Net54baseball Vintage Group Break: 1954 Topps Set (sold out)

[the 'stache]

Great, so people that expressed definite interest in the first thread are getting shut out of participating.

I must say this was handled rather poorly.

When the person handling the group break (Nick) says something is going to be done, people are taking them at their word (especially since he has supposedly done this sort of thing several times before), and depending on them following through on what they have said they would do. Not everybody can afford to keep the forum up all day.

Originally Posted by autocentral

Just a couple of updates!

-Leon will also be sending an email blast once the official thread is posted

Thanks,
Nick

Once the sign up thread was posted, Nick, it was your responsibility to make sure that the e-mail you told us would go out...goes out. Some of us work overnights and sleep during the day. Some of us have jobs where we cannot keep Net 54 up all day. And yet other people are unable to keep the forum up all day for different reasons. I made a point of clearly stating on the first discussion that I spend much of the day sleeping because of my disability. The prescription drugs I take every day knock me out, but if I knew when to be here, I would not miss the signup. I keep my phone right next to my bed, and whenever I receive a notification from the forum, I have a very loud ring tone that goes off. My phone was setup to receive this email that never came. Imagine my surprise when I came home from a doctor's appointment to see that the thread had not only gone up, but all the slots were filled.

We were also told there would be a thread explaining in detail how this was going to work. In every other group break I have ever participated in, including the few I have run myself, information was provided, including an exact time when the sign up sheet would be posted. People knew well in advance what was expected of them, and when they needed to be on the forum to sign up. It's like fantasy baseball or football. You want to participate? Fine. Here is how many people we need in our league. Here is the date when we must have the league filled. Here is the exact date and time of the draft. Never before have I seen a group break where it was said "well, when it happens depends on something else, in this case, when the set gets in. It might be tomorrow". Those cards weren't perishable items. You knew you'd have them in within the next few days. What should have happened is this. Once the cards were received, a post should have been made stating "the group break signup sheet will be posted at this time on this day". You should have given people a definitive time when the sign up was going to start. Randomly throwing it up at 9:30 in the morning rewarded those who happened to be online at the time, and completely excluded anybody else who wasn't looking for the thread.

Lastly, in a group break where there are only 250 slots to start with, why are you allowing people to sign up for more than one slot to begin with? The first thread about the possibility of a group break being done has 7,000 views. Did you really think you were going to have a hard time selling 250 slots at $13 or $14 each when there were going to be graded Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Al Kaline rookies as part of the draw, not to mention two Ted Williams, and a plethora of other really nice cards? You have people here dropping thousands of dollars on rare 100 year old cards every day. If you didn't fill all 250 slots, then you could have opened it up to people buying more slots on a first come, first serve basis. You see, that's something that should have been included in the thread explaining how everything was going to be handled. But that never happened, either.

If there is a next time, please ...pretty please with sugar on top, don't tell people that something is going to happen if you can't guarantee it will. Don't tell people an email will be going out to tell them "hey, you have to sign up now", because when it doesn't happen, a whole lot of people who were really excited about participating (and who stated as such in the initial discussion) get left out. And make sure that the date and time of when the sign up sheet will be available is posted well in advance. Delaying the break an extra day or two to make sure your bases were covered wouldn't have harmed anything. nobody would have been mad if you'd taken more time. Because what we ended up with is something that feels very thrown together at the last minute, and a lot of people are being very disappointed.

[cubsfan-budman]

I guess I could be proven wrong about some small detail, but in the "other" thread, he said he'd be posting a sign up list on Tuesday. I thought it was handled pretty well.

Can't please everyone.

[Leerob538]

Please put me on a reserve list for two slots jut in case.

Thanks , Lee

[markf31]

I can understand your disappointment Bill, I would be disappointed if I missed out as you did as well don't get me wrong.

But a quick look at your board activity from yesterday shows you actually posted 3 replies on other threads yesterday at 1:55pm, 3:55pm and 10:03pm all before the final spots in the pool were all taken up at 12:31am this morning. Seems at a cursory glance that you were active on the board when slots were still available.

[wolf441]

Thanks Nick and Leon, I think things were run very smoothly!!

[campyfan39]

Thank you so much Nick and Leon.
I hope you will do this again.

