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HarleyQuinn

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Sent Shawn aka Card Dojo another "card care" package of about 37 cards courtesy of Burbank :) Spent just $5+ on 4 cards, two of which were autos. I started off with the goal of trying to keep every card under $3 (a play on his 5 under $5) but then I lost myself down a rabbit hole upon seeing some autos pretty cheap, etc.

I'm actually kind of surprised at how cheap those NC cards are. A lot of them are serial numbered, were sold only (for the most part) at The National of that particular year, sold by legitimate brands, and don't appear for sale very often. They may not have a lot of liquidity and appeal but in terms of uniqueness or print run, they have to be pretty scarce. The 1991 National is touted as the largest crowd with over 64,000 tickets sold for that event with over 90,000 total.

2008 National Convention Upper Deck - Derek Jeter
2009 National Convention Upper Deck - Joe DiMaggio
2012 National Convention Panini HOF - Curtis Martin
2012 National Convention Panini Holo - Aaron Rodgers
2012 National Convention Panini Holo - Adrian Peterson
2012 National Convention Panini Team Colors - Ray Lewis
2014 National Convention Panini - Tom Brady
2014 National Convention Panini VIP - Drew Brees
2014 National Convention Panini VIP - Mike Evans
2016 National Convention Bowman Chrome Refractor - Phil Rizzuto
2016 National Convention Panini Legends Decoy Cracked Ice - Peyton Manning ($12)
2016 National Convention Panini Prizm VIP - Adrian Peterson
2016 National Convention Panini Prizm VIP - Cam Newton
2016 National Convention Panini Wedges - Odell Beckham Jr.
2017 National Convention Panini Legends - Bo Jackson
2017 National Convention Panini Legends - Jerry Rice ($6)
2017 National Convention Panini Rainbow Spokes - Derek Carr
2017 National Convention Panini Rainbow Spokes - Matt Ryan
2017 National Convention Panini VIP - Mickey Mantle
2018 National Convention Panini - Nick Chubb
2018 National Convention Panini Gold VIP - Mickey Mantle
2018 National Convention Panini Legends - Peyton Manning
2018 National Convention Panini Variations - Calvin Ridley
2019 National Convention Panini - Jacob deGrom
2019 National Convention Panini Legends - Steve Young
2019 National Convention Panini Rookies - Mecole Hardman Jr.
2019 National Convention Panini VIP Party - Alex Rodriguez

2002 Upper Deck Diamond Connection Game Used Bat - Bernie Williams
2017 Panini Contenders ROY Contender Emerald - Kenny Golladay
2018 Black Friday Panini - Tyreek Hill
2019 Donruss Rookie Gridiron Kings - Mecole Hardman Jr.
2019 Panini Unparalleled RC - Daniel Jones
2019 Plates & Patches - David Tyree (Features his Super Bowl Catch as the front card image)
2019 Playoff RC - Daniel Jones
2020 Elite Signatures - Dante Hall /99 ($12)
2020 Panini Illusions Auto & Jersey - Christian Okoye /35 ($15) *Spotlight Card*
 
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snuffbox

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A friend has gotten super into cards the last couple year or so. Just got back from the National. He wants to start doing videos (various breaks, at shows, making trades, mail day openings, etc) and I think I might join in on that.
 

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A friend has gotten super into cards the last couple year or so. Just got back from the National. He wants to start doing videos (various breaks, at shows, making trades, mail day openings, etc) and I think I might join in on that.
I know if he (or you both) can find a niche in the content creation, that will help stand out a lot more. BaseballCardDealerInvestor brings knowledge/history, ThoseBackPages brings mail days & knowledge, CardDojo brings fun + "dojo theme" to his box rips, TheFantasyFootballCardQuest brings a fantasy football element to his stuff, EliteCo3 brings amazing deep cut graded card submissions with deep knowledge, etc.

I'd say one avenue that is criminally underexplored is simply breaking down the background/history of the player on the actual cards. Everybody and their mom do box/pack rips or mail days showing off their fancy Gold Prizm Refractor PSA 9 RJ Barrett but don't bother explaining WHY they picked up that particular card and that particular player.

I greatly enjoy Chris (BCDI) and Eric (TBP) because they bring a history of the hobby factor to their videos and I wish more folks just did research and bring more to the table "behind" showing off a pickup or trade.
 

