Sunday, February 22, 2015

Overproduction Era Group "Trade" - who's with me?

So, here's an idea.

After looking at several want lists, it seems like a lot of bloggers had a little hiatus in collecting in the mid to late 1990s.

One thing that a lot of people are doing with new releases now are Group Breaks, which seem to reduce the risk of getting cards you don't want and saving everybody some money in the process.

How about a Group Break of some older boxes? The years I would be looking at would be 1995 - 2005.

But here's the catch - I don't really want people's money... I want cards! So, instead of a group break in the traditional sense, you can join by just making a comment or sending me an e-mail. Once the break happens, I will sort the cards by team (including any awesome amazing 90s inserts). I'll send you the cards, and then "payment" would just be a regular trade of cards from you that are either on my wantlists or from other sets in the 1995-2005 era. So in essence, this would be a Group "Trade."

I've mentioned a couple times that I have pretty much nothing in that span of time, so I figure this is a way for me to beef up that inventory.

If there is some interest in the comments below (feel free to recommend specific brands/years/sets), I'll move on to the next step of listing which boxes I will be putting up for a group break trade.


Also, being 100% honest, I've never done a Break before, so advice on how to run that would be great, too!

Oh, edited to add: I will be taking the Twins for sure on these breaks, and any unclaimed teams too.

12 comments:

  1. I'm in, I will claim the Braves. My collection is really weak between 2002-2009, so I am up for just about anything. Love the three boxes you have shown above too! Some people do "breaks" live on some web site or another. I can't forsee why anyone would complain that you just bust open the packs and send the cards to whoever had claimed them in advance of the break. Afterall, there is no money involved, just some return hits for your want list. I love that idea, though about that my self. But procrastinated due to the potential shipping costs. Either way you go, you would need to put together a list of available teams. Some of the unpopular teams may need put together 2 or 3 at a time, so they get claimed, or you can just keep any unclaimed looking forward to this.

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    1. "thought about it" You could also just ask for shipping, or like $6.00 to cover it. That way you aren't digging in to your pocket.

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    2. Yeah, I think I would be ok with a few teams going unclaimed - more cards for me!
      With the money thing, I think I will just ask that folks try to factor in shipping as part of their trade return. Like, if they feel like they received $10 worth of cards, they send back what feels to them like $13 or $14 worth back in trade... Again, that means different things to different people, but I'm fine with using the honor system to trade with everyone.

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  2. I'd definitely be in for the Red Sox! Great idea.

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    1. Cool, thanks - I think this will come together slowly over the next couple weeks, My guess is Mid-March or so is when I would be getting the boxes in the mail from wherever and doing the actual break.
      It will be fun to see how it all works!

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  3. I love this idea! I'm in for the Yankees. If you haven't finalized the boxes you plan to break, I am partial to a lot of the 2000-2003 Fleer issues or any of the Stadium Club issues from those years. If you're looking for a little higher end to mix things up, you've got Greats of the Game. I've gotta hand it to you, I've thought about doing a break(with no specific plan), but was worried about the financial layout(if it didn't fill) and being such a newbie I was worried about potential participation. Way to take the leap!

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    1. Right on, thanks!
      I'll be making a list of maybe 10 options and then do an informal poll to see if there are preferences to whittle it down to 3 to 5 boxes.
      If it's really popular, I might do another one with all higher end boxes. In that case, I might introduce some money into the equation, just to make back some of the investment....

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  4. Replies
    1. Awesome - I'm leaning towards yes at this point - I think even if teams go unclaimed I'm winning because my goal is to increase the number of cards in my collection from that era, either from buying them outright or in trade...

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  5. Replies
    1. Great - the Yankees were already claimed, do you have another team you'd like to get in trade?

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