriously?  Do you know that you go to mlb.com and buy an entire bat autographed by Albert Pujols for less than $1600?  I mean, if you're going to spend that kind of money, what could you possibly pull out of that case that would be equal to an entire bat signed by Pujols?

The lottery system is broken because you can go to any league website and buy actual game used items and have a piece of memorabilia worth displaying.

Panini has the basketball license, and of all the exclusive contracts, nobody has done less with more than Panini.  They have a product that they name Gold Standard.  That's a name that will be a company's calling card for sure.  And is it a collectible product?  No.  It's a lottery product.  This product will cost you $1800 for a case.  And that case will only have 100 cards (10 per box).  And in true Panini fashion, they will only give you 50 base cards per case at that price - but there are 305 total base cards.  At that price, who will ever build that set?  You get four autographs per box (40 in the case - and not guaranteed on-card).  And in this case you know that you won't get a Lebron or MJ auto.  So they really feel good about charging you $1800 for....what?  Do you know that you could go to the NBA online store and buy a Derrick Rose 8X10 autograph for $300?  Again, where is the value in the cards that couldn't be had elsewhere?

Do they think that the value is in the memorabilia cards they give us?  I've sold many relic cards over the past few days - there isn't any value there.  The companies still refuse to tell us which games their relics come from.  Depending on your favorite player, you can go to other reputable websites and buy ENTIRE game used jerseys - complete with the date the jersey was worn - and most of these jerseys can be had for less than the cost of a case of Panini Gold Standard.

The only value that the card companies are giving us is in the value of the being part of temporary internet hype.  But there is no substance to what they sell that can't be had at a better price and with more authenticity elsewhere.

All companies have made it impossible to be a set collector anymore.  I tried to build Heritage, but with all of the 'error' cards, SP's, variations and low prints of chrome, it became impossible.  Not that Panini is any better.  Panini simply produces a rainbow for every player whether they deserve it or not.  Collecting for a set simply isn't feasible anymore.  Nor would anybody even look at a complete master set as something valuable anymore.

I haven't mentioned Beckett yet in this letter because....well, we all know.  We just know what a farce that has become.  They are a part of the hype machine - but they offer nothing else of value to a collector.  Every device we have now is connected to the internet.  Anybody at any minute could look at any number of sell values for a player or card.  And yet Beckett still maintains that a price guide is viable when it appears that all they do is look at ebay values and multiply them by X2 for 'book value'.

So that's it.  I'm done giving my money to people who merely think up ways to swindle us.  Run down the list  of everything that is wrong with this hobby and you'll find yourself wondering why you buy them at all.

Let's count the ways:  low resale value, sticker autos, redemptions, relic cards with no value, scrub autos, no master sets, inserts for the sake of inserts, no traceability of relics, poor customer service, over saturation of products in the market place and 'graded' cards that never dip below 8.5 for the sake of keeping customers.

I'm just done.  And honestly, I can't in good conscience tell other people that this is just me.  I want to tell my friends to buy cards only if they're comfortable having a collection that someday will likely have no value.  This is the new age of junk wax.  Only now it's shiny.

I don't know what the future of this site is.  But I do know what the future of my collecting is - there isn't one.

Today is the day that one more collector stopped giving money to card companies.  Will it matter in the long run?  Maybe it will, maybe it won't.  But I deserve better than what I've been given from my hobby.  And so does everybody else who reads this.

This isn't an April Fools prank. This is the start of baseball season, and as such it seemed appropriate to write this letter.  Thank you for reading and for the trading we've all shared over the last years.  I may continue to write here on this site, but I won't have much to trade I'm afraid.  But I will be happier for it.

New project for Obsessive Rec

Hey all....or, hey a few people who sometimes come here to see this page.

I have a bit of an announcement - I think I finally found something to put up regularly on my Obsessive Rec site.  It's linked in the sidebar.  And, I made a youtube channel to coincide with it.

It's kind of goofy.  But since I've already devoted so much time to blogging about pictures of athletic dudes on cardboard...I think being a bit goofy is right in my wheelhouse.

Check it out and tell me what you think.

Youtube channel is HERE.

Obsessive Rec is HERE.


And to make this an official card blog post....here's a scan of my new Pedro "El Toro" Alvarez card I just picked up from Heritage '13.  I got it at a good price.  'Bout time they started putting some Pirates in Heritage (at least from the relic side).

My 2013 Topps Silver Slate redemption pack

I got a package in the mail last night from an address that I didn't know.  Everything I pulled off of eBay was already in hand, so I literally had no idea what this package was about.

