1 Case Archives, 1 Box 5 Star, 4 Heritage High Number Sets....

We definitely wanted to open some 5 star, but like to open something with volume when breaking high end products. Archives had treated us very nicely when it was released, so we decided on that it its current price point. The Heritage sets happened to come in on the same day, so it made for a nice break.

We'll start with the Heritage sets. Obviously we were hoping for a better autograph out of the group, but the main thing we wanted was the Harper base. From a value standpoint I was able to sell 3 sets presale for $85, and will keep one for myself along with the Harper. The autographs are bringing some nice value, so I really enjoyed these, wish I bought more.

Next, we'll look at the Archives case. Our first case of this product this year we hit a toploader, about 5 autographs we kept in our collection, Harper SP, and a Darvish autograph. We weren't as lucky this time, but got a master set, 6 base sets, and some cool autographs of people we liked growing up. The base cards in this product are really cool, so for the current price not too bad. Of this we'll keep the Howard, Bautista plate, and maybe some others.

Last on the list is 5 star baseball. While we're most likely finished with the top two products, we'll definitely be getting more of this. Believe it or not, this is the first Chipper Jones autograph we've hit, so that's definitely staying with us. We'll also keep the HOFer Al Kaline, and possibly the David Wright. The others are sure to hit eBay. 

As always we appreciate the look, and will post more breaks when we have them!

2 Cases '07 Ultimate Baseball, 1 Box '12 Topps Museum

This was a really fun break, which we got at a great price. The first case was a little rough, but the 2nd case more than made up for it. We hit the Gwynn, Jones, Jeter, Morris, Hamilton, Tulo, Upton, and Headley all in the 2nd case. The Schmidt and Zimmerman we actually picked up from another customer at the fantastic store. The redemptions are of Al Kaline (2), Joba Chamberlain, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. We'll send these 4 redemptions to UD along with 2 others in hopes of receiving redemptions with their new program. 

The museum collection break was fun, but value was lacking at it's current price. The Young patch auto looks great in person.

Thanks for the look!

2012 Topps Finest Case....WOW!!!!

We wanted another product to break with Topps Update, so we decided to give Finest a shot after some good reviews. Let's just say we're happy we did!

BOOM!!!!!! What a PC Hit. Thanks for the look!!!!!

2012 Topps Update Case...

Here are the hits, this was a very fun break! The Harper SP and Mattingly GU were the two main hits. The Kiner auto was a nice hit, and really like the All-Star jerseys.

3 Box Birthday Break....

Today is my brother Greg's birthday, and Friday was mine. So we decided to open a couple of random boxes in between our case schedule. We decided on Finest '12, Topps Chrome '10, and Prime Cuts '11.

We'll lead off with the Topps Chrome 10'. Not the greatest, but a fun break. The Ellsbury looks really cool in person, and it was nice to get another Strasburg base.

Next was the box of 12' Finest. We really did well with this one. The Moore looks great in person, and we'll hold onto the Bauer at least until he is a consistent big leaguer next year.

Finally was a box of '11 Prime Cuts. This box was tailor made for us. Frank Thomas was our favorite player growing up, and Enos "Country" Slaughter is from our hometown. We had the pleasure of meeting/speaking with him multiple times. No one on earth was more familar with his stats than he was, and he had stories for days about his playing career including the famous "mad dash". 

Overall we were very pleased, as always thanks for the look.

We'll be breaking a case of update and most likely finest in a couple of weeks.

3 Boxes 2011 Prime Cuts....

Really like this product, we'll be getting more if it stays at its current price point. The Yankees quad auto and Kershaw #/5 look awesome in person!

2008 Upperdeck Masterpieces Case...

Picked up this case from Blowout Cards, this was an extremely fun break! Got a lot of #'d parallels that we'll be keeping in our binders, I really love the design and look of these cards. Unfortunately we hit a Youk patch auto #/25 redemption, hopefully UD comes through for us. Really like the look of the patch cards. Look for some of these on eBay, ask about any that you like!

