Hawk to the Hall - Baseball cards & Hobby opinions

     Hello all.  Sorry I haven’t written in a few days.  I’m a bit torn about the hobby right now.  I haven’t opened any new wax since I bought my Bowman jumbo.  I will still write about that at some point in the near future, I promise.  But anyway, I did get a few new Dawson cards in the mail, which you can check out here.

     Now I’m going to give you a little insight into the mind of a collecting addict.  I haven’t opened any new boxes or packs in almost 2 weeks, which is quite a while for me.  From February till now, I have opened an average of about 1 box per week.  So, after almost 2 weeks, I was starting to get that itch.  I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about :) 

     On my way home from work yesterday, I drove right past the card shop, and then the rest of the way home I’m reasoning with my self in the car.  “You don’t need to buy any more cards right now”.  “But I haven’t busted any wax in almost 2 weeks”.  “Yea, but you haven’t been very happy with most of this year’s releases anyway.  Just concentrate on your Dawson collection”.  “I could just buy a few packs though.  What could it hurt?”.  And so on, all the way home.  I actually drove home, pulled into the garage and parked….and then the little collector in me won the argument.  I got back in my car, drove back the shop, and after BSing with the owner for a little while, bought 7 randomly selected packs of 2008 Bowman at my slightly discounted rate of $2.75 a pack.  And I’m so glad I did.  Out of those 7 Hobby packs, I got more good “pulls” than I did out of my entire Jumbo HTA box. 

     Out of a measely 7 packs, I pulled a Michael Buschmann Gold refractor #’d to 50, a Daric Barton on-card rookie autograph, and this.

     A 2008 Josh Vitters Bowman Chrome Prospect Gold Refractor Autograph #’d to 50!!!  Needless to say, this is the best pull of my collecting life thus far.  And as much as I hate to say it, it’s already sold.  Yes, I know I’m a Cubs collector, and yes I’m in the hobby for the collecting aspect of it, but I got so much for this card, there was no way for me not to sell it.  From what I’ve seen so far this year, there are maybe 1 or 2 BCP cards that actually gain value, however ridiculous the initial secondary market price is.  Plus by selling this 1 card and working my eBay magic correctly, I should be able to pick up at least 10 really nice Andre Dawson cards that I have had my eye on for quite some time.  Maybe even my White Whale . 

     If Vitters ends up become the next (insert superstar’s name here), then I may end up with a little bit of seller’s remorse.  But, if he busts out or is just another average Major Leaguer, then I’ll be happy with my decision and my new Dawson’s. 

     But, I’d really like to know what you think.  Did I do the right thing?  Let me know.

     My local shop has finally gotten in Jumbo HTA’s.  So…by this afternoon I should have one of these

in my hot little hands.  As much as I hate to say it, I’m actually growing kind of weary of my local hobby shop.  The owner is a nice guy that I bs with every time I go in, but he has become increasingly lazy.  This is the 3rd release in a row that he hasn’t gone to pick up until the day after it’s released.  I may just be barking in the dark here, but when you’re an addict you gotta have your cards.  Look for my break and review tomorrow!

     You know, sometimes it still pays to sit down and write an old fashioned letter.  For the last few years, most people just fire off an angry e-mail, or call customer service and scream at some 20 year old who’s making 6 bucks an hour.  I’ve done both.  But this time I was so pissed off and disappointed with a product, that I sat down and wrote this letter.  I mailed it to at least 8 different people at The Topps Company in New York and Pennsylvania, and to be honest, I never expected a response.  I was wrong. 

     3 or 4 days after I mailed the letters, I got a call on my cell phone from  Topps.  They started off by telling me how sorry he was that I had a bad experience with one of their products, and then how much he wanted to make this right for me.  He thanked me for taking the time to sit down and send a letter, and he assured me that his number one priority in his new position is to really crack down on production quality and overall customer satisfaction with their upcoming products. 

     Overall, I was pretty happy with the conversation, and more than anything else, happy with the fact that someone from the company actually took the time to read my letter and contact me to offer a response.  But that’s not the end of the story.  When I got home and picked up my mail yesterday, I found this.

A UPS package from The Topps Company corporate office in New York.  And inside I found these.

     2 boxes of 2008 Topps Finest.  Talk about customer service!!  They actually read my letter carefully enough to note that I really liked the box of Finest that I bought last month.  So they sent me 2 boxes to make up for my bad Co-Signers experience.  I was in shock!  A big corporation actually got one right for once.

     I opened both boxes last night and here are the pulls that I got.  No Mantle cut autos or anything spectacular, but I did much better than the box that I bought.

The Reyes auto and the Gordon gold refractor were very nice to pull.  I also got a ton of blue, green and black refractors.  Also, being that I have now opened 3 boxes, I almost have a complete set!  And I now have redemption cards 3, 4, and 8, so I feel like I have a pretty good shot at getting either Fukudome or Soto.  I actually didn’t mind getting the Rip Girl auto either.  Lots of people have been complaining about them, but it didn’t replace one of my regular autos.  It just made a total of 4 autos in that box. 

     All in all, I have always loved the Finest product, and I was just really happy to see that the time and effort I took to voice my concerns was rewarded.