tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post7222582132143289206..comments2024-03-29T07:44:22.008-04:00Comments on Night Owl Cards: Sticking my nose in other baseball collectors' businessnight owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673973790245316059noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-54797984891226008002018-03-26T02:41:14.750-04:002018-03-26T02:41:14.750-04:00Agree with you on the Living Set. I think that'...Agree with you on the Living Set. I think that's a daft idea. I'm not a fan of SPs generally but deliberate errors are just lame imo.Jongudmundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13355906920547912762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-38687696397769214972018-03-26T02:39:27.936-04:002018-03-26T02:39:27.936-04:00Toys R Us are closing in the UK as well. Some stor...Toys R Us are closing in the UK as well. Some stores are gone already and the rest are in the final sale. The announcement was greeted with general apathy and a lot of comments about poor customer experience, high prices, deceptive non-deals, and how it sucked for staff to lose their jobs because of poor management decisions. The main thing that is taking them under though, is a leveraged equity scheme that put them in huge debt.<br /><br />Toys R Us didn't sell baseball cards over here. Jongudmundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13355906920547912762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-55230404050105310882018-03-24T22:01:13.089-04:002018-03-24T22:01:13.089-04:00forgot some - I would have really liked to buy a f...forgot some - I would have really liked to buy a few packs of some well done new 1953s. Maybe put a set together. I like how Topps captures the revenue of selling single cards for high prices, for themselves, in the Topps Now releases. What is good for Topps should be good for me, for the pointless "low end" cards I collect.<br /><br />But this "Living Set" is actually a rejection of the concept of a set entirely; a surrender to the reality that more people want to collect 660 cards of a player than 660 cards of 620 different players in a set. Selling basically a subscription set is good revenue for Topps. But not a way I can, or want, to collect baseball cards. I would literally rather spend the basically $1,000 / year on going to the bar, if I could afford that, or a very long list of other enjoyable pastimes, than such an expensive set of baseball cards, however beautiful they may be.BaseSetCallinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-64650811064450692092018-03-24T21:53:13.449-04:002018-03-24T21:53:13.449-04:00re: the new 53s - I am pretty bummed about this on...re: the new 53s - I am pretty bummed about this one. Doing a 1953 style card "right", with an actual illustration, should have been an obvious salable product for Topps for quite some time, ever since Heritage used those horrible overly lit digital photos, and then Archives barely seemed to learn from that horrible Heritage set. (Hint, Topps: try buying some nice warm analog photos for a vintage/retro release some time).<br /><br />re: pointless variants - the end-point of the ego stroking that is the #/x hobby today won't be reached until Topps creates the "invisible parallel", which will be just a blank piece of cardboard with the words "Topps" and "Mike Trout" on it. As long as the value of /x is low enough, say 10 or less, it will still be worth a lot of money.BaseSetCallinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-85251623801246450712018-03-24T13:44:53.694-04:002018-03-24T13:44:53.694-04:00I'll always remember Toys R Us fondly for bein...I'll always remember Toys R Us fondly for being the place where I got my first ever genuinely amazing repack box.Twitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12536763054977401389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-73150852744353619862018-03-24T13:09:48.800-04:002018-03-24T13:09:48.800-04:00sitting on a tack, N.O.? Yep, Living Set is creep...sitting on a tack, N.O.? Yep, Living Set is creepy. I wonder how set builders will do. Many cards will obviously have a shorter print run. Will Joe Panik and Nick Castellanos be worth more because of this? Who knows, who cares? I'm just glad Topps didn't choose 1954. That would've drained my wallet.acrackedbathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056658025780679689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-3498983006427115342018-03-24T11:38:40.647-04:002018-03-24T11:38:40.647-04:00Apparently, the Toys R Us in Canada aren't clo...Apparently, the Toys R Us in Canada aren't closing yet. <br />That said, I've never had one close to me. I went in once.. In Whitby.. A few years ago.. It was... Different.. <br /><br />The Gypsy Queen just goes to show that there's too many variations and parallels out as is, so Topps needs to do stupid things to create new ones.. It's bad enough the intentional errors they throw in Heritage or Archives.. I can't remember which one, because they're basically redundant in my eyes... Mike Matsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07423029196949506523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-39829187578097576332018-03-24T10:52:31.125-04:002018-03-24T10:52:31.125-04:00TRU - I'll miss them to some extent, but it...TRU - I'll miss them to some extent, but it's not the end of the world.