Happy Festivus! Airing of Grievances 2023 Edition
 

December 23 is Festivus! Time for the annual airing of grievances. What grinds your gears in the collecting hobby?

Here is the 2022 post: https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=329338

For me, it’s people in the hobby who say one thing and do another (seen a lot of this in 2023). If you are going to say, follow through!

What’s yours?

I'm sick to death of anal-retentive, spoiled brat, silver spoon in the mouth graded cards and all the stupidity surrounding them.

I'm sick to death of card investors and investment brokers. Hope "the hobby" collapses.

I'm sick to death of the stupid prices of cards. Of course this ties in with the two points above.

I'm immediately sick of eBay's AI description of cards and sellers who use that feature.


This 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth Sports Trading Card is a must-have for any baseball fan or collector. This card features the iconic athlete in his signature batting pose and has been graded for quality assurance. Whether you're a fan of Ruth's legendary career or simply looking to expand your collection, this card is sure to impress.

The card is from the 1933 season and was manufactured by Goudey, a trusted name in sports cards. It is a single trading card and comes in a PSA 4 holder. Don't miss out on the chance to own a piece of baseball history with this stunning Babe Ruth card.

“x” has ruined the hobby. [emoji849]


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There are so many that if I started now, I might not finish until the new year.....

Someone asks for a price on an item. The answer is provide. And they then vanish and nothing is heard from them again.

Come on man ... Make some noise to wrap up the communication that you started! "I'll take it" or "Thanks but I will pass on this" or "Would you accept X?"

Something!

Rampant card doctoring and the indifference of most of the hobby to it.

Overpriced, overproduced, out the back door 1/1's that are endemic to a hobby (not even a hobby at this point) that will ultimately collapse on itself.

Fanatics taking over EVERYTHING. (This will only make things worse for the actual hobbiest.)

Case Breaks. Seriously WTF is that all about????

Not being able to buy a true wax box of cards anymore. What in the hell is a blister box, and why do they exist?

SP's, SSP's, SSSP's SSSSSSSSSSP's. And induced error cards (that is not an error card, just another damned hyped up variation).

Excuse me while I go outside and yell at some clouds.

Seriously. There can't be that many people getting into terrible car crashes right after inquiring about a collectible.

Even worse...someone contacts you about a card and makes an 'offer'. You agree to the 'offer'. Then when it's time for the payment, the potential buyer asks for an even lower price after doing more 'research'.

Happened to me last week via messaging on Ebay. What a jack-off.

Absolutely! Grading has almost ruined the hobby and priced many out of it

I agree but this goes the other way too...seller writes that they're considering offers, potential buyer writes with "would you accept X?" and never hears anything back.

Yes!! And why not list a price with the item?


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Or after submitting a reasonable and fair offer on eBay, the seller raises the BIN and blocks you.


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Non-vintage sellers selling vintage, pricing their inventory at 10x the value.

Hmmm.... when it comes to this "hobby", I don't think I want to get started.

I will say that I still enjoy looking at the stuff, but it's lost a little sparkle.

Sometimes all the whinging gets old.

I am just glad I am still upright, sniffing the air and trying to enjoy what is left of the hobby.

Grievances: None

Small annoyances: Some

Joy: A whole lot. Finished my T220 Master dream set this year, got up to 23/24 uncut sheet panels from that set, and picked up more rarities or unique pre-war stuff than I had planned. Had a ton of fun with research and piecing together more of the ATC picture. Picked up a lot of vintage football I've had a blast with. Crossed a few of the last cards off my post-war Topps/Bowman wantlists. Christmas is fun.

I lament the apparent end of vintage card scholarship inside grading companies. I've got some free time, if they need people willing to scour Newspapers.com and write cogent, 100% correct opinions! :D

And a card

100%. You shared many of those pick ups here and I enjoyed them all.

I have a massive Festivus screed scheduled to hit tomorrow morning on my Substack, so I don't want to spoil that, but I will throw this one in the ring here:

Obnoxious card bros braying like jackasses into their devices at shows as they stumble over and through other attendees while shooting their 'influencer' videos.

Hahaha, I like it. I think I'm going to start using it for my sports trading cards.

Some huge eBay dealer that randomly list half of their listings as “ undergraded “
Without even looking at the cards

For the love of everything holy, stop F*CKING constantly using the dumbass word "ICONIC"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (There aren't enough exclamation points in the universe to use at the end of that sentence!!!!!!)

