Positive feedback, but I'm not happy about it

I don't like it when eBay sellers try to make up money by overcharging on shipping.

It makes me conflicted. The card shows up and the condition is fine. But you charged me $3.49 for first class shipping, and sent it in a PWE. And not even a fancy eBay standard envelope PWE with tracking. This was a regular PWE.

When I point this out to the seller, they usually respond something like this: "u got a vintage crd for less than 5 go fuck off dont buy from me agin"

Sellers tend to do this when they think a card will sell for a bit more. In this case, I bought a 1952 Wheaties Phil Rizzuto. I was the only bidder at $.99. Plus $3.49 shipping. I do not like to pay 3x for shipping, but I figured less than $5 all in for a Rizzuto from 1952 was cool.

But the seller had other plans, and needed to recoup some money and not take a bath in this transaction. So my card came in a PWE between two pieces of cardboard. No top loader, either.

Again, the card arrived ok, but not the point, at least to me it's not. But I also didn't want to be too big of a dick, so I emailed the seller via eBay messages over the weekend and gave him a chance to respond.

He didn't.

But I still didn't want to be a dick, so I left positive feedback. I will say that I did one-star his shipping cost, and in the feedback I mentioned that other buyers should be warned about his shipping. He has over 700 positive feedbacks and no negative or neutral, so I'm not going to be a blemish.

Still, don't be a dick and make up some profit by skimping out on shipping.

A thoughtful gesture

Yesterday, I got three unexpected PWEs, which was really cool and unexpected. Work has been crushing me lately, so it was nice to crack them open after a long day.

Sounds kind of like a beer.

One of the PWEs came from Colbey at Cardboard Collections. I have a huge stash of Affordable Group Break cards taking up space at Colbey's house. I really need to get them shipped. I knew this PWE was that, so I was curious.

I've been an advocate for Colbey's breaks. They are usually...erm, affordable...but he does a great job of running them and providing a great variety of products at a low cost. Anytime I can introduce someone to them, I try to. I even got Napkin Doon into one!

Colbey appreciates that, and sent me this sweet Phil Rizzuto as a thank you. It's #d 495/500.

One of the reasons I support Colbey's breaks, outside of the sweet cards, is that I find him to just genuinely be a good guy and bright spot in the hobby. I've always found him to be extremely kind and helpful. I've even asked him questions about video game systems for my kids.

I stay away from breaks and breakers. It's just not for me. But I don't lump Colbey's breaks into the "breaker culture." He does it for fun, and it shows. Plus it's always fun to see what kind of variety of products he'll be offering, and see his excitement when he pulls something good for one of the break participants. He's had a hot hand lately too!

Thanks, Colbey!

Johnny delivers a contest prize

A week or two ago, there was a pretty quick contest over at Johnny's Trading Spot. First 10 comments won a prize. I was number 8. Easy enough!

My prize came quickly, as Johnny never takes long to send anything out.

The grand prize was this Hall of Fame Heroes stand set. I left the shrink wrap on for now, although I do feel like I have to open it and enjoy. I'm not saving it for anything! Still, sometimes I have a hard time with whether or not to crack something open.

John also threw in a team bag full of goodies, including a ton of Yankees minor league cards that should be fun for TTMing.

Thanks, John!

Put me in, Coach Tom

Our resident hobby high school baseball coach, P-Town Tom, hit me up with a nice care package the other day. Tom is a very thoughtful guy, and tends to always check off multiple boxes when sending a package. This one was no different, as he hit three areas of my collection in one swoop:

• Tino Martinez
• Phil Rizzuto
• HOFers for my son

Let's start with the Tinos. I needed this Flair! It's a pretty awesome card, even though this set was confusing with the Class/Row/Seat designation. Just a fancy way to say "parallel."

I also enjoyed this SPx Power Explosion card, even if it is a dupe for me.

Next up, the Rizzutos! This TCMA is awesome, and I love the classic top-step-of-the-dugout shot.

I also thought this Topps Gallery was very classy looking, and even thought the scripted font design element looked a bit like this:

While I've been bad about showcasing and keeping up with my son's HOF binder, I do still actively add to it, and will make sure these cards are added:

While certainly not known for his time with the Mets, the Ashburn is a great addition to the binder!

Tom threw in a few other Yanks for me, highlighted by this UC3 Mattingly. Great shot of Donnie hustling and playing the game hard, as he always did.

Thanks for thinking of me, Coach!

Every time a PWE arrives, and angel gets its wings

Tis the season, and Oscar of ATBATT is spreading the holiday cheer across the card-blogging world.

I was the lucky recipient of one of his recent PWE splurge, and was really happy to get these 2017 GQ cards of Gary Sanchez and Phil Rizzuto.

I also plan on sending Paul Zuvella a TTM request soon, so this card will be part of that request.

And here’s the rest!

Thanks, Oscar, and a Merry Aloha Christmas to you and your family.

It was Orange all along!

