What does $.33 get you?

Besides three minutes of long distance (one minute, two minute...), $.33 landed me a Michael Pineda Chrome Refractor on eBay. Not a bad deal for a guy I collect (and may never throw a pitch for the Yankees ever). Still, I'll take it.

Anyone know why eBay sellers do so many penny auctions where it costs more to ship than the final price of the auction? Is it that important to build good feedback?

A little tradebait from Jaybarkerfan's Treasures

A few weeks (months?) back, our buddy Wes over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk Treasures held a massive give away contest. I came away with a few autos, numbered cards (aka REFRACTORS) and relic cards, which always serve as nice trade bait.

Let me know if you're interested in anything below. I'm even willing to part with Yankees legend Vernon Wells.

 

When the cat's away...

...The Lost Collector will play. And by "cat" I mean my wife. Sorry, hun.

Anyhow, with the wife and child away visiting family for a few days, I decided to try and organize some cards. This is what my kitchen table looks like right now. It's frustrating.

Listia doofus: serial # = refractor

I won a card for 176 credits. It was listed as a Refractor #'d to 150. The card was a bit dark in the picture, so admittedly I couldn't see the refractor-like shine that we all know. When the card arrived, lo and behold, it was not a refractor at all. Now, I'm not going to make a stink about a measly 176 credits. It's not even worth it to send it back. I'd just assume keep the stamp.

Here is our email chain. I'm not an internet troll by any means, but had to keep going with this one.

Me: Hello. Thanks for your prompt shipping. I did want to mention that the card was listed incorrectly. It's actually not a refractor. While it is indeed #'d to 150, this shouldn't have been listed as a refractor. I won't ask for a refund, but did just want to ask that you be more careful when listing your cards.

Seller: sorry but any ser numbered cards are refractors but you had seen the pic I don't know what to tell you

Me: If you think that any numbered cards are refractors, you need to learn what a refractor is. Not worth the trouble of returning the item over 150 credits or whatever, but please be more accurate with your listings. Not all serial numbered cards are refractors. Some are. Some are not. Refractors are a rainbow-like shine on Chrome cards - can be either Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome, or Topps Finest. Just because a card is numbered, doesn't automatically make it a refractor.

Seller: no they jus put ser numbers on cards jus for the hell of it il give your credits back send the card back then

Me:  It's a serial numbered card!!! That doesn't mean it's a refractor. Those are two different things. I'm not disputing that it's not a serial numbered card. It is. It's simply not a refractor.

Look, I've never left negative feedback, but based on both of your responses, I'd like to. I'm not going to send it back because it's a cheap card not worth the price of a stamp, but just simply stating that it is not a refractor and that you should learn the different between a refractor and a serial numbered card.

Seller: That is a refractor if the y have a serial number on it jus mail it back il give you your credits u saw the pick n now u complaind send it back then

Me: No response because he BLOCKED me. Luckily I was able to leave neutral feedback.

What a massive assclown.

Any interesting stories to share about the uneducated idiots of Listia?

Human Highlight Film makes for a cool card

I know in the last few years, Panini re-released Triple Play. The cards featured illustrated players. However, I found them to be a bit too cartoony for my liking. They seemed more like chariactures. Big heads and goofy grins.

Back in the '90s, there was some really cool illustrated cards. Fleer had their Provisions insert set, just to name one in particular. While the players were illustrated, it was in a more realistic way, with cool, indightful background imagery.

While digging through an old box of cards, I found these two. I think this style would make for a pretty cool insert set nowadays. What do you think?

Any tips on selling collection?

I'm toying with the idea of selling off parts of my collection. I would certainly save a lot of stuff, especially for my son, not to mention my TTMs and some select vintage and other favorites.

I haven't been truly inspired lately on anything card-related. I'm not sure if it's a rut, or genuine lack of interest. But I've got more cards than I know what to do with, and feel like I might as well make them work for me. I've got no space, a growing family, and a time-consuming job. Boo hoo, right? Being a Yankees collector, it won't be that tough to sell, if that's what I do.

In your opinion, what works best? Cards grouped by player? Team lots?

In terms of hits, would you sell as one massive lot, or smaller lots? I'm talking relics of players such as AJ Burnett or Brett Gardner. Not big names, but decent quantities. The Yankees sell.

