Stars Of Today For Stars Of Yesterday

In today's hobby, there is a lot of hustle and bustle when it comes to collecting the next big thing.

Everyone wants that next big prospect money return. Some buy low, sell high. Others will pour their life savings into one prospect they feel could be the next Mike Trout. Even though that sometimes works out, probably only 10-20% of the time (I am looking at you Baker Mayfield and Shohei Ohtani collectors in 2018 and 2019), it's a huge risk to take.

One I am not willing to.

For me, collecting is fun and nostalgic. I don't rip and flip. I don't buy all in on one player, unless it's a guy on my team but that's not prospecting. I don't buy just to sell. I collect plain and simple.

So if I happen to land one of those big name prospects, I usually trade it off for what I consider an upgrade.

When looking for an upgrade, I look for players who are in the Hall Of Fame and ones that I have had a history somewhat with.

Being a huge fan of the 90's, I saw a lot of Hall Of Fame players play in that era spread across all sports, so those are the guys I am typically drawn to getting autographed cards of.

I have already picked up autos of guys such as Ken Griffey Jr, Kobe Bryant, Steve Young, Dan Marino, and many others and have been weaning my search down as I go. My recent prospect trade off took two more off from my list of needs.

 

Tony was atop my baseball list needs that includes guys like Mariano Rivera still to get.  Gwynn played 20 seasons all for the SD Padres. He won 8 batting titles and is one of the most consistent. hitters in MLB history He also was an 15 time All Star, seven time Silver Slugger award winner and five gold gloves as well. Solid player who has a place in my collection. When I saw also this was a 90's autograph I was acquiring it made it an even more beautiful sight.

 

The Big Hurt stars in commericals now, but when he was on the baseball field he put a hurt ont all baseballs. He was an MVP, Five time All Star, AL Comeback Player Of The Year and won a World Series. Not quite the list of accomplishments as Gwynn, but one heck of a player no matter. If only injuries hadn't take a toll on him throughout his career we may be talking more about him.

Usually I don't like unlicensed baseball cards like this, but I have been needing an autograph of Thomas so this fits the bill.

I still have many more needs across multiple sports to acquire so when I hit that next big prospect or if I already have, I will turn that into players who are more established careers. That's just the way I roll.

The Origins Of A Cardboard Addict:Baseball Collecting Comes Into Play

Recently I decided it was time to move on from having multiple blogs besides my Snagging Cardboard one and bring those blogs as new segments on here. The Origins Of A Cardboard Addict blog was actually turning out to be more popular than this one but the posts were long and I just didn't have the time to keep it going. But, doing an occasional post to continue my story of collecting on here will be my way of keeping it alive.

So when I last left off on that blog, we were in 1996. I was collecting football cards pretty heavily and dived into baseball collecting some. But, my real collecting of baseball didn't kick off til my love of baseball did. That is when the 1996 World Series Game 4 comes into play.

My father was a die hard NY fan all around and on this cold fall day I was stuck inside with family. That's the easiest way to word it when my mom's side of the family was over. I wasn't a fan as I had nothing in common with them. So I sat there bored to tears until I decided to get up and sit next to my father who was watching baseball.

I had never really watched baseball before that much, just football, but as I sat there I found the game intriguing, but even more so when it came to the 8th inning. That's when a guy named Jim Leyritz hit a three run home run against the Braves to help the Yankees tie the game that they once trailed 6-0 in. Not only did that home run tie the game with the Yankees eventually winning it, but it changed the momentum of the entire series that the Braves led 2 games to 1 as the Yankees went onto be champs. It also gave me the urge to watch more baseball which I did.

If you haven't ever seen the Leyritz home run before, here is your chance. Follow the link to the Youtube video of it. For some reason or another, my blog will not allow me to embed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULCFMb1ymwg

After the World Series ended, I wanted to collect more baseball cards to know the players and learn more about the game. I even started going to my father's softball games. The more I learned, the more I was into it. 

The Leyritz home run not only turned me into a baseball fan, but I was a Yankees fan. I guess eventually that was going to be a given. Just like with the NY Giants it was in my blood. 

