Thorzul's podcast rules

So not that I have any personal stake in any of this whatsoever, but I suggest that you point your favorite browser over to Bill's blog, Thorzul Will Rule, and check out the second installment of his Card Wars podcast.

In case you don't know what it is, episode 1, featuring dayf against Matt from 26 Cent Summer, can be found here.  Bill chooses nine categories--definitely a broad group to keep things interesting and challenging--and each contestant scans one card meeting each criteria.  Then Bill, as judge, jury and executioner, picks the winner for each "inning."  Whomever owns the lead after nine innings is your winner and gets to move on to the next episode; in this case, Matt was the defending champ.

It's definitely fun to see what people come up with because this gives you a good look at the depth of a person's collection, but also in many cases an idea of what they value the most, many times surprising you when you compare them to your own favorites.  So do yourself a favor and reward an innovative blogger at the same time by checking out episodes 1 and 2, plus future versions soon!

2010 Topps Update baseball jumbo box

As mentioned briefly in my latest card show report, one of the two boxes I grabbed at this show was a 2010 Topps Update baseball jumbo box.  This won't be a formal review as I already reviewed a hobby box I grabbed at a previous show, but I still wanted to give you an overview of how I did.


But first--yes, this sort of makes me a hypocrite after my constant rants about Topps.  Well, I thought at this price ($45) and for what I could pull (hopefully a bat barrel, which I'd really been wanting) the value was finally there.  Overall, I'm OK with how I did, but based on what I pulled from these two boxes, I don't see how Topps can justify pricing the hobby at more than $40 or the Jumbo at more than $60, if that.  So here's a quick rundown on the results of this break:


Price:  $45
Packs/cards:  10/50


Base set:  313/330 (95%)
Doubles:  77
Triples:  13
Total extras:  90/403 (22%)


God DAMN is that a staggering number of doubles and triples!  If this wasn't a Topps set I would have been sure I pulled a complete set.  I just don't get how Topps can screw consumers over with this kind of collation.  Hell, my very first pack contained multiple doubles, right off the bat.  Oh well, shitty collation is status quo when it comes to Topps, who clearly doesn't give a shit.  For what it's worth, my new wantlist for this set (since Tenets of Wilson kindly filled in my last one):  16 21 32 64 79 82 102 112 138 155 166 167 176 181 232 310 315


Inserts:


Attax:  Yep, got 10 of them.  Nothing to see here, move along.
Million Card Giveaway:  Got 10, no point in wasting time here either.
More Tales of the Game:  Got 10, including seven different of this throwaway insert.

Peak Performance:  2--Austin Jackson and Roy Halladay.  Two pretty good players, at least.

Gold:  10--Starlin Castro, Cole Gillespie, Kerry Wood, George Kottaras, John Axford, Ty Wigginton, Omar Infante, Ivan Rodriguez, Jon Link, Carl Crawford.  Not a great group of players, but decent.
  

Turkey Red:  10--Duke Snider, Miguel Cabrera, Cy Young, Jason Bay, Robin Yount, Mike Stanton, Ryan Zimmerman, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, Frank Robinson.  Still a great looking set, especially with the boarder color they used this time.

I decided to use this one because LOL Ubaldo in the A.L.  Thanks, Colorado!

Legendary Lineage:  10--Johnson/Strasburg x2, Greenberg/Davis x2, Palmer/Matusz, Seaver/Leake, Gibson/Jimenez, Banks/Castro, Martinez/Santana, Nathan/Storen.  Goofy combos abound as usual.

Mickey Mouse All-Stars:  1--Chicago Cubs.  I thought I had remembered these being rare, but given the prices I'm seeing, apparently not!  Kind of a throwaway insert for me in that case....

Vintage Legends:  10--Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb, Thurman Munson, George Sisler x2, Nolan Ryan.  I still like these.  Oddly enough, I believe I had just flipped my other Nolan Ryan to Thorzul a month ago.  I also now have at least three Sislers, so I'll put a couple in the trade pile.

Yo Mama Cards:  10--Yaz, Thome/Schmidt, Brock/Yaz, David Price, Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter, Eddie Murray, Tommy Lasorda, Nolan Ryan, Mickey Mantle.  Still kind of a fun set, even if Topps has flooded the market with these.

