Hey collectors, can we stop glorifying garbage human beings? I am writing this at a time when America feels divided. I am sick of seeing people cater to a racist whose influence has killed people because they don’t take Covid seriously. I am bewildered that partisan politics has drawn a line when it comes to human decency. I am a registered republican and I don’t stand or condone anything Donald Trump does, has done, and will do.

It shouldn’t surprise me that there is a huge market that celebrates these garbage human beings. Collectors are a diverse crowd. You have COVID deniers, racist sympathizers; but you also have collectors from numerous races, especially now with this new basketball wave. If anyone has any demographics on collecting, I would love to see it but I can promise you that more minority collectors have entered the game this year.

I am sick of seeing garbage human beings glorified. I know that I will get tons of flack for this and even more excuses for why people collect these cards that should be nothing more than recycled paper. But at the very least, can we be a model for the new collectors? Numerous collectors have a place for murders (Aaron Hernandez), drug users (every baseball player from 90s), racists (Ty Cobb), Sandy Hook deniers (Chipper Jones), people who appeared in a gay conversion video (Drew Brees), and whatever the heck Curt Schilling is. I have to ask, why?
Why have we dismissed people like Drew Brees and Chipper Jones. Most people don’t even realize that they are garbage human beings. Those that do, have this crazy attachment and have dismissed their actions. Newsflash, by dismissing, you are enabling. I have had enough. Let’s filter out these garbage human beings out of the hobby. Lets keep these people full of hate off of shelves. I would be embarrassed if I owned a shop and someone from the LGBT community saw that Drew Brees was on the shelf. I would be embarrassed if Curt Schilling was on the shelf. I don’t know the results of the election but if I learned anything from Trump, it is that I want more accountability for role models. These pathetic losers on these cards are not role models. People that own these cards are in essence celebrating the behavior.

To show you how pathetic this is, look at the junk wax Marc Jackson Menendez brothers card. It is a junk wax card, that is not a rookie but because people that glorify the Menendez brothers have labeled it their rookie card, everyone wants it. Cards like that, should be lucky to be dime cards.

Look, I get it, you have an attachment to these athletes. I am not saying this lightly. I am a diehard Carolina Panthers fan and owned a Rae Carruth autograph. I am not proud. Carruth never appears in products now and for good reason. People like Chipper Jones does. In fact, his junk wax is probably going up in price because him being a garbage human being has been buried. Ask yourself, if losers like Chipper and Schilling came of age now, would they even have careers? Absolutely not and that is for a reason.

If this frustrates you, good. That means that I am talking about something meaningful. I hope this gets a reaction from you, and not apathy. The rise of Covid and American turmoil has to do with too much apathy, dismissal of negativity, and celebrating those who treat others like garbage. I want a better world. I hope that you do too.

Don’t believe me on your heroes, check out these links: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/chipper-jones-apologizes-for-tweet-calling-sandy-hook-shooting-a-hoax/62ceqts88gry13z472rq8p9g8
https://deadspin.com/drew-brees-appears-in-video-for-gay-conversion-therapy-1837913013

Does the threat of basketball being cancelled make you uncomfortable? Good, that is the point. Our discomfort is only an ounce of what our African-American brethren feel.

Now moving on to cards. I like Chronicles for the fun grade. Unfortunately, it does not hold value. People need to understand that if a player is on the checklist 20 times then the cards will naturally not hold value.

I opened a few of these and did not get a Zion or Ja. Considering that every pack I opened had at least 2 of the same player, I am very disappointed in the collation effort here. It’s a gigantic checklist, come on Panini.

