The problem with sketch cards (Part 2)

This is spin-off of my earlier post from October 5th.

So what's in a name?

In the case of Topps' Indiana Jones Masterpieces, not a lot. The draw, no pun intended, is the tiring inclusion of sketch cards. But what more did we expect? People would feel cheated without them. And I know George Lucas and his crew probably aren't letting props or costumes loose for cards.

There are some great sketch cards, but it would be no fun to show those off, now would it? Instead, I wanted to get four or five bad sketches and show them off. All images courtesy of eBay, and unfortunately it only took me a few minutes to locate them.

1) Indiana Jones silhouette - basically just a blob of ink. I'm assuming it is supposed to be Indy himself, but based on the sizable "lump" on the back it could be Joseph Merrick wearing a Castro Hat, with a hint of Abraham Lincoln's chin thrown in.

2) Sankara Stone from Temple of Doom - I think. It could be the top of a beetle from Raiders for all I know. The point is, it's an oval with three amorphous shapes. No shading, nothing. Really a poor excuse for Masterpieces.

3) I call this one "Test Tube With Squiggles". I think it's from Temple of Doom as well. It's pretty lousy. At least it has some color. Maybe sellers will get a premium for this one.

4) The Grail - this one isn't good enough to be the cup of a carpenter, much less THE carpenter (or even someone from The Carpenters). It has a nice symmetry to it, but c'mon, a Masterpiece? Far from it. No shading, nothing. I realize it's just a cup, but even a cup wants to be something more than this.

5) I was on the fence about this one. It has a certain style to it that looks intentionally sloppy, and I'm all for that. It has a sort of kinetic motion that reminds me of Pigpen's "filth cloud" on Charlie Brown. However, the German pugilist in the sketch has no legs, and his right arm looks like something from a video game that would shoot poison darts or something. An "A" for effort, a "D" for execution.

It is worth noting that Topps did try something a little different by including press plates in Masterpieces. Some collectors like them, but coming from a hockey background where there was a huge glut of them, I see plates as little more than a novelty. Some sellers have crazy BINs, so needless to say, those plates aren't moving right now.

Topps also had fold out "panoramic" sketch cards as well. When I get a chance I'll see how long it takes to find four of five questionable sketches of those, too. I got quite disgusted by the above, so I haven't been looking for Indy sketches much these days.

Also, I will admit that the base set for Masterpieces is quite beautiful. But should that really be a bragging point? Shouldn't base sets be nice anyway? I'll just wait and pick up a base set for $2 pretty soon and leave it at that.

More hockey housekeeping

I did some more cleaning in my office. Say goodbye to the following sets:

1991-92 Stadium Club
1995-96 Pinnacle
1996-97 Donruss
1996-97 Pinnacle Mint Die-Cut and Bronze
1997-98 Pacific
1997-98 Pacific Dynagon Ice Best Kept Secrets
1997-98 Pacific Omega
1997-98 Pacific Revolution
1997-98 Pinnacle Mint Die-Cut and Bronze
1997-98 UD
1998-99 Pacific
1998-99 Pacific Aurora
1998-99 Pacific Dynagon Ice
1998-99 Pacific Omega
1998-99 Topps Gold Label
1998-99 UD3 (several 1-60 sets)
1999-00 BAP Memorabilia
1999-00 Pacific
1999-00 Pacific Aurora + Striped
1999-00 Pacific Paramount
1999-00 Pacific Prism
1999-00 Pacific Revolution
1999-00 SP Authentic (minus SPs)
1999-00 Topps Premier Plus
1999-00 UD HoloGrFX
1999-00 UD MVP
1999-00 UD Piece of History
1999-00 UD Retro
1999-00 UD Wayne Gretzky Hockey
1999-00 Upper Deck (minus SPs)
2000-01 UD Heroes
2000-01 UD MVP
2001-02 SPx (minus SPs)
2001-02 Topps
2001-02 Topps Heritage parallel
2001-02 UD Honor Roll (minus SPs) (x2)
2001-02 UD Ice (minus SPs)
2001-02 UD Mask (minus SPs)
2001-02 UD MVP
2002-03 BAP All-Star
2002-03 Topps Total
2002-03 UD Classic Portraits (minus SPs)
2002-03 UD Mask
2003-04 BAP Parkhurst Original 6 NY
2003-04 SP Authentic (minus SPs)
2003-04 SPx (minus SPs)
2003-04 UD Ice (minus SPs)
2004-05 ITG Franchises Canada
2004-05 ITG Franchises East
2004-05 ITG Franchises West
2004-05 SP Autnentic (minus SPs)
2004-05 UD All-World (minus SPs)
2004-05 UD Ice (minus SPs)
2004-05 UD Legends Classics
2004-05 UD Rookie Update
2006-07 SPx (minus SPs)

