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 Monday, October 01, 2007
Some rookies already shining four weeks into season
Posted by Steve
Just four weeks in, you can already spot certain rookies that appear to belong in the league and others that seem like they are lost. Some are predictable, others are surprises. Here are several observations. The big name running backs have both performed. Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch are both for real. The Vikings need to get Peterson on the field more because it's clear he's a superstar already. He runs hard and fast and has already gained 383 yards. Lynch isn't far behind with 307 yards. Both rookie backs appear to be franchise backs at this point. Nobody else is even close, with undrafted Selvin Young third in rookie rushing with 138 yards. The rookie receiver studs aren't exactly who you expected at this point. Sure, Calvin Johnson has 189 yards in three games (he missed Week 4 with a back injury) and two touchdowns. And we could have predicted Dwayne Bowe would be solid, but not spectacular like he is so far. Bowe has 299 yards and three TDs already. The surprise of the class has been James Jones, a third-round pick from San Jose State that has 232 yards already in the Packers offense and looks like he's played for years. Other top picks have struggled, including Ted Ginn, who the Dolphins don't even put on the field, Robert Meachem and Craig Davis. We'll have to wait a while to see the rookie quarterbacks. JaMarcus Russell signed very late, which means he probably won't even get on the field this year. Brady Quinn also signed late, but could see the field shortly. The only guys that have even thrown a pass are Trent Edwards and Kevin Kolb, with Edwards starting for the injured J.P. Losman and winning his first start and throwing for 331 yards. For teams, there's no bigger surprise than the Packers at 4-0. Dallas, New England and Indy are also undefeated, but that's not a shock to anyone. San Diego already losing more games this season than they did all of last season would blow any Vegas odds, while everyone's sleeper, St. Louis, can't seem to find any offense or stop anyone.
10/1/2007 5:51:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
SCD Auction Results Database unveiled tomorrow
Posted by Steve
Tomorrow is a big day for collectors who buy, sell and collect memorabilia. It’s the day that we’ll unveil a huge auction prices database, which covers virtually every auction from every auction house since Jan. 1, 2006. Everyone is represented and there is no item too large or too small in our database. It includes everything from a game-used Babe Ruth bat to Keith Hernandez signed plaque. If you can’t find it here, it hasn’t been sold. The database is broken down into nearly 50 categories, ranging from “Autographs: Balls” to “Game-Used Jerseys” to “Tickets/Programs” to “Cards: Singles (pre-1930).” It includes results from 35 auction houses, and is broken down by sport, category, price, date sold and auction house.  How will you use the database? It depends on what your involvement in auctions is. Buyers can look through past results to predict what they can expect to pay for virtually any item. Sellers can learn what to expect if they sell their item by looking at past results for similar items. Collectors can put a value on the items in their collections by browsing for similar items. Best of all, the database is free to everyone. You don’t have to pay, register or do anything other than go to www.scdauctions.com and start playing. There’s nearly 100,000 items already in the database and it’s updated soon after every auction ends. See you there.