This is my least favorite post on the site. I do not recommend starting your collection based off going to Target in today’s market. I did not know what the card market would become when I posted this. The people who go their and wait in line, in 2021, are pieces of work. I have heard stories of fights. I have heard and verified stories of some of the same people who are in this story, actually are people who have stalked the Target stockers. If you do anything support your local mom and pop card shop. (4/19/2021)

The other day, I was at Target while the card aisle was being restocked. I am not one to jump in on this new fad of raiding Target’s for blaster boxes. With having asthma, and being on 3 inhalers of it, I am not taking Covid lightly. I might prioritize shopping at Target instead of a grocery store for groceries because they have cards but that is.
So I was at the tail end of one of the trips with my girlfriend. I had ice cream in the cart. It took the guy restocking an hour. My girlfriend is amazing and found stuff to do because she knew how much it meant to me. First thing that he puts out is rack boxes of Topps Chrome. Not knowing what will be put out next or the price, I grab all I can. The other guy takes 2. My intention was to trade if more people came as this looked like it would take a while.
Optic Baseball blasters and Prestige football mega boxes were next. The other guy didn’t like either. I take the Prestige boxes leaving Optic baseball there. Chrome cello packs were next. I initially pass thinking that they were $15. By this time another guy arrives. He lets me take what I want. By this point, my girlfriend checks in on me. I use her to scan the prices. Rack boxes of Chrome were $15, and the packs were $10 she says. I thought that they were reversed in price with packs being $15. I switch my strategy and grab half of the packs. I figure that exclusive parallel cards would hold more value than the rack boxes that gave you a pack of Topps Fire. I left a ton up for anyone else because I have an embarrassment of riches at this point.
I make conversation with the guy restocking and he seems to like us. We treat the people around fairly, offer to help him at times, and overall treat him with respect. He tells us that he has seen some stuff and yesterday he felt like he got molested a little. This is not this crew. We chat about how we enjoy the hobby, and make sure that we all get a piece.
The first guy checks out and leaves just in time to get 1 of the 4 Chronicles basketball boxes. We don’t know that there are 4 as the person stocking only takes out 3.
By this point, we were able to see that what was left. I grab Topps Series 2 fat packs and check out. I told him that he could have the Chronicles box we saw by peeking, if he didn’t sell it to my hobby shop.

I was surprised at how the other collectors didn’t understand the value of cards. I am of the thought that I want to sell high. He was going to sit on stuff for years or open Chronicles. He was bragging about how he got a couple of Zion’s in one rack pack. I was explaining to him that Chronicles does not hold individual value the way that others do. If Zion is on the checklist 10 times on a 400 card checklist, they won’t hold as high value individually. I pointed out how Luka Doncic’s cheapest rookies are from Chronicles. I worry that I broke his heart. I also reminded him that this is a hobby first. If people are lucky, they can make money but that boxes fluctuate on whims of what is hot. How value always peaks when the product is new. I told him that it was important to me to leave stuff for other collectors by not taking absolutely everything.
It was kind of draining explaining this when I just wanted to get out of the store in the Covid environment. I had to explain things like basic scarcity and eBay sold listings to these guys.
I felt obligated to stay because chances like this never happen to me.

Overall, I spent $400. I am probably only going to open a couple of the Series 2 packs. I am debating opening my Chronicles mega as I am just happy to have the choice at opening something basketball at a reasonable price. I love the Memphis/Vancouver Grizzlies and was expecting to get a player like Ja Morant’s autographs under $50 like I would before the card boom took place because the Grizzlies historically don’t sell well. My ice cream did melt and by the time that I left my girlfriend’s house 6 hours later, it was not done freezing.
As draining as it was, being able to share this experience with my girlfriend made it special. She sees that I am taking a risk on our future. If I break even on this, I can at least help my credit score.

I’ve been very busy and will try to post when I can. Life is crazy in 2020 and it feels that mine is no exception. I am still here and will post when I can. My goal has chabged to 3 Friday posts a month on this page. Some less, some more. In the meantime, keep an eye out on my Twitter for some contests.

I found this for a buck and grabbed a few. They all offered the same. I don’t know much about the details of these.

I chose the one with Ty Cobb in it because I think its time to remove him from sets.