<br /><br />Topps Living Set - I've been wanting a card company to produce this for years, just not in an online exclusive format. The pricing is straight up ridiculous.<br /><br />Gypsy Queen - If they have framed parallels, I'm interested. Otherwise, I'll pick up the random insert in dime box digs... and maybe an on-card autograph of a player or two.Fujihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00749100861086458307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-58980735675476425282018-03-24T04:45:14.717-04:002018-03-24T04:45:14.717-04:00They should have a “Yankee$” version in Gypsy Quee...They should have a “Yankee$” version in Gypsy Queen. I totally get what you said about the Living Set. When I saw that they were using the ‘53 design instead of the iconic and more memorable ‘52 design, even the 1% chance that there was that I would get a card from it disappeared. Looks like a rip-off of Archives (which is a waste of a set imho anyways). Jeremya1umhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17631055539594841302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-35191283809104410032018-03-24T03:56:42.085-04:002018-03-24T03:56:42.085-04:00We never had a TRU near me growing up and when I w...We never had a TRU near me growing up and when I would shop at one while traveling it always seemed too expensive...even at the time. I hardly ever remembering buying anything from them. Hence, Sears catalogs rocked!SumoMenkoManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17461389544030702085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-35408732882198718352018-03-24T00:23:24.333-04:002018-03-24T00:23:24.333-04:00The only Kay-Bee I've ever been to ALSO has na...The only Kay-Bee I've ever been to ALSO has narrow aisles (and usually filled with toys that have fallen off the shelves).Jim from Downingtownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01537007940455183397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-91621055185333263762018-03-23T23:48:52.082-04:002018-03-23T23:48:52.082-04:00I like it when Night Owl gets feisty.
Was in TR...I like it when Night Owl gets feisty. <br /><br />Was in TRU last weekend and didn't see any cards at all. Normally they are in little kiosk right by the checkout, but that side was empty.Josh D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13718628093230589490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-2310594790600179692018-03-23T22:52:52.404-04:002018-03-23T22:52:52.404-04:00"When" out of business? Oy!"When" out of business? Oy!Stubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010142558613227433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-41194663952943038822018-03-23T22:44:49.490-04:002018-03-23T22:44:49.490-04:00FWIW, assuming you buy ALL THREE "Living Set&...FWIW, assuming you buy ALL THREE "Living Set" cards offered each week, they are only $5 each, not $10. And 20,000 TOTAL "Living Set" cards were purchased week one. 13,000 people bought Aaron Judge. The other two coconuts sold around 3,600 each. I took a pass, personally, but I could see buying a well-drawn Met, when one arises (though I'd then buy the three, because it makes no sense whatsoever to pay $10 for one card when I could get three for $15...not that hat makes much sense either). The set name didn't creep me out so much; I just thought the Conlon set had already been there and done that.<br /><br />Interestingly, the minute Toys R Us announced the closings, someone from HQ (I'm told...at least locally) came and took away ALL of the sportscards. Apparently, the company still views those as a company asset that they hope to find a corporate buyer for. Toys...not so much. Its a shame, though, as I still fondly recall buying rackpacks of Topps '66 football that had been "hiding in the back" for a decade when W.T. Grants when out of business in 1976.Stubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010142558613227433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-38869771747833841352018-03-23T22:32:16.019-04:002018-03-23T22:32:16.019-04:00My take on KayBee toys is they are usually way ove...My take on KayBee toys is they are usually way overpriced because they are usually in malls. I don't think I've seen one as a separate building/store. <br /><br />All these multiple "mistake" cards and swapped variations are just stupid gimmicks to me. It seems now days you need to have relic cards, Sticker Autograph cards, about a dozen background, border or font color variants or all of those variants making about 30 different variants for just one card, oh and the on purpose "mistake" cards that color swap, name misspell, player photo swap, missing name variant, silly picture variant, action variant, not in a uniform variant and each of those variants have color variants as well so lets see you have a minimum of 100 different variants of just one card. Multiply that by the 700some cards in the set, doubled since series 2 and the UPdate series each add about 200 cards. So we have what 1,000 card sets with 100 variants of each individual card, plus the 4 printing plates for each of those? UGH Why the Hell am I still collecting these damn things?CaptKirk42https://www.blogger.com/profile/16039278539984069944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-31344585379286548062018-03-23T22:26:28.020-04:002018-03-23T22:26:28.020-04:00First comment didn’t ‘stick’ so trying again.
