Tuesday, December 25, 2012

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The empty gravity boxes were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that packs of baseball cards soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of superfractors danced in their heads
Strasburg in its magnetic holder, a screw down held Shaq
Both had been pulled from a few newly busted packs

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I ran downstairs and saw it was the batter
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

the moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should i see such a leader
But a couple of cleats, and in them, derek Jeter!

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be Swisher ... you know ... Nick!
More plentiful than wrappers their coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, ALLEN! now, GINTER! now, FINEST and BOWMAN!
On, TRIPLE THREADS! on PANINI! on, GOUDEY and FIVE STAR!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now bust away! bust away! bust away all!"

As wrappers that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the card shop the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of hobby cases, and Bryce Harper, Too!

And then, in a twinkling, I took a seat
The prancing and pawing of each little cleat.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the pipe Justin Verlander's heater came barrelling down

He was dressed in a mullet, and large mustache
Hoping he'd pass as Randy Johnson and walking real fast
Just then, Kate Upton flung him around
JUSTIN VERLANDER! She exclaimed, and then knocked him right down

She let him bye anyway, much to my relief
He gave to me a hobby box of 2012 Leaf
It was not sealed, so it gave me concern
That Verlander was a pack searcher, and took out all the autographed gold

It was ok, because continuing the trend
he gave me a gift certificate to target
HURRAY!!! Retails and blasters as far as they eye can see!
There was simply no end

Just then, someone else laid another box on me to shout
The giver was none other than the AL ROY - Mike Trout!
He autographed a ball, by Albert Pujols and He
And their newest teammate, Josh Hamilton...e

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their job.
And filled all the stockings; with cards of Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and even Ty Cobb!
PSA Authentenication, everything under the tree
Except Pete Rose, because everything is signed that is touched by he

They sprang to the sleigh, and flew away real quick
leaving more 80's wax than you would know what to do with
But I heard them exclaim, while ere he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!"  

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Can Yu Spot the SP?

So, I did an "I Break, You Buy" for a feller named Ryan tonight on Blog TV.  A fun time was had by all.  While me, and the small crowd of people were waiting for Ryan to make his presence, the group was treated to a song, and dance by yours truly.  I promise I'm not on any meds.  By that same token, I can almost promise you that everyone there thinks I should be.  Ahh, teh interwebs...

Anyway, The break was of a 2012 Topps 24 pack series II.  $24 gets you a LIVE and recorded bust of it, plus your choice of 20 cards, so that way you don't have to pay to ship those pesky commons. 

Here were the main highlights:


I'm sorry ... but those two die-cut Pujols & Mantle cards ... just plain sexay.  And the Darvish?  Well ... I hadn't seen that one before.  That is because it is a short print!  Yes, $30 bones is the book on that puppy.  Plenty of other cool cards too.  Check the vids, and hit me up if you want to be the next guy on tanmanbaseballfan tv




1st Break - Mike672 for 2010 Topps Update 24 Pack Box

Here are the hits and the videos!  Mike672 opted to have me bust his box for him, video tape it, and he gets the hits.  He only paid $16 for the box, and left the commons behind, so he didn't have to pay to ship them.  I'd say he did really well!  It looks like about $80 worth of book value here. 

Vintage Legends Babe Ruth & Jackie Robinson, Philadelphia A's Short Print, Nolan Ryan Short Print and Buster Posey Rookie

Several rookies of Giancarlo Stanton, Jason Heyward & Starlin Castro

FIVE Stephen Strasburg Rookies!


Mike672 Break Part 2- Broadcast your self LIVE

Would you like to join in on the fun? Click the "I break You Buy" promo button on the left, and let me know what you want. The odds are, we can get yours busted TODAY!  Email me at tanmanbaseballfan@gmail.com

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

How would YOU like a Group Break where every team is YOURS?

I have about 220 or so factory sealed boxes left, and I'm going to offer this up to some folks.  I think this should be fun.  You pick from the list of unopened boxes I have here.

Here is how it works.  Let's say you only want to buy a box of 2008 Goudey.  I sell that locally here for $25 (retail, it is $72 + Tax!)  but shipping would probably be another $6 or so.  $31 for the box delivered to you is still a great deal, but here is the difference.  You have *me* bust it for you ... all on You Tube.  How does that sound? 