I have no idea how many cards the list above comprises, but it's quite a few. Basically I didn't want to have to deal with trying to sell or trade them, as packaging and shipping potentially hundreds of cards is just too tedious.

So what do 25,200 hockey cards look like? *

I'm trying to do a little fall cleaning. Windows open with the breeze flowing through the house, the Autumn-colored place-mats already out on the table. Kind of a refreshing feeling to be honest.

The place that keeps getting more clogged than a fat man's arteries is my office. I'm saving myself the embarrassment of showing pictures of that. However, one place that could really help out is my closet. In it remained the boxes full of hockey base cards, from my many years of collecting.

So where can the veterans like Howe, Plante, Roy, and Gretzky rub cardboard elbows with the new kids like Brust, Dawson, Smid, and Price? In my trash can, of course.

A veritable plethora of dead trees and ink, gloss and great action photos, stats and pronunciations, holograms and logos. All gone. **

It was fun flipping through them, but depressing thinking about how much money I sank in box costs in hopes of hitting those big cards. But it evened out. For every good box I opened up 4 bad ones.

So what sets did these thousands of cards come from?

Topps, OPC, BAP, BAP All-Star, UD Foundations, BAP H&P, Artifacts, Trilogy, Ice, Between the Pipes, Invincible, Prism, Crown Royale, SP Authentic, the Chrome quadruplets (Bowman CHL, Topps, OPC, and Bowman), Classic Portraits, SPx, SP Game Used, Parkhurst Retro, Topps Premier Plus, Bee Hive, Hot Prospects, Black Diamond, Franchises, Vanguard, Original 6, Victory, SPx Top Prospects, Leaf Preferred, Bowman's Best, Omega, Gold Label, Paramount, Pinnacle, Score, OPC Premier, Revolution, Dynagon, Donruss, Donruss Preferred, Gold Reserve, Greats of the Game, Stadium Club, Private Stock, Titanium, Legacy, MVP, Vintage, Young Stars, Top Shelf, Heads Up, Stanley Cup Champs, Topps Total, Archives, Challenge for the Cup, HoloGrfX, UD3, and plain old UD.

Notice I didn't break them out in years, as the list would be terribly long.

And I'm not even sure what sets are in the other boxes.

So goodbye Gretzky checklist card, later Iginla Hot Prospects, see ya' Datsyuk Parkhurst. It was fun.

With no further delay, this is what 25,200 cards look like:

Next up, what ever shall I do with all my complete sets?

Footnotes:

* The 25,200 total was a safe estimate based on the full boxes and some added in for the stacks tossed, as well.

** OK, so they're not all gone, I just ran out of those small plastic bags. I find those bags have a nice balance of card volume versus weight. I have a couple more 3200-count boxes and s few stacks tucked away in my closet.

The problem with sketch cards

It seems that non-sports sets these days are pretty much required to include sketch cards. There are the obvious Batman Archives-type sets that are based on comic books. Those scream "sketch me", but do we really need sketch cards for something like CSI?

In any event, someone on a message board I frequent is in love with Heroes cards. I've seen a few sketch cards of Hiro that I really liked, so I hopped over to our friendly neighborhood pimp, eBay. I came across a couple that are terrible as far as sketch cards go.

No disrespect to the artists, as they can clearly do better than I ever could have, but who are these people supposed to be? (Images shamefully ripped from the auction descriptions.)

The above is supposed to be Claire. Again, it's better than what I could attempt, but it looks a lot like a character on one of my wife's soap operas who most certainly isn't Claire.

The next example is:

This is Niki? According to the description it is, but I'm not seeing it. I understand there are intentional stylized renditions (see Mark McHaley from Batman Archives), but faux-Niki is pretty bad. I can only imagine the look on the person's face who pulled that one.