The one surprise was how it led me to be a Ken Griffey Jr fan later on. More on that next time.

So I wanna know, what's your backstory to being baseball fan? Let me know in comments!

TMNT Episode 2: Sticker And On-Card Autographs

Deep in the sewers of NYC, lived the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Most have forgotten about them living there. Some remember and shrug it off. Others still recognize them as heroes that saved their city from the foot-clan.

What have the turtles been doing all of these years in hiding.....

Sorting sports cards.

Does it truly ever end?

Nobody knew of the turtles and their collecting sports cards except for Casey Jones who would bring the turtles packs to open and card supplies to store their items.

Once in awhile the turtles run into a card-related problem that could use some help solving before it got messy.

Today Donatello and Leonardo were comparing autographs when a discussion broke out about sticker autographs and on-card autographs.

Leo: Check out this totally rad on card autograph Donnie.

Donnie: Does it really matter that you point out it's on-card every time. That's no better than my sticker autograph dude.

Leo: Are you kidding me right now? This is on-card. Ooooooonnnnnnn caaaaaaaarrrddd. This athlete totally touched this card.

Donnie: As if! The dude touched this sticker autograph as well.

Leo: Talk to the hand! There is no way that card is equal with mine.

Soon Mikey and Raph joined in and each of them took sides. Mikey agreed with Leo that on-card autographs are so bangin as opposed to sticker autographs because the athlete had to hold the card in hand. He also liked the fact that on-card autographs can't be messed up by companies sticker autograph messes they have.

Raph on the other hand, was very vocal in his agreement with Donnie and saying that all autograph cards are created equal.

 

The turtles continued to be at a standstill on the topic. 

Leo: I am sorry but I am right on this.

Donnie: Well, we like what we like but there is no way you are right this time. 

So not all was calm in the sewers as the turtles continued to take sides on who was right. What they needed was some guidance, some help from some knowledgeable collectors. That's where you guys come into play.

The Turtles need your help to solve this problem. Let them know in comments which side you choose and why. Hopefully by the time the next episode happens there will be a solution.

TMNT Episode 1: Prospecting And Established Players

Deep in the sewers of NYC, lived the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Most have forgotten about them living there. Some remember and shrug it off. Others still recognize them as heroes that saved their city from the foot-clan.

What have the turtles been doing all of these years in hiding.....

Sorting sports cards.

Does it truly ever end?

Nobody knew of the turtles and their collecting sports cards except for Casey Jones who would bring the turtles packs to open and card supplies to store their items.

Once in awhile the turtles run into a card-related problem that could use some help solving before it got messy.

Today Donatello and Leonardo were looking at baseball rookies when an argument broke out.

Leo: Man, so glad I collect established players rookie cards. You just never know when a prospects values can drop.

Donnie: Well, I like the upside of having prospects. They could the next future superstars and drive the hobby market! Here, I will trade you this Moncada for your Larkin just to give you a shot of money down the road. Moncada could be the next big thing while Larkin is still stuck where he is.

Leo: NO WAY! Larkin is a Hall Of Famer! Moncada could be done in a year! You even said could be. Could is not definite.

Donnie: Prospecting is awesome! Take my Moncada, you will thank me later. If my calculations are correct, he is due for a big breakout year for the White Sox this year!

Leo: The White Sox hahaha. Larkin will do more than Moncada will ever think of doing. He is here to stay! He will always hold his value and place in my collection. Those prospects are mostly flops!

Donnie: How dare you!

*insert weapon drawn noise*

Usually not the one to talk common sense, Michelangelo decides to step into the conversation to stop the two from the argument.

Mikey: Guys, guys. Slow down. Each their own. Collect what you like dude. If Leo doesn't want to collect prospects, then he doesn't have to. If he likes collecting established players, let him. If you like collecting prospects go ahead Donnie. Both are worth what they are worth in your eyes guys.

First both stopped in shock from the conventional wisdom stowed upon them by Mikey who was usually known for eating the bubble gum out of 80's baseball packs. So the both of them agreed to stick with what they like and not try to force the other to agree with them and shook on it.