The benefits are this:  You can pick, say, 20 cards that you really, really want and dump the rest.  The shipping would be free *AND* you get a $5 credit on the rest, meaning that great price of $31 for all 24 packs of 2008 Goudey ends up being only $20, and you only get the "keepers" of the box...all while having yours truly bust it open specially for you online. 

Any takers? 

66 Boxes/Sets in 2 weeks ... and LOTS more ... Comics

Well friends - it has been about 2 weeks since I acquired the massive lot of unopened stuff, and I am down to 249 boxes.  While I have plenty left, 66 boxes have flown the coup!  I have had fun opening some, and trying out different ways to sell. 

I sold a few pack lots to some folks online, who promptly requested upgrades to 25 pack lots, got them, loved them, and are asking for more when money comes in.  Would you like to try a pack lot?

I sold some online, and locally, too.  One of the online guys is this feller, the one they call The Dimwit - I promise, he calls himself that.  I would never call someone as nice as he something like that on my own!  He bought some boxes for a group break he is going to do online.  I love watching those things, and this is the second year in a row he has done it.  Good luck to you, Sam - and all your fellow following Dimwittians!  I look forward to it. 

Still, my garage is majorly packed with cardboard.  And I'm okay with that!  HOWEVER, that is not what is taking up most of my space these days. 

It is ... once again ... comics. 

Funny, how that all works out!  Each time I get a collection, it is *right* on the heels of the previous collection.  There is some sort of overlap.  Yes, I actually began talks with the previous owner of these comic books right about the same day I sold the last collection.  I told him I was ready to buy, and he said he was holding them for someone who put a deposit on them, and took a third of them with him. 

Throughout the next few weeks, I checked in, and he still said he was waiting, but the deadline was set for December 3rd.  If the guy didn't come up with the cashola, then he was going to allow me to come over.  I was excited, though, at this point, I had forgotten what kind of deal it was ... I just remembered it was "killer". 

I asked him to remind me, and it turned out to be the same amount of comics I bought last time (about 7,000) for half the price of what I bought the last collection for.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

This is one of those *RARE* occassions you will see me not haggle.  I was just hoping that the other dude would bail out. 

And he did!

Friday night, after we took care of the kiddos, my wife and I took out the seats in the mini-van, and I made the half hour trek up to his house.  It was amazing.  He told me I probably had 3-4 trips, but I assured him my minivan is a BEAST, and has handled 7,000 comic book collections with ease before. 

So, I loaded up the minivan to the brim, but there was a problem.  There were so, so, so many more to go!  I asked if I could unload them at home and come back.  He agreed, and I must say, it was the most miserable time unloading when I was done.  On the bright side, the total count was approximately 20,000 comics!!!!  I have never, ever seen that many or had that many comics at one time!  It took two trips, and I was praying all the way home that the clearance between the back tires and wheel wells would still be there. 

I was absolutely in shock.  There are many duplicates, and it is so overwhelming, I don't even know where or how to begin looking at them.  I keep thinking ... what if there is 1 Walking Dead #1?  What if there are 5????  The guy before me had this collection for about 3 years, and admitted there are boxes he hadn't even gone through. 

So yeah, the possibilities are endless here, it looks like! 



I try to imagine myself at a 10 year old boy ... what I would have done, had I been able to look into a crystal ball and saw a glimpse of my garage 22 years in the future.  I probably would have flipped!  I remembered dreaming about the unattainable goal of opening up a full case of 1989 Score or 1989 Donruss.  How funny that I have over 100 cases worth of that stuff in cards and comics in my garage right now. 

Oh, before I forget ... check the DEALS HERE link on the right side of the site.  I have gone head first into selling online, since I found out how easy it is to print shipping, and leave a message in the mailbox for my mailman to just pick up the packages at my doorstep.  Easy, peasy! 

Friday, November 30, 2012

315 Unopened Boxes of NEW Cards - And You Can Get in On it Too!

Over this past week, I ended up purchasing a mammoth amount of unopened boxes, sets and cases of sports cards!  Heck, I even ended up grabbing a case of Star Wars the Clone Wars cards. 

This has been something of a ritual for the past 3 years - buy out a boat load of unopened stuff, resell a ton, open some, and everyone has a blast. 

I'm opening up this opportunity to you, the reader of my blog.  There are several ways you can get your hands on this stuff.  First, is by telling me what you want by the list below.

