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The Dugout Cards & Games Shop Owner Tim Stewart
Dear Sports Card Radio:
As a brick and mortar store owner in this already f***** up hobby, I would like to personally thank you for promoting wholesale pricing on your website for every customer to see in addition to where to go and how to get the product. What a genuine way to preserve any integrity left in this business. I know, I know, you love the hobby and only do what’s best for it! With hobby friends like you who needs enemies?
Love,
Tim Stewart
The Dugout Cards & Games
336 Lenoir Rhyne BLVD., Suite 7
Hickory, NC
Hello Tim,
As a former shop owner myself I can feel your frustration. Emailing me might make you feel better for a day or two, but I would direct any sarcasm and angst you have against the people who are really “preserving the integrity in this business.” Do you also email the wholesale distributors, Panini, Topps, Upper Deck, Blowout Cards, Atlanta Sports Cards, DA Card World? Or do you just email website owners who are shining light onto what a “f***** up hobby” this has turned out to be?
I will continue to publish wholesale prices – funny thing is, Blowout Cards and DA’s prices are often lower. Imagine how many emails I get from people asking me to explain that!
Save your love – you’re in a tough business. I am sure you are just frustrated. Glad I closed my store years ago.
Sports Card Radio
Dear Sports Card Radio:
To answer your question, I direct my sarcasm and angst to whom I feel deserves it, and yes that includes the manufacturers that over produce and proliferate this product to internet dumpers like the scums you mentioned in your reply.
The liars at Topps will say all day long that DA Card World and Blowout Cards pay the same prices that I do? What a crock of s***. Would you sell the person who buys pallets of product the same price that the guy who buys 1 case? So, from the tip top of this f***** up hobby it is short sighted and corrupt.
Emailing you by the way didn’t result in me feeling anything. I don’t do things to draw reactions or glean a feeling from it. I have recommended your site for years to customers only to see more and more and more of you telling my customers where to go for cheaper product. Your time and talents seem on our side of things to be misplaced and you are promoting the sickness that oozes in this hobby.
You closed your store for whatever reason and now you carpet bomb the rest of us with this wholesale propaganda, further eroding the hopes of stores surviving. I hope that whatever endeavors you are in now or will be in the future, that your customer can buy those products and services cheaper than you can, and you get some of your own medicine. Either way I will survive and prosper even in a whore market like the one you perpetuate, and I am sure despite my hopes you will find your calling too.
Now let’s go about our respective chores, you doing what you need to do to feed your family, and I will do what I need to do to feed mine.
Tim Stewart
The Dugout Cards & Games
336 Lenoir Rhyne BLVD., Suite 7
Hickory, NC
Tim,
One of my favorite TV shows is Shark Tank. On the show, business owners state exactly how much they make a product for – and how much they sell it for. The next day, these businesses are flooded with orders & sell millions. Knowing the wholesale price doesn’t effect demand for a product one bit right?
As a shareholder of Apple – every 3 months they get on a conference call and brag how they raised margins a few points. Last time I checked, Apple is selling billions of dollars worth of product and anyone can figure out exactly how much their iPhone really cost. Doesn’t seem to stop anyone from buying Apple’s latest product. I invest in dozens of other companies where this is the case including Nike, Victoria’s Secret, Exxon, and AT&T. Knowing these companies rake me over the coals every time I buy a product doesn’t seem to hurt them does it?
There’s a supply & demand problem with the business you’re in. A small collector website isn’t to blame for that.
I realized this over 7 years ago. Instead of blaming the internet, manufactures, Blowout Cards or a blog for my store closing/struggling – I blamed myself. Selling overpriced stuff people don’t need is a tough business – in good times or bad. Not to mention the seasonality and fickleness of customers makes it one of the worst businesses I’ve ever been involved in.
After closing in 2008, instead of blaming people or feeling sorry for ourselves – we picked ourselves up and found better ways to earn a living. Today, the only worry I have is if my tee shot will find the fairway tomorrow morning at the country club. My brother travels the country chasing women, including a trip to Las Vegas where we were guests of eBay 2 weeks ago. I haven’t sold a thing on eBay in 7 years so I’ll let you figure that one out. Bottom line is there are better ways to make money than buying/re-selling goods. You’re at the bottom of the food chain as a store owner – and I thank God everyday I recognized that and figured out ways where I would never be in that situation again.
Instead of trying to send sarcastic e-mails my way – you should be asking me how to get out from selling boxes of cards for a living and actually make some real money. It’s not that hard … and blaming others for your troubles is certainly not a way to turn things around.
Good luck, you need it.
Buying Sports Cards Wholesale requires a state re-seller ID or Permit in most cases. Visit your States Tax Board to find out the steps needed to obtain this. Keep in mind this is a competitive business and prices are going to be similar across the board for the most part. Find a distributor that gives you the best price and the best service and you can make money. The better relationship you have with your sales team, the better deals they may be able to offer you down the road.
July – September 2012 Sports Card Question Mail Bag
Question:
I have a card #219 of Courtney UpShaw from 2012 Panini Prestige Football in a suit but he is not holding up a jersey. Is this the actual shortprint?
Answer:
Yes – you have the Sp version. I will update my page to include that they may not all be holding up the jersey. Nice card!
Question:
I acquired 3 1999 Topps Football Mystery Chrome cards. All the mystery chrome cards on eBay have a single picture on one side and four pictures on the other. the ones that I have have the four pictures on one side and is black on the other. Do you know anything about these.
Answer:
Thank you for the e-mail. I believe that yours still have the original ‘mystery’ coating still on them … which off the top of my head was like a black film over one side of the card. When you peel it off, it reveals one of the four players on the back.
You can keep them as-is and they would be more interesting to collectors as time goes on, or peel them off to revel a player, that is up to you. Those were interesting cards.