Then I opened it and was pleasantly surprised when I realized that my Silver Slate pack had arrived.  So here's what I got.

The first four cards are the blue chrome sparkle (my best guess) variation.  I did get one of the World Series cards for my little bro who is a Giants fan.  So that's a plus.  And did I pull the Mike Trout Silver Slate card?  No.  I got this guy.

I got a Wade Davis /10.

Still, not bad.  Anytime you get a short print it's fun.  I'm not really going to go through the effort of selling these.  I wonder if some obsessive collector is going to try to put together the parallel set of blue chrome.  That could be cool.

But for now, it's just me and Wade Davis.  Cool card.  Cool surprise.  My thanks to Topps for coming through on the redemption so quickly.

Which card company's logo would you tattoo on your body?

Early this week there was this whole mess of a news story about a guy who got Netflix's logo tattooed on his body for some ridiculous prize - I think he got like a year of free service from Netflix. Granted, this really isn't that permanent at this point.  Has anybody seen that show Tattoo Rescue on Spike?  I love that show.  They can take the most horrible tattoo and cover it up with some pretty cool stuff.  I imagine that's what the fool who got the Netflix tattoo was thinking.  He'll probably have a badass dragon covering that thing up in a year or so.

This is a great plan unless he dies sometime this year.  Because really, you don't want to die with a Netflix tattoo on you.

But it made me think, if you had to choose a card company to get tattooed on you, who would you choose? And what would the price be?

I think if I had to choose, I'd for sure go with Topps.  But if this was ten years ago?  I'd have gone Upper Deck.  But modern day?  Topps.

I think my price to do it would be one box of every release per year - and a case of product from Five Star. Oh, and I'd want a press pass to every rookie photo shoot for the next ten years.

And then I'd get a totally badass cover up.  I think I'd go with something Star Wars related.  But I could be talked into an Everton tattoo with the right amount of booze.

It's an interesting thing to think about.  I mean really, tattoos can be altered.  Why not try to get some free stuff while you can?

Thoughts on a Sunday....er, Monday!

How they hell has time slipped by so sneakily?  It feels like just yesterday I was posting up a storm, and now it's been a week.  Was I too busy?  Not always.  Did I have a lack of content?  No, not so much.

I just didn't get around to it.  So let's bring this hog back to current.

1)  So, part of my problem is that earlier in the year I sold my PS3 and bought an Xbox 360.  This isn't really noteworthy in general, but I caught a bug and I wanted to replay Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 before the third installment comes out.  And when I play Final Fantasy, I grind.  Anybody who's played FF knows that grinding out battles to get EXP is pretty key.  Combine that with the obsessive compulsiveness of a card collector, and you see how limited my time has probably been.

Also, I typically hate playing as a female character in a video game.  I find it not to be as 'real' if I'm pretending to be a chick.  But I'll always make an exception for the baddest female video game character of all time.

2)  The MLS season has started - giving me yet another team to have to follow and obsess over.  At some point, I'm going to have to cut a team or two out of my lifestyle.  I just can't ever decide which one.  It was a great game.  I'm now organizing a work fantasy MLS league.  I know right?  MLS fantasy?  It's the best way to learn a league outside of the team you follow - so I'll have to go all out on this league like every other league I do.


3)  I have busted all of my packs of Heritage at this point.  I think that something as non-hit related as Heritage got to be too tedious for me to document every day.  But I was able to stretch those packs out and make it a nice diversion to me.  I've made a few trades and a many purchases.  I'll have my wants list updated by this weekend.  But I've made a considerable dent.

4)  Right now I have to finish watching the Pens and then the Blazers.  So until I get some cards scanned, I just wanted to pop up for air and let everybody know that I'm still alive and doing this blogging thing.

How much does the consumer pay for redemption cards?

I'm asking this in seriousness - because I don't know the answer.

In my job, I work with some component and cost variances - and the more you study those numbers, the more you realize that successful companies have EVERYTHING accounted for and built into some sort of cost matrix.

How does that relate to cards?

I actually got to thinking this morning about the cost to the consumers for redemptions - because they are EVERYWHERE.

I watched two box breaks this morning on youtube - both Panini products - and both had redemption cards.

And that's nothing surprising.  It just isn't anymore, is it?

So I did some more digging and went on blowout forums to browse a few case breaks.

A case break of Panini Prizm had 6 redemptions.  Two case breaks of Contenders had 5 and 6 redemptions respectively.