[the 'stache]

Nick, I'm sorry for the negativity on my part, and I apologize to my fellow forum members, too. Nick, you took on a heck of a task, and trying to make all these guys happy may not be hard, but when you throw me into the equation, well, I can be like 10 old hens all by myself sometimes. Thank you for doing this. Ultimately, I could have looked on the main forum. I just didn't think I needed to. Oh well. There will be other breaks, and I will make doubly sure not to miss that one.

Good luck to everybody.

[Econteachert205]

Paid for spots via pp goods. Thanks again... Come on teddy ball game

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Nick, I'm sorry for the negativity on my part, and I apologize to my fellow forum members, too. Nick, you took on a heck of a task, and trying to make all these guys happy may not be hard, but when you throw me into the equation, well, I can be like 10 old hens all by myself sometimes. Thank you for doing this. Ultimately, I could have looked on the main forum. I just didn't think I needed to. Oh well. There will be other breaks, and I will make doubly sure not to miss that one.

Good luck to everybody.

Well done wit this post, sir.

I would add that I think your original criticisms were not without merit. I, too, was awaiting the email blast that never came and was surprised to see the break signup was already live.

Oh yeah, slot #76 (Tabe) now paid!

[Paul S]

I'm not even participating since I already own all the key cards, yet I knew what was happening every step of the way (both threads).

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Great, so people that expressed definite interest in the first thread are getting shut out of participating.

I must say this was handled rather poorly.

When the person handling the group break (Nick) says something is going to be done, people are taking them at their word (especially since he has supposedly done this sort of thing several times before), and depending on them following through on what they have said they would do. Not everybody can afford to keep the forum up all day.



Once the sign up thread was posted, Nick, it was your responsibility to make sure that the e-mail you told us would go out...goes out. Some of us work overnights and sleep during the day. Some of us have jobs where we cannot keep Net 54 up all day. And yet other people are unable to keep the forum up all day for different reasons. I made a point of clearly stating on the first discussion that I spend much of the day sleeping because of my disability. The prescription drugs I take every day knock me out, but if I knew when to be here, I would not miss the signup. I keep my phone right next to my bed, and whenever I receive a notification from the forum, I have a very loud ring tone that goes off. My phone was setup to receive this email that never came. Imagine my surprise when I came home from a doctor's appointment to see that the thread had not only gone up, but all the slots were filled.

We were also told there would be a thread explaining in detail how this was going to work. In every other group break I have ever participated in, including the few I have run myself, information was provided, including an exact time when the sign up sheet would be posted. People knew well in advance what was expected of them, and when they needed to be on the forum to sign up. It's like fantasy baseball or football. You want to participate? Fine. Here is how many people we need in our league. Here is the date when we must have the league filled. Here is the exact date and time of the draft. Never before have I seen a group break where it was said "well, when it happens depends on something else, in this case, when the set gets in. It might be tomorrow". Those cards weren't perishable items. You knew you'd have them in within the next few days. What should have happened is this. Once the cards were received, a post should have been made stating "the group break signup sheet will be posted at this time on this day". You should have given people a definitive time when the sign up was going to start. Randomly throwing it up at 9:30 in the morning rewarded those who happened to be online at the time, and completely excluded anybody else who wasn't looking for the thread.

Lastly, in a group break where there are only 250 slots to start with, why are you allowing people to sign up for more than one slot to begin with? The first thread about the possibility of a group break being done has 7,000 views. Did you really think you were going to have a hard time selling 250 slots at $13 or $14 each when there were going to be graded Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Al Kaline rookies as part of the draw, not to mention two Ted Williams, and a plethora of other really nice cards? You have people here dropping thousands of dollars on rare 100 year old cards every day. If you didn't fill all 250 slots, then you could have opened it up to people buying more slots on a first come, first serve basis. You see, that's something that should have been included in the thread explaining how everything was going to be handled. But that never happened, either.

If there is a next time, please ...pretty please with sugar on top, don't tell people that something is going to happen if you can't guarantee it will. Don't tell people an email will be going out to tell them "hey, you have to sign up now", because when it doesn't happen, a whole lot of people who were really excited about participating (and who stated as such in the initial discussion) get left out. And make sure that the date and time of when the sign up sheet will be available is posted well in advance. Delaying the break an extra day or two to make sure your bases were covered wouldn't have harmed anything. nobody would have been mad if you'd taken more time. Because what we ended up with is something that feels very thrown together at the last minute, and a lot of people are being very disappointed.

Good Lord, Bill

You just saved $25. Congrats.