9/27/2007 12:55:44 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, September 20, 2007
NBA season won't be the same without Greg Oden
Posted by Steve
 I just got boxes of 2007-08 Topps and Fleer Ultra at my desk. When I first saw them, i thought the year of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant is here, but it's just so depressing now that Oden is out for the season with microfracture surgery. Sure, there are still plenty of reasons to collect him, Durant, and plenty more players from this draft, but i was looking forward to seeing him in the NBA. First, I was looking forward to seeing the Blazers as a team and that hasn't happened in a long time. LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy joining forces with Oden and some other solid, young players was exciting. We could all watch them struggle early and get better as the season continued. We could see two of the best young big men in the league compliment each other. Now, we'll get to see them struggle another year, but without Oden. The bright side is that they'll probably wind up in the lottery (ok, definitely) and get another high draft pick to add for 2008-09. Roy and Aldridge will also get another year under their belts before they face playoff pressure and added scrutiny. But I wanted to watch Oden this year. It will also be a great time to wait for his cards to soften up plenty and then pick some of the up. It presents a great opportunity to build a decent Oden collection for way less than they would have had to pay if he were playing. This class is still so loaded it’s tough not to be excited about it. You’ve got to be excited about Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Al Horford, Jeff Green, Corey Brewer, Acie Law, Joakim Noah, Thaddeus Young, Brandan Wright and maybe even Yi (maybe not). Portlant area dealers are weeping uncontrollably also about the loss of Oden: “It will certainly have an effect on basketball sales the rest of the year. Here the impact won’t be so much among serous collectors, but more the non-die-hard collectors. Obviously, with Oden as driving force and him not playing, it’s not going to sell among the more marginal collectors.” -- Randy Archer, Baseball Cards & More, Portland
“I had about $5,000 worth of Topps basketball lined up because it’s typically easier to get rookie cards out of Topps, and as they were wheeling it in the door they made the announcement that he was out for the year. I’m still selling it … but it’s definitely not as strong as I hoped it would be. But I’ve sold out my Oden rookie cards so I might have to break open some more boxes. I had been getting all sorts of calls “When’s his card, when’s his card?” Now I’m not getting any calls.” -- Cameron Purdy, Hoopla Sports Cards, Portland
9/20/2007 5:45:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, September 14, 2007
Non-sport single-signed balls very cool too
Posted by Steve
 In this hobby, we always spend so much time on our collections. Whether it's cards, bats, signed baseballs, tickets, etc. Whatever your niche in this hobby, we spend a lot of time and money making it into something we are proud of. Lately, I've jumped outside the hobby and have started getting interested in single-signed baseballs from people outside the world of sports. Now, as you may know from past blogs, I'm a game-used bat collector. I'm not really into signed baseballs, but these non-sport ones are pretty darn cool. There are so many ways you can go with it too. Obviously, there's a huge market for presidential balls, but they carry a lofty price tag also. I tend to look for interesting conversational pieces, like Edmund Hillary, the first guy to climb Mt. Everet, or Frederik De Klerk, the ex-president of South Africa, who freed Mandela and won the Nobel Peace Prize with him for ending Apartheid. Now that's interesting stuff to me and they are pretty affordable. The Hillary ball goes for $150-200, while the De Klerk one goes for...I have no idea...I said I'm looking. Another very cool one is the Dalai Lama. I've seen a few of them in the past year, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. One sold in an American Memorabilia auction for $490 (pictured, top right). It's an incredibly rare thing and the whole story about how they become the Dalai Lama is pretty interesting. Mikhail Gorbachev and John Glenn are two other that I must have in my collection. A nice Gorbie ball goes for $700-$1000, whie Glenn is more affordable, but always personalized at $100-150.  That reminds me, there's very cool lot that I've been bidding on in Memory Lane's auction, with six single-signed baseballs for historical people, like Hillary, Glenn, Roger Bannister, Chuck Yeager, Paul Tibbets, who dropped the first A-bomb and two others...with inscriptions of their accomplishments. Very cool stuff. I'm off to bid.
9/14/2007 5:50:49 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Memory Lane auction ends this week
Posted by Steve
 This is the final week to bid on Memory Lane's auction, which features the only Gem Mint-graded 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig in existence and ends Sept. 15. The card is graded PSA 10 and is from the collection of Charles Merkel. The current bid is $91,000. There’s also a 1952 Topps Andy Pafko Black Back graded PSA 8. Since the card is No. 1 in the set, it’s one of the most notoriously tough cards to get in high-grade condition. This one is already up to $44,000. Next, a Hank Aaron game-used bat that was used to hit his No. 704 home run carried a minimum bid of $5,000. The bat is a Louisville Slugger model A99 and is graded A 9.5 by MEARS, with heavy usage with ball marks and stitch marks “deeply embedded.” Also, a 1933 baseball with nine signatures, including Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Al Simmons, Joe Cronin, Jimmie Foxx, Ed Rommel and Jimmie Dykes is up to $5,500. The ball is an official American League Harridge ball with PSA/DNA and JSA authentication. One extremely unique item is an uncut sheet of 1969 Topps Baseball cards with a White-Letter Mickey Mantle near the center of the sheet. The sheet has 132 total cards is at $5,000. There’s also two killer Yankees team payroll checks, with one signed by Gehrig and the other by Ruth. Both are from 1930 and also signed by Jake Ruppert and Ed Barrow. The Gehrig is already up to $15,000 and the Ruth is at $13,000. Visit www.memorylaneinc.com to bid.