1  - 2006 Score Football Factory Set
20  - 2007 Upper Deck Series 2 Baseball 24 pack box
20 -  2008 Upper Deck Goudey Baseball 24 pack box
20 -  2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Baseball 24 pack box
6  -  2009 Topps Factory Set Baseball Hobby
24 -  2010 Topps Factory Set Baseball Holiday Set
40  - 2010 Topps Series 1 Baseball 10-Pack Box
16  - 2010 Topps Update Baseball 24-Pack Box
12  - 2010 Upper Deck Baseball 36-Pack Box
40  - 2011 Panini Prestige Football 8-Pack Box
4  - 2011 Topps Factory Set Baseball Retail 
20  - 2011 Topps Opening Day Baseball Retail 48-Pack Box
8  - 2012 Topps Archives 8 pack Box
9  - 2012 Panini Triple Play Baseball 24-Pack Box
5  - 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Jumbo 18 Rack Box
20  - 2012 Topps Heritage Baseball 8-Pack Blaster Box
20  - 2012 Topps Opening Day Baseball 36 pack Hobby Box
8  - 2012 Topps Series 2 Baseball Retail 24-Pack Box
12  - 2012 Topps series 2 blaster 10-Pack box
8  - Topps Star Wars The Clone Wars Stickers 

I will get you pricing, so long as I haven't sold or opened up what you wanted already.  The prices will be a good amount cheaper than stores, and plus, the packs won't have been searched by those wretched pack searchers

Another way, is to let me know how many packs you want of each, and I will put together a price for you.  I have an ebay auction up for lots of 15 packs, that way, if you don't have much to spend, you can get a good array of different product, without resorting to buying $2-3 packs of searched cards.  Blech! 

Anyway, here is some eye candy of about half the stuff I got. 

































































Monday, November 26, 2012

Strasburg Mania All Over Again!

I remember that night well ... it was 2010.  Everyone kept talking of this Strasburg dude, and he hadn't even pitched a single game in the bigs yet.  As I contemplated the greatness of Strasburgmania, and almost subconciously was a bit jealous that I didn't participate, I began to give excuses.  "It's speculation ... he may never make it.  I don't want to waste money!" 

Then I got to thinking.

"He has a baseball card out ... in bowman....doesn't Walmart and Target sell Bowman???"

So out the door I went to scrounge up all the 2010 bowman I could get.  It was night time already, and most places didn't have any left, but one Target did.  YAY!!! 

I cleaned them out, which meant grabbing what was left of a 2010 bowman retail box, and a few blasters of the same. 

Heart racing, I drove back home to bust the wax that may have this Nationals pitching phenom. 

Retail packs ... none.

Blaster one ... nope.

Blaster two ... zilch.  Until, wait ... what is this?  The last pack has something ... it's purple ... it's a purple refractor rookie!  STEPHEN STRASBURG PURPLE REFRACTOR ROOKIE!!!!

Talk about luck!  One of the few times I didn't hate busting wax at retail pricing!  I sold it online, and a few months later, he had Tommy John surgery.  I REALLY lucked out there, didn't I?

Well, fast forward now ... Strasburg has solidified himself as one of the absolute best pitchers on the planet.  He's a hoss.  I ran into a collection that someone was selling.  It was Strasburg ... over 90 rookies!  That's right ... NINETY ROOKIES OF STRASBURG! 

I thought that was cool, but the pricing seemed high, until I started looking at some of the gems in the collection.  There were several bowmans, topps, and different variations in the lot.  I was at about $50 less than the seller wanted to go, and he said he would meet half way.  I told him I'd stay at where I was, and he said if the other guy who wants them drops out, they are mine. 

Welllll...the other guy dropped out, and Strasburgmania is alive & well again in my household!  I won't show pics of alllll the Strasburgs, as hopefully they will be leaving the fold soon.  But I will show the significant ones. 
Topps blue and purple refractor rookies
Topps green refractor rookies
Topps red hot rookie refractor rookies
Bowman regular and purple refractor rookies

Pie in the Face Short Print Rookie!


This is one of those deals like the Pujols deal that I will be super happy to get into the black with, and have some very cool extras to keep in my temporary collection for a while.  My favorites are the Pie in the Face card, and of course, getting the bowman purple refractor back into the fold.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Out with the old, In with the new ...