So is this an easy way to differentiate between high-end sketches and the "rest"? High-end sketches actually resemble the person they are supposed to?

Sorry, but a crappy sketch card by a great artist is still a crappy sketch card.

UPDATE: The soap opera "Claire" gal is, after some investigation, Leven Ramblin from All My Children. Here's a small pic:

Thanks to my wife for pointing me in the right direction on that one.

New items on eBay

Rittenhouse's Batman Archives set was recently released. Now as a somewhat recent convert to non-sports (at least full time) I was eagerly anticipating this set. I have a healthy infatuation with anything Catwoman, so the sketch cards were a big draw for me (pun intended).

What I'm noticing is that a lot of sellers on eBay are starting their items at a high starting price. I recall in the sports world this was not as much of an issue with new releases, but it may have been more with the particular player I collected.

There is a certain psychology that goes with bidding in an auction-style format. That said, I think the sellers are missing out. Example? I'm less likely to bid on a card with an opening bid of $49.99 than I am to set a snipe of $50 for a card currently at $15 or more. It's weird, but I do it time and time again.

I also think sellers need to do a better job researching what they think their cards are worth. Sketch cards values are determined by a plethora of factors:

• Popularity of character - Spider-Man will always sell better than Kraven
• Relative rareness of the artist - someone who sketches 300 cards will probably not go as high as a comparable card for an artist who turns in 100 cards
• Uniqueness of the sketch - do a quick search on "waterhouse sketch"
• Black & white vs color
• Level of detail - NAR

There are obviously others. For me, though, I am seeing opening bids for Catwoman sketch cards that are just ok starting at $69.99 or more. In a lot of cases they are ending unsold, which doesn't surprise me, but oftentimes they are relisted for the same price.

As a collector, I have a strong "gotta have it" mentality. So when I see cards relisted I wonder if some yahoo is going to happen across it and say "oooh, I want that" and win it. I have some remorse about not being able to get it myself, but then I think, hey, I had the same opportunity.

With all that said, I guess I have no point. Well, maybe one. I wish I were rich and $69.99 for a so-so sketch wouldn't be a bother.

It's been a while--just checking in!

Wow, it sure has been a while since my last entry. Blame it on laziness, blame it on the hardwood floors I'm putting in at my house (my suggestion: pay the extra $ to have it done!), or the Everest-like attempt to try for a new job at my current company.

At some point I'll have a little more time for this. Also I expect to move the focus from hockey, since I've been removed from that scene for several months, to non-sports. Non-sports are where my hard-earned money is now going.

In any event, stick around, as I'll be back.

A decent stab at a Short Reports database

For quite a while Beckett Hockey has produced a column of sorts called Short Reports. By the generally accepted definition, a Short Report-able card is one whose print run is less than 25, so a /24 or less card. In this column they list cards which fit this criteria, and also include a confirmed price.

Cards like this are not typically included in the "regular" pricing section by Beckett (nor in the OPG), and for good reason. I won't go into how their published book values are usually out of whack anyway, but a card with a print run of, for example, 10, is simply too "volatile" to be able to accurately price. I agree with that.

So Beckett's monthly column does list some of those cards. They have also, on occasion, published "bonus" reports online. With the Beckett Hockey now moving to a bi-monthly publication, the usefulness of the Short Reports column is becoming a little less useful. With more and more of these low print run cards coming out, they are becoming more available. Hence more people are buying more of them.

To briefly go off on a tangent, one of my Pet Peeves in the hobby occurs when someone says "What is this worth?" The smart-ass (and absolutely correct) answer is "Whatever someone will pay for it." Of course, this is no good to someone who has pulled it from a pack, won it on eBay due to a poorly-titled auction, or whatever. Some people generally are curious about "real world value" and rightfully so.

So when someone has a question about Short Reports-calibre cards, what can they do? Usually one suggestion is to check eBay's completed auctions. There are a couple of problems with this. eBay only makes this data available for 30-days, so that is the most obvious pitfall. Also, what if it is a 1/1 card? Unless the card has been flipped, you won't see that exact card on eBay.