2012 Topps Chrome Case Break

Broke this case a little later than I wanted since I was off on vacation. Hit the following cards, along with a refractor hot box. We got a TON of refractors for our binders, and we'll be posting the ones we didn't want tonight on Ebay, 150+ refractors.

The Gio is an atomic/10, nice addition to the Nats PC. The Moore was the only variation we got, not sure of its rarity. The two red refractors, Cueto, and Moore will be on Ebay tonight. All autos below other than the Moore, Cozart, and Mauer will be on Ebay tonight. The Mauer is #/10.

Overall we were happy with the break. We got a lot of nice refractors for our binders, and we hit 3 really nice cards. It's a good looking product, but 1 case is probably enough for us. We got all the base cards we'll want, and there's a few other products on the horizon that we'll be in line for.

Box Breaks from '12 National...

Decided to break some '12 Topps Mini boxes, as well as 3 boxes of Tier 1.

The Mini Boxes were a fun break. I wasn't expecting much out of $50 boxes, and we were happy we got 3 printing plates, even if they weren't of the best players. Our #/61 parallels we also not the greatest players, but they come at 5 per box. (A little eBay plug: http://www.ebay.com/itm/170891829946?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_2406wt_131). We got 1 Harper mini, and also got 2 promotional sets. Although I know the odds weren't with me to get an auto, we were disappointed we didn't get one. This is something we may purchase in the future depending on the price point.

All of the cards are on eBay with the exception of the Harper, my eBay name is raines27.

Tier 1 treated us well earlier this year with our May RC Reprint Auto hit, however, these 3 boxes were a different story. The best card was probably the Heisey patch auto, so that shows you how brutal these boxes were. The only card we're keeping is the Zimmermann auto, the rest are on eBay.

As we've documented we like to keep our big hits, and the hometown guys. So out of the last case('12 A&G) and 7 boxes we've kept 3 Harper's (not including promo sets), 1 Zimmermann, 1 Mike Morse relic, and a Roger Federer relic. We've been running on a definite cold streak.

I did have one more goal in mind at the National, and I found a good deal for it. Pardon the scratch on the case, it's a beautiful card. I went to the BGS booth on Sunday, but they wouldn't rush grading it. 

Our next break will be '12 Topps Chrome case, and a case of a favorite product of ours from the '08 year, any guesses? I'll be sure to let everyone know before in case they need something for a set.

How we collect-What's your story?

I feel like we're the minority in the industry, we keep some base cards. The more I interact with people within the industry, it seems the process of keeping base cards in binders is becoming extinct. So I'm wondering, what is everyone's process of collecting cards?

Our process is relatively simple:

We buy only cases or singles (more the former than the latter). The reason for this is simple, the general thought when buying a case is you're guaranteeing yourself a nice hit out of that product. Obviously the price point of the case generally dictates the size of the hit.

We mainly buy set based cases (Topps, Gypsy Queen, Archives, A&G, Topps Chrome, etc). If we buy a case that doesn't have a base set (Tier One, Five Star, etc), we'll open with a set based product so the break isn't so short.

From the case breaks we'll automatically keep the following: One base card or any player we collect in our binders. We generally keep HOF players, star players we think have a chance at that level, and some local guys. We'll also keep any parallels of that player, unless we deem the value too much to turn down. We keep any autographs and jerseys of said players in which we collect, only exception being if the value is just too much (ie: A 1/1 auto, would probably sell and buy a base auto of same brand).

After we keep these items we'll put together sets, parallels, GU, and autograph's to sell on eBay to recoup some $ for the next purchase.

Everyone who opens wax is in the hobby for different reasons. I'm curious to hear other people's processes. See everyone at National on Sunday!

2012 Bowman Platinum Review....

Well, 2012 Bowman Platinum was legit. Notice I used the word "was". If you were not lucky enough to get on this product at pre-sale pricing, I would hold off. The product looks great, and they've done a wonderful job with the patches. I really wish we would have gotten a case at pre-sale pricing in hindsight.

