The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: MikeK on December 26, 2007, 04:08:08 PM
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Donruss is introducing a set of trading cards called "Americana", which contains primarily TV and movie stars, in early January. Bob Eubanks, Peter Marshall, Wink Martindale, and Chuck Woolery will have cards in the set. Each of the four will have signed cards in the set--Eubanks has 50 "Private Signings" cards, Marshall has 200, Wink 95, and Woolery 100. Eubanks, Martindale, and Woolery will each have 250 "Stars Material" cards, which will feature a swatch of celebrity-owned and worn apparel. Eubanks and Wink will have 100 "Stars Signature Material" cards, which is a signed version of the "Stars Material" cards, while Wink will have 150 "Stars Signature Material" cards. The suggested retail price per pack of 5 cards is $40. More information about Donruss Americana can be found here (http://\"http://www.donruss.com/pis/preview.cfm?product_id=142&product_configuration_id=324\").
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173167\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 01:08 PM\']
The suggested retail price per pack of 5 cards is $40.
[/quote]
*cough*
Man, am I glad I'm out of the collecting hobby. And I thought M:TG was a money-sucker.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173167\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 03:08 PM\']
The suggested retail price per pack of 5 cards is $40. [/quote]
Please tell me that's a typo.
/Remembers getting three packs of Donruss for a dollar at the grocery store
//Plus there were 15 cards in a pack
///*And* a Warren Spahn puzzle piece
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[quote name=\'Sodboy13\' post=\'173172\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 02:00 PM\']
Please tell me that's a typo.[/quote]
Frighteningly, I don't think it is.
/the Ultimate Warrior?
//the Ultimate Friggin' Warrior?
///they would have to pay ME $40 to buy a pack of cards with a signed Ultimate Friggin' Warrior in it
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[quote name=\'Sodboy13\' post=\'173172\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 05:00 PM\']
[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173167\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 03:08 PM\']
The suggested retail price per pack of 5 cards is $40. [/quote]
Please tell me that's a typo.
[/quote]
If not, then this will be one set of trading cards that won't be put into the bike spokes (for a simulated "motor" sound).
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173167\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 04:08 PM\']
Donruss is introducing a set of trading cards called "Americana", which contains primarily TV and movie stars, in early January. Bob Eubanks, Peter Marshall, Wink Martindale, and Chuck Woolery will have cards in the set. Each of the four will have signed cards in the set--Eubanks has 50 "Private Signings" cards, Marshall has 200, Wink 95, and Woolery 100. Eubanks, Martindale, and Woolery will each have 250 "Stars Material" cards, which will feature a swatch of celebrity-owned and worn apparel. Eubanks and Wink will have 100 "Stars Signature Material" cards, which is a signed version of the "Stars Material" cards, while Wink will have 150 "Stars Signature Material" cards. The suggested retail price per pack of 5 cards is $40. More information about Donruss Americana can be found here (http://\"http://www.donruss.com/pis/preview.cfm?product_id=142&product_configuration_id=324\").
[/quote]
You missed one- Ed McMahon has a card too....
but $40 for 5 cards? You'd think they had each card hand painted by a blind Tibetian monk for that price....
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While at the local
money pit card shop tonight, I asked the owner if he's buying Americana. He said he is. We both agreed that it will either be a phenomenal set or a total bomb. Each 4-pack box will have at least one autographed card, and each pack will have either a material swatch card or an autograph.
The Americana series is similar to my favorite set this year--Playoff Absolute Memorabilia (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV4H0X4ALH&nPar=1\"), also with 4 packs per box, a MSRP of $40/pack, at least one autograph per box, and either an autograph or swatch card per pack. The huge difference is collectors go friggin' bonkers for multi-colored swatches from the patches on jerseys. I don't think anybody will do backflips over pulling an 8-color plaid swatch from one of Martindale's suit jackets circa 1974.
weaklink75: I saw that Ed McMahon's in the set. I opted not to include him since he's not most well-known for game shows. The same goes with William Shatner.
/Shatner-owned toupee cards, anyone?
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Okay, I know that Mike's into card collecting, I even watched one of his Youtube videos of him cracking open a box of the things. (Which was oddly entertaining, and I mean that as a complement. :))
But still...FORTY BUCKS for FIVE FRIGGIN' CARDS?