 

So for now, Donnie and Leo continued on with the way they have always collected their baseball rookies. And all was happy in the turtles lair til the next cardtrovercy....

So what do you guys do when it comes to baseball rookies? You take the risk and ride with a prospect? Do you focus on already established players and Hall Of Famers? And when you trade, how often do you RISK trading a prospect with a high upside for someone who has already retired but is a Hall Of Famer? Let me know in comments.

I promise I won't let the turtles see your answers. I wouldn't want to stir them up again.

Wait...Cards Have Value?

Up to this point in 1995, I looked at sport cards as sport cards and not pieces of cardboard money. They were fun to collect and sort and that was it.

But, after pulling my "big hit", I was at one of my friends houses telling him about it and he suggested that "we look that card pull up."

I looked at him dumbfounded as I had no idea what that had meant.

He looks at me and says, "You didn't know that cards have value?"

No. No I didn't.

It took almost a full year in the hobby for me to realize that the money we were spending on these cards actually could get us money in return. Not that I was planning on selling any of them. But, knowing their value was a fun fact to know. It actually added a whole new twist to my collecting as I began to look every card up each month and add their values to my notebooks. I had to make changes, or as I called them scribbles, to adjust the prices as they went up and down.

The harder part was finding a Beckett locally but luckily my friend would hand me his older football issues to use. His uncle collected multiple sports and always handed me his baseball issues.  In 1996, I began finding them more locally as the hobby continued to thrive and I finally started to subscribe for myself.

Beckett magazines also started a new hobby for me, collecting them. I held onto every single issue I ever got until I moved out of my parents house. I realized how much space they were taking up and left those for my father to dispose of. However I did pull out all of my Griffey ones just to have for that PC. We will discuss my origin to Griffey on here soon as well.

Here is one of my oldest issues I had when I was younger for Griffey. Not sure what kind of pose this was....

 

And here are my oldest football ones as well. I really like the creative covers. I was lucky enough to land both of these as they came one month then the next. I also have a Griffey one that was supposed to have a 24 but I am missing one of them.

 

 

I not only enjoyed looking up my card values, but I also enjoyed reading the articles. They gave product previews, A Hot/Cold list, they had Readers Write in to ask questions (something I attempted but never got published), pictures of fans with their favorite cards, PC highlights and much more. It was a goal in every collectors life to find yourself in Beckett. Something I was able to do later on in both a PC feature in Beckett Baseball and a couple of big pulls in BSCM.

Today's magazine is much different and so much less interesting because as a blogger I have all of that access to the information they publish. They also got rid of all of the features that I think made them popular. If only they could go back in time and bring some of them back.

Speaking of going back in time, about ten years ago, I discovered a yard sale with a binder full of older Becketts. My mind told me, no, you don't need to find room to store those, but my collecting heard said, yeah you do. Guess who won....

 

 These were only a few of my favorite ones. There was roughly 17 overall.

20 years later of being a Beckett subscriber, I still look my values up only for fun though. I don't have the time anymore as an adult to write down every single value but in my mind I know what most are. I still look at sports cards the way I did 22 years ago though, cards do have monetary value and I could sell if I wanted to but I don't, because to me, cards mean so much more than that.

I Miss The Hobby Episode 3

I miss the hobby.....remember when card collecting was just for card collecting? It doesn't seem that way for most anymore. Some are just in it for profit. Some are just hit chasing. Some are in it for other reasons that are not collecting. What happened to just collecting?

What happened to just taking a pack of cards, sorting it by team or player, taking out your favorites for a special place and trading with your buddies what you don't need for something you do? What happened to the enjoyment of set collecting? Some collectors in today's day and age will never realize what that was like. I remember! It was fun chasing down those last few you needed to complete one, especially a big one. What happened to the excitement of pulling your favorite players base card or insert? Seems like that is a thing of the past as most donate, giveaway or simply burn up those types of cards.What happened to the days where collectors weren't focused on the big hits and sales and just simply enjoyed collecting cards as collecting cards?

I really wished the hobby would shift back to those days. The days where the hobby felt like it was more fun. I know it will never return to that as the hobby continues to evolve and move forward daily. But, it's a nice thought.