Does this mean I'm picking on Panini and not Topps?  No, not at all.  Topps has redemptions as well.  But the eyeball test seems to skew to a heavier load on the Panini side.  I could be wrong.

For example, on ebay if you type "Panini Redemption" - you get 1036 search results.  And if you type "Topps Redemption" - you get 2444 search results.  BUT, scrolling though the results on the Topps side you see that there's more wrapper redemptions than anything else now that 2013 Series 1 has landed.

Even my new blogger buddy at Cardboard Hogs just busted a box and got a redemption.

These things are rampant.

And what bothers most people is the waiting for a hit.  And I get that.

But what about the cost?  Do we think that these companies will just ship us these cards for free - out of their profit margins?  If somebody redeems those thousand plus redemptions from Panini on ebay they have to ship the card ($2-$3) and pack the card with protection and a bubble mailer ($1).  I guess we always did just assume that they did that out of their pocket.  But knowing business, I doubt it.

I would venture to guess that we pay for future 'redeemed card expenses' with each and every box we purchase. So even if you get a box with no redemptions, the price is built into that box to cover the other redemptions in that case.  That's how business keeps their profit margins - they make the consumer pay for it all.

And now I'm starting to see why they don't release total cases produced to the public (unless it's an advertised short print run) - and why they don't release the total number of redemptions that were packed out in that product.  After all, every redemption has a code - so the manufacturer knows EXACTLY how many redemptions they put out in each product.  And by the look of things, certain products probably have thousands of redemptions that we're not only having to wait for - but we pay to have to wait.  How much sense does that make?

I'm just one blogger after all.  But I feel that more people should be asking the hard questions.

And how bad is it?  Look at these listing for "hot packs".

We have now moved past the hot pack scandals of autos and relics and have just decided to make redemption hot packs.

Somebody needs to take this hobby back from people who don't give a shit about their consumers.

Part of the problem with cutting out children from the hobby is that you've made your consumer base into a group of adults who have a mind to think.

So I was just wondering - does anybody know how much they're charging us for their lazy practice?  Where can we find the print runs and the redemption quantities?  How long will we let this be the status quo?

Is it corny to say this hobby needs to be redeemed?

How can we fix eBay for "Super Card" bidders?

I'm sure many of you have noticed that the Andrew Luck 1/1 from Contenders is up on eBay - and more than likely, by the time you read this post, the card will have been "sold".  Or at least the auction will be officially over.

If I had a better way of putting quotes above 'sold', I would.  Because nobody thinks this card is going to sell for the price that its at.  I could be wrong.  But with two hours left to go, this card is sitting at $42,100.  And I have a hard time believing that somebody is going to drop that kind of cash on a sports card from the modern era.

I mean, it's a nice enough card to look at, and is probably worth many thousands of dollars.  But 42K?

I don't get it.

$42000 is a lot to spend on a card.  I get that it's a 1/1 - but at this point, it's getting too good to be true.

I mean, for that much money, a person could probably fly to Indianapolis, buy 50-yard line seats and meet Andrew Luck after the game.  I bet that if a person donated $20,000 to the Colts favorite charity, they would let you meet Andrew Luck and get anything you wanted signed.

Again, I could be wrong.  Maybe there is a millionaire out there who is going to buy this card no matter what.

But nobody thinks this card is going to go through.

So what do we do about that?  I love this hobby, but when we start to make a spectacle out of it to this degree, it just becomes a mockery.

My suggestion would be that eBay enact a rule that to bid on an item above $15,000, the potential buyer would have to pay a deposit to place the bid - a deposit of $1000.  If the buyer wins and pays for the purchase, the thousand dollars would go to the purchase price.  And if the buyer doesn't pay, the $1000 is lost and is given to the seller.  And any other potential buyers would have their deposits refunded if they didn't win the auction.

I think that for a price that high, a good-faith deposit isn't that much to ask for.  And it would give us a real value of the card at hand.  Right now we probably have people trying to make the news for an astounding sale price for the card.

 I don't know.  But this auction bothers me for some reason.  I can't put my finger on it.  Part of it is due to the fact that it's Panini, and they're using the auction price for attention - even though they aren't concerned with whether the buyer pays or not.  I'm partly bothered that there isn't a protection built into ebay for false bidding, and it makes the whole industry of buying and selling rare cards look more shady than it needs to.

I don't know - it just feels off to me.

And who decides to end an auction of this magnitude on a Wednesday?  What the hell?