9/11/2007 10:16:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
I'm not quite done with bigboydsportscards3 yet
Posted by Steve
 I don't usually pick fights. I pick on people a lot, but they know I'm kidding and I rarely have to get "mean" to get my point acrossed. This situation with bigboydsportscards3 has gotten me a little irritated though. This joker continues to rip people off on a daily basis and I'm getting sick of it. Every time I see these listings, I think about our conversation when he basically justified what he was doing by saying, "I don't have many of them left." Anyway, one reader was extremely helpful with this situation and I'm posting everything he sent to me. He purchases a 1985-86 Star Co. Michael Jordan #288 card from bigboydsportscards3 on Aug. 2, 2006 for $222.50. He paid for it on Aug. 8, 2006. Then he sent it in to Global for grading on Feb. 9, 2007 and they received it on Feb. 15, 2007. Global sent the card back...unslabbed and with a "Questionable Authenticity" sticker on it. That's polite grading company talk for "FAKE". So there we have it, my word against his word. It's a fake. And with the card in hand as I speak, it's a really bad fake. Remember how I've discussed how these counterfeiters rebuild the fonts around the original image. Take a look at the scan and you'll see that they couldn't even match the same font on the "8" and the "6" in the upper right where it says "Star '86." Forget about the telltale apostrophe, one number is normal and the other is in italics or something. Nice job, crooks. At least if you are going to be a criminal, try to be a good one. In an amazing turn of events (sorry, I'm really sarcastic), it matches perfectly with the one bigboydsportscards3 is currently selling on eBay. And by the dates on the invoice I have, it means he's been selling this crap and ripping people off for at least a full year. No wonder he doesn't have many left in stock. Is this enough proof for you, Terry Boyd, or do you still believe they are real? Someone that does deal with Global has helped you out and sent in one of your fakes for you. If you are confused with any proof here, all the documents and cards are scanned below, including the original invoice from bigboyd, the paypal receipt and the submission form to Global. I'm guessing I'll be getting another email from Terry with another threat that he'll talk to his lawyer about this.   
8/30/2007 11:17:13 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Funny post on the Beckett boards
Posted by Steve
 I was reading the Beckett forum yesterday and stumbled across this thread. You gotta love this guy. His patch card was pulled from eBay for being doctored so he starts posting on the forum about his sad story of "buying it off a buddy of mine who (he) watched pull it from a SEALED BOX!" Unfortunately, he got busted later in the post because someone else saves all scans from that set and posted an image of the same serial-numbered card (#322/699) with a single-color patch instead of the crazy, 103-color (possibly an exaggeration) logo patch that was currently on the card. OOPS. The poster was obviously trying to flash the card and hoping someone offered to buy it from the forum, but got busted and embarrassed. I wonder if he will ever show up on those boards again. And it wasn't even bigboyd this time. I'm sure he'll be shopping the card around on other boards soon. All that trouble for a Ciatrick Fason card.  Did you see the news of former 2001 No. 7 pick Eddie Griffin dying? The former Rockets, Nets and T-Wolves forward ran through a barrier and crashed into an oncoming train close to a week ago. His body was so badly burned that it took four days and dental records to identify who it was. It's a sad ending to a once-promising career that was filled with bad choices from drugs and alcohol. Griffin was a great athlete and one of best shot blockers in the league, but could never get his personal life on track. R.I.P.
