Pet Peeves – Collector’s Edition

You may have skimmed through my previous pet peeves post and understand where I’m going with this one.  For those who haven’t, I’ll lay out some basics up front.  As with my previous pet peeve post, I’m not calling anyone individually out, although I do point a finger at some companies.  These are things that rub me the wrong way in my daily walk through collecting.  Some of it is part deception on seller’s parts, some is manufacturer greed and some is just nonsense in general.  I imagine that as you go through this list, you’ll be nodding your head in agreement because you’ve likely dealt with these issues yourself.  You may even have your own story about one of these.  This is meant in fun and hopefully you’ll get a good chuckle out of it.eBay 1/1 – This one is pretty widely booed amongst my acquaintances.  When somebody posts an eBay 1/1, I look in my collection, praying that I find what they’re selling so I can list it and it won’t be 1/1 anymore.  I could put my personalized Joey Shiver ’87 Topps up on eBay and call it a 1/1 but it’s not bringing any more cash.  Maybe you’ll find a sucker out there that doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to be me.  I went to my LCS this morning and I saw a ton of “LCS 1/1’s.”  Maybe they should start putting that on their stickers!  Listen, it’s either a 1/1 or it isn’t.  It’s not eBay 1/1, Twitter 1/1 or Facebook 1/1.  Just stop it!Advertisement of “Gem Mint Condition” – This is another eBay style gimmick that gets me riled.  You may be selling a card in very good condition but don’t tell me it’s Gem Mint unless it’s graded.  And please don’t say it like this, “Gem Mint???”  I don’t know, you’re the one selling it and you’re asking me?  How about we just be honest with each other and say, “Hey, as far as I can tell, this card is in very good condition.  No visible blemishes, corners and surface looks good, centering is nice.”  The Fatpacks just talked about the difficulty of grading on their last podcast.  Please don’t try to sell me a Gem Mint Condition, eBay 1/1 with your 98.2% seller rating.  I’m not buying it based on that description, I’m buying it because I want the card.  I’m probably not buying it at all with that rating.Hits stated as Autos OR Memorabilia – Here’s one that’s on the company.  New products always state their odds of hits in the box.  2 autos/1 mem per box – 1 auto/2 mems per box.  You get it.  But when they state 3 autos or mems per box, I know I’m getting 1 auto and 2 mems.  If it says 1 auto or mem, I’m getting a mem.  Maybe it’s just my luck but I’ve never pulled 3 autos out of a box that said OR.  And don’t even get me started on Allen & Ginter!  I really like the product but in that one you get 3 hits but they could be – Autographs, Relics, Originals, Book Cards, Cut Signatures, Rip Cards or Ancient Rome Relics featuring real Roman coins.  You get all that?  I bought 4 boxes last year and I shite you not, I got 1 auto and 11 relics.  Just tell me what’s in the box and let’s move on!  If I pull an auto, great.  But don’t feed me these false hopes.Pack Searchers – We’re all familiar.  You get hobby at a card shop or online and you get retail at Target or Wal Mart.  Hobby is always better because they have more hits and good shop owners don’t let their customers search.  But this pack searching is the lowest of the low and if these were in any type of order, this would be peeve numero uno.  There are YouTube videos dedicated to outing these scumbags.  What makes them even worse is when they act like they’re doing nothing wrong.  Card companies have done a lot to try and combat it with their packaging but there are real dedicated toolbags out there that find a way.  They feel all of the packs in Wal Mart, bringing in scales and tiny magnets, all in hopes of finding that one pack that is a little different than the others.  I’m fine if you can eyeball a pack and see a difference but when you bring in your searching kit, you can get bent.  Next time you go to Target, look at an open box of cards and you’ll see that the entire inventory has been rifled through.  That’s the universal mating call of the pack searcher.  They’ve ruined retail for the general public.  Thanks asshats! Hot Packs – Pack searching brings me directly to the hot pack.  This is the fruits of the pack searcher.  I’ll never understand how someone can advertise a pack of cards as “guaranteed to contain a red parallel serial numbered out of 50.”  You are doing some serious pack negotiating if you’re seeing that in a pack.  If you can see all of that, don’t you think I know you can see if it’s Mike Trout or Chris Johnson?  Are you going to sell the Mike Trout in a hot pack or are you going to open that bad boy and sell the single?  Exactly.  Back to my stated odds section above, if you see someone advertise a hot pack that is guaranteed to contain an auto or mem, trust me, it’s not an auto!  I won’t even get started on the effects these searchers and hot packs have on the youth of our hobby.  Let’s just say it ain’t good!  I can’t keep talking about this or I’m going to lose it.