Open a goddamn thesaurus!!!!!!!!!!

Other than that, Happy Festivus.

People who put tinsel on their Festivus pole. Just stop.. No tinsel poles please.

Iconic comment, bro

Look at what a simple search for the awful 'i' word returns. Twenty frickin' pages worth of individual examples, and I'm pretty certain the 20 pages is the default cut-off for searches. There have got to be THOUSANDS of pages worth:

Attachment 602344

If there is ever a newer testament to The Bible, this will undoubtedly be cited as a plague!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I have the following cards for sell"

"I'll take it" followed by having to chase people for payment. :D

These are sure to start a riot…

I hate comps and price guides. I decide what a card is worth to me. You decide what a card is worth to you. If we can meet somewhere on a price along the way, great! If not, that’s ok.

Tobacco backs are overrated. I collect baseball cards of baseball players, not tobacco ads. I could not care less what ad is on the back and I don’t need 12 of the same player’s card because the factory number or tobacco company is different. That’s just silly.

Blasphemy, I say! :)

My gripe
 

"I have $XXX into it, so have to sell for at least that..."

Your previous bad decisions or market corrections have no bearing on what it's worth today...sorry.

This card. I am very sick of this 1920 Zeenut of Nick Dumovich, and everyone else should feel the same way about it.

So sick that I think I am falling in love with this goofy little bashful guy all over again. I guess that makes me sick in love.


Brian (and in addition to my Dumovich rant, I am sick about how so many only see cards through dollar sign glasses)

One grievance that I think many of us have in common is this: You bought a few packs of cards for a dime when you were 10 years old, because you liked cards and thought they were cool but never dreamed they could be considered an investment or work of art. You kept that card in a cigar box with other cards you bought (for who knows how much money!!) at a flea market, to keep them in good shape. Flash forward 50 years and a few cards in that stash are worth $5,000 each, so you want to sell them. But then you realize that you're going to have to pay taxes on cards you probably used your hard-earned money (as a little kid) to pay sales tax on in the first place! Unfortunately, that now-grown kid hasn't got a chance in the "feats of strength!!"

I believe the asker was looking for a steal and when none was provided, they quickly scurried off.

+1

Originally Posted by jingram058 "I'm sick to death of the stupid prices of cards."

I'm sick to death of the prices of stupid cards.

I'm death to sick prices of cards of the stupid.


Brian

One mention (mine) of card doctoring and none of shill bidding. Did the hobby get cleaned up and I missed it?

Either we all have bigger complaints, or what you’ve always suspected is true.

Forbidden topics
 

Those topics make people question "Why?" they collect, seem to be worse or more visible than ever, and create rabbit holes of how you combat them (there is no easy way)...

I guess. Shill bidding once was the hottest topic in the hobby. And to me, revulsion to undisclosed card doctoring is something deeply engrained from day one.

For me, it's the price of unopened current product. Hobby boxes that used to be $80-100 with 24+ does are now $300 with 8 packs. With less value in the packs.

I think a lot of it has to do with most are just tired of listening/reading all the complaining. Then the big unpopular truth we see ALL the time. The huge eBay seller(s) that shills almost every one of their listings is a friend. So he is considered honest. Then change out shill bidder with card doctor and it is exactly the same. It is a close hobby friend so they are honest as the day is long. I have never understood this but I see it all the time.

LOL (Room full of people who care)
Yeap, the doctoring is all cleaned up. Put a bandage on it, take 2 aspirin, and see me in 3 weeks.
.

“Make me an offer.”

Okay, I offer to consider buying your card if you put a price on it.

I certainly don’t want to condone it, but I think it’s just to a point that it seems a hopeless business.

It seems like it’s everywhere. The ability to police it is limited to nonexistent. And for poor slobs like us, if our only recourse is to post about it here, it doesn’t seem to accomplish much.

I suppose the other approach is to stick to beaters with big borders, because the odds are better that they haven’t been doctored. While that’s an attractive option, it doesn’t seem to move the needle with the rest of our world.

My complaint is that the major auction houses don’t have enough auctions. I recall at least five or six days last year when I awoke to find I had nothing to bid on. Damn inconsiderate of those folks. Hopefully, they can correct that in 2024.