However, a lot of the big time hits in this product have already popped up on Ebay and other places. This leads me to believe that Topps was aware that most collectors had the same thought about the product that I did.

Case prices have soared over $1,300 for a 12 box case. Given that a lot of the chase cards have already been pulled, I'm not sure that you'll be able to get full value back from the product at this point.

Congratulations to all that had faith in Topps and got on this product early. For everyone else, it's on the the next one! We'll preview Topps Finest '12 soon, and review shortly thereafter. We don't plan on getting finest this year, but we're already locked into '12 Topps Chrome.

If you're interested in checking out '12 Bowman Platinum click on the Sports Card Radio link to the right of the page. If you're interested in buying the product, click on the Blowout Cards link. See everyone at the National!

Free listings for trading cards on eBay....

This news is not official. However, according to eBay mega seller BrentandBecca listings for trading cards and memorabilia will soon be free! eBay would be doing this to compete with other sites in which people buy/sell within this market.

I've recently gotten to powerlevel status myself, so this won't affect my bottom line very much. I also don't break wax for profit like some, it's really to collect. However, for those that do like to "rip n flip" this is huge news.

We'll have to wait and see if this comes to fruition, fingers crossed!

Examining the '12 Bowman Platinum Checklist: Buy?

2012 Bowman Platinum has one serious hurdle in its way, 2011 Bowman Platinum. Last year's product was so bad that I think it turned a lot of collectors away for this year. It was my thought that the checklist for this year's version would be rather strong.

However, when taking a close look at this year's checklist I can say with certainty that the only Bowman Platinum we buy this year will be at the NSCC to receive the #/499 blue foil set.

Of the approximate 35 prospect autographs, over half will be $5 or less autos once the initial eBay craze wears off. The autograph relic checklist looks pretty strong, but they seem to all be sticker autographs and +more+ is currently listed. The fact that +more+ is listed and not an actual number of additional signers makes me very weary. Bowman is continuing to roll out the Bowman Black autographs in which are #/25, however, this crop of signers is significantly weaker than previous products.

On a plus side the autograph patch relics look good, and I imagine they would sell well. I also like the die-cut autographs that are #/25, but once again I wish they were on-card autographs. If you were buying a case you'll need to hit one of these along with one of the "chase" cards to recoup your money spent.

The # of chase cards in this product seems to be relatively low versus assumed production levels. The 1/1 purely platinum autographs look awesome, and will command a huge # on the open market. However, only 35 of these will be in the product making the odds astronomical. The Bryce Harper "Mondo" bat card in which has been publicized since Platinum's sell sheets came out earlier this year will bring a ton of $. I just can't imagine collectors opening the product in search of that when it's just one card.

The one "chase" card in which I think looks really good, and in which you have a reasonable chance of hitting is the jumbo patch card. These patch cards are #/5, and seem like they'll have really large patches, with multi colors. Both of which are a really big deal to those folks that love patches on eBay.

This is one product that we'll stay away from. This product doesn't mesh with what we like to collect, and we wouldn't be able to recoup any value through selling sets. I'm sure people will buy some player lots, but I doubt they command much. Overall, if you're interested in prospect autograph's, why not just buy regular Bowman?

Next Gen

Chris and I grew up in NC where the nearest MLB team was in Atlanta.  The Durham Bulls were as big time as we could physically see and in "hunt country", collecting baseball cards was far from cool.  I think back to why I started collecting and it was because my father took me with him to most places and when we stopped at grocery stores, convenience stores (you could buy cards outside of Target and Walmart then) he would buy me a pack of cards.  When he had crazy money ($20) he would buy a box.  To me, that made collecting as cool as it could be...because he liked it.