I will say that having collected in that era, I don't plan on changing the way I collect. I sort, I collect base cards and inserts, I still put together sets, I don't chase hits and I don't go for big sales. I simply just have fun collecting. Cause isn't that why we all do it?

************************************************************************************
TOPIC:
Do you agree with me that collecting isn't collecting anymore? Do you collect the way I see collecting should be? How do you collect? Thoughts are always welcomed!

Happy Fathers Day

First off I would like to wish all of the fathers out there...Happy Father's Day!!

For this Father's Day, I would like to look back onto how I got into collecting. And I wouldn't be the collector I am without my father getting me into it.

Back in 1993, my father and I took a usual grocery shopping trip. Yup...as boring as can be. For years my father had tried to spike my interest into sports but nothing caught on. I was more into acting like Batman, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Darkwing Duck among other NBC Disney cartoons back in those days. So on this grocery trip, we picked up the necessities quickly and we were about to check out when my father looked over to a shiny metal rack next to the register that had packs of trading cards. Hockey and Baseball boxes with packs sat there. He went over and picked up a 4 packs, 2 of each and told me we would open them in the car. I didn't know anything about the sports or what cards were except a buddy of mine had some. I asked him what he was doing and responded, "lets try something new." I still don't know why he went over to the rack in the first place. Or what caught his eye, but at that time I was still thinking about how I was going to defeat the bad guys and not what I would be thinking now in lets bust some more.

We finally finished checking out and headed out to the car. We entered the vehicle and he handed me a pack of each sport. Whoever would have thought that opening up a couple packs of cards would change my life course. He began to tell me as we ripped (it took me a little while to get into the pack I really didn't know how to open one unlike now where its busted in seconds) into them the usual horror story of former adult collectors who used their valuable cards as tire spike noisers. And how he now regretted doing so. He no longer had any of his former collection even the ones that had been saved from his bike of doom.

I ripped into the two packs finally and flipped through them. I didn't know players that well other than a few he spouted off every so often (when he was mad at his team on TV). But something to do with the shinyness, the appeal to the players on the field diving for catches or scoring goals, the value to them that my father spoke of and the unique feeling of bonding between my father and I in the moment that something about these cards caught my attention. I couldn't believe it. Was I actually going to maybe watch a sporting event on TV? Collect cards? Really? Me? I was still uncertain at that point but what he or I didn't know was from there he created a monster.

The next 5 shopping trips resulted in packs of cards. I didn't care about the sports we collected and we even got non sports as well such as Power Rangers, Batman, etc to draw me in even more. Soon before I knew it, I had even began playing sports against him and watching more sports on TV to learn the players names..and to actually enjoy the games. I for once was enjoying watching sports.

Over a year later, I knew players names and stats including ones that my dad spouted and I began to do so as well, we had a decent collection going, and I could beat him at basketball and baseball. Later on, I would beat him in football as well when my buddies would come over and we played on opposite teams. My interest in kids shows on Saturday mornings turned into watching sports on the news for scores and home-run counts. Then my weekends would be spent watching whatever was on for sports. We even went to Giants Stadium twice and local high school events for football.

Within a couple of years I was deep in the hobby and into sports. Collecting it all, every sport, every card. We would box up our doubles after I sorted them (he would provide the $ for them most of the time except when I won playing Bingo with my grandmother or birthday money so I would do all of the sorting) and sell them cheap (I still sort them the same way and do the same kind of selling now). We visited our LCS (when they were around) and went to card shows (when those were around as well). And as for sports, I grew up loving football the most (even though at that  point I enjoyed hockey, baseball, and basketball as well) so it was only time before I joined Pop Warner than high school playing as a DE, DT, OT, and TE.

All of our time was spent building our collection together. I still have most of what we bought back then. When I moved out of my parents house as obviously you do when you grow up, we split our collection as fair as possible in half. My dad retired from collecting a year later and sold off his half. I still regret not being able to buy it but just didn't have the money at the time.  I only grew more and more into collectingand never turned my back onit.