Question:
I have been going crazy trying to find an official answer to whether Topps actually printed 2012 Topps Series 2 Gold sparkle card #391 – Barajas. I know they fixed it for the base set, but do you happen to know if they did the same for the gold sparkle base set? Thanks
Answer:
I did some looking around and asked someone who I knew opened a bunch of this stuff. No gold sparkle for Barajas #391 in 2012 Topps Series 2 Baseball. Hope that puts your mind at ease 🙂
Question:
Can this card fairly be considered an error? He never even came close to signing with the Bucs. He tweeted that he was signing with the Bucs and then 5 hours signed with the Broncos. Bowman, in its rush to get the product out, must have never noticed?
Answer:
Un-corrected error I guess is the actual term some people use – when they don’t issue another card with Broncos on it. Interesting – could be they got it off twitter. Broncos and Bucs might be right next to each other on the alphabetical chart and I could see something getting messed up there, I’m not sure – but I haven’t heard too many positive things about 2012 Bowman Football.
Question:
I recently bought a couple of packs and got a blue border auto of Robert Griffin III. I can’t seem to find one listed anywhere. How rare are these and about how much would this be worth. Thanks.
Answer:
It’s a nice card and I do know they are real hard to get. At least 5x as hard as the red versions. One on July 25, 2012 sold on eBay for $88. It’s probably in the $80-120 range for the most part (as of July 2012)
Question:
I have been collecting the 2012 TOPPS series one and two. I opened a jumbo pack of the series two and in with the special cards part i got a Gio Gonzalez card. On the back the card has the 519 number on it but on the front it is a 1/1 and has a silver boarder. I am trying to find anything on this card but haven’t found anything. Just curious if it is a card worth anything or if it is just more nothing too special card.
Answer:
I believe what you have is the Platinum Parallel – each card in the base set has a platinum parallel. They are obviously very rare cards.
Congrats on getting such a rare hit. I can’t really tell how much the card is worth, but you can see what others have sold for here:
Looks like at least $30, but possibly more to a Gio fan.
Question:
I have a Dwayne Wade 10-11 donruss production line game used card #7/10. I was wondering the value of this card. Its in mint condition.
Answer:
That’s a very nice card, a similar one sold (with a nice patch) for $77 and the one pictured here sold for $21.50 on September 11, 2012. Yours should be in the same ball-park. With this card, the better the patch, and maybe selling during basketball season – the more it will be worth. Hope that helps.
Question:
Hi I have a question. I am going to the National Sports Collectors Convention Friday and Saturday and this is my first one and was wondering if this is a cash only event or how do you go about purchasing the more expensive items?
Answer:
Thanks for the question, a few places have options, including Blowout Cards, Atlanta Cards – and a few others, but it’s mainly a straight cash environment. The auction houses with big-tickets items should be able to accept other forms of payment as well. If it’s a high 4 or 5 figure buy, I’m sure most booths will have options for you to pay securely with a credit card.
Question:
I purchased a 2012 Topps Tribute hobby box and I pulled a Albert Pujols Superstar Swatches #2/2. I was looking through your checklist and I could not find this particular item. Could you help me out? I’m just trying to figure out how much its worth.
Answer:
Hello! Congrats on getting such a nice card! I believe many of the parallels in that set – specifically the red versions – are #/rd to less then /10 as I have on my list. Is it a red background on the Pujols you have?
As far as value – a World Series jersey card #/2 from that set sold for around $90. The card pictured here sold for $143.50 on July 23, 2012. My guess would be your card would fall in that range. Hope that helps.
Question:
So i opened a retail box of 2012 sage hit cards the other day. I purchased them from target. Upon opening one of the packs it had a RG3 card in it with 10A on the back of the card. The card looks identical to the number 10 card except for the A next to the 10 on the back and also; on the front of the card instead of saying “10” it says “1-2”. I did search eBay and few other places with no luck.. My first inclination was that it could be a short print. My second was that it was supposed to be auto card that never got signed. What a bummer if that is the case. Any information you might know will be extremely helpful!
Answer:
The 10A card is a variation. Probably a little bit more rare then the #10 card. On the front – WAS – stands for Washington and 1-2 stands for his draft position. (1st round #2 pick). Most people when buying them probably don’t even notice the difference. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions. Best of luck with your collection!
Question:
I was just wondering why there is no Donald Driver card made? I’ve been spending lots of money on the cards im not a happy customer!
Answer:
Hello, I wish I had a good answer for you – given that Donald Driver is one of the most popular players in the game – I’d think they would always want to make lots of cards for him. Maybe as the season goes along they will start making more cards. Maybe let some of the people know at Upper Deck, Topps and Panini you’d like to see more of Driver on social media.
Question:
I would love to start my own online card business. I very very little capital, and not enough of my own personal cards to start a true inventory. My thought was to go on places like eBay and buy wholesale lots of cards from people either moving on or just trying to make money. I figured this would be a much cheaper way to acquire a ton of cards at a low price and still be able to make a little money off of them. Do you have any experience doing this, or any advice going forward?
Answer:
There are quite a few ways you could go about it. I like the idea of buying lot’s and re-selling them. I do that quite often myself – more for fun. Although I think one could work their way up to making good money.
The things I would consider:
1) Start slow. Real slow. You can definitely find a deal on a ‘lot’ of cards on eBay for $500-1000. And if you decide to start your own website – or just re-list the cards individually on eBay – I would do so at a slow pace.
2) Be organized. This ties into #1. You want to start slow so that you get a feel for all the time it takes to sell a card. The shipping process, the listing process etc.
3) Write down and keep track of how much money you earn. It’s a tedious process best done on Microsoft excel. You need to know how much money you make off each card. Include all your costs, from the bubble mailer, the tape, the gas to the post office if possible, everything. If you don’t know how much $$$ you are making you will have no idea if it will be worth your time to continue the business.
4) Be patient. This is very important. Especially if you start your own website. It takes a lot of time to get people to start coming to a website. You could work everyday on it for 6 months and maybe still not make a sale on it. People give up very quickly on websites because of this. The people who stick around and consistently work on their site usually end up being rewarded. You could start by selling on eBay and/or Check Out My Cards and having a website/blog that promoted those listings.
