Clem Fandango

I really really like Zagunis

I'm sure it's been brought up but I didn't feel like searching through the thread... is Tomas athletic enough to handle CF?

So do I. I'll buy them from you :)

http://i.imgur.com/M0hg67x.jpg

That's upsetting, I really like the A's. Oh well, thanks for Addison. Sorry, Billy. Maybe next year.

Already showing signs of stage 2 IMO Haven't been watching but judging from the box scores over the last several games he seems to be k'ing a lot less and making more contact. If that's the case its only a matter of time before he busts open on a hot streak, IMO.

It's still valuable... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xderek+jeter+upper+deck+sp+rookie+card+foil&_nkw=derek+jeter+upper+deck+sp+rookie+card+foil&_sacat=0 It's selling for more than $100 which means it likely books at probably double that at least. Actually, I just checked a sports card forum I used to frequent. Strange... a few years back people were selling them with high grades (9.5 or higher) for like $1,500. But I see some on Ebay that were completed and sold for like $150. Looks like it's book value is probably somewhere in the $150-$300 range. Not sure why there were so many selling for over $1,000 a few years back. Either way, if it's stil in good condition, get it graded immediately. Could make it's value twice as high. Well now it's just random I guess... there are some selling for over $2,000 at 9.5 grades. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_Complete=1&_nkw=derek+jeter+upper+deck+sp+foil&_sop=16

I wonder if that's en error card because it was a mirrored image

It's a 2010 card so it's a 2nd year. I was trying to get a 2009 card, but all I saw were refractor auto cards. Do they put a "Rookie Card" insignia for guys like Trout in '09/'10 and even '11 as he wasn't in the majors yet when those cards came out? I've never really paid attention to prospect cards. Thanks for the grading info. What you said about Griffey Jr RC is why I want to get a few of mine graded. Like my '55 Hank Sauer card for example. If some of those old cards have bvious damage I don't know that I'd spend the coin unless you want to do it to preserve them specifically. Unless it's an elite old card that would benefit from grading regardless of condition, it can bring down card values if the card isn't in above average condition. As for the RC thing, Bowman pretty much has the stranglehold on prospects. Whenever a first Bowman card is released of a prospect, that's considered their true rookie card but it likely won't have the RC insignia. It's considered the RC because it's their first appearance on a baseball card, usually. When they reach the majors they'll get the RC insignia. For example, Topps and UD when they make their basic set, they don't include prospects, it's just every MLB player. If they're a rookie that year, they'll ave a rookie card, which does hold value, but it's not their first card. Back in the day a RC meant it was their first true card, but with stuff like Bowman out there it's not the case any more. Example... 2011 Topps Finest Superfractor Mike Trout Auto RC: That's the only one in existence and it's from his rookie year. It's currently being offered on Ebay for $11,999 with 93 people watching it. It's the only one in existence, a very valuable card. Now... A 2009 Bowman Chrome Mike Trout Red Refractor Autograph: Currently being offered on Ebay for $72,727.27 with 133 people watching. There's only 5 of them in existence. Even if you step down, a gold refractor version, of which there are 50 of, is being offered for $14,999, which is still more than his only-one-in-existence rookie card. Now, they probably won't sell for that much, but what they're asking for shows you how much value people put on their first Bowman cards vs. their rookie cards. They consider the Bowman's to be the true rookie card. It's why Bowman has a "1st Bowman Card" insignia they put on new players cards.

My brother was gifted that Topps RC for his birthday back when it was $30 and going up. I think it's only worth like $15 now. Unless it went up since his induction into the HOF. I hate how values can change for no seemingly good reason at all. "Oh, this card has been worth $40 for 7 years now? Well now it's $20. Deal with it". MY Fielder Auto RC was worth $120 for a couple years, it's only worth like $60 now, and that was AFTER he had got even better and more popular.

That Trout card is probably a 2nd year card or third year card as there's no "Rookie Card" insignia on it. A good card, but not a valuable card outside of it being worth probably like $10 max. In other words, if you were gonna get him to autograph a card, that was a good one to do it with. To get things grades I think it costs something like $20-$30 just to get one thing graded. Grading can do crazy things to cards. The Griffey Jr UD Rookie Card is only book valued at like $80 or something (maybe a little more or a little less) but I saw a BGS graded 9.5 sell for like $1,500 on Ebay. That's insane. Nuts what grading can do for a products value. http://www.beckett.com/grading/current_promotion_details/SEPTEMBER0914 Sounds like if you have multiple cards now is the time to do it. And it looks like they'll certify autographs, too, so you could send the Trout in as well if you want to give it some sort of authenticity. EDIT: Eh, sounds like it needs to be a certified auto card, like one that was p t in the set. So maybe not. But regular grading is only $12, so it's not terribly expensive.

Josh Harrison has been worth 4.2 fWAR this season. He's been sneaky good.

Is the game in rain delay still? Or did it come back and get delayed again?