Man. I am seriously frightened that there is a market for this. :)
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173217\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 11:08 PM\']But still...FORTY BUCKS for FIVE FRIGGIN' CARDS?[/quote]
4 words for you: Tip (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV770WU0G2&nPar=1\") of (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV450VD4UF&nPar=1\") the (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV5O10VOX6&nPar=1\") iceberg (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV5J10P0Q4&nPar=1\"). The last link is for an item which is well over $300 for 7 cards. I can't tell you about cards in other sports since 99% of my cards are football cards.
An article in this month's Beckett Football Magazine said that an average pack of an Upper Deck product for the 2007 football season will be over $80, and the 2008 products should exceed $120. Not a box. One single pack. And you don't even get a stick of gum in the pack for that price. It's not the buck a pack hobby it was even a decade ago.
ObGS: A few years ago, TPiR offered unopened boxes of Fleer baseball cards on multiple occasions, just before Fleer was purchased by Donruss.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173234\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 10:25 PM\']
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173217\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 11:08 PM\']But still...FORTY BUCKS for FIVE FRIGGIN' CARDS?[/quote]
4 words for you: Tip (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV770WU0G2&nPar=1\") of (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV450VD4UF&nPar=1\") the (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV5O10VOX6&nPar=1\") iceberg (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV5J10P0Q4&nPar=1\").[/quote]
Four words for YOU, sir: no way in hell. :D
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173234\' date=\'Dec 27 2007, 01:25 AM\']
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173217\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 11:08 PM\']But still...FORTY BUCKS for FIVE FRIGGIN' CARDS?[/quote]
4 words for you: Tip (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV770WU0G2&nPar=1\") of (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV450VD4UF&nPar=1\") the (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV5O10VOX6&nPar=1\") iceberg (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV5J10P0Q4&nPar=1\"). The last link is for an item which is well over $300 for 7 cards. I can't tell you about cards in other sports since 99% of my cards are football cards.
An article in this month's Beckett Football Magazine said that an average pack of an Upper Deck product for the 2007 football season will be over $80, and the 2008 products should exceed $120. Not a box. One single pack. And you don't even get a stick of gum in the pack for that price. It's not the buck a pack hobby it was even a decade ago.
ObGS: A few years ago, TPiR offered unopened boxes of Fleer baseball cards on multiple occasions, just before Fleer was purchased by Donruss.
[/quote]
How about $200 for TWO baseball cards.... (http://\"http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/item.das?sku=BV6G0U72ER&nPar=1#image\") Holy Smokes...
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What the hell? One card does not a pack make, and two packs do not a box make. You're paying for cardboard and foil at this point. Ah well, whatever the market will bear, I guess.
/And this certainly explains why my Griffey rookie cards are worth less now than when I got them in '89
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I saw this and I was surprised just how much the bottom had fallen out of the trading card market. $40 for five cards...if I'm gonna pay $40 for a pack of five trading cards, as far as I'm concerned they'd better be of a rare type that has a good collectibility factor...
Probably won't sell much of these.
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[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'173263\' date=\'Dec 27 2007, 11:46 AM\']
as far as I'm concerned they'd better be of a rare type that has a good collectibility factor...[/quote]
And you wonder why the bottom dropped out of the market?
If I'm gonna pay $40 for a pack of five cards, they'd better be delivered to my door by Heather Davis wearing a negligee and carrying a small pitcher of gimlets.
/gotta keep it topical
//Lon can even watch if he wants
///"Wedding day raiyain. A prepaid ride. Ignored good advice. The above post."
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Americana's cards went live a day early, it appears. A few have popped up on eBay. These are not my auctions. I'm linking to them so you can see what the cards look like.
