Sports Cards Mania
- Thread starter brandonchristensen
- Start date
Collation on this stuff is an absolute joke. I did a CASE of hobby and didn't get a base team set. I have 6(!!!) Devers base, 0 Chris Murphys, and only 1 each of Abreu, Hamilton, and Rafaela.
Got an extra Chris Murphy you wanna slip into a card saver and send my way? I'm happy to reciprocate with any extras I have that you may need.
I think my break should be in soon, when it gets in I'll look and forward it along
Collation has gone to hell recently
I love love that Koufax card. I don’t know what it is that I love about it but I’ve always lusted after it. Congrats dude!
Thanks! that was the first big one of the week and it scratched the itch so then came the Paige, Williams, and Musial. It wasn't the plan going in but I've told people the National is an example of what Tyson used to say, "everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth." The National hits you in the mouth.
For '24 Heritage, I've decided to focus on acquiring as many Red Sox cards as possible: With the seasons Lynn and Rice had, I decided I can't not focus on the Gold Dust Twins. Half-case (Hobby) team breaks are down around the $25 range, and since I've never bought into a break, I watched one to get an idea of how many Red Sox I could reasonably expect.Decided I'm out on '24 Topps flagship, and really grinding on what to do about Heritage - '75 is my favorite design. Everyone seems to be very dissatisfied with box collating, with some nowhere near a 1-500 complete set even after cracking 2 hobby cases (in theory, 192 SPs). I've seen a 1-500 set as low as $249 delivered on eBay, but I did that last year and the experience was not all that fun honestly. Now I'm thinking of buying a hoard of someone's castaway base (just to sort through, roll around inand pay up for a few of the really fun SSPs, like Rice 3D and Lynn 3D.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aLhbyLMekk
The final tally for this break was somewhat disappointing: 23 single-photo Red Sox cards:
Devers 5x
Bello 4x
Valdez 3x
Grissom 3x
Rafaela 2x
Casas 2x
Hamilton
Flashback BF5 Lynn
Flashback BF14 Fisk
Flashback BF15 Lynn
ZERO Yoshida (base)
ZERO Abreu (Base)
(No Pivetta SP nor Duran SP either)
A few discoveries:
1) For 1,296 cards plus 6 toppers, I would have expected 30-40 per team, but there are so many shared cards, inserts, etc., the per team yield is actually much lower.
2) The collation really REALLY sucks. There is this sequential run of:
Earl Weaver
Devers
McLain
Cuas
Westburg
That repeated at least 3 times across multiple boxes! All 5 Devers cards were followed by McLain. Crazy!
3) 1 Auto and ELEVEN Memorabilia across the full case (both half case breaks were today)
4) Across the full case (both half case breaks) of the very few Chrome /999 for 99 players, TWO were of the same player, Owen White.
But it was a blast to watch, even without any stake. So I'll try 3 or 4 half case breaks and then go hunting for Sox autos, etc. at shows or online. Clearly, I will be seeking trading partners in here!
I got a box of 2024 Topps Museum Collection through the 582 Montgomery Club, which cost me $425 after shipping.
20 total cards, including 4 autographs or relics, and 4 parallels.
It's a nice-looking set with a good checklist, but the idea of laying out that kind of money is giving me second thoughts. I'm much more of a volume collector, targeting full career runs of flagship HOFers and other favorites. Checked out eBay and I could probably get my money back, but maybe would just miss. No profit likely.
So... talk me into or out of ripping the box.
20 total cards, including 4 autographs or relics, and 4 parallels.
It's a nice-looking set with a good checklist, but the idea of laying out that kind of money is giving me second thoughts. I'm much more of a volume collector, targeting full career runs of flagship HOFers and other favorites. Checked out eBay and I could probably get my money back, but maybe would just miss. No profit likely.
So... talk me into or out of ripping the box.
@staz
You definitely got a stinky case - usually even the "meh" Heritage cases are a better split, 1 auto and 11 mems is insanely bad luck. I've seen some even closer to 50/50 though so I guess the 1/11s exist too. The "base" autos are 1:110 hobby packs which works out to 1 per 4.5 boxes, so add in the red inks and other rarer ones 3 autos / 9 mems a box is probably your normal.