8/23/2007 2:54:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
My conversation with bigboydsportscards3
Posted by Steve
I spoke with Terry Boyd of Big Boyd Sports Cards for about 30 minutes last week and we discussed my blog. I'm still amazed at how someone justifies selling probably $50,000-$100,000 of counterfeit Star Co. cards through eBay. He continued to claim he didn't know they were fakes and doesn't think they are and his primary contention with the whole issue is that "he doesn't have very many left." Great stuff. Much of the conversation went like this: Me: You are selling counterfeit goods, which is illegal. Terry Boyd: How do you know they are counterfeit? PSA and Beckett don't grade them. Me: Because I used to run a grading company that learned how to tell the difference and worked with Steve Taft to grade them. He now helps GAI. You should send a few of them to GAI because they are fakes. Terry Boyd: I don't deal with Global. Me: I'm telling you they are fakes and you refuse to acknowledge it. Terry Boyd: We only have a few of them left. How do you know for sure they are fakes? Me: I just explained that to you, plus I've posted pictures on my blog with real ones and fake ones and you have the exact same fakes that we busted two years ago. Terry Boyd: Well why don't PSA or Beckett grade them? Me: I have no idea because it's not that tough to tell the difference. My guess is that they don't consider it a big enough part of the market to take the time to learn. I'm telling you they are fake. I know it. Taft knows it. GAI would tell you they are fake and you know that, which is why you refuse to send them in for grading. Are you telling me you are going to keep selling them? Terry Boyd: Uhhhhh....well.......(he knows I'm recording this) He indiciated that he has spend "way over $20,000" on those cards, but mysteriously doesn't know who he purchased them from. I told him find out who he bought them from. It's not the end of our conversations, but it's clearly time for the Internet Task Forces in the Ohio to get involved and time for me to call my good friend in the FBI, who orchestrated Operation Bullpen and many other busts. Here are a few random posts about bigboydsportscards3 from messages boards like PSA, Beckett and Trading Card Central. "Great post. I must add a few comments since I am one of the more experienced SLU collectors on this board. From what I have seen from 'bigboydsportscards' on ebay, it appears only key HOF SLU cards from 1988 and 1989 were counterfeited. I actually purchased a 1989 Ripken SLU card from 'bigboydsportscards' and these folks did darn good job in reproducing the card. I knew something was up last year as these cards were being sold on a weekly basis."
"Worst thing is he is still selling them. Obviously must know they are fake."
"I sent Terry the link to the blog. He also believes his Star cards to be real. I am sending mine back to him tomorrow on the agreement that once he receives them back I will be getting a full refund."
The great thing about this one is that he takes them back because the buyer says they are fake and issues a refund, then relists them immediately and rips someone else off.
"If you have more than 46,000 feedback, you should know what you're buying and selling, no? There is no NFL logo patch in the world that's real that I've ever seen with a huge 1/1 sticker on the back like that. If you've bought and sold this many cards, you should know what you have and what you're listing and whether its real or not. Not calling him a faker or anything at all, but bigboyd has been around the block."
"I bought a box of 06 contenders from boyd, it was a resealed box also, I sent the box and the cellophane back and eventually got my money back."
"It angers me that this guy is still selling. I bought a Star Jordan from him last summer and waited 6 months to grade. Of course it came back fake. And I had no recourse from eBay and Terry pretty much told me to F off. We should start a post of everyone who's ever been burned by this guy and sue his ass."
"You've been in business for over 11 years and you dont know what a fake is and what isnt? Nor do you pay attention to large buys? Sounds completely shady to me. Bottom line is I think you should pay more attention to what you sell."
"This BigBoyd character is a Big Joke. As Blades said, anyone that refunds automatically if the buyer wants a refund, its just shady, and the fact that the cards get relisted. The Seller is continuing to sell star fakes. SCAMMER!"
"Big Boyd needs to be shut down after all of the crap he's pulled."
I used to collect Star Co. cards back in the day,and I remember the first counterfeit scare in the mid-90s. It was depressing.If you know the cards well enough,you definitely can tell the fakes,but it still became more of a hassle dealing with people and vice versa. Nice blog,and thanks for keeping us informed!"