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I know if he (or you both) can find a niche in the content creation, that will help stand out a lot more. BaseballCardDealerInvestor brings knowledge/history, ThoseBackPages brings mail days & knowledge, CardDojo brings fun + "dojo theme" to his box rips, TheFantasyFootballCardQuest brings a fantasy football element to his stuff, EliteCo3 brings amazing deep cut graded card submissions with deep knowledge, etc.

I'd say one avenue that is criminally underexplored is simply breaking down the background/history of the player on the actual cards. Everybody and their mom do box/pack rips or mail days showing off their fancy Gold Prizm Refractor PSA 9 RJ Barrett but don't bother explaining WHY they picked up that particular card and that particular player.

I greatly enjoy Chris (BCDI) and Eric (TBP) because they bring a history of the hobby factor to their videos and I wish more folks just did research and bring more to the table "behind" showing off a pickup or trade.
I think I might be able to do that underexplored thing.

Another thing to try to stand out more might be wrestling stuff.
 

HarleyQuinn

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I think I might be able to do that underexplored thing.

Another thing to try to stand out more might be wrestling stuff.
Absolutely and the fact that you're into vintage more, I'm sure you know shit about the cards/sets of those periods that most have no idea about. I learn more & enjoy more from @SFH explaining some of the backgrounds of those 1920s-1950s pickups than the actual pickup itself.
 

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I'm slowly getting into the habit of videoing my graded reveals and posting them on my personal youtube, considering making a dedicated youtube for them. Once the 2020 logjam clears up I'm going to potentially have access to weekly content. Compounded by that, my BGS/CSG guy has covid, so even if he has returns for me, he can't get to his office to check the mail nor does he want to fool with outgoing mail while he's hacking up a lung (and the entire FB group is on the same wavelength, "yo man, health first" so that's encouraging).

Today I was going to make a police report for stolen mail. I had a Revis RC sell last week for $30 and also sent to my SGC guy 2 1901 Ogden Tobacco cards, the Danish card, and 3 other random tobaccos. Also, my rent check was in the mailbox. That day by 6pm our flag was still up but the next morning we did have new mail. Mrs SFH confirmed the check hasn't cleared yet, but our landlord tends to wait until all 8 units have paid before she deposits. As I'm getting my stuff together to head out for the night I get an updated text that the ebay sale has reached the sort facility in New Orleans. It took 5 days to go 45 miles. My fault for letting myself lapse into complacency with the mail service. My regular carrier must have quit or got reassigned because she scans every tracking number as she gets them. Going to have to start using the blue boxes or go to the post office again.
 

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Started adding stuff to instagram last night. I added a few Myslabs cross posted cards and Prewar tobacco cards I've purchased up to May 2021. Uploading them in order of purchase since I have them organized by month obtained. The guy I mostly buy from is VERY spotty on getting the years accurate on the invoice (sometimes will literally write 19?? or 19xx), I don't figure out the years on the cards for a few weeks. I have opened a word document to start a log but I'm already at 330 individual pieces since getting into them this year. It's a massive undertaking that I didn't anticipate a few months ago.

Youtube domain is created but I'm realizing I filmed the two videos I have vertically so I'll let those get views organically until a new order comes in to film horizontally and I'll share it.
 

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Picked up a 2020 Certified /199 RPA (3 Color Patch) of WR Laviska Shenault for $35 thanks to Brad (TheComebackCardInvestor) giving me a $10 Off Ebay coupon he got at The National :)
 

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My BGS/CSG guy has covid, so even if he has returns for me, he can't get to his office to check the mail nor does he want to fool with outgoing mail while he's hacking up a lung (and the entire FB group is on the same wavelength, "yo man, health first" so that's encouraging).
Blowout forum users reporting their BGS August 2020 30 day (now known as "Economy")subs are popping.

Per my records, I have the following pre-August 2020 outstanding through BGS:

Non-Guaranteed, no Sub-grade option when NG existed: 7 submissions between June 1 - July 30, 2020, sent approximately once per week, all PC, knowing there'd be a wait.

30 day Without subgrades: 4 between June 23 - July 30, 2020, not sent with any specific consistency, usually packaged with a NG sub or a BAS sum in the package.

30 day WITH subgrades: 4 between June 7 - July 17, 2020. These also were sent with no specific regularity, usually packaged with an NG sub or a BAS sub.