If you have been following along, you have seen that I have been posting things about comics.  Last night, after being in my possession for a total of 8 days, the latest comic book collection left.  A guy who found an ad of mine online that was nearly 7 hours away, decided to make the trip out.  He ended up here with a truck at midnight.  At first, I was worried that they were going to fit, since we didn't do any measurements or anything. 

Well, not only did they fit, they fit *easily* - and it was a fast load-up!  I wasn't necessarily dreading it, because I had to take about 30 trips up and down stairs to get the thing, but I thought I'd at least break a sweat.  Nope! 

After that, I slept like a baby ... NOT!  I can honestly say that I'm not sure if I slept a wink, and I don't know why.  I guess I just can't turn off my brain sometimes.  It has been great to see that I can actually *do* this with things other than cards.

SPEAKING OF CARDS ... yeah, yeah ... I know.  This is a baseball card blog, sorry!  Let's get onto the meat of the potatoes here. 

I just picked up a massive Stephen Strasburg lot of rookies - it has over 90 rookies, and a triple threads jersey card of him.  I look forward to working my cardboard alchemy magic on that lot :)  When the shipment comes in, I'll post some pictures of the stras goodness!  Lots of color, refractors, etc.  #excited!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Yet Another Massive Comic Purchase

With how much I hated the idea of having a minivan years ago, I can't tell you how happy I am to have one now. 

Almost exactly a month ago, I reached out to a lady who was selling her comic books.  She mentioned she had tons of long boxes filled with DC comics that were all bagged and boarded.  The price was on the high side for me, so while considering that collection, I ended up getting the collection I posted about before, which the majority has since moved on to a comic shop out of town, and various other collectors / investors in town. 

Had I bought that collection as well, I would have been the proud owner of 51 long boxes of comics, or about 14,000 comics.  I'd imagine that would be quite a leap for a person who knows nothing about comics, going from 0 to 14k.  Not to mention a very hefty drain on the wallet!

After consulting with a dealer friend of mine, I decided to pass on the lady's collection at the price she agreed to, though I was able to talk her down a bit, it was still more pricey than I was comfortable with.

After I moved the collection I had just bought, I decided to give her a call again (I had declined the collection weeks prior).  I made an offer that was a little more than half of what my original possible price was.  She said no, because she had a better deal out there (from the guy who was telling both of us he was a buyer.)  I had a sneaking suspicion that this guy would not pan out for her, just like he bailed on me, so I thanked her for her time, and requested she kept my name/number, just in case something changes.  I didn't expect it, but I was hopeful. 

Yesterday, exactly a month from the time I bought the other collection, I got a text from her: 

"You can pick up the collection now if you still want it."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Yup, my suspicions were correct.  The out of state comic buyer guyer ended up bailing on her too, and she said she had to get them out of her house because she was moving.   After dinner, and going through our routines with our son at night, I armed myself with some diet caffeine, some good 90's punk music, and set out for the drive that was over an hour away. 

I have mixed reviews on the whole situation. 

The bad news:
-The boxes were kind of ratty, and not as pretty as the ones I picked up from the previous collection.
-There weren't as many comics as I thought
- ALL the boxes were upstairs .... NOOOOOOO!!!

The good news:
- It was a GREAT value for the money
- Most of them were bagged and boarded
- The comics are flat out awesome (more on this later). 

After speaking with her for a while, it turns out it was her recently deceased husband's collection.  He had passed away earlier this year.  What do you say about that?  I felt horrible for her, so needless to say, I wasn't in full offense bargaining mode when finding there were less comics than I expected. 

It took an hour or more to go through some of them and load them up in the mini-van.  When I got home, it was 3 1/2 hours from when I first started on my trek, and so I decided to dig into some of the comics. 

Wow!

I'll be the first to admit - I don't know much about comics, but since I had already bought a bulk collection, which, by the way was really cool ... this one was even cooler.  There are so many runs, and so many popular titles like Superman, Green Lantern, Justice League, etc.  I ended up going to bed at 1am, then waking up at 5:30am and ultimately getting out of bed at around 6 to start diving in again.  Not necessarily that I know what I'm looking at or for, but the comics are just flat out cool. 

I find a lot of them are selling online for $1-$2 but the buyers are having to pay $3 or $4 shipping.  So many of these are setting back collectors $4-6 when all is said and done, so I am fairly confident that I should be able to find a buyer for them at $100 a box, or 30 cents a book if I wait for a while to sell it all.

Time to start finding their new home!