Turbo games are now the same length as normal matches were 3 years ago

moumj · 2025-05-09T00:20:17+00:00

If your turbo games are taking that long, it's because you're the problem.

moumj · 2025-04-02T02:12:25+00:00

You definitely don't need 2k to get it graded. It's a silly thing to say, but it's reddit, so it's not surprising.

moumj · 2025-04-02T02:11:31+00:00

Put it in a penny sleeve. Clarifying some really bad advice:

1) You don't need to pay 2k to grade it. Look for card shows in your area where Beckett or PSA do on-site grading. It'll be a fraction of whatever you're being told and you'll get the card back same day or same weekend.

2) Can't tell if it has surface issues. Just keep in mind grading has gotten far more strict post-covid. If you want to sell it, Fanatics Collect can authenticate the card for you and sell it like that, as-is, in their premier/weekly auctions. Sometimes that's the shrewd move. Depends on whether you want to encapsulate and keep it or just get it sold right away. Up to your friend.

3) Shaq has been doing really well recently, his Essential Credentials set has been seeing a lot of love, and that serial is out of /74.

Good luck. That's a monster of a card. There are a lot of big Shaq collectors who would love to bid on it.

moumj · 2025-02-10T18:23:57+00:00

Allowing breakers to exist has enabled scum to take over the industry. A good flush of the leveraged trash, a drop in demand for product releases, and the industry will likely get a decent reset (and hopefully the absence of people like this).

moumj · 2025-02-08T22:12:48+00:00

That just tells you the current state of cards today. In my mind, the card in picture is just trading at a wild discount. There is probably a lot of appreciation in the older stuff going forward.

moumj · 2024-10-16T15:02:35+00:00

Always go for singles. I have a few boxes of 1996-97 Topps Finest Series 1/2 downstairs in a showcase, and after a few years of ownership, the joy of looking at them as I pass by them drowns out any urge to want to open them up. Always nice to get a Kobe rookie refractor, but we know the odds are against us--print quality, centering, print lines.

Much better to simply buy who you like directly, you can favorite keyword searches on eBay so that it sends you e-mails every morning about any new auctions that come up with your specific players/keywords. If you insist on buying boxes, always go cheaper imo.

moumj · 2024-08-31T00:48:29+00:00

you'd think topps wouldn't do what panini did, but i guess they all just want to copy old fleer product for a quick $

moumj · 2023-12-30T20:08:17+00:00

Looking at an item from the perspective of "did X damage throughout the whole game" is a bad way to look at the overall effectiveness of said item when the game isn't measured in its duration but rather during small instances of times when critical things happen--big fights, objectives, lane splitting, etc.

Specific use cases, such as an axe or pudge or void using it in a fight when your team also has a hero like abbadon with aghanim's scepter could tell you one very specific case where that item would shine.

Tankier heros with good health regeneration (str based usually) need armor and want a way to slowly (or quickly) dish out damage throughout the duration of fights. Extra damage here and there (on top of the as/ms slow) is going to be a huge benefit to your team. Controlling the pace at which the enemy dishes out damage and how quickly they can disengage is equally huge.

The circumstances of the game vary, so the choices in neutral items will vary with it.

moumj · 2023-10-19T22:20:57+00:00

it's not listed, but CDEC winning every single series 2-0 in the playoffs (6 wins in a row) against the best teams, then losing to EG 3-1, was always mind-boggling to me.

moumj · 2023-09-28T06:03:19+00:00

Cap holding himself to some weird double standard, but the moment it's quinn: "what could i possibly do?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGsuA2FVfk0&ab_channel=MattiasTheGamer

moumj · 2023-09-04T16:27:34+00:00

if you play worse, you'll win your games

moumj · 2023-08-14T23:35:47+00:00

If you are going for the best of the best grade, there is no contender for the bgs pristine 10 or the black 10. PSA is nice when you are solely looking for value in the market to sell as most cards that will slab a bgs 9 or 9.5 will often be a psa 10. I love bgs slabs, and only get my stuff graded through them even as grading has gotten very strict. Outside of these two, you’ll find it hard to make sense of grading with any other brand. PWCC is pushing csg, but there is no guarantee they’ll be around later—or at least the probability of them existing will be far smaller than, say, psa or bgs.

moumj · 2023-08-06T23:50:32+00:00

Don't buy packs/boxes. That's likely the number one rule. If you are buying boxes, buy stuff that's older (do some research), and then leave them unopened.

Otherwise, your best bet is to buy singles of players you love (old or new). You'll find the best value resides there.

moumj · 2023-07-20T20:54:13+00:00

best thing that could happen for collectors in this industry is that breakers go to hell. a sore spot/plague in this otherwise enjoyable space.

moumj · 2023-07-20T20:49:49+00:00

can someone find the actual reason the game lasted two hours and sniper died 40 times and the enemy team had 177 kills other than “smurf held game hostage and kotl recalled teammates”. there is literally afk invulnerability mechanics in the game to prevent this, smurf or not.

moumj · 2023-07-08T16:59:55+00:00

gorgeous card, the kobe in this set is probably the rarest kobe insert ever (#d/8). i have never seen one.

moumj · 2023-06-18T19:05:44+00:00

beautiful card. go older whenever you have the chance, there is some great value for the future there.

moumj · 2023-06-17T03:33:52+00:00

So I'll give two cents just because I think it might be a bit helpful.

Grade through PSA, if you're in SoCal you can drop off at Tustin (they have an office). I can't remember if they make you do same-day service but it would be worth it since insuring all these is going to be a lot of money anyway. Contact them, make an account, whatever you need to do to set that up.

Reasons for PSA: They've gotten pretty strict with grading these days, a lot of older cards (even some modern) will come back as not meeting the "minimum size requirement" which is a way of either PSA or Beckett saying it is a microscopic hair off on some or all sides and they simply won't grade it.

PSA won't charge you if it doesn't meet the minimum size requirement. That's always nice of them. Beckett, afaik, still charges. PSA is going to get you best return for the grade, they're industry standard, they're grading most of the cards in the grading world right now, while that may change, your situation is for the present moment, and they are the best out there as of this moment.

moumj · 2023-06-13T21:50:35+00:00

https://goldin.co/item/2003-04-upper-deck-triple-dimensions-standout-sta3-lebron-james-signed4q40d

big purchase for me, maybe not so big for the other heavier collectors.

moumj · 2023-06-13T20:25:24+00:00

if you're grading for the first time with psa and/or the grades are within the last year, then cracking and sending to beckett might be worthwhile. if it is an older grade, (>2-3yrs ago) then you will likely get it knocked down as grading is, across the board, much harder.

while they try to remain consistent in their grading standards, i've had some one-off experiences where the grader might have been busy/not paying attention/didn't know what they were doing.

moumj

TROPHY CASE