Peter Marshall (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Donruss-Americana-Peter-Marshall-Proof-250_W0QQitemZ160195366352QQihZ006QQcategoryZ149905QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\") (top right card)
Wink and Chuck Woolery (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/2007-Americana-WAYNE-NEWTON-CHUCK-WOOLERY-PROOF-LOT-250_W0QQitemZ290195682935QQihZ019QQcategoryZ217QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\") (top left and bottom right, respectively)
Bob Eubanks shirt card (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/BOB-EUBANKS-2007-DONRUSS-AMERICANA-SHIRT-12-SPS-D_W0QQitemZ280189021540QQihZ018QQcategoryZ149910QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\"); the base card looks exactly the same
Wink Martindale autographed card (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/Wink-Martindale-Donruss-Americana-Auto-49-95_W0QQitemZ110210806581QQihZ001QQcategoryZ217QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\"). I'm not a fan of sticker autographs but that's the way the hobby has gone over the past 5 years.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173719\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:29 PM\']
Bob Eubanks shirt card (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/BOB-EUBANKS-2007-DONRUSS-AMERICANA-SHIRT-12-SPS-D_W0QQitemZ280189021540QQihZ018QQcategoryZ149910QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\"); the base card looks exactly the same
[/quote]
Don't know why, but I got a slight chuckle out of the placement of that gold star.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'173720\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:32 PM\']
[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173719\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:29 PM\']
Bob Eubanks shirt card (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/BOB-EUBANKS-2007-DONRUSS-AMERICANA-SHIRT-12-SPS-D_W0QQitemZ280189021540QQihZ018QQcategoryZ149910QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\"); the base card looks exactly the same
[/quote]
Don't know why, but I got a slight chuckle out of the placement of that gold star.
[/quote]
You win again. You've been on quite the hot streak in 2008.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173722\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 03:36 PM\']
[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'173720\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:32 PM\']
[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173719\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:29 PM\']
Bob Eubanks shirt card (http://\"http://cgi.ebay.com/BOB-EUBANKS-2007-DONRUSS-AMERICANA-SHIRT-12-SPS-D_W0QQitemZ280189021540QQihZ018QQcategoryZ149910QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\"); the base card looks exactly the same
[/quote]
Don't know why, but I got a slight chuckle out of the placement of that gold star.
[/quote]
You win again. You've been on quite the hot streak in 2008.
[/quote]
I was gonna say. That couldn't have been placed more poorly. :)
So at forty bones a pack, what the hell with the starting price being so low?
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173725\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:55 PM\']So at forty bones a pack, what the hell with the starting price being so low?[/quote]
Well, the ones with the low starting prices have no autographs. So, you know, they're worthless.
. . . really? Autographed stickers? Well, it's Donruss' money printing press--who I am to question.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173725\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:55 PM\']So at forty bones a pack, what the hell with the starting price being so low?[/quote]
Two reasons...
1. eBay fees. Starting at 99 cents is less expensive than starting at $1.00. I haven't sold anything on eBay in some time. The next tier for starting fees is $1 to $9.99, I believe.
2. The autograph is generally the prize pull of most cards nowadays, unless it's for a celebrity/player who is very popular and/or dead. Swatch cards litter the hobby nowadays. For every 10 in my collection, 1 might have some value. These celebrity cards might carry value because Bob Eubanks shirt swatches (likely) won't end up in every product Donruss makes in 2008 and beyond. The only other set I recall having swatches of celebrity apparel was Topps' American Pie series, which had series in 2001 and 2002, and there's probably a very good reason American Pie didn't see a 2003 series. What it is, I don't know. I never touched that product.
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[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'173729\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 07:25 PM\']. . . really? Autographed stickers? Well, it's Donruss' money printing press--who I am to question.[/quote]
It's Topps too, and Upper Deck.
It's easier for a person to sign hundreds or thousands of the card company's holographic stickers months before the product is made and apply those stickers to the cards than it is to print the cards first, ship the person x number of cards, have the person sign all the cards, and send them back to the company. Even on the $250+ packs of cards, the autographs are on stickers.
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("Who I am to question"? I mangling syntax am, apparently.)
Oh, I get that it's easier. I'm marveling at (what I'm assuming is) the collective willingness of those who collect such things as these to not rise up in anger and march to the UpperDonTopps offices with pitchforks.
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[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'173737\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 08:15 PM\']("Who I am to question"? I mangling syntax am, apparently.)
Oh, I get that it's easier. I'm marveling at (what I'm assuming is) the collective willingness of those who collect such things as these to not rise up in anger and march to the UpperDonTopps offices with pitchforks.[/quote]
Upper Deck doesn't give two tin ones and there were rumblings in the past few months that Topps was going to be bought by Upper Deck. UD's customer service skills are lackluster and quite shady.
