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Sports Cards Hobby Thread 2.0

Good news: a card show I used to set up shop at is happening again after a 2+ year hiatus. Bad: tables have gone from $55 to $90.
 
Good thing I didn't overthink that price increase for the card show. I got 2 tables right away. The show sold out in less than a week.
 
snuffbox said:
Good thing I didn't overthink that price increase for the card show. I got 2 tables right away. The show sold out in less than a week.
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Yeah, despite the singles aka "base cards" plummeting, the market itself is still pretty hot/popular especially at card shows and tables are still worth snagging even at a slightly higher price tag. Your sales/trades will probably pay it off quickly too.
 
I periodically will look at random Mewtwo eBay listings (much like my HQ card, I'll eventually pick up a 1999 Basic Holo raw) but I've noticed a lot of listings that try to use graded card search manipulation in other sports too e.g. 1998 Ryan Leaf Score RC BGS 9 MINT Rare PSA SGC etc. Maybe I'm a dick but I love reporting those asshats as it drives me nuts when I type in "1998 Ryan Leaf BGS" and get a bunch of PSA/SGC/CGC cards popping up and stuff.
 
Ebay tries to remove those types of listings. One of the few things they do right with this hobby. I chuckle when people enter the hobby groups with incredulous posts, "why'd ebay take my listing down???" and then you see an example like you listed.

Got some vintage back:

 
Jumped on several Mewtwo cards and got free shipping courtesy of TCGPlayer.com :) I'm particular when it comes to the artwork so I passed up some other cards for more recent releases that just looked cooler. The Full Arts also just look cool as it shows the full picture rather than covering up half of it. Think an NBA/MLB/NFL card if the lower half of the picture was covered via text block.

2016 Release: Mewtwo - XY Evolutions: Near-Mint Rare Reverse Holo ($2.19)
2019 Release: Mewtwo - Detective Pikachu: Near-Mint Holo Rare ($4.95)
2013 Release: Mewtwo - Legendary Treasures: Near-Mint Holo Rare ($7.99)
2017 Release: Mewtwo GX - Shining Legends: Lightly Played Ultra Rare Full Art ($8.48)
2017 Release: Mewtwo GX - Shining Legends: Near-Mint Ultra Rare ($9.99)
1999 Release: Mewtwo - Base Set: Lightly Played Holo Rare ($9.99). Near-Mint quality cards are going for $20+
2016 Release: Mewtwo - XY Evolutions: Near-Mint Ultra Rare Full Art ($13.68)

EDIT: Just for my own curiosity... A XY Evolutions Booster Pack (10 Cards) is $25 at Amazon. A Shining Legends Booster Pack is $45 at Amazon. A Detective Pikachu Case File 3 Booster Pack set is $40 at Amazon.
 
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CSG pop report is finally live. Was able to check one of my subs that are yet to be returned and found at least one copy for each card. So I checked my other outstanding CSG subs and nothing for the cards that will be "pop 1" once graded. They grade HARD.
 
SFH said:
CSG pop report is finally live. They grade HARD.
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I've heard this too, which doesn't surprise me at all given their reputation with comic books and how meticulous they are in grading those and the tiniest stuff that can turn a 9.8 down into a 9.4 or 9.2.

The Brian Gray/Joe Clemons stuff is re-blowing up per SCR (I think they're good for the hobby when they do these types of callouts with legitimate background/investigation) and it makes sense that a company like BGS would... show gratitude towards somebody throwing tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands at dollars at their company. That's why I think grading is such a scam on the whole if you are solely a collector. If you're a flipper/investor, grading is a necessary evil for the price return factor though. PSA doing this stuff when the market boomed for the big time names shouldn't surprise anybody either.

If you're a big company, are you gonna reward Joe Everyman who sends in 10 cards at $200, Gary Flipper who sends in 100 cards at $2,000, or Stu Big Bucks who sends in 10,000 cards at $200,000? Any company worth its salt greases the big money players at the end of the day precisely to continue that level of business. People can argue all they want about how companies should be grading the card in front of them but business is business.
 