8/15/2007 5:17:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, August 10, 2007
Kevin Garnett could mean big things for Celtics' fans
Posted by Steve
 It's still hard to believe Kevin Garnett got traded. The most loyal man in the basketball agreed to play for the Celtics, which basically opened the floodgates to a deal that's been in place since before the NBA Draft. Garnett vetoed a trade before the draft, which killed the deal and allowed the Celtics to trade its No. 5 pick to Seattle for Ray Allen. Having Allen and Pierce both in Boston had to be enough to sway Garnett, who then accepted the though of playing for them. He was then dealt for Al Jefferson (aka the centerpiece of the deal), Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes and Theo Ratliff's expiring contract. What does it mean for the C's? Having Garnett, Allen and Pierce puts them in contention for the Eastern crown immediately. Rajan Rondo is the perfect point guard for them. Although he's young, he's a defensive stopper, who is fine without scoring a point. They'll have one weak spot on the roster and have a thin bench inside, but Kendrick Perkins is still there and draft picks Glen Davis and Gabe Pruitt might also be able to help some. Also, don't count out the possibility of a veteren signing with them for the minimum just to try to win a championship. They better do it in the next 2-3 years though, because GM Danny Ainge mortgaged the future for this one. As for the T-Wolves, they weren't contending with Garnett and won't immediately after dealing him. They do have a ton of young talent though and might be a very good team in a few years. Randy Foye, Corey Brewer, Rashad McCants, Jefferson, Green and Telfair could all be very good. Since Garnett was going to walk in another year (probably) and they would be left with nothing, this deal was probably about all they could do. Expect Garnett's cards and memorabilia to be on the rise. He's no longer in a small market and the C's are going to be on television a lot and could be one of the better teams in the league. The T-Wolves will have a lot of young players, who are going to get the opportunity to play immediately so it will be good for them also.
8/10/2007 10:41:12 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, August 06, 2007
Bonds benefits from his own success
Posted by Steve
 Who stands to most benefit from Barry Bonds' success? Barry Bonds, of course. Bonds is one of the most avid buyers of his own game-used memorabilia. According to a story on MLB.com, Bonds spends "thousands of dollars every season" buying uniforms, caps, wristbands and more that he uses on the field. "I pay for everything I wear out of pocket except for my shoes; I have a contract for that," Bonds told the website, adding that he writes out a check to the Giants every year to pay for his equipment.  Bonds said somewhere around the time he hit his 600th career home run (Aug. 9, 2002) he began authenticating everything he wears from each home run and stores the items in his home. Items from key moments in his career go on display in a special climate-controlled trophy room in his house. Bonds said items from his 756th career home run will be on display in that room, right next to a display featuring items from his 715th career home run that put him ahead of Babe Ruth on the all-time list. While game-used Bonds uniforms can sell for more than $10,000 each, he told MLB.com he pays closer to $100 per jersey. "It's not like we have to pay full price," he said. Bonds hit his 755th home run on Saturday night in San Diego and will try for the 756th tonight at home vs. Washington.
8/6/2007 5:45:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Great giveaways daily in SCD sweepstakes
Posted by Steve
    On July 12, we launched a daily contest on our site. A little more than two weeks later, we had more than 7,000 signups on our site and given away prizes including signed photos of Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson, Duke Snider, Matt Leinart and more. That's just the tip of the iceberg.  We've got enough stuff to run these daily contests for several years and most of it is really incredible stuff. In the coming months, you'll see stuff like Alex Rodriguez signed baseballs and mini-helmets, Lawrence Taylor signed photos and mini-helmets, Eric Dickerson signed photos and mini-helmets. You'll also see a boat load of HOFers from both baseball and football, including a lot more photos from the players listed above, as well as a bunch of others, like Willie Mays, Joe Morgan, Whitey Ford and more. Check out what we are giving away today by clicking here. The best thing about it is that it's totally free in every way and you can sign up every single day. Click here for a list of past winners and see all the great things we've already given away.    
7/31/2007 5:48:38 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, July 27, 2007
A-Rod's 499th Home Run might be his 500th
Posted by Steve
Did you see the AP story today about A-Rod's 500th home run ball? Apparently, his 499th home run landed in a grassy area beyond the right field fence where it was retreived by him. The crazy thing is that is may become his 500th home run ball if he hits one tonight. According to AP: "Rodriguez will be on deck when the Yankees resume a suspended game against the Orioles in the eighth. If he homers in the completion of the suspended game, it would count as being hit on June 28, when the game began. That would make it home run No. 493 -- and Wednesday's would be No. 500. Rule 10.23 (d) states: 'All performances in the completion of a suspended game shall be considered as occurring on the original date of the game.'"
All of this would make him the youngest member of the 500-home run club at age 32, but our office debate has been about whether tonight's home run (if it happens) would be recognized as the 500th home run or if he'd simply miss the moment. My opinion is that while it won't technically be his 500th home run, the total still adds up to 500 and it will be recognized as such at that moment although it won't go in the record books that way. As far as interoffice debates go, I'm probably in the minority thought. What do you think?
7/27/2007 4:32:56 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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