Probably have a few more things to add. But digest that and see where you are. Let me know if you have questions. For me, it’s all about starting slow, thinking long-term, and being patient. There are great opportunities for deals out there on eBay and elsewhere.
There are some other avenues. Depends what market you are in. A Craigslist ad could yield some results if you live in a populated area. It might be mostly people trying to dump off some 1990’s commons but you might come across someone with decent stuff. I know of a guy who recently bought about 10,000 comic books for around 6 cents each. He did real well as some of them were valuable.
I use Check Out My Cards a lot. They have an option to sell your ‘entire portfolio’, you can view the ones for sale here: COMC Ports For Sale. This is where I come in and buy them and re-sell the cards on that site. Easy for me cause it’s just clicking buttons. Have bought and sold about 40,000 cards, have probably at least doubled my investment, maybe more, but have never withdrawn any money. The site is set up in a way that it’s better to just keep re-investing profits into more cards. Great for me cause it’s fun and not something I need to earn income from. But it does limit what you can do on that site. As there maybe only one or two sellers who can “make a living” off that site. At least as of now. He is expanding his business to include comics, coins, magazines, other collectibles which could open things up for someone like me who has some $$$ to spend on inventory. I’m always quick to promote his site because I’ve met him several times and I think in a few years there will be some people who can make $2,000-5,000 a month by just flipping merchandise over – or sending in cards/stuff they get a good deal on. Look into the site and let me know if you have questions. I know that site very well. It’s also going to change a little bit in September. Changes which I think could help bring more buyers onto the site with simplified shipping fees. The Beckett Book Value will also not be listed – which has been a key factor to that site since it launched.
eBay is a great source though. Even for other things. Back in the day I bought hats, other little collectible things in huge lots and re-sold them usually right on ebay. Obviously just know what you’re buying from a trusted seller. I’ve picked up tons of graded cards in the last few weeks on eBay – I may sit on them for awhile but eventually I’m confident I will sell them for way more then I paid. eBay is incredible in that way. And with sellers now able to list free in the sports mem category till the end of the year look for even more deals to be had.
feel free to shoot me any questions. There are very few resources for stuff like this. I am always happy to help.
Question:
I was looking at the list for the 2012 Topps chrome. I noticed that the odds for the parallels have retail pack odds and hobby pack odds. What is the difference between the two, and where can I find the different types of packs?
Answer:
Thanks for the question. Here is the breakdown.
Retail Pack = a pack you will find at Target, Walmart, Toys R Us etc. Usually with these packs it’s harder to get autograph and some of the rare hits. BUT – these packs tend to be cheaper.
Hobby Pack = packs sold at a hobby stores or online at places like DACardWorld and Blowout Cards.
Sometimes there are less cards in retail packs compared to hobby packs. Usually it’s easier to get autographs and such out of hobby packs. That is why hobby packs and boxes are also more expensive then packs and boxes at Target and WalMart.
Question:
I listed to your Fleer Retro podcast on itunes and I thought I would give my two cents on selling on Ebay full time.
I have been doing it since June of last year when I got fed up with my job and quit. I thought I was only going to do the full time thing for about 6 months to a year before I sold it all off in bulk. After the first four months I started to realize that I could make some real good money doing this. I had a Beckett Marketplace store for about 12 years and did that full time before shutting that down and moving to my own site/ebay selling full time a year ago.
Here are my tips to success.
Fixed price over auctions 95% of the time. If it is something that is super rare, or if it is a ebay promotion, then I will use the auction feature. Set an item at a price you would be happy for and if it sell that is great. If it doesn’t, that means that the right buyer was not on Ebay at the right time. I have had some cards that have gone unsold for weeks/months only to be listed at a higher price and sell. I can’t explain it.
Do not use the “Best Offer’ feature on your fixed price auctions. – As soon as you give the perception that you are willing to take less for an item, it won’t sell. People want a deal and as soon as they see a best offer they will expect a deal. It is not your “deal” that they want. They want “their deal”. The first offer is almost 20% of the asking price, even if the card has sold at 80% the original asking price.
I agree about buying low vs selling high. I put out buy posts like “Have $20.00 to spend on a lot of cards” I specify what I am looking for in the body of the subject and watch the offers roll in.
I have a few other things I am keeping to myself, but I think you get the point. It can be done…but it is a lot of work. My wife is out of the house at 6 AM and gets home at about 5 PM. I am on the job as soon as I wake up and usually sorting cards for uploading the following day when she comes home at night.
Answer:
Thank you so much for this insight, I’m not sure if you listened to podcast #106 yet but I basically tried to give out this advice. I remember the days when fixed price was a different fee structure … but certainly now with eBay making it ‘free’ to list the fixed price is the way to go.
June 2012 Sports Card Radio E-Mail Bag
Question:
I pulled two Case Keenum 2012 Bowman Football cards from the same blaster. I am not sure which one is the base and which is the variation though. Can you help?
Answer:
Nice cards. The base card is the one where he is holding the ball up by his ear in the white jersey. The variation is the dark jersey. Let me know if you have any other questions. Here is a list of the photo variations from 2012 Bowman Football.
Question:
1). I decided I want to send a few cards to Beckett and I saw on your video that you also sent cards into Beckett before. My cards are in hard plastic top loaders to keep them protected. Can I send the cards I want to have graded in these top loaders or should I send them in a durable sleeve?
Answer:
From what I’ve been told is that ‘normal’ or cards that aren’t overly thick are best sent in via a Card Saver I or Card Saver II type case. If the card is too thick or cannot work in that case, you can send it in another case.
Question:
2). On the Beckett submission sheet, it says Qty. when filling out information on the cards you want to be sending. What does that mean exactly?
Answer:
That means if you were to send in multiple versions of the same card. For example if you had 10 of the exact same card, instead of listing them all .. you can just write 10 in the QTY. If you only have 1 card, you can just put a 1 in that box.
Question:
3). Below the filling out section on the form, there are two boxes with statements asking if you just want your cards just to be authenticated. Should I mark one of these boxes or just ignore it?