What kind of card was it? Was it a basic card they handed out at the game or was it a licensed product like Bowman or Topps? Regardless, this may sound odd, but if you get a player to personally sign an autograph on a card you are essentially erasing any book value it has, and it will only hold value to a collector who wants it. Let's say you have an Albert Pujols RC. Just a basic one, nothing fancy. It books at $50. If you get him to autograph it, that $50 pretty much goes to zero, because you've compromised the integrity of the card, plus you don't have a certificate of authenticity so if you try and sell it later you won't get nearly as much for it as you should. Autographed cards are planned out in advance. More often than not Topps and UD will send sheets upon sheets of authentic autograph labels and players will sign all of them and mail them back, then the card companies will just peel and stick them on cards designed to house them as they see fit. There are still cards out there with autographs on the actual cards and pieces, which they need to sign, but the vast majority of auto'd cards were autographs that were signed in mass quantities in one sitting most likely without ever having seen the card they get placed on. Your card holds value as a unique Mike Trout collectible, but if it held any book value before it's likely nil now. That said, you go to collectible shows these days and what do you see? Personalized autographed memorabilia that sells for bunches. So if you are holding onto it for the purpose of selling it later , you have to a) wait a long time and b) hope Mike Trout doesn't fall off the face of the Earth and suck. But if you're holding onto it because you yourself want to keep it, then who cares what dollar value it has? Enjoy it! That's the nature of the card business, though. I hate it, but that's how it is in regards to stuff like that. Basically it's a way for the card companies to not get jipped on their rare cards. If I have a regular Clayton Kershaw RC and I get it autographed and you put it next to the licensed autographed RC, yours is worth nothing and theirs is worth a couple grand, because they only made X amount of their autographed Clayton Kershaw, whereas you got an autograph on a card they made thousands of. They could be the exact same card, but that's how it will be. So if you have your card and try and sell it at an auction next to the licensed card, licensed card will trump you ten fold even though they are both autographed Clayton Kershaw RC's.

And Ron Washington resigns

Not his brightest moment as a defender that's for sure.

Yup

Mike Olt and Junior Lake need a change of scenery also, a reminder: Blue Jays were interested in him and Amaro asked for Joey Bautista Was this at least last offseason? Yes. And Heyman said there was no truth to the rumor, though it does sound like a very Amaro thing to do

Yay Soler RBI

You are correct. Theres still just something exhilarating about not knowing what you're gonna get when you know you're gonna get something good. That was the addiction. It sucked in retrospect, but it when it was good it was seriously satisfying. Like hitting blackjack on both hands after splitting. Again, gambling metaphor because that's all it basically is.

At what point do you stop saying its "$300 a box" and call it what it really is, "$300 for 9 cards"? Sometimes you wouldn't get 9 cards. Some of the big pulls from that set included pieces of game used material or even would have flip out cards to include even more memorabilia and the pack would only have one card in it. For example, this is one card: Damn I forgot about another big pull from that set. It was a triple autograph/game used jersey card of Carl Yastremsky, Harmon Killebrew, and I think Eddie Matthews. EDIT: [expletive] I also had an Adrian Beltre autographed Bowman Chrome RC from like 1997 back when autographed cards were still relatively new.

No, you can't do that, and you can't will them to a family member either. There is no system for transferring ownership that I am aware of. Well that sucks, but I assume it's easy to loophole around. Just take over the original ticket holder's payments and he gives them to you I'd assume. I couldn't find it immediately by Googling, but how many new seats will the Wrigley renovations add, prospectively?

How is this even possible? http://i.imgur.com/Mk76H.gif

The thing I learned as an adult is that if you buy packs of cards form stores like Walgreens or Wal-Mart or whatever, your odds of getting anything valuable are dick. That's why they were cheaper there. They are retail boxes. An insert card from there for the easiest pull might be 1:16 packs. If you bought it from a hobby store, pulled form a hobby box, those odds jump to 1:4. Basically, since they have to manufacture in bulk for retail giants, the odds of pulling valuable cards suck. If you purchase hobby boxes, you're guaranteed at least one big pull from a box nearly all the time, usually an autograph. I would purchase whole boxes because I wanted that big pull. The hobby isn't huge anymore, but it definitely still exists. Less hobby stores now. It doesn't help that Upper Deck and Topps are pretty much monopolizing the industry. Topps and Upper Deck are the only licensed MLB retailers for trading cards. So companies like Donruss had to shift focus to other sports. It's then that you realize how many subsets that you didn't realize were Topps or Upper Deck, actually were owned by them. I remember in 08 I think Donruss got around the MLB thing by selling a st called Donruss Elite which focused on college athletes from all sports. I pulled a ([expletive] that's another one) David Price Autographed RC. And a couple of Josh Vitters autos, too! And yeah the good ones were always expensive. I had a issue with Topps Triple Threads. It was like $300 a box, and you only get 3 packs of card, and each pack had 3 cards... but you get that one big pull in each box (the Ty Cobb card I reference earlier). It was basically like playing a slot machine. It was addicting, and because it involved my favorite thing in the world (baseball) it made it even worse.

Yup. It's not a kids hobby anymore, everything is [expletive] expensive as [expletive]. I had a problem with it, like a serious addiction. It was like gambling. It's embarrassing what kind of cards I acquired and then promptly traded or sold away. Cards you should hang on to. Like an Albert Pujols RC, or a card with 6 pieces of Ty Cobb's bat on it. Or a card with a signature of Carl Hubbel cut from an old letter he signed. A magenta printing plate of a Matt Kemp and a Hiroki Kuroda card that was used to print the actual card and they were the only ones in existence. EDIT: Oh God, a Miguel Cabrera RC, too. [expletive] I was stupid. I lament the amount of money I spent on cards back then, especially since it was all bought with credit. I fucked myself up big time because of it. Still have some nice cards though. http://imgur.com/a/80b93/all But you can see where my intentions lied in 2007 with my collecting. It's a funny way to look back and see who you thought was gonna be the next big thing and who turned out to be complete [expletive]. I was not too good with that. Although my crowning jewel at the end there is still pretty [expletive] awesome.