Someone in the last week did a vide recapping the scandal. That may have brought (re)new(ed) attention to it for some/many collectors. IF the Clemons alibi checks out, the money he shelled out to submit in that volume only to note "minimum grade 10" every single card is mind blowing. And what does his place look like with all of the cards that didn't meet minimum? And the hell with his "I just have a good eye" excuse. I have a fricking centering measuring gimmick, two loupes, a magnifying glass, and multiple soft cloths for wiping and I'm not exactly shy about my piss poor returns on the non-registry stuff.
 
SFH said:
Someone in the last week did a vide recapping the scandal. That may have brought (re)new(ed) attention to it for some/many collectors. IF the Clemons alibi checks out, the money he shelled out to submit in that volume only to note "minimum grade 10" every single card is mind blowing. And what does his place look like with all of the cards that didn't meet minimum? And the hell with his "I just have a good eye" excuse. I have a fricking centering measuring gimmick, two loupes, a magnifying glass, and multiple soft cloths for wiping and I'm not exactly shy about my piss poor returns on the non-registry stuff.
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Also, Brian Gray is on record in video interviews saying Leaf would submit their "very best 6,000 cards," etc. through Clemons and such which #1: I still call BS that BGS would give that many Black Labels/Pristines even if that were the case when it's something like 0.83% of all cards submitted otherwise for the public at large and #2: Calls into question why they are pilfering their own product and is proof that they are not giving collectors/purchasers the "best of the best" if they're culling that many from the rotation to submit on their own.
 
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Once Leaf became an unlicensed product, I've only bought their products at retail price twice. 2011 for the cool designs in Leaf Ultimate Draft and then 2012 because I was at the New Orleans card shop when the dude got a shipment of 2012 Leaf Draft (pulled an Andrew Luck Army Allstar :o) and he sold me the box for like 2% mark up just to report a profit on paper. Other than that, it has to be a card that really wows me or the only option for a single auto for a Saints player. Doesn't happen often (I bought 3 autos in 2021, both players across the three cards were linemen and I got a pile of Ian Book base on Sportlots for pennies as a "just in case").

Whatever year Leaf put out the "cut auto" of Johnny Football while he was still @ A&M with the "art" card, citing fair use in art, I was sour on them. Then the Clemons stuff happened and Gray's comments during the initial stages of it @ Blowout cemented it for me. They're dirty.

I'm only using BGS for my Brees, Thomas, 59 Stooges, and 85 GPK registries as of early 2021. There's still a bunch of 2020 stuff log jammed that don't check those boxes. I have a friend
that literally does work for free with the BGS site and has personal contact information for BGS people and even he has made some passive aggressive comments to me about the operation in passing. Like it took a month for him to get a return phone call from a 20 year long hobby connection that works there.
. I don't "need" my collection graded in the way I need oxygen, water, and food. But I'm nearly 6 months removed from a category 4 hurricane hitting my town and I'm still passing lucrative businesses operating with bricks missing from their walls and blue tarps on their rooftops and another Hurricane Season is 4 months away. My, whatever you want to call it, OCD, anxiety, or just nerves, can't handle another near miss.
 
SFH said:
I'm only using BGS for my Brees, Thomas, 59 Stooges, and 85 GPK registries as of early 2021. There's still a bunch of 2020 stuff log jammed that don't check those boxes. I don't "need" my collection graded in the way I need oxygen, water, and food. But I'm nearly 6 months removed from a category 4 hurricane hitting my town and I'm still passing lucrative businesses operating with bricks missing from their walls and blue tarps on their rooftops and another Hurricane Season is 4 months away. My, whatever you want to call it, OCD, anxiety, or just nerves, can't handle another near miss.
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Just curious but what's the thought process behind grading a card in that scenario? Added protection in case of flooding, etc.? I'd have to imagine that you'd be better off having them in a storage locker or one of those fireproof/floodproof safety boxes instead then. If it's for resale, then graded definitely adds a $$ premium in case you have to sell it fast, which is a huge benefit.