With that said, collation has gone to crap in the past couple years across pretty much all products it seems, which is sad. It really wasn't long ago (like...2 years) where you could buy a box of Heritage and pretty much guarantee - no duplicates of base cards, no repeat sequences, etc. Heck, I just opened a 2022 Heritage High Number recently and the only "repeat" names were because one of them was a variation and another a refractor. I remember with A&G you could buy a case and pretty much guarantee 4 complete sets of 300 cards and multiple runs of the common insert sets. It's one of the things that's a big downer on breaks of these more base-heavy sets.
@Mugsy's Jock - So, the thing with Topps mid-high tier releases like this is you need a MASSIVE card to make it worth it or you need to absolutely nail everything. It's a reason I don't usually love Topps $200-$500 boxes is that those are your only two pathways and the massive cards are so rare that it's not worth it (the bigger ones are like this too but floor is higher usually. I just opened a random break of these and took down the hits by box (numbered cards only) - no base or base parallels unless it was super low print and no base "sketch" inserts
Box 1 - J.P. Crawford Relic /49, Paul O"Neill Auto /299 (on card), Wade Boggs Quad Relic, Mountcastle Quad Relic /25, Yandy Diaz Patch Auto (sitcker)
Box 2 - Walker Buehler Triple Relic Auto /20 (sticker), CJ Abrams Quad Relic /49, Junior Caminero Auto /50 (on card), William Contreras Relic /49
Box 3 - Spencer Strider Quad Relic /99, Trea Turner 1/1 Patch Auto (Sticker), Acuna Relic /99, Henry Davis Auto /25 (on card), Marcus Semien 1/1 Patch
Box 4 - Royce Lewis Quad Relic /10, Cal Raleigh Patch Auto /299 (Sticker), Juan Marichal Artists' Proof /50, Christian Encarncacion Strand /15 Auto, Christopher Morel Patch /15
Box 5 - Trea Turner Relic /35, Noelvi Marte Auto (on-card) /25, Greg Maddux Quad Relic /99, Matt Chapman Dual Relic Auto /50 (sticker)
Box 6 - Bellinger Quad Relic, Buxton Dual Relic Auto (sticker) /99, Wade Boggs Legends Relic /35, Jose Canseco Auto (On Card)
Of note, lots of "out of the box' damage on the cards.
So like Box 3? Absolute winner. Two 1/1s are not likely to happen in your box but the Turner probably pays for the box or gets close and outside of the Strider that's four pretty real cards. Box 4 had a couple nice oddball cards, a good rookie auto, and two great looking relics - probably isn't paying for the box but you'll get some nice cards. The other four would be pretty big losses in my view. From watching recaps of half case or full case breaks maybe every other box or would have a "fist pump" caliber card, generally a 2-3 cards a case (12 boxes) that would pay for its box, but there's a lot of "$50" boxes where selling it all off gets you 10-20%% back.
It's a fun open - I'd rather open a box of Museum than like two boxes of Inception or a box+ of Tier 1 or whatever. But there's a high potential of a much of "meh" cards for $400 which can get a centerpiece card on. I do think Museum has a higher potential of a $100, $200+ card than other similar products but still.
You definitely got a stinky case - usually even the "meh" Heritage cases are a better split, 1 auto and 11 mems is insanely bad luck. I've seen some even closer to 50/50 though so I guess the 1/11s exist too. The "base" autos are 1:110 hobby packs which works out to 1 per 4.5 boxes, so add in the red inks and other rarer ones 3 autos / 9 mems a box is probably your normal.
With that said, collation has gone to crap in the past couple years across pretty much all products it seems, which is sad. It really wasn't long ago (like...2 years) where you could buy a box of Heritage and pretty much guarantee - no duplicates of base cards, no repeat sequences, etc. Heck, I just opened a 2022 Heritage High Number recently and the only "repeat" names were because one of them was a variation and another a refractor. I remember with A&G you could buy a case and pretty much guarantee 4 complete sets of 300 cards and multiple runs of the common insert sets. It's one of the things that's a big downer on breaks of these more base-heavy sets.