A few weeks ago, Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown was showing off a few cards he snagged on eBay. Gavin is one of those smart shoppers who explores a seller's other items to use combined shipping. I wish I did this more, but I either never think to do it, or I'm too lazy.

Scrolling down through the post, I saw this card:

Gavin mentioned I probably had it, and he snagged it just in case Ty makes it to the Big Leagues one day.

The thing is, I didn't have it!

I have the 2012 Bowman Chrome Refactor, Blue Refractor, and Gold Refractor. But not orange!

Curious as to how I might have missed it on eBay, I went back into the completed listings for Hensley cards, and noticed the scan was a little dark. In my saved search, I'm guessing I scrolled past it, thinking it was the Gold one I already had.

Luckily, Gavin bailed me out. And luckily the card was #d 25/25 as opposed to 12/25. Otherwise, it might have been much tougher to convince Gavin to part with it. Fortunately for me, he's a great dude and willingly sent it my way.

He also sent a bunch of others, with creative packaging as usual:

I actually didn't have this Phil Rizzuto card, although the filter makes Rizzuto's face look pretty scary.

There were a few other Rizzutos, as well as a Tino and Big Mike. There was some great, great Tino inserts in 1998, and I consider this Studio Hit Parade one of them. It was super rare too, numbered to a mere 5,000 copies. Oh, 1998.

Gavin, a return package will be headed your way. Thank you again for parting with the Hensley - my 95th unique one!

Blog Bat Around: The Origins of My Player Collections

P-Town Tom posed up a question about the origins of one's player collections. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I collect some of the guys I do, but thought it’d be fun to give some of the back story.

Tino Martinez – Obviously my #1 PC with over 800 unique Tinos. I was 12 years old when the Yankees acquired Tino in December of 1995, and obviously a big Yankees fan. I loved Don Mattingly, and wasn’t so sure about Tino as his “replacement.” I saw how much Tino struggled in April of 1996, but I loved how he carried himself. I could just tell that he cared. I was immediately drawn to him, and not long after, my basketball coach (RIP, Andy) came up to me after church one day and gave me a 1992 Topps Tino, saying he knows I liked him and that he and his son (also RIP – gone way too soon as a high schooler) had some cards and found this and wanted me to have it. I wanted more Tinos after that.

As luck would have it, Tino would go on to have a monster year in 1997, further cementing himself as my favorite player. I was 13-years-old, homers were cool, and Tino hit 44 and won the HR Derby. I also got AOL that summer, and found baseball cards forums or newsgroups. I started buying Tino cards online, usually sending cash and a SASE. I would literally mail like $.45 in coins to people for Tino cards. Crazy, right? It’s quite a bit easier now, and I’m glad to say I’ve been a Tino collector for over 20 years (with some gaps in between).

Ty Hensley – I felt like the Yankees got a steal in the 2012 MLB Draft when projected top 20 pick Ty Hensley fell to them at #30. I was also really getting back into collecting at this point. After a few pleasant interactions with Ty on Twitter and a TTM success, I really started to follow and root for him. I also started scooping up all his cards, and have been fortunate to have interviewed his mom on my blog, as well as exchange a few notes with him over the years. I’m sure he thinks I’m a creepy fanboy, but I really appreciate how kind he’s been to me, and hope he finds success in the Rays organization after he was scooped up in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Michael Pineda – I’m not really sure why I collect Big Mike. I was excited when the Yankees acquired him, even though I hated losing Jesus Montero. I had a couple of Pineda cards with the M’s, but immediately bought a few more on COMC and SportsLots. When I got up to 20 cards or so, I asked myself if I was a Pineda collector. I didn’t know. Then he missed two years with injury, and his cards were super cheap, including autos. I bought low, although his demand never remotely returned to 2011 levels. When he came back in 2014, he pitched a brilliant game versus the Cubs that I watched in the hospital the day my daughter was born. I’ve continued to pick up Pineda cards ever since, and how have over 150 different.

Phil Rizzuto – This is another collection I don’t pursue as hardcore as my Tino or Hensley collections, but I do appreciate getting Rizzuto cards. In fact, I do list all the ones I have on my blog. He holds a special place in my heart from my TTM experience with him, which you can read here.

Prospects – Gary Sanchez, Dellin Betances, Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge, etc – While none of these may be “formal” player collections, I love Yankees prospect cards. I don’t prospect to benefit off of them (although I could have made a pretty penny on Sanchez last year and Judge this year), but because I enjoy following the minor leagues, and hope I’m able to get a head start on having a bunch of cards of the next great Yankee. In some instances, it works. I have a decent amount of Sanchez and Judge cards that I couldn’t afford today, including printing plates and autographs. I also have a lot of cards of guys like Mason Williams and Slade Heathcott and other guys who haven’t panned out. I don’t like those cards any less though. I enjoy collecting these guys from the ground floor up.

Thanks for posing the question, Tom. It’s always nice to revisit why we do certain things, as sometimes we’re so focused on accumulating that we forget why.