License Exclusivity – Let’s go back to some company issues.  This one is justbeyond my comprehension.  As most collectors are aware, Topps has the exclusive license to produce MLB trading cards.  Panini has the exclusive license to produce NFL trading cards.  I’ve said before, I’m a Donruss guy from back in the day.  I still love Donruss designs today.  But thanks to Topps and their MLB exclusivity, I only get Donruss cards with blank jerseys or bad photos that hide team names.  The 2017 design is one of my favorites ever from Donruss but it’s marred by the lack of being a licensed product.  I’m not just anti Topps on this either as you’ll see with my next peeve.  The fact that Panini has the exclusive license for football is just asinine.  What major sport should have trading cards without an option for Topps?  Nada.  Topps at least doesn’t plow through the NFL season with blank jersey’s and helmets but I do miss the company variety in football.  I loved Topps Museum, even though I rarely bought it by the box.  And Valor and Fire were cool designed products as well.  Who is this exclusivity helping besides the company itself?  Not the collector.  Not the open market.  Not the innovation of the hobby.  We’ve got to figure this out guys.  There is room for Topps, Donruss and Upper Deck in the major sports.  Give us a choice.100 Panini Products – Ok, when I say give us choice, this is not what I mean.  Again, I’m a Panini guy so this one pains me to write.  Panini released 40 basic card products in football this year.  You read that right, 40!  Origins, Prizm, Unparalled, Impeccable, Contenders, Classics, Draft Prizm, National Treasures, Spectra, Select, Rookies & Stars, Donruss, Prestige, Preferred, Playoff, Playbook…..see where this is headed?  I just named 16 – that’s not even half.  There are 52 weeks in a year and 20 weeks in a football season.  That’s almost a product a week during a calendar year and it’s 2 a week for a football season.  Good luck if you are an old school set collector.  You just have to pick a product or two and stick with it.  I can’t even keep up with the releases anymore.  This has to stop or it’s going to end very poorly for my favorite brand.  I don’t want to see that but it’s coming.  Spend more time on less products and you won’t have to charge $725 for a box of 8 cards.  With all those producers, how many stickers are floating around Panini with autographs at this point?

1990 Donruss – There’s really not much to say that hasn’t already been said about this abysmal set.  Same can be said for ’91 Fleer.  Although, for both products, I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when these designs were pitched to the execs.  Who signed off on these?  I’d really like to be privy to those conversations.Non-Drafted Autos – This is not intended for the “prospect” autos.  I am talking specifically about players who weren’t drafted, aren’t getting picked up and are on practice squads before the sets even come out.  There’s no point in advertising a box with 5 or 6 autos in it if 4 of the autos are Shane Drango, Nando De Colo, Levi Norwood and Jeremy Pargo.  You’re probably asking, “Who?”  To which I respond, “Exactly.”  Baseball is the least guilty of this travesty but they do like to throw in a ton of rookie relief pitchers in their autograph selection.  So that may as well be considered the equivalent of an offensive lineman or D League player.  Don’t beef up your autograph numbers with guys who wind up in the dime box.  Of course, some prospects hit and some never pan out but some are mediocre from the jump and the card companies know that as much as anybody.Fake Numbers on Rookies – This actually goes back to the Rookie Premier set that used to be produced.  That “fake number” is usually Double 0.  Some products still use it as Panini Origins from 2016 comes to mind.  I get that the companies bring these rookies in for photos, autos and whatnot, but that 00 is so generic.  Now, consider this – you pull a one color patch of a rookie from one of the many products from 2016.  If that patch is from these 00 jersey’s, what a ripoff that is!  I’d prefer the companies just use a picture from draft day or a photo not in the jersey altogether.  Do they not airbrush anymore?  I found out as I was wrapping this post up, my pal @sportcardcollec is not a fan either!Bad Autographs – Here’s one that’s on the player.   While I understand there are a lot of signings these days, the players have either gotten lazy or they’re not very creative with their signatures.  If it’s the result of too many signings, all this carpal tunnel syndrome is prompting players to shorten their signatures to something ridiculous.  One that comes to mind is Xavier Rhodes.  I have an autographed card that I pulled in a pack and it’s signed, “XR.”  Really?  I actually did get lucky and pull that auto but it’s “XR?”  If it’s lack of creativity, take some lessons from Taywon Taylor and jazz this thing up!  Players, your autograph is highly sought after.  Take the time to make it look good!  At least make it reasonably legible.One Color Patches – My biggest issue with these is that I have zero faith that this clothing I’m looking at is a piece of actual jersey.  I’ll take your word for it with your guarantees but a one color patch is the equivalent of the initials autograph.  See my above on fake numbers and you see the issue.Taping Toploaders – Here’s one for the shippers.  I’ve brought it up before but it bears repeating.  When you tape a toploader, you essentially take away from its future usage.  It’s always going to have that sticky film on it and it’s effectively useless unless I’ve got some dupes that aren’t for viewing any more.  Please don’t tape your toploaders shut when mailing products.  Shipping is something that often gets too little attention but it’s something to leaves an impression with your buyer.  I prefer to wrap my cards in paper or put them in the clear bags to avoid tape on the holders.Redemption Substitutions – Back to the companies.  Redemptions alone are pretty frustrating.  First, it means that I’ve got to wait from the card that I actually bought today.  One of my astute tweeps, @gatorpk321 had a good take on this a few weeks  ago.  The card companies don’t take an I.O.U. from us when we buy so why are we taking them from us when we rip the packs?  But even worse than the redemption is the redemption substitution. Sometimes these I.O.U.’s don’t materialize in the form of the actual card we’re promised.  The company then makes their own determination of “similar value”.  I’ve stated before, collecting for me is not as tied to dollar value as much as interest.  I pulled a 2013 Topps Archives William “Refrigerator” Perry auto a couple of years ago.  Being an 80’s-90’s guy, I was ecstatic!    After a looong wait, I finally got a letter in the mail from Topps with a Jarvis Landry auto and a “bonus” Joe Adams auto.  Wait, what??  First, Joe Adams is not even in the league!  Any other time, Jarvis Landry would be a welcome addition but in the place of The Fridge?  I can’t even describe the letdown.

Well, that’s my initial list but I know there are others.  I’m already planning a part 2 But I need your help.  Tell me what your pet peeve is and if we have it in common, I’ll add it to the list for Part 2.  The hobby is a wonderful pastime but there are certain aspects that make me scratch my head and wonder what’s going on.  We can have fun with it in a post like this but I know it really gets under everyone’s skin and drives us mad.  So, what’s your pet peeve??

J-Dub