Yo Mama Original Backs:  1--Don Mattingly.  Not the card I would have gone with if I was reprinting Donnie Baseball, but hey, I'm not Topps, which means I'm not thinking of the Yankees morning, noon and night.

Stephen Strasburg 2010 Topps #661:  I'm counting this as an insert since it's not really part of this base set.  Tenets of Wilson already sent me one, so this one's available for sale/trade.


The hits:

Andrew Cashner Peek Performance auto:  This was my guaranteed autograph.  Not the greatest, but I'll take it, since it looks pretty good.  Available for sale/trade.

Jayson Werth Manufactured Bat Barrel:  This was one of the biggest reasons I wanted a jumbo box since these just look awesome, especially compared to the crap Topps tried to foist on collectors this year.  This one's definitely available, but only for another barrel (I have the Sisler on my singles wantlist *hint hint*).

Jhan Marinez Silk Collection:  I apparently got shorted a jersey, but since I got a Silk instead I'm actually happier since these look awesome.  This one's also up for grabs, but I'd really prefer to get a Silk in return.  Make me an offer I can't refuse.


As I said, overall I was reasonably happy, at least in terms of the value I got.  Based on this break, I now refuse to buy a Topps jumbo box for more than $50, no matter how long I have to wait, especially since I know I'll have to put money and effort into completing the base set anyway.  Still, there's worse ways to spend $45, and now I have a bunch of stuff I can trade to you guys.  Just about everything up there is available, but I'll probably throw most of the inserts in with the rest that I have and get a list of each that I have available put together at some point so I can help you guys with your sets.  In the meantime, please help me finish this one!


Next up within a couple days will be the loot from my second Michigan TK Legacy VI box.

Thorzul to the rescue

After I bought a bunch of blasters of 2008 UD Heroes baseball (here and here) I was left with a ton of doubles and a fairly substantial wantlist.  Then, in a seemingly unrelated development, I was checking out Thorzul's wantlists and noticed that he needed a 2010 Topps Update Vintage Legends of Nolan Ryan that I had.  I offered it up, gratis, along with a bunch of his beloved Brewers since I figured he's always good for a trade package, plus I like seeing people complete sets.

Baseball card karma (cardma?) smiled upon me today when he returned the favor with almost 50 cards I needed for my Heroes set, knocking the wantlist down from something depressing to something way more manageable:  7 8 17 77 101 109 115 118 119 120 135 138 139 188 189.  Yep, I'm now down to 15 cards, which I can probably do before long on Sportlots the next time I get the urge to finish up a pile of sets.


Here's a few highlights of what Bill sent me from this spiffy looking set:

Here we've got a great new Ripken (although I have a jersey version); a great Verlander celebrating what was at the time his only no-hitter; three Brewers, which I thought I'd note since it's kind of funny getting Milwaukee players back from Thorzul; a pair of Cardinal all-time greats; and a pair of multi-player cards, which are my favorites in the set:  Yaz/Fisk/Boggs ("A Trio of Red Sox Greats") and Jeter/Griffey/Ripken/Ichiro ("A Quartet of Outstanding Team Leaders") which might be the best quad card in the set.

And here are the duos:  Mattingly/Boggs, who were rivals for quite a while (and "A Pair of American League Batting Leaders"); Eddie Murray and Prince Fielder ("A Pair of First Base Sluggers"), a comparison that's kind of stretching it a bit considering how vastly different their styles are (also, another Brewer from Thorzul); Steve Carlton/Johan Santana ("A Pair of Strikeout Southpaws"), a combo that's not bad but a bit iffy; and finally, Bob Gibson/Jake Peavy ("A Pair of Intimidating Strikeout Artists"), one of the more egregious comparisons in my opinion, not even taking into account Peavy's performance since this card was made.  For all my complaints I still like seeing these multi-player cards, and the trios and quads are definitely my favorites.


I really appreciate the help getting work done on another set, so hats off to Thorzul for another great trade, and a big thanks too!