20 years later into collecting and here I am. I am on Twitter, Facebook, 2 forums, run 2 blogs, visit a ton of sport card sites and blogs. Became accustomed to talking to some of the big name companies and employees in the business especially from Panini. I may not be at the top of everything, but I feel I am apart of the hobby as much as possible and trying to do my best to help keep it alive.

I hope my collecting and passion for this hobby will also pass on as well. If you haven't collected yet with your little ones, just remember, all it takes is five minutes and a pack of cards. Getting your younger ones into collecting is great, not only for keeping the hobby alive, but its a bonding experience like no other.

Happy Fathers Day again and if you do get to bust some boxes and packs...let us see them on Twitter or Facebook! Also, if you got a collecting story to tell about you and your father please feel free to do so. Would enjoy to hear them.

What kind of collector are you?

I have been thinking about this for awhile now....what kind of different collector's are there? I have come up with my own definitions and titles of some. Which one do you fit under?

Profiteer: One who invests money only to make money. One who doesn't really collect and just is out to make money from the hobby.

Investor: Someone who purchases cards and keeps them for a long term investment in the future. But does not really consider themselves, "A collector".

Collector: One who collects something specific like a sport, rookie cards, refractors, autographs, etc. This separates them from a Super Collector because a Super Collector has a specific team or player and won't collect the rookies, refractors and autographs of other teams and players.They also bust packs and boxes to find what they want and to sell what they don't.

Super Collector:  Invests everything in ONE player or team. Someone who doesn't just buy just anything. These type of collectors look for specific things. Super Collectors are ones who trade stuff off they don't need if they have anything extra, and most of the time will not open packs or boxes because they specifically will buy from places like eBay for the singles they want.

Hobbyist: One who collects what they like and sells or trades or gives away what they don't need. They also bust packs and boxes.

True Hobbyist: One who collects it all. All sports, non sports. Doesn't ever sell. Opens packs and boxes of whatever they feel to that day or time. Treasures and reads every card and treats them all with equal respect no matter the value.

Now, I will honestly place myself on the True Hobbyist. Though I do give cards away. And I do also sell some. I give cards away to my fans on here to show you my thanks for you support! The ones I sell are my double base cards. And I only ask a dollar a box. They are packed up in huge boxes. I find this a way to make a buck, literally, and try to keep the hobby alive by helping out other collectors or new collectors.

Some of us could fall under two or more categories.  I have seen this many types and I am sure there are more. But these are the main ones. To me the main question to ask yourself for your best answer and what category you fall under, is why do I collect? I collect for the fun of the hobby. I enjoy all aspects. This would be my answer. Which is why I fall under True Hobbyist for my love of the hobby.

So now I ask you, what kind of collector are you?

Cards, kids and our hobby

We really liked the topic Upper Deck brought up this week. What should we do to get kids interested in collecting new trading card sets? I like to twist their sentence a little and put it as, what should we do to get kids interested in the hobby in general? 

Here is the idea I had posted on there:

"Here is a new/old idea. How about introducing kids through collecting by putting 1 or 2 cards into cereal boxes? This hasn’t been done too often since Post had them in their boxes in 93 and 94. Have a checklist of about 10 players and have one card per box of cereal. And from here move onto other foods as well. Kids love food. You can put mini cards into boxes of Cracker Jack. Put them into fruit snack boxes. I was a kids once and nothing was more exciting than finding something special in my box of food.

Thats just a start. Put cards and video games together. In order to get kids into this great hobby, you have got to target their favorite spots. If they really dig what they find in their box of cereal or in the other foods or video games for free cards, it could push them into buying the real stuff.

But there has got to be a kid friendly brand(s) out there for them to purchase. Not something too expensive (I have seen so many parents not buying because of price), too confusing (meaning no Sp’s and variations), or too much in depth with the product. They need something simple, colorful, eye catching and on a kid level. Die cuts, refractors, cards that you can feel (ones with felt or bumpiness) could be attention drawers.

And maybe besides sports, doing their favorite tv shows might be a draw in. You never know."

This was only part of an idea I had. There is a ton of stuff we can do to fix the hobby to draw interest from younger fans.

I now post this question to you guys...what do you think we or card companies should do to draw in a younger fan base so the future of our hobby doesn't disappear?