Again, not sure I'd do this, I'll probably chicken out, but any helpful tips while I have a moment of insanity and consider this?

Some recent Listia wins

A few Listia cards have trickled in, so I'll show 'em off in one post.

First off, I grabbed a Chipper Topps RC. It didn't set me back much, and figured it was worth it for the RC of a future Hall of Famer.

Next up, a cool Andy Pettitte insert. I always loved "trading places" type cards.

I bid on this because of how ridiculous it was. It's a 1994 Stadium Club Ring Leaders card of Ruben Sierra. It is one of the gaudiest cards I have ever seen.

Here is some Duke Snider card which is up for trade to any of my Dodgers friends. I guess it's a Sepia version?

The next few cards are football cards. I don't collect football at all, but from time to time I just randomly bid on them. I don't know what my deal is.

Anyhow, a few Bengals RCs popped up, so I pounced.

Lastly, I got a 13-card lot of 2013 Topps Platinum cards. I have no idea how I got them so cheap since the lot was full of stars. Also, shit these cards are nice. Holy crap.

New sketch card: Eric Jagielo

A friend of ours, Zippy Zappy, has been unnecessarily generous to me as a fellow Yankee collector. As a small thank you, I did a sketch card for him of one of his favorite players, Yankees first round pick Eric Jagielo.

A lot of my sketch cards use the same design, with subtle changes. I like to make the players the focus, and shade a little in the background.

Here's to hoping that Jagielo moves quickly through the Yankees system, and finds himself in the Bronx as a long term solution at 3B.

Domo Arigato: San Jose Fuji

Sorry, Fuji, I ripped off you trade post title. I was lucky enough to win San Jose Fuji's September contest. I don't win contests often, so it usually comes as a surprise to me. My birthday was in September, so maybe it was my lucky month.

Anyhow, Fuji sent a great assortment of 1980's wax. It felt like one of those cellophane grab bags fully of packs and odds and ends that were at K-Mart in the 1980's. Do you know the ones I'm talking about?

I set aside a few packs for my son to open one day. I've been doing this with a lot of the older packs that bloggers send me from time to time, like 1989 Topps and whatnot. Napkin Doon does this from time to time. I know that he won't score any hits or valuable RCs or anything, but I want him to see what it was like to open wax packs from the '80s (complete with old moldy gum), and hopefully learn about the players in the pack.

With that being said, I'm selfish and did open a few of the packs for myself. I left the stamps in the package though.

The first pack I opened was the Heads Up Baseball Stars. Each pack has one player head with a suction cup. I really wanted the Mattingly or Griffey Jr. As luck would have it, I got an Oakland A - Fuji's team! It was Mark McGwire. I may end up sending this back to Fuji at some point.

I then opened the 1986 Donruss pop-up, which unfortunately was a Red Sox. Of the three accompanying oversized cards, this Ryan Sandberg was the best. Any Cubbies collectors interested?

Next, I opened a pack of 1994 Panini stickers. I was lucky enough to pull two Yanks - Boggs and Pat Kelly. I also got a Doc Gooden.

Lastly, I opened two of the League Leaders mini packs. Nolan Ryan graced bother packs. I was the designs of these varied a little more from year to year, but the backs of the cards do.

Fuji, this sure was a blast from the past. Thanks!

Drafting some Padres

Marcus over at Backstop Cards held a cool "Padres Dupes" draft, and I got in on the action. I came away with some cool Padres cards. Not that I need more cards, I don't, but hard to turn some free Tony Gwynns.

Here's a look at the stack. There were a lot of cool oddballs and cards from the '90s. My wheelhouse.

Some of my favorite cards are below. The Medina autograph is cool because it's from a very popular set, and he was a Yankee farmhand included in the big Irabu trade.

Being the generous guy that he is, Marcus also sent me a great stack of Yankees.

I love these old Pro Debut cards and really wish that Topps would do this instead of the current Pro Debut, which is just a minor league set that makes no sense. These cards highlighted players who made their actual MLB debuts that season, and even provide a write-up with how the game went. How popular would this set be nowadays? Think of this year's set...Puig, Arenado, Gyorko, Jose Fernandez, Ryu. Shit, that would be cool.