This afternoon I shipped out the first group of relic cards to kick off my relic purge. I'm not collecting jersey cards anymore, thanks to news that some of them are potential fakes, and I'm distributing them to those who might enjoy them more.
I will keep a few that are special beyond the "that's a piece of cloth worn by this dude!" factor. But the rest are out the door. Topps' unwillingness to make any statement on this whole thing really, really bothers me. And I don't care how well-designed the relic card may be, when I turn it over and see that line of now confirmed bullshit, the card ain't gonna make me happy anymore.
So one blogger in particular is receiving a few of the discarded items this week, and I'll be sending out others, as well. The rest may be sold or placed up for bid on Listia.
In fact, I shipped out a few relics to Listia people today, too. I haven't begun to reap the rewards of the credits I received from those relics yet. I'm still plotting strategy. And by the looks of the increased card competition on the site, I'll probably need it.
Meanwhile, I thought I'd show the last cards I received from Listia prior to the relic purge. These have all appeared on Twitter already. Once you've won the card, Listia likes to send out this automatic link to the card that goes on your Twitter timeline, which is kind of annoying. But it's the price you pay to get more credits.
So here they are:
I received one of those confusing Flair Showcase cards from the late '70s with virtually no trouble. Part of that is because the greatest Listia interest in cards goes toward vintage and the very current. Stuff from the '90s falls through the cracks.
The other reason I won it so easily is because the card was listed as "Paul Mondesi." Ah, good ol', Paul. Glad to see Mondesi is so well remembered.
Vintage cards are a little bit of a tough get on the site, partially because of the bidding, partially because I'm particular about vintage cards. I've completed a fair amount of vintage sets, so I'm surprised when something pops up that I want.
This was a card that I needed for the 1972 set. It's not even a high number. Just a regular old rookie card of Hank Aaron Home Run Ball Catcher Tom House. I got in a little bit of a bidding battle with this one, but nothing major.
This card just arrived today. It's a terrific oddball item from 1980. The Superstar set was apparently issued by a Massachusetts collectibles shop and included all-stars of the past, according to my always correct Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.
The second series of the Superstar set came out in 1982. I obtained the Sandy in that set a little while ago.
The back of the Series 2 Koufax has a list of achievements (along with calling Koufax the cringe-inducing "Sandy Dandy"). The back of the Series 1 Koufax features a brief biography.
I love the font. It screams late 1970s, which may be a terrible memory for some. But I was just a young'un, so it's cool to me. I have a thing for Charlie's Angels and Love Boat reruns, too.
More Sandy.
I would like to state for the record that I usually think Triple Threads base card designs are horrific. Probably designed by refugees from the polyester gold-chained era from the '70s era that I just referenced. I know nobody buys Triple Threads for the base cards, but as a base-card devotee (part by choice, part by poorness), you have to have a decent base card for me to even sniff your product.
To me, this is a decent base card. I didn't know that it was in Triple Threads to do this. So when I saw Sandy pop up on the Listia board, I made sure to pounce. It didn't really "cost" me much. Just 580 credits, which is the third most I've "spent" on a Listia card.
I figure to be "spending" a little more on cards now that there's like 30 bloggers on the site, along with these people who I'm guessing are card shop owners, given that the same names pop up all the time on some of the vintage postings.
But that's OK. I've got a few more relics out there to "sell." And as long as there are people out there interested in relics -- and Topps really hopes that there are -- then I'll have some "cash" in my pocket.
I guess that means Topps and I have something in common.
(*shudder*)
I will keep a few that are special beyond the "that's a piece of cloth worn by this dude!" factor. But the rest are out the door. Topps' unwillingness to make any statement on this whole thing really, really bothers me. And I don't care how well-designed the relic card may be, when I turn it over and see that line of now confirmed bullshit, the card ain't gonna make me happy anymore.
So one blogger in particular is receiving a few of the discarded items this week, and I'll be sending out others, as well. The rest may be sold or placed up for bid on Listia.
In fact, I shipped out a few relics to Listia people today, too. I haven't begun to reap the rewards of the credits I received from those relics yet. I'm still plotting strategy. And by the looks of the increased card competition on the site, I'll probably need it.
Meanwhile, I thought I'd show the last cards I received from Listia prior to the relic purge. These have all appeared on Twitter already. Once you've won the card, Listia likes to send out this automatic link to the card that goes on your Twitter timeline, which is kind of annoying. But it's the price you pay to get more credits.
So here they are:
I received one of those confusing Flair Showcase cards from the late '70s with virtually no trouble. Part of that is because the greatest Listia interest in cards goes toward vintage and the very current. Stuff from the '90s falls through the cracks.
The other reason I won it so easily is because the card was listed as "Paul Mondesi." Ah, good ol', Paul. Glad to see Mondesi is so well remembered.
Vintage cards are a little bit of a tough get on the site, partially because of the bidding, partially because I'm particular about vintage cards. I've completed a fair amount of vintage sets, so I'm surprised when something pops up that I want.
This was a card that I needed for the 1972 set. It's not even a high number. Just a regular old rookie card of Hank Aaron Home Run Ball Catcher Tom House. I got in a little bit of a bidding battle with this one, but nothing major.
This card just arrived today. It's a terrific oddball item from 1980. The Superstar set was apparently issued by a Massachusetts collectibles shop and included all-stars of the past, according to my always correct Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.
The second series of the Superstar set came out in 1982. I obtained the Sandy in that set a little while ago.
The back of the Series 2 Koufax has a list of achievements (along with calling Koufax the cringe-inducing "Sandy Dandy"). The back of the Series 1 Koufax features a brief biography.
I love the font. It screams late 1970s, which may be a terrible memory for some. But I was just a young'un, so it's cool to me. I have a thing for Charlie's Angels and Love Boat reruns, too.
More Sandy.
I would like to state for the record that I usually think Triple Threads base card designs are horrific. Probably designed by refugees from the polyester gold-chained era from the '70s era that I just referenced. I know nobody buys Triple Threads for the base cards, but as a base-card devotee (part by choice, part by poorness), you have to have a decent base card for me to even sniff your product.
To me, this is a decent base card. I didn't know that it was in Triple Threads to do this. So when I saw Sandy pop up on the Listia board, I made sure to pounce. It didn't really "cost" me much. Just 580 credits, which is the third most I've "spent" on a Listia card.
I figure to be "spending" a little more on cards now that there's like 30 bloggers on the site, along with these people who I'm guessing are card shop owners, given that the same names pop up all the time on some of the vintage postings.
But that's OK. I've got a few more relics out there to "sell." And as long as there are people out there interested in relics -- and Topps really hopes that there are -- then I'll have some "cash" in my pocket.
I guess that means Topps and I have something in common.
(*shudder*)
Comments
Good luck with your relics!