@Mugsy's Jock - So, the thing with Topps mid-high tier releases like this is you need a MASSIVE card to make it worth it or you need to absolutely nail everything. It's a reason I don't usually love Topps $200-$500 boxes is that those are your only two pathways and the massive cards are so rare that it's not worth it (the bigger ones are like this too but floor is higher usually. I just opened a random break of these and took down the hits by box (numbered cards only) - no base or base parallels unless it was super low print and no base "sketch" inserts
Box 1 - J.P. Crawford Relic /49, Paul O"Neill Auto /299 (on card), Wade Boggs Quad Relic, Mountcastle Quad Relic /25, Yandy Diaz Patch Auto (sitcker)
Box 2 - Walker Buehler Triple Relic Auto /20 (sticker), CJ Abrams Quad Relic /49, Junior Caminero Auto /50 (on card), William Contreras Relic /49
Box 3 - Spencer Strider Quad Relic /99, Trea Turner 1/1 Patch Auto (Sticker), Acuna Relic /99, Henry Davis Auto /25 (on card), Marcus Semien 1/1 Patch
Box 4 - Royce Lewis Quad Relic /10, Cal Raleigh Patch Auto /299 (Sticker), Juan Marichal Artists' Proof /50, Christian Encarncacion Strand /15 Auto, Christopher Morel Patch /15
Box 5 - Trea Turner Relic /35, Noelvi Marte Auto (on-card) /25, Greg Maddux Quad Relic /99, Matt Chapman Dual Relic Auto /50 (sticker)
Box 6 - Bellinger Quad Relic, Buxton Dual Relic Auto (sticker) /99, Wade Boggs Legends Relic /35, Jose Canseco Auto (On Card)
Of note, lots of "out of the box' damage on the cards.
So like Box 3? Absolute winner. Two 1/1s are not likely to happen in your box but the Turner probably pays for the box or gets close and outside of the Strider that's four pretty real cards. Box 4 had a couple nice oddball cards, a good rookie auto, and two great looking relics - probably isn't paying for the box but you'll get some nice cards. The other four would be pretty big losses in my view. From watching recaps of half case or full case breaks maybe every other box or would have a "fist pump" caliber card, generally a 2-3 cards a case (12 boxes) that would pay for its box, but there's a lot of "$50" boxes where selling it all off gets you 10-20%% back.
It's a fun open - I'd rather open a box of Museum than like two boxes of Inception or a box+ of Tier 1 or whatever. But there's a high potential of a much of "meh" cards for $400 which can get a centerpiece card on. I do think Museum has a higher potential of a $100, $200+ card than other similar products but still.
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lol. Totally. I have a post way upthread about the exact same thing in Chicago last year.
*Update*
I did not actually read/comprehend your post. My bad. That said, if you want a full team set with both SPs and a couple of the inserts, LMK. Spend your money on the next product.
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Thanks dude! I actually have been doing breaks on Whatnot with my little guy.
I probably can help fill anyone’s needs on those bases too!
PM me your address. I'll send a tasty assortment of Sox cards. Recent bowman, heritage sets mostly. Also, if you're raising a Yaz fan, LMK. I've got lots of doubles of the newer stuff.
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If you want a shit ton of older Sox cards from the 70s-90s, let me know. Most aren't in great shape, but will just probably head to dumpster at some point. Not much else I can do with over a million cards.
I just did my purging a few years back. Alas we just don’t have the room.
So I started collecting again. It hurts my head with all these types of new cards and really do like the older stuff, so I’m going through my favorite players or cards that I loved and getting psa10 versions of them.
My son would love to do breaks on WhatNot. I told him he should start by doing a break here. He is your average 12 year old. Pictures himself a card hustler but at the end of the day he’s just a little guy who really just targets his favorite players.
Thank you sir! I actually did pretty well at a card show last weekend for 2024 Heritage Sox. One subset I really like is only in mini:
5 Sox and 5 Reds, just love that 75 WS logo - but the text is pretty lame: "World Series championship" who says that? And 'a two-out rally with a two-out single'? That's what a lazy 5th grader would write to increase the word count. Whatevs.