[Leon]

From my perspective this whole thread and Group Break was handled 100% perfectly by Nick. Not 99% but 100%. I can't imagine it being done any better. For the few folks that didn't get in, my sincere apologies and if you so desire, there will be another group break in the not distant future you will be invited to. I would suggest that whomever wants in be on the board when Nick said he will post the thread. Great job Nick!!

[blackandgold]

Originally Posted by Leon

From my perspective this whole thread and Group Break was handled 100% perfectly by Nick. Not 99% but 100%. I can't imagine it being done any better. For the few folks that didn't get in, my sincere apologies and if you so desire, there will be another group break in the not distant future you will be invited to. I would suggest that whomever wants in be on the board when Nick said he will post the thread. Great job Nick!!

+1

[Leon]

I want to add a bit more response for Bill (hi Bill). At the start we were going to allow 3 slots each, on first acquisition. Then the idea for 2 was mentioned and we went that route. I was the one that made that decision, with Nick too, but it was my ultimate decision so it is my bad. I had my doubts about even selling all of the slots, period, let alone how fast we did it. This was a learning experience and still is an ongoing one. We will fine tune as we go and my guess is the next Vintage Group Break will be even better. But I think Nick really put in some good effort and covered as many bases (pun intended) as possible, but maybe not . I will take the hit on those issues, please don't blame Nick. I do see your points though, and as a small token of my appreciation for your participation on the board, want to offer you one of the new T shirts for free. I will post a thread later today, probably soon, about those and then you can PM me your color and size preference and address and I will get one right out for you. Once again, my apologies....I am blown away how fast we sold out. As I said at the start, these kind of things really don't do it for me....again, I am odd man out.

[cubsfan-budman]

There are cheaper ways to procure 2 1954 topps commons

[mattsey9]

Originally Posted by Leon

From my perspective this whole thread and Group Break was handled 100% perfectly by Nick. Not 99% but 100%. I can't imagine it being done any better. For the few folks that didn't get in, my sincere apologies and if you so desire, there will be another group break in the not distant future you will be invited to. I would suggest that whomever wants in be on the board when Nick said he will post the thread. Great job Nick!!

Agreed wholeheartedly. Thanks to Nick & Leon for putting this together. Can't wait to watch the break, and the future breaks to come.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

I got the same error message on paypal.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Leon

For the few folks that didn't get in, my sincere apologies and if you so desire, there will be another group break in the not distant future you will be invited to. I would suggest that whomever wants in be on the board when Nick said he will post the thread. Great job Nick!!

Or, maybe he could just simplify the whole process by giving us a time when we should be here to sign up?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Or, maybe he could just simplify the whole process by giving us a time when we should be here to sign up?

So does that mean you do or don't want a T shirt?

and furthermore on one other issue; we were going to send an email out to generate interest. Again, this was a miscalculation on my part (and Nick didn't think it would sell out this fast either)..... We thought there would be a second round and then some. So when they sold like hot cakes in the south, we didn't need to send an email. I was figuring in 2-3 days we would send the email and go from there....

[Shoebox]

Payment sent.

[johnmh71]

Payment sent for my two slots.

[sam majors]

Hell, it looks to me like people are paying for their spots faster than they did at signing up for them! That's always a good thing! Sam Majors

[autocentral]

Just to clear the air on exactly when payments are due.

It will be at 2:00PM EST Tomorrow.

There are only 12 members who have not paid. I will be sending them a private message just in case they haven't checked the forum lately.

I will decide on a break time once all the payments are sorted away.

-Nick

[nhsportsguy]

Originally Posted by autocentral

Just to clear the air on exactly when payments are due.

It will be at 2:00PM EST Tomorrow.

There are only 12 members who have not paid. I will be sending them a private message just in case they haven't checked the forum lately.

I will decide on a break time once all the payments are sorted away.

-Nick

I'm bummed I missed out on this. If any backup spots are available, please put me in for 2.

Thanks!

Ryan

[jimivintage]

Originally Posted by autocentral

Just to clear the air on exactly when payments are due.

It will be at 2:00PM EST Tomorrow.

There are only 12 members who have not paid. I will be sending them a private message just in case they haven't checked the forum lately.

I will decide on a break time once all the payments are sorted away.

-Nick

Sent mine a few minutes ago for #8 and #23. Thanks again!
Jimi

[ibuysportsephemera]

Originally Posted by autocentral

Just to clear the air on exactly when payments are due.