So...First comment didn’t ‘stick’ so trying again. <br /><br />So much to comment on here. I’ll just say you’re not alone in thinking the Living Set thing sounded weird. <br /><br />The intentional team swap errors are really dumb. Way too gimmicky and makes Topps look cheesy. Needless to say I’m passing all this trash by this year. Commishbobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18069472376708715755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-44237697813679343762018-03-23T22:10:32.671-04:002018-03-23T22:10:32.671-04:00I think it was the summer of 1995 and I was living...I think it was the summer of 1995 and I was living in Las Vegas at the time. A Toys R Us was a 15 minute bike ride from my house. Any time I could gather some cash, I would ride my bike there and spend it all on cards.<br /><br />I must have bought a thousands packs that summer...Base Card Herohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05654531516609282355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-71003017800494977352018-03-23T21:37:54.188-04:002018-03-23T21:37:54.188-04:00The only Gypsy Queen cards I have are a few dozen ...The only Gypsy Queen cards I have are a few dozen legends I got on COMC a few years ago and an unopened 2015 blaster. I like some of the border designs but not the filter they use. I never bought baseball cards at Toys R Us but I did buy some Peanuts cards and I think Animaniacs Pogs. It was always scary to go in there before Christmas. It's sad to see so many of the old chains go out of business, though I wish KMart would (can't stand them.)Hackenbushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15507810776309048794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-61319855635390766392018-03-23T21:06:01.497-04:002018-03-23T21:06:01.497-04:00I chuckled out loud several times during this post...I chuckled out loud several times during this post. <br />1 - no, I was creeped out by the name of the "Living Set" as well<br />2 - "going for 53's throat" is a priceless line<br />3 - gypsy queen is dumb. I love variations so much, but this is just taking a good idea and overthinking.<br /><br />thanks for another great post!Aaron Bhttp://www.thecardswap.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-27969785248981620642018-03-23T20:35:03.190-04:002018-03-23T20:35:03.190-04:00Ya know if Topps was smart and had a 1976 Hostess ...Ya know if Topps was smart and had a 1976 Hostess card design, I just might put off feeding the family.GOGOSOX60https://www.blogger.com/profile/04536101210272537783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-9963289508153351902018-03-23T20:29:51.745-04:002018-03-23T20:29:51.745-04:00I agree that the variations from this year's G...I agree that the variations from this year's Gypsy Queen set are absolutely stupid. Not a soul on this planet wants to see Aaron Judge listed as a Red Sox player. That being said, I think I'll buy a value pack and maybe a couple of loose packs to see if I like it. That's it, nothing else. Gypsy Queen really has gone downhill recently. Henry Blanchettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06702088556673492509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-23842174945135413202018-03-23T20:13:55.720-04:002018-03-23T20:13:55.720-04:00I don't know how I got a C in Sox...those keys...I don't know how I got a C in Sox...those keys are nowhere near each other. Billy Kingsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847326710191224832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-56164072923574812062018-03-23T20:13:03.013-04:002018-03-23T20:13:03.013-04:00I saw a scan of the Judge as a Red Scx on Twitter....I saw a scan of the Judge as a Red Scx on Twitter...thought it was somebody having some pointless fun in photoshop. I thought short printed variations with the same number were bad, but this is worse. <br /><br />I will have a RIP to Toys R Us post in the next few weeks. It actually affected me a lot more than I thought it would. I didn't get cards there until probably 2014, as ours didn't stock them, but I used to go to ours every week. It was a big part of my life for most of my life. Billy Kingsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847326710191224832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-281508304621436822018-03-23T20:12:15.125-04:002018-03-23T20:12:15.125-04:00when I was a kid KayBee toys was the best for card...when I was a kid KayBee toys was the best for cards. <br />Got most of my Garbage Pail kids there and they always had tons of old packs on clearance.<br />Although one of my collecting regrets was not buying more of the Toys R Us grab bags that had piles of random TCMA cards included.dayfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09343838411856677615noreply@blogger.com