This is hardly a new issue. Sticker autographs have been around for at least 7 years; I have 13 sticker autograph cards from a 2001 set containing rookies from that year's draft.
/Traded away a single dogkiller (Michael Vick) autograph for those 13 cards
//Came away with the better end of that negotiation
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Dude. I get that the companies don't care. My amazement rests solely on the continued purchasing of said items in quantities sufficient to support a business.
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M'bad. Carry on...
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So what yer saying is that people are paying $40 bones solely for the promise of a "premium" card, and the rest are effectively worthless?
Furthermore, if I *really* wanted a Peter Marshall trading card, and didn't care about it being autographed or having a microscopic swatch of a plaid suit in it or any of that happy crappy, I could get one for a song because in the eyes of collectors it's "worthless"?
Man, I'm with Robert. Good on people if it makes them happy, but if there was a bigger example of "vote with your wallet", I don't think I've seen it. Maybe I'll run through my 1989 Score set again, just to remember when baseball cards were still cool...
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I remember when the '87 Fleer baseball cards came out and I thought people were nuts to be paying $2 a pack after dealer markup.
I'm glad I stopped when it was still reasonable too.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173746\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 09:55 PM\']So what yer saying is that people are paying $40 bones solely for the promise of a "premium" card, and the rest are effectively worthless?[/quote]
Pretty much. There is one fabric or autograph card per pack, and one other numbered card, whether it is a parallel card (in the case of Americana, the proofs) or a non-auto/swatch card from one of the subsets. The other two cards in the pack are regular base cards. Will the non-autograph and non-swatch cards command big value? No. A great parallel/subset card could have a book value of $50, while the base cards will have a value of $2 to $5 apiece.
Getting something guaranteed for $40 is a better deal than the $20 packs of cards where you only have a 2/3 chance of pulling something worthwhile...
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173760\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 11:02 PM\']Getting something guaranteed for $40 is a better deal than the $20 packs of cards where you only have a 2/3 chance of pulling something worthwhile...[/quote]
Math senses . . . tingling . . .
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[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'173762\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 11:09 PM\']
[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173760\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 11:02 PM\']Getting something guaranteed for $40 is a better deal than the $20 packs of cards where you only have a 2/3 chance of pulling something worthwhile...[/quote]
Math senses . . . tingling . . .
[/quote]
Ointments can cure that.
The $40 product I've mentioned is an overall better product and with a premium card in each pack. The $20/pack stuff is an overall worse product, and with a 1 in 3 chance at getting only 8 base cards with near no value. I'd take the sure thing since it's a better product which sells better on the secondary markets, specifically online and at sportscard shows.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173722\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 06:36 PM\']
You win again. You've been on quite the hot streak in 2008.
[/quote]
A'thankyew, sir. :-)
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'173763\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 08:22 PM\']
The $40 product I've mentioned is an overall better product and with a premium card in each pack. The $20/pack stuff is an overall worse product, and with a 1 in 3 chance at getting only 8 base cards with near no value. I'd take the sure thing since it's a better product which sells better on the secondary markets, specifically online and at sportscard shows.
[/quote]
(The shouting in the following is merely for emphasis. No slight against Mike is intended. At all. I mean it.)
I think the thing that people are continuing to be boggled by (certainly I am) is that you don't seem to be looking askance at the concept of TWENTY BUCKS FOR A SINGLE PACK OF FREAKIN' TRADING CARDS!!
I know it's a hobby you love. I'm glad you love it. I enjoy reading your writings about it. But gawd, man, I thought three bucks for a Magic booster was a little spendy. I just don't understand how you can discuss $40 and $20 packs of 5 trading cards (fer God's sake, even the $2 Magic mini-boosters had 8) and not realize that something is very very VERY wrong with that! :)
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'173746\' date=\'Jan 3 2008, 08:55 PM\']
Maybe I'll run through my 1989 Score set again, just to remember when baseball cards were still cool...
[/quote]
Hopefully, you also held on to the magic-motion "This Year In Baseball" cards. That's the stuff right there.
/and Fleer's stickers
//and Donruss' puzzle pieces
///and Upper Deck's hologram logos
///Topps' gum... not so much.