Trade you that '58 Malzone (upthread) for a 2024 Heritage #83 Duran?
I just did a break on that and got the Yankees…so was pissed.
Wasn’t pissed long. Soto 1/5 Gold Auto
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My son wants to be a pilot and loves these Delta cards. I'm flying on a 737. I was in first class. I asked the flight attendant if I could have a card. The flight attendant got it. And when she came back she said the captain had a favor to ask of me. She said there's a fallen soldier on the plane and he is being accompanied by an officer. She asked if I would give up my seat in first class for coach. I said "yes". She said the captain has a stack of cards for you. She hands them to me and there's this banger. It's a team USA A-350 Team USA edition which goes for about $185 on ebay along with a bunch of other planes. It must have been the pilot's personal stash.
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Here's a broad question...
My neighborhood (Upper West Side, NYC) has long been without a local card shop, but one's opening in the next week or two. I haven't really patronized a local card shop since before the days of eBay -- what's the best way to use one of those? What can I expect?
Are singles prices competitive with what's available on eBay? Different for current vs. older cards? Are local card shops often willing to bargain (e.g. $40 for $60 worth of singles)? Does trading make sense here?
Or, end of the day, are local card shops just dinosaurs about to be extinguished by online?
My neighborhood (Upper West Side, NYC) has long been without a local card shop, but one's opening in the next week or two. I haven't really patronized a local card shop since before the days of eBay -- what's the best way to use one of those? What can I expect?
Are singles prices competitive with what's available on eBay? Different for current vs. older cards? Are local card shops often willing to bargain (e.g. $40 for $60 worth of singles)? Does trading make sense here?
Or, end of the day, are local card shops just dinosaurs about to be extinguished by online?
It’s bleecker street cards right? I follow them on Facebook, they post in a lot of the vintage groups and have some incredible stuff.
The big issue for any card store in 2024 is that eBay, Whatnot, and other online forums and marketplaces exist and their overhead is basically fees of those marketplace and human labor, where an LCS Is going to have to fight those prices...and rent and all that comes with opening a store, and the physical limitations with it. You won't be likely to get single prices competitive with eBay. Now, you can get lucky - and some stores are far more aggressive with their singles stock and will look to turn over their cases and win on volume vs. sale price - but most of the showcases I see are overpriced compared to what your bottom dollar will be on those above services. My local has had an amazing wrestling card in the case for well over a year now...because similar versions sell at half the price on eBay. With that said I'd generally expect your higher volume stores to be able to sell at closer prices to eBay value or negotiate with you on that - another localish store does a lot of wrestling and has some deals that are better than eBay, but they do a lot of WWE stuff.
Personally, I think the best use as a consumer for LCSes are
- Supplies - great way to pick up sleeves, toploaders, boxes, etc. without assembling or dealing with shipping.
- Single Packs or Even Single Boxes - Online sales can be searched cases (case hit is gone, sell the rest of the boxes), and often online pricing trends quickest to market. Card shops will often sell at the profit margin they bought or have packs behind the counter that may not be searched. A great way to get a "taste" without committing to the box. 1 pack of Topps Chrome for $10 can scratch an itch and you can't really buy loose packs online to do that.
- Bulk Boxes - most stores will have 4000 ct boxes up and down the store of cheap singles sorted by player, sport ,etc. It's a great way to pick up some cheap cards you want without compiling it online or paying $5 shipping on a $1 card.
- Singles of a Specialized Nature - Some stores will specialize in vintage, or a specific sport, or a specific whatever - like Chris' Comics in Seabrook does a lot of wrestling, QTC in Manchester has a decent stock of women's basketball, etc. - it can be a good way to find cards in a niche. My most recent "rainbow" was completed when a local store got the /10 I was looking for after I lost an eBay auction and a deal fell through.
- Trade Nights - A lot of LCS will host trade nights - a great safe way to meet other collectors and make deals if you're comfortable with that.
- Group Grading - Some LCSes will send cards for grading - while you can prep and send your own cards a (good) LCS might be better at spotting cards to hold out, prepping cards, and may get better rates due to volume.