Today, with the select stores that sell overpriced blasters, rack packs, and scanned through boxes, only random purchases occur outside those that collect.  We purchase all of our cards online or through Blowout's new store, and only when totally desperate, drive to a superstore to buy a box of cards we are sure to be disappointed by.  This may sound like me complaining on a personal level, but I am more worried about the industry as a whole.  Given we throw thousands of dollars into collecting, the industry overall needs to thrive for our collecting to be valuable...we collect to keep, but trust me the value still matters.

The only way for the card collecting industry to remain viable is to attract a younger generation.  I have seen articles mentioning that the gaming industry has made card collecting not cool...I'm not buying it.  All my friends did was play video games.  It's not like video games came out in 2007.  I've also read that baseball lost popularity...I'm not buying it.  There are more teams, in more markets, on more TV stations, with players making more money than ever before.  The problem is that the market got saturated with products that could not be deciphered and then has moved to limited product with over pricing.  Both ways take kids out of the equation.

I would suggest promotions for fathers and sons (obviously this could be daughters too...should say kids as my wife's father collected and she was interested at one point...just typing from my own experience).  Don't put kids cards in baseball card packs as Topps cannot compete with Nick Jr. or Marvel for youth branding.  But, if you can make it valuable for fathers to bring their sons to shows, take their sons to card stores, or have promotions online, then the kid will see the father collecting and know that at least at home, its cool.  Have a bring your kid to the store day for 2 for 1 pricing...margin will still be there.

I would even suggest, in addition to sponsoring events such as MMA, golf tournaments, and card signings, card companies and stores should do some community service and go to little league tourneys and give away a pack a player, go to the LLWS and have one-of-a-kind Bryce Harper cards only there, go to FedEx and have a RGIII promotion where only kids 12 and under can get a signed RGIII card...there are no costs involved and the increase in kids collecting would be immediate.

Or, we can just collect ourselves and in 50 years, and when we stop trading between ourselves (very little nursing home bartering), the cards will go back to bicycle tire noise...o, that's right, no more bicycles then.

'12 Allen and Ginter Blaster...

I won't let one bad case deter me! Just picked up this blaster at Wal-Mart, hello Nats PC addition!

Topps Replacement for '12 A & G rip card....

Rip card was a Craig Kimbrel #/99, yielded this. As you can see with the case break below we didn't come out too well on A & G this year. From other case breaks it seems most people did much better than we did, that's why it's a gamble! Will be posting this on eBay probably tomorrow night.

1 1989 Upper Deck Pack....

Decided to use my Ebay bucks on this one pack of 1989 Upper Deck. I only had $4.25 of Ebay Bucks, so my options were pretty limited in what to get. I came across this auction and decided to give it a shot. It was always fun searching for Griffey as a kid. At the time my brother was more into the hobby that I was, so he took the honors with this quick break. This is one of those cards that's worth a lot more than it's BV, one of my all-time favorites!

I'd say that's $3.99 of "free money well spent!

4 Packs of '12 Gold Rush Redemption...

Just posting the hits, had already given our "binder" cards to my brother to put into pages. At some point I'll explain our method of collecting cards. Will be interesting to see how many other people share the same method.

As Nats fans we were obviously pumped to pull two Harper's. I pulled the first and immediately assumed I had the best pack of the bunch (is it bad to be competitive with cards too?). Next pack my brother hits the Harper and Alonso in the same pack! The Alonso is #'d/150 and will hit Ebay sometime next week. The Harper's will be staying with us, it will add to a growing Harper collection!

As always thanks for the look!

2011 Tier One 1/2 Case Break

We opened a 1/2 case of Tier One this past week. The awesome thing about this product is if the Tier One is weaker as this was, the relics are generally really strong. Conversely when we hit our Koufax the relics were very weak outside of one Mantle. Below are the results, we were pleased with this break.

The Halladay was not live, it was a redemption. However, we've already hit one of those so I just put the live version in this break. We will be keeping the Cobb, Ruth, and DiMaggio for our collection. 

Thanks for the look as always!