Answer:
Typically this is just for people who want the card to go in an “Authentic” slab … and NOT be graded. This option is sometimes used by collectors who have a really nice card, but not in great condition. For example, you might have a really nice vintage Mickey Mantle card that is not in great condition. The card could be fake, so to authenticate it you send it in to Beckett and they slab it “Authentic’ without grading it. It makes highly faked cards easier to sell. You can do the same on an autograph card…or other cards. You’ll want to ignore this feature for now if this doesn’t fit into what you are looking for.
Question:
Hello I am a new collector I currently don’t have much but I want to sell some things, any advice would be appreciated.
Answer:
Hi, thanks for the e-mail. eBay has long been one of the best places to sell cards because it has so many buyers. The fees run at close to 20 – 30% after the sale, so you’ll want to keep that in mind. Considering you want to start small – that’s a good thing, and I would just start by experimenting with different cards you have. Just make sure you always ship things out quickly and you shouldn’t have too many problems selling on eBay.
If you can’t sell on eBay, or want to try something different, the forums and other places I have listed on this page should help you out too: http://sportscardradio.com/index.php/sites-we-like
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
I pulled a Buster Posey red championship materials card from 2012 Topps Tribute Baseball, which are suppose to be numbered to 10. Oddly mine was numbered 1/4. I never heard of this and was wondering if you did.
Answer:
Nice card. The only thing I can think of is they only had a limited amount of a Posey jersey left – and they just didn’t have enough to complete the red parallel #/10. Perhaps some other players had the same issue – but the Posey is the only one I’ve heard of.
That’s the only thing I can think of. Topps customer service will probably not be aware of such a thing – as the parallels with print run were not listed on their checklist and by and large that is the only thing the customer service reps go off of.
Question:
If I want to buy a box for my kid and I want a particular player, can I buy a box that tells me what players might be inside? Does the serial number on the front of the box tell you?
Answer:
From what I know, there is no 100% way to know what players are contained within a box. While more popular players tend to have more cards, you cannot tell if they are in boxes based on the serial #. My guess is that serial numbers on boxes is more used for licensing and inventory control more than anything – and is for the most part random.
I would suggest checking out card stores/shows, eBay.com or COMC.com for buying single cards of a particular player for your son. If he wants a box of cards, explain to him that the contents are random, and he might not get any of his favorite players, but sometimes the mystery of that makes opening the box fun.
Hope that helps, and if you have other questions, please let me know.
Question:
Is Panini not making gridiron football for 2012?? I cant seem to find anything on this set.
Answer:
Thanks for the e-mail, and good question
Last year, Gridiron Gear came out during December, so it’s still a little early to know if it got bumped by another set. Also, I think Panini only has announced a handful of sets, so more should be on the way as Football season/practices are beginning. Keep you eyes open, my guess is you’ll hear something by August if they are releasing the set in 2012.
Hope that helps, thanks for the e-mail
Update: Panini posted this preview on June 29, 2012
Question:
Do you know what the print run was for the normal Autographed cards in 2005 Bowman Chrome Baseball? Also, did Justin Verlander get a Superfractor from that set? I have read that one was not printed for him.
Answer:
Great question, thanks for the e-mail.
I sure wish I was better at setting up the math problem, because I think you could get much closer to the right answer. If you know anyone, like a math teacher or someone that’s good at solving stuff like that, I suggest you run the numbers by them and see what an expert says.
However, I’ll give you the facts I gathered, and it might help you get close to the right answer with a better number cruncher.
23 Autographs in the set
1 Per Box
12 Boxes Per Case
We know each player has:
500 REF
225 XRef
150 Blue
50 Gold
4 Plates
1 Superfractor
——
930 Signatures Just For The Parallel Sets Needed
I’m going to assume that the base auto’s are between 2-3x’s harder to pull than the average parallel card. That wold mean between 1,860 – 2,790 exist. If I have time, I’ll try to find a case break, or a written review of a case break – then you could see how many parallels vrs regular auto’s were pulled. If you pull 6 parallels and 12 regular auto’s in a case, you could assume that they are 2x’s easier to pull than normal cards. The more cases you could see opened the better.
You could run those numbers by a better mathematician and they could probably help you better than I could.
As for the Justin Verlander, I went to Beckett’s website and searched for “2005 Bowman Chrome Justin Verlander” and they have an autograph Superfractor listed. Not that every piece of information is correct on their website, but I would think that a key card like that one – if there was concrete proof that it didn’t exist, they wouldn’t list it on their website. There are so many collectors, many who buy cards and never sell them. I know a guy that’s literally had to move to a bigger house because he had too many 3,200 ct boxes in his house. My guess is that the Justin Verlander auto superfractor card is sitting in one of those collections – or even still in a pack because cases/boxes are still available.
Hope that helps a bit, sorry I couldn’t give you any 100% answers, but those are usually the best questions. Thanks again.
Question:
I pulled an Albert Pujols 2001 Fleer Platinum RC card, short-printed to 10/21. Being young an not knowing any better, I got the card signed by Albert. I know that unsigned it carries good value, but I was wondering if you had any ideas on how I could make the card marketable again. I have had the suggestion of getting the signature authenticated.
Answer:
Thanks for the e-mail, good question. You are correct, unsigned, the card is very valuable – however with the right authentication – you will certainly get more for it than left un-authenticated.
The suggestion of getting the signature authenticated is a great idea. I know PSA/DNA has this service, and I believe Beckett (BGS) does as well. They will encapsulate the card (which helps protect it from future damage as well), and if you wanted to sell it – it would make it much easier to sell on eBay, to a dealer/collector – or elsewhere.
Here is the PSA/DNA service:
http://www.psacard.com/fees/index.html
AUTOGRAPHED CARD GRADING & AUTHENTICATION$25*20 BUSINESS DAYSAny autographed card with a declared value under $500. Autographed cards with a declared value over $500 must be submitted under higher service levels. Declared value rules apply. With Grade or No Grade: Customer has the option to select with grade or no grade (no grade is assigned but card is authenticated and encapsulated).