Merry Strasmas Jr. and stuff that's less-hyped

Thank God the Nats don't pick first next year...
Derek (of Tomahawk Chopping) and I recently completed our first non-break trade, one that was mainly centered around our 2011 Bowman wantlists.  Of primary interest to me was Derek's ability to cut a major swath into my Chrome needs.  In terms of what was changing hands involving 2011 Bowman stuff, I came out way ahead, so I made sure to send a bunch of Bravos Derek's way, including a few hits he had previously coveted (the best being a Mike Minor autograph).  Well Derek responded in kind, AND HOW:  today in the mail I received

the love child of Stephen Strasburg, the Virgin Mary and maybe the ghost of Mickey Mantle, as far as the baseball media are concerned.  Yes, it's the second coming of Strasmas, Bryce Harper's Bowman Chrome Prospects "RC".  The reason I'm so excited is not because I'm any kind of prospector--I'm just doing my best to complete this set like everyone else, along with the "base" Prospects and Bowman's Best, which is just a great looking set that's fun to collect.  This guy is probably the best of the bunch, and it puts me 1/3 of the way towards my set-building goal.  Seeing as how this is currently a very desirable card that's probably worth its weight in sticker autos, I really appreciate Derek being willing to send it my way (where I promise it will remain with the rest of my set, not in an eBay auction titled "Bryce Harper Bowman Chrome RC PSA 10? 1500 HR? L@@k" with a BIN of $1000) so thanks again to a great trader and blogger.

Thorzul rules, politicians drool
For those of you who didn't see Thorzul's post today, first, shame on you for not following his awesome blog, but secondly, go show some support for a guy that (among others) got handed a pretty raw deal thanks to some continued questionable decisions in his state.  Politics aside, (and that's often best among friends, naturally) dude deserved better, as does education in this country in general.  You don't want future generations unable to point out Canada on a map or think that $200 for a pack that includes a scrub sticker auto, quad-single color jersey and serial-numbered scrub RC is exactly what the consumer is begging for, do you?

More trade bait draft II stuff
Update courtesy of the man himself, Tim, including draft order and a hint about the card that'll earn you a free box of UD baseball.

Not enough no-hitters
Anybody catch that gem by Justin Verlander last night?  I'm making it official:  if he throws another no-no this season, I'm officially changing this here blog's name to Too Many Verlanders, and old Curtis will just have to deal with it.  I did it once before and I'll do it again--this time permanently.

Go 'Nucks!
I don't technically have a horse in this race, but it's been fun watching Vancouver's quest for the Cup, a co-worker pulls for them, and they have the advantage of having a former Wolverine star, Jeff Tambellini, possibly playing for them tonight in the clincher, so good luck to the Canucks!

No, eBay, screw YOU

Somebody made one of these with a Michigan logo on it, but then I read the post and he hated Michigan and 'Shopped a pic of bin Ladin in a Michigan t-shirt, so screw that

A lovely email from eBay graced my inbox this evening, one several of you might have received as well (although I'm hoping not, as you'll see):

Dear caljr3000-half:

Several weeks ago, we wrote to tell you about coming updates that may affect your selling. This is a reminder to take action now to make sure you're ready.

Update to the way sellers below eBay's minimum performance standards are paid through PayPal

Starting May 31, sellers who fall below eBay's minimum performance standards may have their buyer payments show as pending in their PayPal account for a period of time to help ensure successful fulfillment.

Your account was below the minimum standard as of this writing. If you're subject to this update, you'll be notified when you list and you'll receive an email notification from PayPal when your funds are pending. You'll also find information in My eBay showing the estimated date funds will be available and steps you can take to help get your funds faster.

What you need to do:

• Stay on top of your status in your Seller Dashboard.
• Follow best practices to get above standard.
• Always upload tracking information to eBay and ship the same day the buyer pays to have your funds available faster. Note if you print shipping labels on eBay or PayPal, tracking information is uploaded automatically and funds will be available for shipping.

[then some other crap nobody cares about]

As always, we appreciate your selling on eBay.

Your eBay seller team 

Oh hi, extremely appropriate Google Image Search result!

Oh, well maybe my feedback got progressively worse--no, no, that's not, it, it's still at a little number I like to call 100% (155).

I guess it's because of all those times I didn't follow the "best practices" that bit me in the ass.  Except I always accurately and clearly describe what I'm selling and I'm great about communicating with buyers (and let me emphasize, I'm referring to the FEW times I sell on eBay--I don't do it as a living, just a couple times a year to unload stuff I don't want) and I've never received one complaint, with the exception of an idiot whose brain was too small to process the four letters in "as-is".

