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Blog Comments

  1. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Thanks for all of the comments. It is interesting to read what other collectors think. The sad fact is the card companies and the distributors created this mess by selling their product to everyone and anyone who wanted to pay for it. The card store owner has virtually zero protection from every hack who wants to sell the product, do box breaks and so on. As long as the card companies and the distributors are driven by the almighty buck and not by the hobby itself the lonely card store owner is doomed.
  2. frozenheroes's Avatar
    There is certainly enough blame to go around and I certainly wouldn't be defending the card companies. They have done virtually nothing to help the card store survive except drive prices up with their products and let anyone who wants to sell them have them. There is only one entity making money and that is the card companies.

    Quote Originally Posted by yazfan71
    First of all, I am sorry that you are having to close your store after 23 years. But you should take some pride in the length of the run that it had.

    I've seen several card shops close over the years for many different reasons, but I don't remember any of them being because of the buyers. The last one in fact blamed it on the card companies themselves for overproducing cards, making them in his words, "worthless". The guy still owns a card shop, but he hasn't carried any sports cards in almost 20 years now & is strictly gaming cards. I still go in there from time to time for storage boxes & such. He always asks me if I'm still wasting my money on ball cards, to which he already knows the answer as I wouldn't need the supplies if I wasn't still collecting.

    If you ask set builders today about the first strike that you mention I would bet that many would say that the local shops pushed them to the wayside. As many shop owners quit carrying their massive inventories of bulk base cards when they found out they could make the same amount of money selling one game used or autograph card compared to the hundreds of base. I'm not saying it doesn't make sense to carry less overhead if you can make the same money or more without it, but it all depends on your point of view as to the reasoning.

    One answer to your question on why someone would look elsewhere to buy would be the simple fact that no one store has everything. Of the 5 purchases that I've made so far this month, three were local releases with one item from Massachusetts in the late 60's, one in North Carolina in the mid 80's & one from Texas last year. Somehow I doubt if any LCS were open in the small NE Indiana town where I live would have any of those. I may have found one of the other two items, maybe, but that one I picked up for $.21 delivered. I don't expect any one store to have everything I am looking for anymore than they should expect me to limit where I shop.

  3. 87sluggo's Avatar
    If that's indeed the case, you win this round sir. Last year's Score was barely worth the buck & change..........
  4. frozenheroes's Avatar
    The $60 is the price for the same hobby box with 36 packs of cards. There is also the new Jumbo version plus the same versions as last year blaster, gravity feed and rak pak. Only the Jumbo version is new for this year from last. And yes while the sky won't come crashing down our SCORE customers have ALL cancelled for this year. Not a single Score collector from last year wants to pay $60 for a box.

    Quote Originally Posted by 87sluggo
    There's 2 versions of Score being released as far as I know, the regular retail version and the better-with-more-stuff-in-it version, I'm pretty sure the $60 is for the second one, no?

    AND in 1989 a box of OPC went for $12.60 at the drug store. In 1990 a box of Upper Deck was something like $60+.........the sky didn't come crashing down then and it won't now ...............

  5. 87sluggo's Avatar
    There's 2 versions of Score being released as far as I know, the regular retail version and the better-with-more-stuff-in-it version, I'm pretty sure the $60 is for the second one, no?

    AND in 1989 a box of OPC went for $12.60 at the drug store. In 1990 a box of Upper Deck was something like $60+.........the sky didn't come crashing down then and it won't now ...............
  6. frozenheroes's Avatar
    I guess we will agree to disagree. When the inmates start determining the rules of the asylum then it will be a free for all to make each and everyone determine their own card criteria. The rules for a ROOKIE CARD haven't changed over the years and for that reason they still apply and Beckett is STILL the authority, not individual sellers, web crawlers or card geeks who choose to serve themselves. The only people arguing the 'rookie' rules are usually the ones selling the cards in question and are not based in fact but greed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tanguayfan
    Sorry, but if that is your only criteria for not listing it as a rookie card, then many would consider you wrong. History has shown that if there is enough evidence to the contrary, the collecting public determines what is a rookie card, and what isn't. Case in point, the McDonalds Crosby RC. That being said, Beckett is no longer the authority on the trading card market, and hasn't been in quite some time. If their prices for the most part are no longer relevant, then how can anything else in the magazine be considered relevant? It is simply their opinion, and nothing more.