Hope that helps, PSA/DNA or Beckett would be the services I would use. You can mail the card in, or find when they attend a card show in your area. If you have any other questions let me know. Thanks for the e-mail.
May 2012 Sports Card Radio Mail Bag
Question & Answers For May 2012
Hi Sportscardradio,
I just won an eBay auction. It is the first Jordan White 2012 Bowman SP card with making an over the shoulder catch that has been on eBay. I was not going to alert anyone to it until I won it.
Don’t know how rare it is, there have been several of the other more common design.
Answer:
Thanks for sending me that information. Those cards are really rare I think. I keep looking for them but there are very few. The ones that are on eBay appear to be the only ones so far. Let me know if you spot any other ones out there.
Question:
Do you know why both Press Pass and Sage Hit football both passed on Seattle Seahawks Bruce Irvin first round pick for the 2012 year?
Answer:
Thanks you for the e-mail, good question.
I’m going to guess that maybe Bruce Irvin was either charging more than what Press Pass and Sage wanted to pay, or that neither company could get him to sign in time before Panini & Topps started making cards. I would imagine they want just about anyone they can get to sign for a good price, but there are probably limitations to getting certain guys to actually sign the cards as well. Hope that helps,
Thanks for the e-mail
E-Mail:
Don’t know if you got the info yet, but Pro Debut was pushed back to June 13th today.
Yeah, the day before release!
Answer:
Thanks for the email. I did not know that – I had been checking eBay for cards – now I can quit that for a couple weeks! Thanks again.
Question:
Hello I pulled a 1/1 yellow printing plate Mickey Mantle #22. I was wondering how much do you think it is worth? I currently have it on eBay any ideas?
Answer:
Nice card! Some of the Mantle plates from Gypsy Queen were in the $100 range. Some a little more -some a little less. I imagine you should do well with it – perhaps more than the Gypsy Queen base ones since there aren’t as many available in the product. Good luck! Let me know what it sells for.
Update:
The card sold for $109.99 with 2 bids on May 15, 2012 but was re-listed and is currently on eBay for $99.99
Question:
I was wondering if there was any news on whether there would be a 2011-12 Panini All Goalies set? Any info you can give me would be appreciated.
Answer:
I just received word from Panini that they will not be making an All-Goalies set this year. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
Hi,
First I want to say I love your site! I use it very frequently for new product releases and odds and ends checklists. I was absolutely impressed with the quickness and credibility of your 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen review.
I do have a question though. I am using/have used your site to complete a set of 2011 Topps Football Gameday Autos. As of now I’m only the Favre away from the set. I’ve looked on just about every site I can think of and haven’t been able to find the Percy Harvin, Frank Gore, or Jake Locker that you have listed in the checklist. I’ve seen a Percy Harvin Auto/Relic but not just the auto. I’ve also checked with Topps but they weren’t willing to release the list. Do you know if those three do in fact exist? Thanks for your help and your website!!
Answer:
Thanks for the e-mail, and glad you have found the site useful.
I remember those cards, and I remember trying to confirm them all when that set came out. I probably just thought I had them all listed correctly, but you are correct – the Harvin, Gore and Locker do NOT exist. Sorry about that, and I wish you luck tracking down the Favre to complete your set.
Thanks for pointing that out, I’m sure there are many more errors and if you see any please send us an email.
Good luck with your collection
Question:
In 1989-90 NBA Hoops Basketball What is a short print card and how do you know you have one? Also, is the David Robinson RC a short print card?
Answer:
For 89-90 Hoops – they made 2 series, Series 1 and Series 2. But you could pull – for example – a #200 Michael Jordan card out of both Series 1 & Series 2 boxes.
Someone like – #7 Greg Anderson – he was only in Series 1 packs. You could not pull his card in Series 2 boxes or packs. So they will list all the cards like that as ‘Sp’ in the 89-90 Hoops set.
As for the David Robinson RC
Yes – card #138 is. He has card #310 which is only in Series 2. Different photos for each card.
Series 1 = 1-300
Series 2 = 300-353
Can find most of the 1-300 cards in series 2 packs – the ones you can’t are considered Sp’d
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
A few questions, will the rookies be in premiere photos/minicamp photos or be airbrushed in 2012 Panini Prestige Football? Also would it possible if you can find out from Panini if 2012 prestige will have Olivier Vernon, Bruce Irvin, Ronnell Lewis, Nick Perry, Robert Turbin, and Terrance Ganaway in the set? I also liked the preview you had on the product. Thanks.
Answer:
I emailed Panini and they said:
“For all guys that appear at the Rookie Premiere, they will have photo shoot shots.” in 2012 Prestige Football.
Additionally, “Oliver Vernon and Bradham won’t make appreance until late season programs. Nick Perry and Ronnell Lewis will be in 2012 Prestige FB.”
Sports Card Radio Mail Bag Questions Jan – April 2012
Sports Card Radio
E-Mail Question & Answers
Jan – Feb – March – April 2012
Send emails to: sportscardshow@gmail.com
Dear Sports Card Show
Hi, I have the 2011 topps Albert Pujols 1/1 60th Diamond Anniversary card, do you know how much it is worth? Any help I would appreciate it? Just curious..I’m going to hang on to it…:)
Answer:
Very nice card there! It’s hard to put a firm $$$ figure on it. Some of the redemption cards for the new 2012 Topps Sketch cards are selling for over $100. My guess, for a 2011 Pujols it’s probably in the neighborhood of $100 on the low end and $300 on the real high end. Very nice!
Hello Sports Card Radio
I was just browsing your website and was trying to contact you to see if you would advertise a card show in which i am having. It is going to be March 10th, 2012 in Norwich, CT from 9am to 2pm.
Answer:
Thanks for the information on your card show. I added it to the listings I have on my site. I hope your show goes well and you can raise a lot of money for the charity it’s benefiting!