- Local consignment - Some LCSes will help you consign your cards for a percentage - might be more advantageous than something like COMC or DCSports depending on the situation.
- If you have a good relationship with the LCS owner, you might get first dibs on products or cards you'd want - varies by store of course.
You should probably go in expecting to pay more for most things than you'll get online unless the store is very much behind the market on a specific card or product or is agreeing to sell at their cost as opposed to adjusting. It may be worth it for the relationship and perks - it may not be if you're comfortable with online marketplaces and hunting down your own goods. For trade-ins, super dependent on store and operational theory. I suspect those who turn over cards in their showcases a ton are willing to wheel and deal at some sort of percentage (I'd be surprised if it's 70% unless the card is super liquid like Wemby), while those who are more reliant on selling wax and supplies won't be, but can't hurt to ask.
What I've found in LCSes is that it attracts the same people who open record stores - loner dudes who want to turn their passion into a business. In some ways, this can be great if the person has a good business sense and drive and really wants to maximize their space and build a community over that. It can also suck if they've fallen out of love with it or are using it to just...live. So it'll depend on the nature of your store. It's why you see a lot of "sports card" stores that are really comic book shops, or a lot of comic book stores that have a bunch of MTG and Pokemon on site. It's just overlapping passions. It's also why you'll see mixed reviews of people who hate a place because their Pokemon is overproduced.
So, in short, I'd go and do a vibe check. Expect singles prices above eBay, expect wax prices above Dave and Adams, hopefully not too much, grab a smattering and chat up the people inside. An LCS Is only as good as what they get in and who is selling it to ya.
We buy almost everything except singles from our LCS even though they do come out a tad more expensive. I don’t follow this stuff like you guys so to be able to go in and ask him for whatever he’s opening is a pretty valuable service. Our favorite guy will spend hours with the kids, he’s a big kid himself. I’m jealous.
The guys at my LCS here in Chicagoland know I'm the "Red Sox and Bruins guy", and I usually get 1st dibs at whatever they rip. Got a bunch of sweet singles from Topps Finest last weekend (probably more that I would've gotten out of a case break) for like $6 total because half the time they just give me commons. I don't rip much anymore, but I buy supplies and a blaster box here and there as part of the social contract.
The Yaz Auto'd Bowman Retrofractor I posted upthread was because of that connection. Dude pulled it in that shop, they called him, and he sold it to me well under his ebay price.
Plus it's fun to just talk shit with guys at a card shop.
The Yaz Auto'd Bowman Retrofractor I posted upthread was because of that connection. Dude pulled it in that shop, they called him, and he sold it to me well under his ebay price.
Plus it's fun to just talk shit with guys at a card shop.
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Unreal
Mike Trout pulls an auto Mike Trout
https://youtube.com/shorts/BoUGaPgviA8?si=wmFqIep097Ptj6_Q
Mike Trout pulls an auto Mike Trout
https://youtube.com/shorts/BoUGaPgviA8?si=wmFqIep097Ptj6_Q
He's apparently a pretty big collector.
It must be great to have such a superpower that you can transform a base Trout into an auto Trout with merely a single thought and a sharpie.
It must be great to have such a superpower that you can transform a base Trout into an auto Trout with merely a single thought and a sharpie.
And Grant pulled an autographed rookie Luka
Video is fun
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10132177-video-hornets-grant-williams-pulls-rare-luka-doncic-card-worth-at-least-100k.amp.html
Video is fun
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10132177-video-hornets-grant-williams-pulls-rare-luka-doncic-card-worth-at-least-100k.amp.html
The Grant thing is wild in that it's one of the few "moments" with celebrity/athletes that didn't feel fully staged. I mean, with all the CT Scanning stuff it could be but still, really cool stuff. The Trout one is a bit...weirder. I dunno, man is a bajillionaire and can do it but that one feels odd to me. I dunno, I'm SO paranoid with the staged Fanatics video BS at this point that I wouldn't be shocked if this were just bait.