CSG Bulk subs: 16 since March 2021. March 2021 bulk stuff is starting to pop according to Blowout users.

In any case, just for BGS I have 15 subs over a year old, 8 of which were sent when the submission levels had numbered days associated with them, not descriptive speed adjectives. My mindset at the time was we were both paid bi-weekly so no matter when the subs popped, there was a paycheck coming in. I always kept the sum less than $120 in case something would turn sideways for us, we wouldn't be too screwed.

I didn't think BGS would back up THIS MUCH. Ah well, I will do what I have to do. If he has 8 subs for me when he beats Covid, I might be doing "box opening" and a fire sale at the same time :p
 

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My main annoyance with the backlogs at BGS/PSA is that, because they have varied service levels, they don't even adhere to a FIFO or LIFO system in regards to grading the bulk of the cards. I've heard of people having later submissions pop while submissions sent 3-6 months earlier are still sitting there. It all seems incredibly arbitrary about which submissions they are grading at the moment and the person sending in their cards has to just take it on the chin (while insuring for a "perceived" card value that may well be non-existent depending on the pop time).
 

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Hobby friend of mine, used to be my main go to for bulk subs in the "before times" still has a bunch of my stuff from as far back as 2018 when I had my wreck settlement. His set up is to send subs via mail as opposed to the Facebook group having a guy in the Dallas area doing physical drop offs to BGS. So he sends 2-3 cards of mine when he can with a very small list of his hobby friends also submitting. We have enough of a rapport that I'm okay with him having the quantities of my stuff that he does. Anyway, with BGS shutting down we've been in a holding pattern, as has most of the hobby. He emailed me today that his contact inside the building is allowing him to discreetly submit stuff in small af quantities. So might see some more of my Brees PC in the coming months.

I finished uploading to instagram all of my prewar tobacco cards purchased from March - July as well as a 25 card set of tea cards from 1964. I think the idea of cards in tea is more interesting to me than tobacco BUT these are from the UK and "tea" is one of those things I mentally stereotype over there. I think I'm going to let the scans accumulate on my hard drive for August and then upload them. I think i worked out a pretty good routine. I can't just scan and upload, Instagram cuts off the top and bottom, so I figured out if I open the scan in "full screen" view on my laptop, do a screen grab, and upload the screen grab, instagram accepts that and only trims the unused black space.
 

HarleyQuinn

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I really don't know how these Box Breakers/Rippers are going to keep their heads above water value to price in a year or so. Just amusing seeing these prices and they've been dropping for the last 6 Months too.

Courtesy of BlowoutCards

2014 Absolute Memorabilia Blaster Box (Box Price is $24.99) is being sold for $49.95 (on sale from $64.95)
2016 Classics Blaster Box (Box Price was $19.99) is being sold for $69.95 (on sale from $99.95)
2017 Classics Blaster Box (Box Price was $19.99) is being sold for $249.95 (on sale from $299.95)
2017 Rookies & Stars Blaster Box (Box Price was $21.99) is being sold for $199.95 (on sale from $349.95)
 

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It's a good question. Busting boxes, retail and hobby, is a LOT of fun, but I'm willing to just buy singles until current events BS stabilize. I am perfectly content with buying a $19.99 box at Target and pulling zero hits if it means I can just have the fun I had back in the day. I'll find homes for the cards, be it via sale or donation, that isn't ever going to be an issue. But I refuse to be held financially hostage by some of the people involved, currently.

Hell, for as dog shit of a product (ROI wise) 2006 Fleer was, I had a blast buying 10 hobby boxes of it and just doing all sorts of set, sub set, and rookie set building and then taking the surplus and giving to whoever the hell on the '06 version of Hobby message boards. Main set was literally 100 vets and 100 rookies. It was simple, cheap, and had something for all collectors.
 

HarleyQuinn

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It's a good question. Busting boxes, retail and hobby, is a LOT of fun, but I'm willing to just buy singles until current events BS stabilize. I am perfectly content with buying a $19.99 box at Target and pulling zero hits if it means I can just have the fun I had back in the day. I'll find homes for the cards, be it via sale or donation, that isn't ever going to be an issue. But I refuse to be held financially hostage by some of the people involved, currently.