Dear SportsCardRadio,
In the new prime cuts baseball I pulled 3 redemptions, 2 for prospect signature card # 107 and 1 for draft pick signature card # 171 …..do you have any idea who these players are?
Answer:
- #107 Blake Snell #/299
- #171 is Taylor Jungmann #/249
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Gentlemen,
Attached is a scan of a buy back card I pulled from this year’s Topps Heritage. It is #17 Ryne Duren. Love the web site!
Reply:
Thanks for the e-mail!! Sweet card — I love the buy-back stuff and wish they would do it more often. Hope you get some more good pulls like this one and feel free to share them with us when you have time.
Thanks again, good luck pulling more good ones.
Question:
I collect baseball cards. I have been very interested in the myth about the Evan Longoria Superfractor – Superfractor Auto. I wanted to buy a box of 2006 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects but if this card is already been pulled then I will not want spend alot on this product. Do you have any idea what the status on this card is? Has it been pulled/sold etc.
2. I really like the podcast you have and I’m happy it’s free. It seems like just a few years ago you could go online and buy a qualify hobby box for half of what people charge now. I have been wanting to try to open an online business that sells boxes, cases, the basic things along with supplies. Awhile ago I heard one of your podcast about how selling supplies is the way to go and I really thought that would be a great idea. Do you have any tips about doing or even just thinking about this or do you think starting a company in such a bad economy would be a bad idea? Thank you for your time and I hope to hear back from you soon!
Answer
Thanks for the e-mail,
I don’t know much about the Evan Longoria Superfractor. My guess would be that it’s in the hands of a collector that either doesn’t know what he has, or he/she doesn’t have any interest in selling. It’s possible it’s still in packs, but the odds of getting it vrs. what you would pay are probably not all that great. I don’t know this for certain, just my best guess.
#2 Right now is probably a good time to look into starting a small business because many people either went out of business in the last 4 years, or are delaying that process. Selling most anything online is a low margin business, but you can grow your customer base faster and cheaper than a traditional store.
I still think supplies are a good entry point because it would be much easier to maintain a website (the products don’t change so you can setup a product page and leave it up forever). Also, it’s probably only about 25 different products, so your inventory would be tight and easy to order when you got low. Finally, to start – you could probably get away with only $250 – $500 initial inventory, so the start-up cost is low.
My business plan would be to setup a supplies website on a ‘free’ option like ZenCart or something similar. Get SSL, and a domain/hosting for about $50-$75/year. Setup an account at BCW and UltraPro. Only order Soft-Sleeves, Top Loaders, Binder Pages, and some other small items in small quantities to start since you have no customers.
Then setup the site with all new product pages for your items..with photos and unique content about the supplies. This might take 4-8 weeks depending on how skilled you are at setting up a site. After that, you’ll want to try and get some customers by using Twitter/Facebook – and maybe do a promotion where you give away a $40 – $75 box of cards if people signup for a newsletter or something like that. In 6-12 months, if you set your website up well, you should get traffic from Google searches, and that should keep the orders coming in.
Selling supplies ends up being the same margin as selling boxes, but you don’t have a Blowout or DA Cards to compete with, and you don’t have to be updating your website every day when a new product comes out. Plus boxes tend to go down in price after release, and unless you are selling very large volume, you will probably loose money because of this. If you build up a solid customer base by selling supplies – you could transition into selling boxes because you’d already have the customers buying supplies.
If you’re interested in starting a business, you’ll want to do some research in your home state about the process. I put up a list of where you can get your re-seller ID Here.
Hope that helps, if you have any other questions please contact us and we’ll try to help you out. Thanks again for the e-mail.
Question:
I have a question about grading cards. What is the easiest way to get my cards graded? Which grading service? Can auto/memorablia cards be graded? And will getting my cards grade increase the value and would it be worth it. I really appreciate your advice and I hope to hear back from you soon.
Answer:
Good question, you can either send your cards into the two companies I recommend (PSA and BGS) via the mail, or you can bring them to a card show in your area where BGS and PSA show up to do on-site grading. Both methods are good, and if you only have 1 or 2 cards, sometimes just waiting for a show to come around is best.
You can grade almost any card, with some exceptions – but almost all modern cards can be graded. The value will all depend on the grade, and often how hard it is to obtain that grade. For example, some cards are made very well (Bowman Sterling is one example) and you get lots of PSA 10’s and BGS 9.5’s. Vintage cards and very condition sensitive cards often see the biggest boost in value from a high grade, as it’s more rare to find those cards in good condition.
If you haven’t already, check out the show notes to this podcast I did about grading your cards – you will find links to the price lists and a video of one of our submissions to BGS. Don’t let anyone sell you on another grading company – at the moment the only 2 I would use would be PSA and Beckett.
Hope that helps, thanks for the e-mail
Question:
I was comparing some cards to the short print variation list and noticed that the Yu Darvish card has the same number as the CJ Wilson card. Is this a typo?
Answer:
Same card # on the Wilson and Darvish. For some reason they went with the same # even though C.J. has no SP. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
I saw your list of allen & ginter very impressive. The only thing I pulled this in a pack and did not see it on the list. I was wondering if you knew what it was? I can not get a straight answer from Topps they most not open the letter. I have enclosed two photos of the card. I hope you can help. Thanks for your time.
Answer:
Thanks for the email. What you have there are Decipher Code Cards from ’11 Ginter. I believe those were used in conjunction with the “Crack the Code” challenge that runs throughout the set. People trying to crack the code needed to see these cards I believe.
You can check out some of the cards here.
Let me know if that helps. If you need some more information on them let me know. I believe that are actually fairly hard to get – good luck with your collection!