Anyway, Bowman Chrome Checklist is out. A surprisingly robust Chrome Auto checklist this time given how stacked Boston was in the regular Bowman release but no Top 20ish names. Brannon, De Leon, Guerrero, Alcantara, Uwasawa, Nunez, Ascencio, and YORDANNY prospect autos with Roman, Teel, and Ceddanne insert autos. No huge high end names for Bowman 1sts (2024 Draftees will likely be in Bowman Draft or 2025 Bowman) but a decent amount of depth. I thought Jhostynxon, Fitts/Sandlin, or Arias might've gotten a card but not this time.
Anyway, Bowman Chrome Checklist is out. A surprisingly robust Chrome Auto checklist this time given how stacked Boston was in the regular Bowman release but no Top 20ish names. Brannon, De Leon, Guerrero, Alcantara, Uwasawa, Nunez, Ascencio, and YORDANNY prospect autos with Roman, Teel, and Ceddanne insert autos. No huge high end names for Bowman 1sts (2024 Draftees will likely be in Bowman Draft or 2025 Bowman) but a decent amount of depth. I thought Jhostynxon, Fitts/Sandlin, or Arias might've gotten a card but not this time.
Ah cool, they have a pretty active IG and Luke from
Bleecker street cards is in all the Fb groups, seem to have a lot of great vintage stuff. That is usually way beyond my budget but cool to look at.
Nice. That is awesome. I’m still searching for that Casas auto super and I think the blue toile. Everything else I have.
Downright sacrilegious the Rice red ink 1/75 has a mangled corner! Your case hits need to go straight into a toploader.
We have the return of (unlicensed) Topps Chrome Basketball this year. Probably one of the biggest tests of Fanatics' overall push. In reality this isn't much different than other unlicensed basketball products but they obviously have "the" big name Panini is missing and a pretty robust group of signers, could be interesting to see the overall reaction as "no license" tends to be the death knell for cards.
I've been spending most of my time in the WWE Realm, which is fun and frustrating in its own right. I won't bore everyone but it does give me a bit of a flashback cost wise to where we were a few years back and it's nice to actually hit real big names, but a lot of the core problems are still there of course.
I've been spending most of my time in the WWE Realm, which is fun and frustrating in its own right. I won't bore everyone but it does give me a bit of a flashback cost wise to where we were a few years back and it's nice to actually hit real big names, but a lot of the core problems are still there of course.
Also, one of the more...interesting stories coming out in the Sports Card Youtuber world is that it has come out that there are companies using CT Scans on boxes and packs of cards as a buyable service.
So the long and short of is that there are companies out there providing a "service" to scan packs and boxes of cards. There seems to be some evidence that these scans can provide, a reasonable assumption of the cards inside packs - there are scans of iconic Pokemon cards from vintage packs as well as sports cards where the card is pretty clearly identifiable by design even buried under other cards in he pack itself.
Now, there's a lot of reasons to not be hugely concerned as a normal collector - right now the cost is prohibitive both in terms of a DIY item (a CT Machine is typically a five figure investment IIRC) and as a service (charging $65-$75 a pack). Even with some of the absurd card prices on newer release, the only things this would really make sense for are the high end single pack products and even then $75 really begins to eat into profit. There is also the issue that the people doing this have no real backing - so even if someone is looking to do this they need to entrust their stock to people knowingly doing something pretty scummy AND trusting they won't just swap boxes or packs out if they find something big. So the biggest immediate impact is to things like "heavy" Pokemon vintage packs, Topps Dynasty, as well as certain vintage packs where the investment is worth knowing whether you have a Max Verstappen Patch or a 1st Edition Charizard or not.
With that said, it does seem like this will just get cheaper and it'll be a race between Fanatics/Panini trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening and this becoming more accessible. The reliance on foil for names and serial numbering makes this very easy to identify on an individual box basis so you can keep the Derek Jeter Dynasty card and sell the Bo Naylor sealed - and if it can do cases it pretty much makes direct to consumer the only reliable option.
This also may explain why certain influencers and companies can have these amazing moments on video when they get a super timely hit during a promotional video. Spending $500 or $1000 to scan some of your highest end vintage boxes, find a huge card, make a video and you both keep the card AND get viral attention is a huge win.