It will be at 2:00PM EST Tomorrow.

There are only 12 members who have not paid. I will be sending them a private message just in case they haven't checked the forum lately.

I will decide on a break time once all the payments are sorted away.

-Nick

Nick,

Payment sent.

Thanks,

Jeff

[RobertGT]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Great, so people that expressed definite interest in the first thread are getting shut out of participating.

I must say this was handled rather poorly.

When the person handling the group break (Nick) says something is going to be done, people are taking them at their word (especially since he has supposedly done this sort of thing several times before), and depending on them following through on what they have said they would do. Not everybody can afford to keep the forum up all day.



Once the sign up thread was posted, Nick, it was your responsibility to make sure that the e-mail you told us would go out...goes out. Some of us work overnights and sleep during the day. Some of us have jobs where we cannot keep Net 54 up all day. And yet other people are unable to keep the forum up all day for different reasons. I made a point of clearly stating on the first discussion that I spend much of the day sleeping because of my disability. The prescription drugs I take every day knock me out, but if I knew when to be here, I would not miss the signup. I keep my phone right next to my bed, and whenever I receive a notification from the forum, I have a very loud ring tone that goes off. My phone was setup to receive this email that never came. Imagine my surprise when I came home from a doctor's appointment to see that the thread had not only gone up, but all the slots were filled.

We were also told there would be a thread explaining in detail how this was going to work. In every other group break I have ever participated in, including the few I have run myself, information was provided, including an exact time when the sign up sheet would be posted. People knew well in advance what was expected of them, and when they needed to be on the forum to sign up. It's like fantasy baseball or football. You want to participate? Fine. Here is how many people we need in our league. Here is the date when we must have the league filled. Here is the exact date and time of the draft. Never before have I seen a group break where it was said "well, when it happens depends on something else, in this case, when the set gets in. It might be tomorrow". Those cards weren't perishable items. You knew you'd have them in within the next few days. What should have happened is this. Once the cards were received, a post should have been made stating "the group break signup sheet will be posted at this time on this day". You should have given people a definitive time when the sign up was going to start. Randomly throwing it up at 9:30 in the morning rewarded those who happened to be online at the time, and completely excluded anybody else who wasn't looking for the thread.

Lastly, in a group break where there are only 250 slots to start with, why are you allowing people to sign up for more than one slot to begin with? The first thread about the possibility of a group break being done has 7,000 views. Did you really think you were going to have a hard time selling 250 slots at $13 or $14 each when there were going to be graded Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Al Kaline rookies as part of the draw, not to mention two Ted Williams, and a plethora of other really nice cards? You have people here dropping thousands of dollars on rare 100 year old cards every day. If you didn't fill all 250 slots, then you could have opened it up to people buying more slots on a first come, first serve basis. You see, that's something that should have been included in the thread explaining how everything was going to be handled. But that never happened, either.

If there is a next time, please ...pretty please with sugar on top, don't tell people that something is going to happen if you can't guarantee it will. Don't tell people an email will be going out to tell them "hey, you have to sign up now", because when it doesn't happen, a whole lot of people who were really excited about participating (and who stated as such in the initial discussion) get left out. And make sure that the date and time of when the sign up sheet will be available is posted well in advance. Delaying the break an extra day or two to make sure your bases were covered wouldn't have harmed anything. nobody would have been mad if you'd taken more time. Because what we ended up with is something that feels very thrown together at the last minute, and a lot of people are being very disappointed.

I'm just amazed that someone would set up a ringtone next to his bed for a Net54 54 Topps set break. There is a whole beautiful world out there - you might want to explore it a little more.

I like 54 Topps too, but you have about 1 million to choose from at any given moment, and for a lot less than $13 for (likely) a VG common.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by RobertGT

I'm just amazed that someone would set up a ringtone next to his bed for a Net54 54 Topps set break. There is a whole beautiful world out there - you might want to explore it a little more.

I like 54 Topps too, but you have about 1 million to choose from at any given moment, and for a lot less than $13 for (likely) a VG common.

I would love nothing more than to be able to go out and see the beautiful world out there. Believe you me.

Yes, my phone is setup to provide a tone when I receive an email. I made one for the forum. I didn't want to miss the break. It offered me a rare chance to actually do something fun with the other members of the forum, since I can't go to the National, or local shows when they're done.