That leaves my failure to "upload tracking information...and ship the same day the buyer pays..." which I neglected to do exactly zero times.

Which means there's only one explanation:  this bullshit, plus eBay's selling fee jacking-up spree and the inability to leave negative feedback for buyers (buyers who've failed to follow "BEST PRACTICES" SUCH AS PAYING FOR ITEMS THEY WON WHICH HAPPENED TO ME MULTIPLE TIMES), not to mention hating on people taking "gift" payments through PayPal to avoid their ridiculous fees (and charging 15% for run-on sentences, which I only MIGHT be making up) equals eBay extending an olive branch to sellers, except instead of olives it's made of middle fingers and AOL CDs (the next worse thing I could think of at a moment's notice while trying to keep things PG-13).

So as of today, I'm done with selling on eBay.  It's become more and more detrimental to "sell" crap there and I've had enough.  It used to be one thing when you could pay a reasonable fee to post stuff for sale for a large audience and expect a pretty good result, but with eBay's ability to tax you more times than the IRS (assuming you even get paid, with almost no recourse for the buyer if you don't) it's just not worth it.  I may pursue other routes (in the few instances I look to sell; I'm more of a trader anyway) such as the BlowoutCards boards, COMC or more creative outlets, such as the ingenious Zoolbay.

As for others, I doubt anything will happen, but I'd be thrilled to see enough people get fed up that they get eBay by the short ones and force them back into rules and fees that make sense in 2011.  Put up with your bullshit one more time?  No, eBay, screw YOU.

[Sorry for the rant, back to real content in the next day or two, I promise.  Also, bonus "Topps is dumb" tag because they continue to pull stupid shit on the level of eBay and I like using it when I can anyway]

Update from Dirty josh via comments:

after a post on ebay's forum I am told that it's due to my DSR being low [requires 10 detailed seller ratings to be valid]. I have 6 DSR's so I am unable to access the seller dashboard they say to manage everything from. I mailed about 12 buyers that have not left feedback yet so now it's just a waiting game to see if they go leave feedback. I heard from a couple of them saying they haven't gotten the chance to test everything and make sure the item works and they'd leave feedback after that so that's a positive.

I will start leaving a note with the item [like I have received a few times from sellers] reminding them to leave feedback and to let me know before leaving feedback if there are any issues so I can correct them. I hope this helps other people that see this.  

It's not the seller's job to harass buyers for feedback that they should be leaving in the first place, so  eBay can continue to sit and spin.  However, thanks to josh for some constructive feedback.  Also, here's another funny picture:

More trades and news

Hopefully I'll have some new stuff to open this weekend, either from the local Meijer or a card show (or both!) depending on how able I am to build up a tolerance for the redneckiness of the latter.  In the meantime...

Trade packages:

-The Daily Dimwit sure likes Astros, which is good because that's all he's getting.

-Trade #2 with BA Benny promises to be a doozy judging by the big-ass 600 card box I filled this week, which isn't difficult to do considering the guy collects New York teams including

Let's take a relaxed attitude toward work, and watch the baseball match. The Ny Mets are my favorite squadron

The early returns are in and I'm declaring myself the winner for getting rid of a bunch of A-Rods I don't want.  BA's always good for some outstanding trading (and his blogs are excellent too) so hit him up

Incoming stuff:

Thorzul DOES rule, after sending me a nice package of stuff.  I got set wants from 2006 and 2007 Topps and 2005 Fleer Patchworks, a 2009 Turkey Red Griffey plus some UD Epic Griffeys, which allow me to use this second Simpsons reference:

HI, I'm 2006 Upper Deck Epic Griffeys, you might remember me from such Thorzul breaks as this or this

Those are some purty cards, thanks again, Thorzul! 

Other stuff:

-Awesome southern blog GA Mindset is doing a group break of 2010 Topps Chrome.  Get your shininess fix and help the guy out (that's a lonely looking list right now considering how nice those cards look.  SHINY)

-Night Owl defies the SP-ness (yeah, that again)

of A&G with a crazy box

-Thorzul is doing another group break and needs you to help him fill out the remaining teams (looks like the Fish, the Mets, Tribe and DBacks) so

I mean

(apologies for the swiped JB pic)