Venting~~~

[mjbowman]

I have 2 one that I got online supposedly signed in person and the other is co signed with Ben Roelisberger (Legends 2004) Link to the Future 19/25

[wayneclabaugh2]

Also these same people you are talking about always want a GU or auto of a big name for a nobody. Don't get me wrong, I like Pujols, Wade, Larry Johnson and try to get there cards, but I always try to get BV even too. I also have some lowenders I collect too and have traded for like Simien and Rush, I love those guy's. You know what really gets me, I see two people on this post agreeing with you and both of them do it. Hell, I had to give them 2 HOFer GU for one numbered non gu Pujols. Yeah, I might be an idiot for giving $40 worht of cards for an $18 card, but I give good offers for who I collect. I would never ask for a Rothliesberger RC GU and try to give up a Northcutt for it. People don't realize what makes the value of a card is what we pay for them on average. Pay more or trade more for cards ou want and there value increases.

[56chev]

I feel the same way...im a diehard Colorado team guy, Broncos being my favorite. Been a fan since I was born in 84...Loved them through the un decent early to mid 90s (before Elway was a "great") Loved them after Elway was gone...

I dont like it that people just randomnly like the new hot players, to me it cheapens profootball as much as it cheapens card collecting.

I used to have this buddy that did that, once the colts started doing hot, he started worshiping Peyton...I was like "why do you love Indy???" Never had a reason, same thing with Texas this year. Everyone around my CO campus is wearing a damn longhorns hat or shirt....get real people...

[andrewcstein]

Good topic here. I was thinking about the same thing recently. I think there is a difference here we might be overlooking.
1. People who get cards as trade bait when they don't see anything else they like - for instance, if I have a random GU someone wants, and I have no use for it, I'll ask for something I can trade, if they don't have what I want.
2. People who are only looking for trade bait. Guys who only want the Pujols or Big Ben or whoever is hot.

It basically seems to boil down to #1 being hard-core collectors and #2 being guys doing this for profit. I collect David Wright because I'm a huge Mets fan, and I've followed him since the minors. I can't find his stuff, though, because half the people on here have want lists of "Verlander, Iguchi, Wright, Rookie Autos, etc". I also collect Vlad Guerrero (who, admittedly has about 100 times as many cards as Wright), and I can get trades for him all the time. (I've given up my fair share of Pujols for him too).

Basically, going back to my list above, I understand #1. If you have something I want and I can't get you back something you want, then fine, take something you can trade for what you want. But #2 sometimes pisses me off.
Also, nice to see some love for Jared Lorenzen. Guy has three of the best nicknames I've heard - The Hefty Lefty, The Pillsbury Throwboy, and J-Load. GOTTA love a guy like that.

-Andrew

[Craigerman]

Andrew...you summed it up ever so much better than I did. Ditto man. #1 is a good situation. Dealing with #2 sucks. I'm sorry, but a Terrence Murphy auto does not equal a Donovan McNabb or Caddy auto under any circumstances, no matter how you spin it.

I may seem like a hypocrite, seeming that I just traded a Favre auto for a Eli Manning auto. There is a method to my madness, however. I intend to use the Manning to get a nicer Favre auto or a Bart Starr. Means to an end, I guess.

56chev...I agree. I get pissed when people say they are looking for Matt Hasselbeck. I've followed that guy ever since he was drafted by the Packers, and have always loved him. Before this season (actually, before the last month), you could pick up his autographs for a song. Now he's hotter than ever, and his autos are selling for over book on E-bay. Damn bandwagon-jumpers! We even saw it here a few months ago when Leftwich got hurt. Suddenly there were a handful of collectors looking for David Garrard. I had one Garrard auto, and ended up trading it off to a kid who loves Garrard, even though I got a better offer from one of the bandwagoners. That made me feel good.

[tutall]

the only good thing about those "collectors" is when something happens to put a new name in the spotlight you can turn your junkpile into fast cash.... i watch the wires all the time and when something happens, a triple-double, hitting for the cycle, etc.. i throw everything i have of them on the bay and usually sell cards that have little or no value for at least book

[Greenbeans]

As someone who has been on both sides of the fence, I understand completely. I used to be one of those need the hot player at this second guys, and in the end, it never got my collection anywhere. A few weeks ago, I decided to change my ideas and beliefs about "collecting" - and now i'm collecting things I want to collect to keep, not just to shove on ebay or some other site to resell. I do the bowman heritage sets, which i have always liked and never collected. I still bust boxes all the time, but I've changed my ideas now. There are quite a few people on here (whom I wont name) , some with very high feedback, and this is all they do. Now, as I see them, I trade with them still. I almost feel bad for them, because, like I used to be, they're missing out on the actual joy of the hobby as I did for so long. It's an addiction to them, to make that buck, and in reality, itrs pretty sad. Don't let it get you down, just keep doing what you're doing to make this an enjoyable experince for you.

[skinsfan0521]

I'd have to completely agree with what andrew said above.... i consider myself to be in the #1 category because (like every other person who's ever traded) if you can't find something that you need from a person, but they have a hot rookie auto or something, then you're obviously going to try and pick that up so you can trade it for something that you really want. the only thing is that sometimes when i'm bored, i search around ebay and pick up some good deals on cards. then, those cards i'm obviously trying to make money on, but that's only so i can buy something nice to add to my PC.

for example, craigerman - the other day when you wanted that auto from me, and you were going to give me $$ + a redskins auto... i couldn't do that, cuz that was one of those few cards that i picked up with the intention of making money. so, now i'm gonna put that card up on ebay and make money so i can pick up a nice stephen davis auto or something. it was a good deal that you were going to give me $$ plus an auto to add to my PC, but i just couldn't lose actual $$.

but, except for those few cards that i can only sell.. i'm always looking for stuff to add to my pc (which is definately not going to make me rich) My main player that i collect is an offensive linemen for the Giants, cuz i played football with him in high school. hahaha then, i collect stephen davis, who is also not a big $$ player by any means. and after that i collect redskins stuff. then, i've been collecting Emmitt Smith stuff since he was a rookie(when i was pretty young). but, now i can't afford to collect anything because it's so expensive(but at least it's for a legitimate reason)

so, this was a really long read, but in the end, i agree that there are a lot of annoying people who don't actually "collect" anybody, they just constantly trade and sell, which is what makes Ben Roethlisberger rookies sell for more than Emmitt Smith autos(AKA the leading rusher of all time). and that also makes it really hard for people to actually "collect" the new up and coming players. like, if i wanted to collect roethlisberger, ther's no way that i could EVER afford to. I'm in college and collecting is a hobby of mine i've had since i was young, and there's no way that i can collect any of the "hot" new players. sorry again for it being such a long read!!

[wayneclabaugh2]

Hey Guys as far as the Hasselback thing goes, I feel you in anotherway. I am a huge Kansas City Chiefs Fan as I grew up about 45 minutes from the stadium. Actually I lived there for 23 0f my 28 years on this earth. I loved Larry Johnson and can show you guys post on this site were I was giving top dollar cards for Larry Johnsons and nobody else was collecting him. Now I see people looking for him all the time.

[TurdFerguson]

If a you want card is a certain price in Beckett & somebody wants a card from you that is the same price then there shouldn't be a problem - same value for same value. If someone wants you to trade a super high end card for a cheaper card you want & then you'd have to just take trade bait in return, then I wouldn't go for that either.