Caveat: This coming from a guy whose biggest weather issues are winter blizzards (and torrential rain, which can lead to flooding).
 
I've heard even the best of safes can increase the likely hood of moisture getting into the cards. I keep downsizing my collection and even then I still have too many cards for a safe. My bookshelves sags even after I rearrange the weight distribution. Plus I still have boxes and such. Plus, long term, when I die, the graded stuff makes it a lot easier for my heirs (well, one birth heir unless my sister has another one or my S-I-L pops out a child) to sell with the label stating exactly what it is.

Plus for aesthetics, they display so nicely.
 
Crazy prices for 2020-21 NBA Mosaic Mega Boxes ranging from $94 to $113 between Amazon & Walmart respectively. Target has them at a very reasonable $50 but they are "RedCard Exclusive" and 'Not Available in Stores' lol.

The Hobby Boxes for NFL's Rookies & Stars I've seen at $474 and $674... so stupid I literally cannot comprehend it. As much as I enjoy it, these box rippers/$$ box break groups are ruining that price factor of Hobby Boxes because they are stupidly funneling their money into it and keeping these prices sky high due to the "demand" out there. If 8 people on Youtube are willing to pay $475 for a Hobby Box of this product just to 'review' it for their channel, why would these companies ever lower the price because those fools are gonna pay whatever the price point is.
 
Unreal. I think I'll stick to buying singles. The fun is worth the risk of a dud hobby box if it's in the $100 neighborhood or less. And I just can't do more than $20-30 for a blaster.
 
ONCE AGAIN BGS pops multiple orders at once leaving me scrambling to put together a large sum of money to pay my Facebook group bulk sub guy. I'm going to have to move to once per month instead of once per week when BGS reopens, I'm already doing that for CSG and my BAS authentications. I had to sell two of my graded Brees autos, one graded AP rookie, one graded AP 2nd year, 1 Brees National Treasures non-auto, 1 Bo Jackson graded football rookie, and a couple of random other small cards. Total payment to my guy took about a week to put together, but he's patient.

Cards coming back:

10 x BGS 30 Day without subgrades from August 2020
8 x CSG Bulk (non guaranteed) from July 2021
69 x Non Guaranteed from June - September 2020.

Orders currently outstanding:

3 x BGS Non guaranteed service from September 2020 (that is around when BGS killed NG service)
2 x BGS 30 Day service WITH subgrades from September 2020
3 x BGS 30 day service without subgrades. 1 June 2020, 2 October 2020. Two of these subs are majority 1959 3 Stooges (Here BGS kills # day guarantees)
3 x CSG Bulk. 1 September 2021, 1 October 2021, 1 February 2022.

Currently outstanding BGS subs without #'d day guarantees and instead adjective turn around

23 x Economy No Subgrade November 21, 2020 - May 27, 2021 (BGS closed due to overload)

18 x Economy WITH Subgrades November 11, 2020 - April 7, 2021 ''

3 x BGS submission sheets that I did not mark on my copy if it was with or without but judging by the cards entered, 1 is 1959 Stooges so no subs and 2 are low serial #'d PC National Treasures Brees cards so probably subs. They're all dated oddly as well so I just have to monitor my invoices as they return.

My secret @ BGS guy has 6 cards subbed for me snuck in with his own stuff over the last month and 2 more still to send. Those will pop whenever, but the reveal will probably be presented as "some pickups" and not a "grading pop" on my youtube channel. Unless mail accumulates all on one day

Needless to say, going forward I'll probably be scanning less for this thread and more posting youtube reveals. I'll still be scanning for registry cards and myslabs listings, but it gets exhausting.

Also, Myslabs is now allowing us to list raw cards but the rules are VERY stringent. I have not yet had time to scan any raw cards I would want to list.
 