Pack and Box searching using CT scanning is now a service open to the public. What are your thoughts on this? : r/baseballcards (reddit.com)
Sports Card Madness has been behind the push but - presumably as a condition of getting the company on record - had to delete 10+ minutes of the interview people would want to delete.
EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Company Behind Sports Card CT Scanning - YouTube
So the long and short of is that there are companies out there providing a "service" to scan packs and boxes of cards. There seems to be some evidence that these scans can provide, a reasonable assumption of the cards inside packs - there are scans of iconic Pokemon cards from vintage packs as well as sports cards where the card is pretty clearly identifiable by design even buried under other cards in he pack itself.
Now, there's a lot of reasons to not be hugely concerned as a normal collector - right now the cost is prohibitive both in terms of a DIY item (a CT Machine is typically a five figure investment IIRC) and as a service (charging $65-$75 a pack). Even with some of the absurd card prices on newer release, the only things this would really make sense for are the high end single pack products and even then $75 really begins to eat into profit. There is also the issue that the people doing this have no real backing - so even if someone is looking to do this they need to entrust their stock to people knowingly doing something pretty scummy AND trusting they won't just swap boxes or packs out if they find something big. So the biggest immediate impact is to things like "heavy" Pokemon vintage packs, Topps Dynasty, as well as certain vintage packs where the investment is worth knowing whether you have a Max Verstappen Patch or a 1st Edition Charizard or not.
With that said, it does seem like this will just get cheaper and it'll be a race between Fanatics/Panini trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening and this becoming more accessible. The reliance on foil for names and serial numbering makes this very easy to identify on an individual box basis so you can keep the Derek Jeter Dynasty card and sell the Bo Naylor sealed - and if it can do cases it pretty much makes direct to consumer the only reliable option.
This also may explain why certain influencers and companies can have these amazing moments on video when they get a super timely hit during a promotional video. Spending $500 or $1000 to scan some of your highest end vintage boxes, find a huge card, make a video and you both keep the card AND get viral attention is a huge win.
Pack and Box searching using CT scanning is now a service open to the public. What are your thoughts on this? : r/baseballcards (reddit.com)
Sports Card Madness has been behind the push but - presumably as a condition of getting the company on record - had to delete 10+ minutes of the interview people would want to delete.
EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Company Behind Sports Card CT Scanning - YouTube
This kind of thing just gets easier and easier to do when you put cards in "Breakers Boxes". Way less scanning. The whole thing is gross.
Aside from picking up a random blaster at Target, knowing full well I'm losing money, and doing it for the fun of opening cards - I'm done buying anything else besides singles. I just picked up a Wade Meckler Black Chrome for $6.
It has always been lighting money on fire. And this new level of breakers boxes, scans, and influencers makes it like a Vegas casino without the nice restaurants and comps.
Aside from picking up a random blaster at Target, knowing full well I'm losing money, and doing it for the fun of opening cards - I'm done buying anything else besides singles. I just picked up a Wade Meckler Black Chrome for $6.
It has always been lighting money on fire. And this new level of breakers boxes, scans, and influencers makes it like a Vegas casino without the nice restaurants and comps.
A primer on Caitlin Clark cards: Caitlin Clark cards explained: WNBA releases, rookie card debate, college sets and more - The Athletic (nytimes.com)
This season's first WNBA set will be released in mid-October. You know, after the regular season is over.
This season's first WNBA set will be released in mid-October. You know, after the regular season is over.
The design of Topps Chrome Basketball is just awful. I don't see these holding value, especially once licensed comes out.
I thought they did a good job with Topps Composite Football but Chrome Basketball's base design and photo choices are among the worst of the year licensed or not, agreed
I'm with you on Composite Football. I wasn't expecting to like, it just sounded like another junk set like Panini Phoenix, but from what I've seen they did a good job with it.
Yeah it's more like a Chronicles product stacked with the big rookies and good retired names. For some reason the licensing issue is much less of a problem than basketball image wise. I'll be picking up some non Brady singles for sure