Question:
First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PUTTING TOGETHER PHOTO CHECKLIST OF THESE CARDS!!! You are seriously awesome and made my life so much easier. A million thanks! (all in all, you do a very good job with the site! I first visited after seeing one of my cards in your card price tracker and I’ve been hooked since! Thanks for all your hard work)
Ok, so I found a couple variations I didn’t see on your list. (*So far Ive just pulled the mini variations)
#152 Dan Uggla
(I think the base is dropping bat and sp is diving)
#289 Gio Gonzalez (base is red jersey, sp is gray)
#252 Tony Gwynn
This card is driving me nuts. I think there may be a third version. I have the 2 listed on your site, but I also pulled a mini where his stirrup is showing on his right leg and I saw another one where there is more showing between his legs above “Gypsy Queen” logo.
Answer:
Thanks for the pictures. I am going to be using those on a page for the “mini variations”. So the page I put up with the 50 Sp Photo cards are for the “full sized variations”. Then, toward the bottom of the gypsy queen checklist page (i used the hunter pence card as example) they have these mini variations that supposedly were only going to be in the Box Loader packs. But I’ve heard people pull these cards out of regular packs as well.
So today I’ll try and get through putting up a list of all the mini variations.
Thank you for the e-mail.
Question:
I have been enjoying your podcast sports card show. It has helped me in a big way.
I have been collecting cards, mainly Baseball and Football for years. I am now interested in opening a store. You mentioned in one of your shows that maybe you could help in directing listeners to some wholesale companies.
I have a sales tax number and need a company to get new stuff at a price where I can make some money. I live in Georgia and have usually bought retail or card shows and flea markets.
Would you please help me by giving me some names of places you trust that I can contact and purchase cards? This will help me in a big way.
I am pretty small right now, but maybe a business that can provide both cards as well as supplies etc. The only names I have currently are names I found online, but I have no idea if they are trustworthy. I will feel good knowing your recommendation comes along with the company I use to stock my shelves.
I have really enjoyed your card shows. I only recently found out about you guys. I want to thank you so much for the information. You have inspired me to try and earn some money with my hobby.
Answer:
Thanks for the e-mail.
Yes, there is a distributor I used in GA a while back, but still know they do good business and that’s Peach State Sports. Give them a call and you should be able to find some products to sell.
If you haven’t checked it out, I have a list of all the major ones I know of here, you might want to try some other ones too. I know someone near GA with a hobby shop and they like GTS as well.
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions and I’d be happy to try and help you out. Thanks again for the e-mail.
Question:
Just wanted to share this. I’m selling a Jeremy Lin hoops #67 base card on ebay. It’s now up to an amazing $61 with a day to go. Am I missing something?
Answer:
It’s linsanity!! Hopefully you got paid, I’ve seen them sell on COMC & card shows for around $5 – $8 but people tend to go crazy on eBay trying to outbid people. Good job on the sale, hope you got paid and bought something else cool with the money.
Talk to you soon, thanks for the e-mail
(Updated: Provided link with auction that ended at $61 – and confirmed payment was received)
Question:
I see that you have a checklist for the avatar trading cards on your site. Do you know where I could buy them? Thanks.
Answer:
Unfortunately around the time that set was supposed to be released – it was cancelled. Probably due to some kind of licensing issue.
I do not know of another Avatar set. If/when they come out with a sequel to the movie, perhaps they will be able to then issue a set. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
I have 2 DeSean Jackson, both red, but one of them says 54/77, and the other card says 55/77. Everything else about card is exactly the same. Even the card number 268. Just noticed the regular card in white which is also card number 268, same picture but white border………just wondering if misprint?
Answer:
What you have there are 2 “Red Parallel” DeSean Jackson 2011 Topps Factory Set cards. Those cards are only found in 2011 Topps Factory Sets. They are “serial numbered” on the back to #/77. You have the numbers 54 & 55 in the total print run of 77.
Nice cards! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
I have a 2011 topps Chuck Howley S.B.L. auto 5/10 could you give a idea what it is worth? I really would appreciate it !!!
Answer:
Hello, A 2011 Topps Check Howley Super Bowl Legends autograph – #3/10 – recently sold on eBay for $36.99. Your card should be in the similar ballpark – $25-50 or so. Let me know if you have any other questions. Nice card!
Question:
I got some 2012 tops baseball cards the jumbo packs i got 4 golden giveaway cards I need to redeem them how do iI do this, thank you for helping me.
Answer:
Hello,
Start by going to this website: www.topps.com/golden
Then – in the upper right hand corner they have a red button that says “Register”
It will first ask you to put in your birthdate – then a user name and a password. You will then probably have to “confirm” the account by clicking through a link they will send you to your email right after you get done registering.
Once you are done with that – log into the same topps/golden site with your newly created username and password.
then you will see a box where you will type in the code. Type the code in exactly how it appears on the back of your giveaway card.
Let me know if you are have any trouble registering.
Question:
Hello! you’ve got a great website! I am trying to complete a 2011-2012 score hockey set. I need singles of mostly insert cards. can you please advise me of a dealer who sells insert singles for score hockey? I appreciate any help that you might offer. I have a checklist of the exact cards I need and would love to be able to obtain them all in one stop. thanks very much!
Answer:
That’s a good question – browse this selection first – if you haven’t seen these already.
I’ve used this site quite often to sell cards – their shipping ends up being reasonable if you purchase at least 10 cards or more.
You can “make offers” on individual cards up to 50% off. Most sellers are willing to come down at least a little bit.
Each individual card will be shipped from the same location. But each card is sold by a “different seller.” I’d go through the site – put cards in your “cart” that you need – and then when you are done looking see if there is enough of the cards you need to make it worth it for you.
If you have any questions about how to use COMC don’t hesitate to ask me – I’ve been using that site quite often the last year.
But – if you have already looked at COMC – email me back – because I’ll have to do some digging to see if there is someone else who would have a large quantity of singles available.
Good luck – let me know if you need some other options.
Question:
Was wondering if you know how I can obtain the 2011 Topps Inception rookie checklist? I see that you don’t show it and I checked the Topps website and they don’t have any checklist for this product. Please help? Thanks.
Answer:
Hello,
The rookie card checklist is near the very top of the page Card #101-136. There are only autograph rookie cards and no base card RC cards. The base set #1-100 is listed at the bottom of the page.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
Why are there no college decals on the helmets for Press Pass cards anymore?