  7. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Yes it is dacardworld.com and we don't hold them responsible. They took good care of us and refunded our money. Unfortunately they take back retail store returns which in this case didn't get checked and therefore didn't notice the different plastic wrap. For this reason you should always make sure that the product you are buying doesn't look tampered with. Not all of these cheats doing this are smart enough to rewrap with the original wrapping.
  8. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by maddmaxx714
    I used to have a shop a while back and I understand where you are coming from and I now just do shows to sell the cards I can't trade or sell online. But I know that shops often have their boxes and single cards way over priced. My LCS was selling topps platinum football for 140 a box and bought them for 90 and getting a 50 profit on it is what's going to put him out of business, but I found them online for almost 60 less, who do you think I bought mine from. I understand a business needs to make money to stay open, but if they are so over priced on their items nobodys gonna buy it. Lower the prices and sell more product a lot quicker. Anyway most shops pay 1/4 of the going rate if even that for the cards that are brought into the shop and bought. Then turn around and sell them at full book or just a lil off full book. Example- My LCS bought a p manning auto from a customer for 35 and then turned around and put a 150 price tag on it. needless to say he still has that card. buy it for 35, sell it for 90-100 nice lil profit and it would have sold at that price, but it won't sell for 150, not even on feebay. I have and always will spend my money on the best deal, if it's a flea mkt, card show or LCS. Cater to your customers, not your wallet.

    You certainly hit the nail on the head. Some store owners are their own worst enemy. Our rule is sell at 50% of book and live with it. If you get a decent deal on a card you bought pass that deal along to a regular customer and they'll remember you.
  9. frozenheroes's Avatar
    I agree totally. There is a reasonable amount of profit on a box which I can understand. No different then GM making money on a car. Most car buyers shop around to get the best deal but you wouldn't buy a new car at a flea market because you want or expect service down the road. I cherish every customer who comes into my store and try to give them a reason to come back every time. I also have limits as to who I want in my store and 'greed' and 'atitude' are the factors there. I have no time or patience for these types of so-called collectors and even the flea market guys who want to buy from me.
  10. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by gary991979
    Come on you know why Grosnor lost out. If Dave stopped holding on to product and waiting for the prices to go up then selling it there would be no issue. People are just sick of the FAKE allocated product.

    And buying from the 'Clouts N Chara warehouse' getting their returns is good why ? Universal quotes 'allocated' products as well as witnessed by Prime and The Cup that we couldn't get. Then when CnC cracked their Cup cases and returned what they didn't want all of a sudden Universal wanted me to buy it. I would be hard pressed to find a legitimate reason to can Grosnor when I find more faults with Universal based on my experiences with both places.
  11. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Could be. There are several Upper Deck Diamond Dealers in Canada. When a store buys Upper Deck product they need to buy it from one of the two authorized distributors as I mentioned above. This is supposed to be why Upper Deck came out with Diamond Dealers although since it started it hasn't really done a lot to help the smaller stores against flea markets and other sellers who aren't supposed to have it. I guess right now the big thing is the OPC wrapper redemption that you can only get from a Diamond Dealer and that in itself is pretty said for what we have to do to be Diamond Dealers.
  12. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Thanks for your comments. I guess my point is as a card store owner I am held to a higher standard to represent the hobby with honesty and integrity. If a card is recognized by the powers that be as one thing I cannot designate them as something different nor put myself above the rest of the hobby. I have 8 Steven Stamkos 2008-09 cards in my showcase but only 1 of those is a rookie card and the other 7 are rookie year cards and are advertised as such. If someone asks if I have a Stamkos rookie my answer is yes I have one. If Beckett doesn't recognize it as a rokkie with an RC beside the description it isn't. As for your comment about the patches and such we aggressively go after these as well but they are a lot harder to fight online without actually having them in your hand. Unfortunately there are several things in the hobby that aren't quite right and need addressing.
  13. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Well thanks all for the comments on my blog post.

    Just to follow up this message was just received from the seller. The same seller who said not to contact him anumore and then continued to email me.
    "Get over yourself. We aren't liars and it was jealousy on your part, not an honest intrest in us, that made you post us. Your comment that "people like us" are part of the problem on Ebay was out of line and since Ebay never coontacted us about your snivvling whining accusatory nonsense, we remain assured that your rant was not from the heart at all. Ebay has told few have a record like ours but since there are stalking ™™™™™™™s like you out there, we closed our store. There's other ways to get rid of these things. It isn't worth it anymore. Since your prices are so out of whack we know you dont want to sell anything. Save your anal BS for someone else...got it hoser?"