Hell, for as dog shit of a product (ROI wise) 2006 Fleer was, I had a blast buying 10 hobby boxes of it and just doing all sorts of set, sub set, and rookie set building and then taking the surplus and giving to whoever the hell on the '06 version of Hobby message boards. Main set was literally 100 vets and 100 rookies. It was simple, cheap, and had something for all collectors.
I was partly inspired by Bracket Fantasy's Card's recent videos around 2021 Elite proclaiming that the 2021 Blaster Box isn't worth $27 and I was thinking, "That's a pretty reasonable price for a blaster box," lol especially when he was comparing it to a Value Pack at $16. Then made a past video titled Hangers Are Bangers on Football products which yielded some awful boxes.

The Hobby Box is $400 for 2 Autos, 1 Mem, 6 Parallels, and 11 Inserts.
 
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HarleyQuinn

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Just did a smaller order via Triple I Sports Cards and still finding some (pretty) good deals through Beckett as opposed to Ebay, etc. I've been taking the Graham/Buffett aspect of the most important thing being the price paid/price point in relation to the margin of safety & minimizing the risk of loss vs. likely future gains.

I'm happier paying $3, $4, $5, $6 raw on a card and the risk being it goes down to $0 than paying $200+ for a PSA 9 of a prospect and seeing the risk there being $0. I also try to minimize my risk by including the card scarcity (as low as I can get the serial # for a good price point) and the player on the card e.g. opting for a /25 or /35 Julio Jones who is a likely HOFer over a /25 Justin Jefferson who has just 1 year under his belt. My price point max is generally around $8-$10 with the exception being the few RPAs I've gone in on where I prefer a max of $20-$30 if possible.

2008 Playoff Prestige League Leaders Holofoil /25 - LaDainian Tomlinson/Adrian Peterson/Clinton Portis/Joseph Addai for $8.00
2017 Unparalleled Teal /25 - Julio Jones for $7.50
2018 Limited Silver Spotlight /99 - Christian McCaffrey for $6.00 (I truly think, if healthy, he could be LaDaniain Tomlinson/Marshall Faulk)
2019 Plates and Patches Purple /35 - Julio Jones for $4.50
2019 Score 30th Anniversary /30 - Saquon Barkley for $6.00
2020 Elite Aspirations /78 - Christian McCaffrey for $4.00
2020 Mosaic No Huddle Purple /50 - LaDainian Tomlinson for $6.00
2020 Panini XR Orange /99 - Kyler Murray for $6.00

Fun Fact: A 2019 Panini XR Trios Jerseys Card of Brees/Kamara/Thomas out of /49 that I paid $13.35 for on August 21st, 2020 is now being offered by that dealer for $26.90 or thereabouts. That's the kind of example where if I pay well under what the value price point of that card should be, the price could double or triple down the road.
 

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Added some things the last few days:

1999 Bowman Chrome CC Sabathia (my favorite pitcher of all time) RC PSA 10
1978 Topps Robin Yount PSA 9
2018 Bowman Chrome Luis Urias RC auto PSA 10
2021 Diamond Kings Shoeless Joe Jackson bat kings bat relic
2019 Immaculate dual patch auto RPA /49
2019 Cornerstones Rowdy Tellez quad relic auto RC /49
 

HarleyQuinn

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Added some things the last few days:

2021 Diamond Kings Shoeless Joe Jackson bat kings bat relic
2019 Immaculate dual patch auto RPA /49
I'm warming up to some of those Diamond King designs and have gained a greater appreciation for bat relic cards.

Hope that Immaculate Dual Patch Auto was a banger considering it's just a blank ;) I'm planning to start including my prices paid for my IG card posts both for transparency and also to look back on one day to see if the price has gone higher or lower since.
 

HarleyQuinn

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Always fun seeing the price comparisons of specific players especially in basketball with NBA Season just a couple months away.

Jayson Tatum 2017 Hoops PSA 10 (3,097): Last 3 Sales = $107.83, $107.80, and $107.50
Donovan Mitchell 2017 Hoops PSA 10 (773): Last 3 Sales = $105, $77, and $100
Luka Doncic 2018 Hoops PSA 10 (4,247): Last 3 Sales = $209.80, $253.50, and $223.50
Trae Young 2018 Hoops PSA 10 (2,399): Last 3 Sales = $85.60, $93.33, and $96.37
LaMelo Ball 2020 Hoops PSA 10 (694): Last 3 Sales = $193.40, $255.03 (sharp spike up), $167.50, and $180
 

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My Maddux auto's journey is over and finally home:

wBn89Zh.jpg
 

HarleyQuinn

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So much for PSA's (laughably slim anyway) credibility... I get maybe getting 7s or 8s but getting a 4 and 6 on modern-ish cards is just baffling especially when they look the way they do in the video. Good on this guy for sending them to HGA and basically calling out PSA.