Thank youAnswer:
Good Question, Press Pass no longer has the required ‘NCAA license’ to use those logos. That now belongs to Upper Deck. It’s also why Press Pass does not show NFL logos or team names, they are strictly un-licensed draft cards.
Question:
I’ve been unsuccessful in getting a response from Upper Deck, therefore sending this email hoping you have an answer. Per the checklist on UD’s webpage and your webpage as well, in the 10-11 The CUP Signature Patches subset, it lists that there is a Eric Lindros card (#SP-EL). I ‘ve been working on this set since it was released last year, but still have never seen one of these Lindros cards anywhere – online or at shows??? Do you know if it actually exists? have you seen one or been asked the same question from someone else?
Looking forward to hear back.
Answer:
Your research probably suggests that there is no Lindros Signature Patch card. For whatever reason, probably at the last minute – they probably didn’t have those cards. Strange because he has the limited logos and maybe a few other autographs that are live in the set. While nobody has contacted me about that specific Lindros cards, I have gotten numerous emails about other Upper Deck cards that are on both checklists – but the card does not exist.
I’m going to remove that from the checklist, because if you have been searching for awhile now, a card to #/75 of Lindros would have shown up by now.
Let me know if you notice any other corrections or questions. Good luck with your collection!
Question:
Hey I have a couple of cards I can’t find much about, could you explain more and possibly let me in on potential values. Thanks!!!
Answer:
Thanks for the e-mail, the photo is perfect – those I believe are minor league cards that were distributed mainly at minor league ballparks during the day via vending machines or team sets. Some of the cards from this era have value – typically star players, and the complete sets sometimes have value.
I think the Vizcaino might be worth a few dollars to the right buyer but I didn’t see one for sale, you can see some of the CMC cards here.
Hope this helps, those are pretty neat cards I remember seeing when I was a kid at games.
Question:
First I would like to say I am your biggest fan ever. So I was looking over some of your videos and I noticed you did a card grading. So I have two nice cards that I want graded. A Jeremy Barfield gold refractor to 50 and a Oswaldo Arcia Purple refractor to 799. So if you can grade my cards I need to know the price, who to send it to, and what I should the cards in? Thank you so much for your time.
Answer:
Here are some things that should help you out:
If I were grading cards – there are two companies to go through that are the most respected and will allow your cards to go up in value if they get a good grade.
BGS = http://www.beckett.com/images/grading/BGS_subform.pdf
BGS is the grading service by Beckett Magazine. As far as price – it depends how quickly you want your cards back. The least is expensive option:
$9 Per Card ($18)
Insurance = $8
Shipping $14
Total: $40 for 2 cards.
It is expensive unless you are able to ship multiple cards – if you sent 10 in – it would work out to about $150 or $15 per card.
Cards should be shipped to them in a soft sleeve with a ‘Card Saver 1 or 2″ card holder. These are the flimsy card holders. They don’t like ‘rigid top loaders’, snap cases or screw downs.
The other company is PSA http://www.psacard.com/fees/index.html
Similar fees – and they also like the ‘card saver 1 & 2’ card holders.
If you live near a bigger city – PSA & BGS will grade cards at large card shows for around $10 each. Which cuts out all your shipping costs. Let me know if you need help finding a show in your area.
Check out those two sites – and let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for supporting the site! we really appreciate it.
Question:
Hey. I started the Topps promo with the random redemption code to get a coin on the website . Its fun and all, but what’s with the codes on the back-bottom of the 2012 Topps cards? Haven’t collected in years and this was new to me. Just curious what that’s all about
Answer:
I believe it’s some kind of legal thing. If you go to this part of their website: http://www.topps.com/cpsia it shows something about entering the code #. I tried on a 2012 Topps card I have but nothing really showed up. Sort of a weird thing they must have to comply with. let me know if you have any other questions.
Question:
I went to that “diamond giveaway” online game. I set up an account when series one came out and had a
decent amount of diamond giveaway cards redeemed, I noticed that everyone (around 3000 people) wanted this Mickey Mantle ring. Not knowing that was the
hardest to find, i started trading rings and the next thing I knew we had all 60 rings.
So my question to you guys would be, what is going to be that hardest coin to find?
Answer:
That’s a good question, I would think probably the Mantle coin will be once again the most rare – but I guess it’s anyone’s guess. Congrats on getting the Mantle ring from 2011. I know people who entered in over 1,000 codes and never got it!
I will be updating this page with information about the giveaway once it goes live and I’ll try and find out which coins are the most rare:
Question:
when do you think Panini and Topps will release the first box containing Andrew Lucks rookie? and is that Panini prime signatures releasing in March, is that considered last seasons? Also, how much do you think retail is for a case and per box?
Answer:
Panini will probably release 2012 Prestige Football around the same time they did last year – which was May 5th. Topps first product was 2011 Topps Rising Rookies Football which was on June 3rd. Should be around those times again this year.
Prime Signatures will be a 2011 release and will include those rookies.
Tough to say because there might be a little more hype this year with Luck. Last years Prestige did not have Cam Newton autographs. They didn’t get a deal done until the Premiere Photo Shoot. So be a little cautious until you know 100% Luck has autographs in the product especially if you are looking to sell those cards. A case should be 12 boxes – around $65-70 per box on the cheap = $840-850 for a case. They might try to sell them for $85 a box which would be $1020.
The topps product will probably be in the same ballpark – perhaps a little bit cheaper.
It will come down to how excited people get about Luck and RG3
Question:
Do you know if this years 2012 Topps Tribute Baseball offering will be released in factory form just like the regular topps factory set.
Answer:
Thanks for the e-mail, for this set … I doubt it because it’s a premium set and they tend to only release the mass-produced sets in factory form. Your best bet is to try and collect this by hand on the secondary market … or purchase from someone that has broken enough product to complete the set. Hope that helps, this set really took off in price last season, and it will be interesting to see if it does it again this year.