Without any concrete record of what another copy of, say a /15 UD Patch card would sell for, the next most typical response is to check for similar releases from previous years, or for the going rate of a similarly collected player. Still better, but what if you can't find recent prices for /15 UD Patch cards, or know who a player in the same "selling bracket" as Corey Perry would be? What if Perry gets hot all of the sudden and his cards moved "brackets"?

So in an effort to tackle some of these questions, back in November of '07 I attempted to create my own publicly available Short Reports database. It was quite the lofty goal, and while I at least had a viable framework in place, it was wrought with problems from the start.

It started originally as a pet project of mine where I had planned on inputting all the Beckett Hockey SR columns into the database. Unfortunately Beckett does not include the specific serial number, complete player listings (if multiple players are on a card), or even the card number. These were all pieces of information that I wanted, because I wanted them to be searchable fields. This meant that I had to do a lot of homework, mostly spending time toiling over checklists from UD or ITG. For older sets from Topps or Pacific, I had to resort to Beckett's MyCollection portion.

My database was housed in MySQL and was nothing fancy, and was in no way normalized, to use proper database parlance. The structure and random examples was as followed:

id - an auto_increment field
setname - "2005-06 Upper Deck The Cup"
card - "Original Sticks Gold"
player - "Bill Guerin, Mike Modano"
numbering - "8/10" (if exact serial number was not known, it had x/10)
notes - "Magenta" (referring to press plate color)
source - "scrub" (more on this later)
amount - "$450.00"
date - "2007-10-29" (the date of the actual sale, or the date of the Beckett magazine release)

The structure was the easy part. Even all the PHP pages I created to interface with the data were a breeze. The most time-consuming part was gathering the data, standardizing it for consistency (calling it "Upper Deck" and not "UD" all the time), and having to look up a lot of the missing data I referred to above.

The sources were another interesting part. I checked for the following:
-Beckett (from the monthly column or the online bonus listings)
-self (these were cards I purchased myself, almost exclusively for my Jagr collection)
-contribution (these were private sells people told me about, usually members from Hobby Insider)
-scrub

The "scrub" is where it gets interesting. We all shop on eBay. We all know some sellers who we see quite frequently. I tapped into that and starting checking feedback on sellers I knew of that dealt in high-end stuff. High-end oftentimes translated into a /24 or less card, and the mere presence of feedback would (in theory) mean the transaction was legitimate. Toward the end I had a list of approximately 60 eBay users, both buyers and sellers, whose feedback I checked.

I also had a number of saved searches that I ran, usually on a weekly basis. I created a new eBay account solely for tracking and would add these to my watchlist. Once done I would wait for feedback to be left then I would add the pertinent information to the database. Curious about some of the searches? Here you go. As you can probably guess, some were created when a product first hit:

• SPx (1,5,10,15)
• (BTP,"between the pipes") (emblem,number*)
• (lumber*,cut,titlist*,shield*,logo) -donruss -die -laser -clear -diamond -mcdonald* -team -opc -50 -"blue shield" -"steve shields" -"crease cut" -sticker* -399 -699 -25 -100
• cup (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24) -25 -199 -75 -249 -50
• cut auto* -die
• patch 15 -25 -50
• rookie material* (15,patch)
• significance -25 -50 -100
• (international,intl*) ice (gold,10,20)
• (spgu,sp) (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,15,20) -authentic -25 -100 -50 -999 -499 -spx -letter -base
• o canada (gold,emblem,number,patch)
• ultimate achiev*
• ult* (mto,made to order)
• by letter
  

There were others, but you get the gist.

Lastly, I maintained a text file of auction numbers that I just came across in my random searching. The idea was to go back on those and see if feedback was left. That text file contained somewhere around 450 item IDs from eBay when I called it quits.

So where did all this get me? In the few short months I compiled data and actively maintained my Short Reports database, I accounted for 4305 total cards whose combined selling amount totaled a staggering $587,863.47.

Wanna see for yourself? Go check it out:
Short Reports Database

Note that it is no longer being updated. I spent between 5 and 10 hours a week on just the data portion. Ultimately it would be great if someone could take it over, but it was quite time consuming. Overall I am extremely proud how much I got done with just the framework itself.

Anyone with the time, willingness, and patience to take over the project, just let me know!