    My reply to this comment is simple. I am not jealous as my thirty-five years in this hobby proves that I have nothing to be jealous about. I have never been accused of cheating, ripping off, artificially increasing prices or giving advice for personal gain. If my prices are so out of whack I seem to get a lot of collectors who appreciate that I don't charge above Beckett for my 'guide listed' items and in fact sell at 50% off the guide in my store everyday, even for hot rookies such as Nugent-Hopkins. Yes there are exceptions such as non-guide listed scarce items or consignment items but our basic practice for our stuff is 50% off guide. The bottom line is there is a Beckett guide which clearly states what is or isn't a rookie card and in this case it isn't. Why should someone deem that while it isn't booked as a rookie I'm going to sell it as one and then when the purchaser brings it to someone who knows what is what and tells them that it isn't a rookie they get the big disappointment ? As for the closing of your store I thank you on behalf of all jonest collectors. The only reason eBay didn't say anything is because I couldn't be bothered to go any further with the issue and get them involved. I was so pissed off and wanted to leave the hobby myself because I've had enough of con artists and crooks ripping collectors off. When people come into my store and say that people selling cards are like car salesmen or life insurance salesmen it hurts even though the comment wasn't directed at me directly. It starts to beat you down and you question why you even bother trying to make the hobby better. Then you get a comment from a collector (this is exactly as we got it unedited or changed) like the following and you feel a lot better.
    You wonder if there are still people around who remember why people collect.....then this is the place. I met Doug a couple of years ago....back at the old location (would you like a tatoo with your rookie card ;) ), I met Doug and Angie, and I found someone who has a heart. That is really rare in this field, as many, many people care about the almighty $. Now don't get me wrong, I know this is necessary to survive, but the two of them are not in it to get rich. They do it for the love of collecting, and are honest with people. These two have given the shirt off their backs for people, because it is the right thing to do. I have always said that karma exists, and for these two they deserve all the positive karma that is out there. People need to visit this store for not only the product, not only the cards, but for the people. With Mike involved (Mr. Cup ;) ), I think Durham Region will now get what it has been missing for years, a true blue (and that is hard to say being a Philly fan), genuine card/memorabilia store. Come see what will be an amazing place.
  14. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Thanks for your comment. The facts used are based on 'retailer' info and not the average collector. As I said it isn't a passion if you are pulling everything from cases and NOT letting the average collector have a chance. As for the odds, well if you take every card store in Canada the odds of pulling the shield were about 1 in 400 or so. Pretty long odds but these guys seem to beat them on a weekly basis which is rather curious to say the least. In our store for every 1 case hit we manage to pull our customers pull 7 which from what I'm told is pretty damn good. We also allow a customer to open our cases and our customers get their boxes FIRST before we open anything. That is as it should be. Transparent, above board and beyond reproach. The paying collectors should be getting the 'hits' and not the stores.

    Quote Originally Posted by bobbywiseman
    I don't think it's fair to come on a public forum and throw around accusations and bash people like this. I know the guys who pulled the shield and know they are some of the best guys around to deal with in all aspects of the hobby. You accuse them of being "brown nosers" but I think you have this confused with friendliness. They have such a passion for the hobby that they take every opportunity they try to be everywhere they can to represent us collectors. And for you to assume they get better cards because of this is non-sense. Obviously the ones selling the most cases is going to have a great chance of getting the hits. Its all in the odds. I have never dealt with anyone more devoted to the hobby and I don't think this should be used against them.

  15. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Here here ! Couldn't have said it any better ! Thanks for the comment.
  16. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Just to follow up....we gave our Flyers fan his Laughton signed puck, we gave our Preds fan the Austin Watson puck and we gave an oversized Alexander Ovechkin Upper Deck Rookie blow up card to a client whose son is a big OVIE fan. All were thrilled and thankful for their goodies. At this point the Yakupov signed puck is going to be put in a frame with the 8x10 photo for display at the store and a memory of this great day. We are going to give away the Morgan Rielly (Leafs #1 pick) signed puck and the P.K. Subban Young Guns Rookie blow up card to a couple of lucky store customers.
  17. frozenheroes's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by mooneyes
    sounds like a blast! was Malcom Subban there?

    No he wasn't. A little disappointed about that.
  18. frozenheroes's Avatar
    We will be officially OPEN in our new location on Wednesday July 4th.

    We will be in the new shop starting on Sunday July 1st as we get everything set up. The actual store hours are still being worked out but we will be open 7 days a week.
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