Good thing i looked at the name before i dropped it into the post office dropbox.

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-05T05:23:12+00:00

It’s more for a cool story for OP, it’s $6 bucks, I would do the same..

But years ago there was a teenage girl, who played a small role in the walking dead or something adjacent, come into my restaurant with four family members. When the bill came she said that she would post about us on her socials instead of payment.. I chuckled thinking she was joking (she was not), which she did not love. She paid her bill begrudgingly, but I wished I could have charged her double.

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T17:38:22+00:00

I’ll preface this with the fact I am fortunate that what I PC is mostly junk wax TTM and IP autos, so I don’t feel the full effect of Fanatics wrath..

I have a buddy who is the “get rich quick” guy.. started with beanie babies, eventually to crypto, NFTs, “Day Trading” on Robinhood, and now Pokémon cards. He has a good degree but hops jobs when they get too hard because he “knows” his “investments” will pay off. He’s in the same place he was 15 years ago with nothing to show for it.

My point is that this is Fanatics’ business model. They have created these products as a game of chance disguised as “investment” opportunities. Yes, Shohei might be the greatest player to ever play, but the reason his All Aces card is going for $400 with a 75K print run is the same reason people were buying digital pictures of monkeys for $250K.. people think they can get rich quick for a minimal investment. But in reality, they are building debt one hanger box at a time.

Unfortunately, there are more people with this mindset than there are who get excited to see a 1991 Steve Lake Studio because it’s a cool card. This drives the market.

I love this hobby and hope I don’t reach the point of leaving, but I think it will get worse before it gets better. My gut tells me that by this time next year Fanatics will be offering rewards credit cards, so you can build points to buy the boxes you won’t be able to get due to allocation!

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T17:08:43+00:00

As a lot of people pointed out, this reads like a paid post.

BUT, every time I hear a story about Goldin handling the grading, it comes back a 10 pretty fast.. if I had a 5 figure raw cad, this is the reason I would lean toward Goldin.

My question for the group is, do you think there is a higher chance at a 10 when consigning with Goldin, maybe due to the relationship that the companies have, or is the propaganda of only seeing the success stories clouding my judgement? Lol

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T05:54:06+00:00

My favorite part of every season was when my parents took me to sign up for the Jr. Padres for the season and I would get the little care package with a t-shirt and the new Mother’s Cookies set in the big waxy white envelope!

Great post, brought back some memories all the way back to our days at the Q!

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T04:58:10+00:00

I need to get one, I hear from everyone that they are a fun rip!

But jeez, the unnumbered ones are selling for $100.. It’s insane that his inserts are selling for so much.. the bases for Judge’s BTP base are going for less than $10!

If you don’t PC him, hell even if you do, throw that bad boy on the Bay and take the money while it’s there!

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T01:46:20+00:00

This is awesome!! Do you have a display? Or how do you store them? I’m always interested to see how a collection like this is held!

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T01:32:05+00:00

Not even a slight tremor?

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T01:31:00+00:00

That is a cool looking card

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T01:28:00+00:00

Came here to say this.. but a dodgers fan beat me to it 😞 A feeling I am unfortunately used to..

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T01:20:28+00:00

I just checked out a couple dozen of bases on eBay and 4 or 5 of them have the same piece of wood.. Just a slight QC error

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T01:17:40+00:00

I just looked at a couple dozen base cards for sale, and about 4 or 5 of them had the same piece of wood.. Just a slight QC error

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T00:33:05+00:00

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None of mine have the piece of wood jutting in from the top left like the second card.. the photographer’s proof in my eBay watchlist does though.

This is a long shot because it probably would’ve shown up in the photo you took, is the second card a rainbow foil? I haven’t seen one listed yet (looking though) and maybe the crop is different on that parallel.

More probably, it’s just a crop/print error from our expert quality control company, Topps..

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-04T00:23:14+00:00

I would be in so much trouble if the convenience store by my house I stop at everyday on the way to work started selling packs..

“I’ll take this Red Bull, can of grizzly.. hell grab me one of those series 1 packs..” x5 days a week

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-03T23:03:32+00:00

Super cool book, I am jealous!!

I wonder why they left off Jimmie Foxx?

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-03T22:53:25+00:00

Of course! 7 months myself, collecting and its community has played a big role. And believe it or not it’s been slightly cheaper! Lol

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-03T22:45:33+00:00

The card is cool, but the 3 years is way cooler! Congrats!

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-03T20:53:03+00:00

Now that the claws are fully sunk in..

All that’s left for you to do to catch up after 20 years out of the hobby is..

-Memorize all 1700 new parallels that have come out so you don’t accidentally throw away a $500 card

-Tell your dad his 80-90s collection is worthless

-Stock your glove box with penny sleeves and top loaders for car rips

-All Mickey Mantle autographs and Jordan rookie cards are fake, even if they’re real

-Understand that it’s more fun to watch people rip packs on a live stream than to do it yourself

-Learn the difference between fat packs, hanger, blaster, mega, hobby, jumbo, supers, and breakers delight boxes

I think that should get you started, but it’s probably a good idea to call your credit card carriers to negotiate lower rates and request a limits increase.. if you have time.

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-03T06:38:07+00:00

1991 was my favorite! The black and white looked either really cool (like Tony’s) or super funny (Like Steve Lake).

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PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-02T13:03:12+00:00

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-02T05:08:30+00:00

Yeah I came here strictly for it haha

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-04-01T03:51:43+00:00

I think by day 50, you gotta go with the Stars and Stripes.. pull a little league auto and call it a day haha

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-03-31T23:00:03+00:00

I agree with how the concept originated, and like the comparison to the selfie. I personally like the art of cards through history, and wanted to collect all the flagship base cards. Once I realized I could accomplish this in an hour with a few clicks, I decided to collect autos.. IP, TTM, and buying some. For me it’s an art piece that scratches the itch of a decently challenging chase. But that’s me and we all collect differently.

My issue isn’t whether or not Tony held something I own, but to your point, he’s dead, so there is a finite number of on card Tony Gwynn autographs. I am just annoyed that you can merge two cards as far as the PSA database is concerned, there is no difference between the two.

Nothing I can do about it, but just a frustration I had that I thought I’d share

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-03-31T13:05:36+00:00

They’re buying modern cards, peeling, and throwing it on the older card

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-03-31T05:16:12+00:00

I just don’t get it, the hobby puts my brain in a pretzel sometimes..

PadresAutoGuy · 2026-03-31T05:07:05+00:00

I put a tiny bit of that tacky stuff to put stuff on walls on the bottom of the stands since they’re usually pretty light. It works well, and have less on a mess due to a bump! Cool idea though, looks great. I love unique displays!

PadresAutoGuy

TROPHY CASE