 

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I think they might have considered the Rodgers off center whereas HGA didn't. Other than that, this video definitely needs to be circulated.
 

HarleyQuinn

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I think they might have considered the Rodgers off center whereas HGA didn't. Other than that, this video definitely needs to be circulated.
Yeah, that was my first thought, but a very cursory 10 second look at the design showed that's just how Bowman's Best did it and HGA correctly graded it as such (which is also another damning indictment of PSA considering their history in the industry).
 
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HarleyQuinn

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So Geoff aka SportsCardInvestor and T-Pott threw out a video decrying 2020 Select's going to retail and pumping out a bajillion parallels along with adding the Club Level. They also are worried about Geoff's 500K investment in Select as a brand going back several years.

A lot of his fans and followers are praising the content but he's also rightfully gotten a few comments calling him out for basically catering to the rich & high end "investors" with such a video and accusing him of basically whining that 2020 (and 2021 Select) is now actually available in retail to the average collector who can actually afford it now. They also were pretty unhappy at Geoff insinuating stuff like Chronicles and such are essentially beginner products/kiddie table type products again making it feel like it's less a rant at Select and more, "Wah. They made it affordable & in the retail market and I don't want to share my investment(s) with people making less than $250,000."

I've never really liked the whole 'X Product is low end' attitude but have understood it is based on demand/price. As somebody who loves Certified, Limited, Phoenix, Absolute & Absolute Memorabilia, Triple Threads, etc. I feel like Geoff's video is almost the equivalent of income shaming. He and T-Pott try to couch it in that whole 'collect what you want' stuff but it feels so fake & insincere when they constantly promote: Prizm, Select, Optic, Topps Chrome, etc. via their Market Movers tool and on their actual videos. Notice how quickly they ran the fuck away from Mosaic when they ended up not being Prizm 2.0 to them financially and IIRC, Geoff had a financial stake in PSA pre-Nat Turner so they had to promote them as a grading company for his own financial benefits.

I won't be shedding any tears if/when investors and Youtube personalities solely in this for just the financial side get burned and they run back to Wall Street/other avenues of investing.
 

HarleyQuinn

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Ebay staying hot!

"eBay hasn’t broken down sales of sports vs. gaming and non-sports cards but reported earlier this summer that $871 million worth of sports card sales worldwide had been sold in the first three months of 2021.

Tennis cards grew by nearly 1,800% as new buyers embraced alternatives other than the four major sports typically traded in the hobby in years past, giving the overall market more of a “sports stock market” feel.

Soccer sales were 852% greater in the first six months of 2021 vs. the same period in 2020. Golf cards were up 436% while football grew 200%, hockey increased 176%, basketball climbed 148% and baseball increased by 93%. Sales of tennis, soccer and golf cards would likely have been minimal in 2020."
 

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pulled my first every 1/1 from a pack; won from a raffle. The Anthony Smith just sold for $700. Dude beat him without issue and is the #3 LHW. Hoping to pop a grand for it. Also don’t know why the pic is sideways.
 

HarleyQuinn

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PWCC HAS BEEN SUSPENDED BY EBAY FOR SHILL BIDDING

Holy shit... it's something a lot of us strongly suspected but I didn't think the account would actually be suspended. Wow!

Also finally something that my sig fits!
 
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Holy shit!

Also: @SFH not sure if it's the set you collect but Probstein has some 1959 Fleer 3 Stooges card auctions ending tonight. Unless he's the next one to get cut off!
 
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HarleyQuinn

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Holy shit!

Also: @SFH not sure if it's the set you collect but Probstein has some 1959 Fleer 3 Stooges card auctions ending tonight. Unless he's the next one to get cut off!
There are rumblings that PWCC has been trying to branch out through their own site and this may've (partly) been a pre-emptive strike to PWCC but it's still a major blow to their credibility in the eyes of the public at large. Also heard that their own site has the shill bids, etc. too.

I don't know if Ebay goes after Probstein but I'm sure they have to be seriously looking over their shoulders now.
 
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