SI article on cards

[DaveW]

ok, I’ll change the subject. I believe that it’s Gal Gadot, not Gail. Unless there’s somebody named Gail who’s also pretty attractive.

[jgannon]

Interesting article, Rich. Thanks for sharing. I'm so out of what is happening in the hobby today. Interesting to see how it is in large part being approached by many.

Btw, I started collecting more or less at the same time you did. It was 1968, in the spring, and it was either just as the 3rd series was ending or the 4th series was beginning. I had just become a baseball fan and a Yankees fan at that. And I remember I was having a hard time getting a Mickey Mantle who was in the 3rd series. It was probably too late to get him at the candy stores. So a friend of mine gave me one at swim team practice. I put the brand new card in with my wet gear and by the time I left the YMCA the card was completely frayed and and dog-eared. Kept it for many years, but unfortunately I made a bad move and gave away most of my collection a while back, not realizing how important my cards would become to me later. I did keep a lot of really great ones though, thankfully. Anyway, I'm collecting again and having a ball.

[rjackson44]

thx rich

[Santo10Fan]

I posted about a break here recently in my BST listing for a Koufax Topps Transcendent auto. That product would not exist imo if breakers had not gained traction in the last decade. $20K on a single box has inherent marketing qualities and makes sense when you can break it down by the number of hits.

Upper Deck's early 2000s Ultimate Collection and the like set the stage for this and within 10 years of those products Youtube was established as a internet juggernaut and was heavily trafficked by children. Breaker videos are below the threshold of any parental filters so any kid could just search for the product they were interested in and watch it get opened. They're only one begging session away from mom and dad putting down a few bucks on a random pack from Layton's or the like; way cheaper than $100 or more that a Gypsy Queen hobby box would cost. There's a whole boatload of people across that spectrum to people like me who would consider $600 (think that's changed in 20!) for one pack of 86 Fleer basketball.

There's going to be a natural progression to vintage cards for newcomers. Anyone and everyone is looking for an escape right now. With top dollar seemingly focused on the Jordan rookie right now-which is directly tied to the Last Dance-vintage across the board should be getting new eyeballs.

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by jgannon

Interesting article, Rich. thanks for sharing. I'm so out of what is happening in the hobby today.

I’m so out of what is happening in modern day pop culture that I had to google Gal Gadot.

[BabyRuth]

I thought I was the only one who didn't know who she was.

[ALR-bishop]

Thanks for posting Rich

[edjs]

Originally Posted by BabyRuth

I thought I was the only one who didn't know who she was.

I’m still confused by “the base don’t ship” and “blockchain” stuff. Let alone who “Gal” is.

[vthobby]

Originally Posted by edjs

I’m still confused by “the base don’t ship” and “blockchain” stuff. Let alone who “Gal” is.

Several of the breakers from that Topps event did not ship out base cards.

They advertised as such and it is quite common for breakers to just ship "the hits" to the customer. Its a much followed practice and always stated up front.

If the customer wanted to pay the extra shipping and a small fee, I'm sure some Breakers will send the base cards.

Somehere in America there are ALOT of base cards piling up!

The Blockchain refers to Panini:

This is from the Panini website: To carry forward the legacy of Panini Collectibles into the digital era, Panini is leveraging the innovative technology of Blockchain & providing users with

- Highest degree of legitimacy for the digital collectible they own and

- Proof of ownership

PT Barnum would be a good reminder here!

Peace, Mike

[obcmac]

Originally Posted by BabyRuth

I thought I was the only one who didn't know who she was.

I knew you guys were old, but I didn't realize you were dead

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by obcmac

I knew you guys were old, but I didn't realize you were dead

I think her sub par acting (the Fast and Furious movies are horrible) keeps her from being especially well known.

[BabyRuth]

I think sub par is being very generous.

[Frank A]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

I think her sub par acting (the Fast and Furious movies are horrible) keeps her from being especially well known.

Who cares? I'm an old guy and she is hot hot hot.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

I’m so out of what is happening in modern day pop culture that I had to google Gal Gadot.

And...who is she? Lol

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by jgannon

And...who is she? Lol

Unattainable.

[swarmee]

Gadot was in a couple of Fast and the Furious movies and then got her big break as Wonder Woman in the DC movies.

As said, the "base doesn't ship" refers to breakers only sending the insert and autographed cards, not the base cards that people used to make complete sets with. Just goes to the whole gambling aspect of case breaking, and I've been active in both vintage and modern breaking by buying spots.

Upper Deck ePack takes that even further letting you open up cases, boxes, or packs of cards online. The majority of the cards you're buying are digital pictures, but you get the inserts and autographed/memorabilia cards if you pay to have them shipped to you. Or you can trade them online or send them to COMC to sell without much of a cost.

The Panini Blockchain thing is even a bridge farther than that, where Panini is selling high end cards directly through their site (without being packed out) and giving the buyer a digital and physical copy of the card. The buyer can then sell the digital copy and keep the real one, or vice versa. The confusing part is that most buyers of the digital card probably think they're getting the real one as well. The site is not very clear that you're only buying pixels, and we all know that many eBay/online purchasers don't read the descriptions of what they're purchasing.

[chalupacollects]

Personally breaking is just another form of gambling and if you don't know the breakers rep you can seriously get screwed. Many stories of breakers swapping out cards - yes live on video no less...non shippers and "lost packages."

On the positive side they bring new eyes to the hobby and keep the manufacturers producing new product..

On the negative side they do end up grabbing allocations away from LCS's and other buyers down the line. Thus making buying newer more desirable products more expensive for everyone...

The real winners are the manufacturers...

And for those who don't know who Gal Gadot is - shame! lol

[drcy]

Originally Posted by DaveW

ok, I’ll change the subject. I believe that it’s Gal Gadot, not Gail. Unless there’s somebody named Gail who’s also pretty attractive.

More negativity