Mainstream vs Oddball

[sedinfan]

I'm curious, especially for the player collectors out there who keep stats on their completion percentages, do you differentiate between "mainstream" and "oddball" cards? And if so, is there any universally accepted definition of what falls into which categories?

Over the years I've picked up a wide range of Sedin stuff, and I suppose I'm a tad obsessive-compulsive, I'd like to sort my stuff once and for all into a few nice spreadsheets... wondering where the wise folks in the SCF community would put each of the following - mainstream or oddball?

Buyback Autographed cards - e.g. 2000-01 Upper Deck Reserve Buybacks, cards that were not originally autographed, but UD (claims to have) repurchased them on the secondary market, got them signed, and added a certificate of authenticity... I suspect I might be in the minority on these, but I see little difference between these and any third party selling autographed cards with their own COA, so I personally see them as not being truly legit cards for a mainstream collection. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if manufacturers simply re-use some excess inventory that never made it into packs, who knows if their "buyback" claims are even true.

Buyback cards - e.g. 2004-05 SPA Rookie card buybacks. These cards have no sticker, autograph, or anything different about them, other than they are accompanied by a COA. Basically they are indistiguishable from the original RC. They add nothing to a PC as the actual card is identical to a RC one would already have, and there is just the nuissance of an extra certificate to also store. I wouldn't consider these to be mainstream.

Swedish cards from major manufactures - e.g. 1997-98 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Swedish

European "clone" sets - e.g. 2009-10 Victory Finnish and Swedish editions which I believe had identical base card sets to the North American version

Exchange winners - e.g. You Crash The Game cards where you could exchange for a gold version of a card (or set of cards) if the player pictured scored during a certain game

Points-based winners - e.g. He Shoots He Scores cards from ITG in exchange for X amount of points

Oversized cards in packs - e.g. Zenith Dare to Tear

Box top/bottom oversized cards - e.g. I think OPC Premier printed oversized versions of some cards on box bottoms years ago

McDonalds cards by major manufactures - e.g. UD / Pacific

Card Games - e.g. Topps Puck Attax and Panini Adrenalyn

Promo Cards - e.g. Fall Expo giveaways for busting packs at manfacturers' booths

Minor Sets - e.g. Five card Stanley Cup Finals set of Canucks stars given to fans at one of the finals games

Custom Cards - e.g. ITG's Made To Order

Cards with Toys - e.g. Die-cast miniature zamboni toys that come with a special Upper Deck card

Team issued - e.g. Postcards / Schedules from your local team with a player pictured on the front

[centrehice]

McDonald's cards are not considered oddball, they are legitimate licensed cards that are more collectible than many card companies own sets for the same years. Nor are Buybacks.

Oddballs are things like Pogs, locally minted coins, things like Little Caesar's Bobble-Heads, etc, or Hallmark Decorations.

Anything affiliated or produced by a card company that is in standard card form is not oddball.

[30ranfordfan]

For myself, I consider almost everything you listed as 'mainstream' and not 'oddball'. I hate to give too much credit to Beckett..... but IMO if you type the player's name into Beckett, and the item is listed..... it's not an oddball item.

The exception to that would be MTOs. No beckett entry, but I wouldn't consider them 'oddball' either.

[iidaemmi]

For myself, I consider almost everything you listed as 'mainstream' and not 'oddball'.

+1.

Harri