SFH said:
ONCE AGAIN BGS pops multiple orders at once leaving me scrambling to put together a large sum of money to pay my Facebook group bulk sub guy. I'm going to have to move to once per month instead of once per week when BGS reopens, I'm already doing that for CSG and my BAS authentications.
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Yeah... that might help. It's also why I personally refuse to grade with BGS/PSA/SGC until there is some kind of "pay immediately upfront" instead of when the cards are shipped. It's way too easy to suddenly find yourself in situations like yours when bulk submissions hit (especially in a market where people are so reliant on 10 grades to recoup costs) without any truly guaranteed turnaround time and I also think the 'upcharge' stuff is skeezy as fuck, as much as they argue it being "insurance" related.

People don't realize how grading is still a bit of a Wild Wild West scenario as long as these companies have been around. There's zero regulation. They are not beholden to turnaround times. They don't charge upfront so they, theoretically, could charge your CC at anytime they want e.g. deciding to charge the CC when the cards start entering the grading stage instead of completing grading/being shipped, etc. There's no consensus between companies on what really constitutes Grade X vs. Grade Y and favoritism/fraud is blatantly well known.
 
Beckett is doing a 20% off sale HAILTOTHECHIEF (IIRC) for their orders, which I took advantage of. Set up a care package for Andy aka FFCardQuest of about 43 cards for $42.47 from Burbank.

Some of them are pretty cool "commons" that cost $0.60: 1993 Cardz Flintstones NFL #83 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (figured his kids would get a kick out of that one too especially), 1996 Donruss Press Proofs #168 Warren Sapp (2nd year card but Sapp in that orange creamsicle jersey getup), 1996 Pinnacle Die Cut Jerseys #1 Errict Rhett (the jersey framed behind the player profile on the front is an awesome visual), 2000 SkyBox Sole Train #9 Warrick Dunn (one of those so 90s it hurts Inserts), 2013 Topps 1000 Yard Club #8 Doug Martin & #13 Vincent Jackson (I'm a sucker for those old 90s 1000 Yard Club cards myself), etc.

The card I think will mean the most to Andy is the 2021 Donruss Highlights #24 Tom Brady because he's holding the 'Super Bowl Champions' Bucs T-Shirt over his chest/stomach at the podium. It was $6 (basically free with the $10+ saved) but a card like that means as much to a Buccaneers fan as a $500 Auto of Cortez Kennedy to a Seahawks fan.
 
eBay has finally changed their submission policy for all items it seems: If a buyer submits an offer/offers to buy the item, eBay verifies the payment method then lets the Seller accept or reject the offer. If accepted, the $$ comes out instantly and if rejected, the $$ gets refunded to the buyer. Not sure if this equates to a BIN or Auction too or if this was a Best Offer but it's great news IMO.

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I like that. It's annoying to have to repost stuff, etc, after people make offers, get accepted, and then just disappear.
 
Some additions as I've been bulking up, as it were, for the show next month:

1933 Sport Kings Knute Rockne PSA 1. Soft/dinged corners and creases but a nice front image and a clean, readable back.
1952 Topps Warren Spahn black back SGC 2
1964 Topps #134 Mickey Mantle world series home run SGC 5.5
2020 Leaf Wrestling Larry Hennig #9/25
2020 Panini Spectra Charles Woodson psychedelic prizm auto #1/1
2021 Panini Absolute Tools of the Trade Addie Joss triple relic w/ 4 pinstripes #3/3. Patches are over 110 years old as Joss, a Wisconsin native and still holder of the second lowest era all time, died during his playing career.
2021 Topps Christian Yelich Downtown
2021 Panini Absolute JJ Watt Kaboom

Also some wrestling magazines from the 70s as they have reliably sold well. And I recently finally got a first edition of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I have a p good Beat/counterculture rare book collection and might bring some of that to the show as well.
 
snuffbox said:
Some additions as I've been bulking up, as it were, for the show next month:

1933 Sport Kings Knute Rockne PSA 1. Soft/dinged corners and creases but a nice front image and a clean, readable back.
1952 Topps Warren Spahn black back SGC 2
1964 Topps #134 Mickey Mantle world series home run SGC 5.5
2020 Leaf Wrestling Larry Hennig #9/25
2020 Panini Spectra Charles Woodson psychedelic prizm auto #1/1
2021 Panini Absolute Tools of the Trade Addie Joss triple relic w/ 4 pinstripes #3/3. Patches are over 110 years old as Joss, a Wisconsin native and still holder of the second lowest era all time, died during his playing career.
2021 Topps Christian Yelich Downtown
2021 Panini Absolute JJ Watt Kaboom

Also some wrestling magazines from the 70s as they have reliably sold well. And I recently finally got a first edition of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I have a p good Beat/counterculture rare book collection and might bring some of that to the show as well.
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Absolutely loving the Addie Joss pickup. People, IMO, really underrate the "game-used" cards of legends like that given the eras they played in and how old those uniforms really are.
 
I'm going to post the video later, and I'm no where near ready to scan it, but I listed 70 or so graded cards to FB marketplace last night (cell photos) and with Harley's above post, I might cross post them to ebay with a % increase over FB and my intended Myslabs prices.

I have a lot of other stuff going on between now and Sunday due dates for a bunch of school stuff so not sure where scanning is going to come into play.

On a fun note: I submitted a 1938 Vivian Leigh (Gone with the Wind came out 1 year later) tobacco card a few months ago, and it came back a BVG 6. I did not expect to ever own a card that old in that high of a grade.
 
SFH said:
I'm going to post the video later, and I'm no where near ready to scan it, but I listed 70 or so graded cards to FB marketplace last night (cell photos) and with Harley's above post, I might cross post them to ebay with a % increase over FB and my intended Myslabs prices.

On a fun note: I submitted a 1938 Vivian Leigh (Gone with the Wind came out 1 year later) tobacco card a few months ago, and it came back a BVG 6. I did not expect to ever own a card that old in that high of a grade.
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Awesome card!

I learned the eBay is related to Best Offer only so no Auction or BIN but that definitely helps the seller in making a determined decision. I have to assume the seller would then also be able to see the buyer's feedback level, etc.
 
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Three vintage nonsports that I subbed through a friend:
ofQObWN.jpg

lgOjJTd.jpg

2GL930R.jpg
(film history nerd tail wagging)

Video of my latest bulk BGS and a single CSG sub. I've already moved four cards here. Allegedly a GPK fan is going to be hitting me up over the weekend for some others. I'm yet to have a chance to do high res scans of these. Also, while sorting, I realized the Finest Roaf has a typo on the label and serial # leads to the wrong card as well.

 
SFH said:
2GL930R.jpg


Video of my latest bulk BGS and a single CSG sub. I've already moved four cards here. Allegedly a GPK fan is going to be hitting me up over the weekend for some others. I'm yet to have a chance to do high res scans of these. Also, while sorting, I realized the Finest Roaf has a typo on the label and serial # leads to the wrong card as well.

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That Vivien's a stunner and should fetch a decent price. You should also title your Youtube videos to be more clickbaity, lol e.g. February '22 BGS/CSG Reveal - Vivien Leigh Stunner! Did my Willie Roaf/Frank Thomas/____ Star Name Here Card Get a 9.5?!? ;)
 
Just sold 8 of the GPKs to the same buyer for a combined $350 so I was able to pay my outstanding debt to my Facebook group sub guy.
 
Snagged this for only $14.95. PSA only has 100+ in a 9 and 13 in a 10 so it's not graded often (vintage football in general just isn't compared to MLB and NBA) and not at a high grade either. I also like that it does have the annual stats on the back.

www.ebay.com

MINT SGC 9 1979 Topps Football #22 Larry Csonka Miami Dolphins Graded Nov. 2021 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MINT SGC 9 1979 Topps Football #22 Larry Csonka Miami Dolphins Graded Nov. 2021 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

1979 Topps Larry Csonka SGC 9

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