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[Featured Thread] Collector's Corner Showcase, Volume 16: JoshHamilton

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AmishDave

Featured Contributor, Collector Showcase, Senior M
Sep 19, 2009
12,383
37
Ely, MN
I'm a huge fan of Will and his collecting style, as we are in the same style of collecting. That, and our memory for certain cards is impeccible. Back, FINALLY and ready to roll, ladies & gentleman, here's [MENTION=1888]JoshHamilton[/MENTION] 's Collector's Corner Showcase. At the very end, there are some STUNNING scans of cards in his collection. After that, I've linked the first 15 Volumes of the Collector's Corner Showcase, if you wanna go back and take a read.




1) When did you start collecting _______ and why do you collect ______ ?



In 1992, after I pulled the Marlins team logo card from a pack of Donruss. I didn’t really have a team before that. I rooted for the Cubs, since they were always on WGN, but my dad warned me that they’d never win World Series. I liked the Marlins team colors and the idea of cheering for a new team. It helped that they ended up with three players I really liked – Charles Johnson was their first draft pick, and I’d followed him since I read an article in Beckett Focus on Future Stars the year before. For some reason I really liked Nigel Wilson, who was the first pick in the Expansion Draft. And I was a huge Gary Sheffield fan when he played for the Padres. I was stoked when the Marlins traded for him. I also chose a new team because it allowed me to get in on the ground level. The problem with collecting the Cubs, or another team with a long history, is that vintage cards were too expensive. Going back and building a collection spanning 100+ years doesn’t fly on a kid’s budget


I grew up collecting because that’s what all the kids in my neighborhood did. We used to go look for golf balls in the woods and sell them to golfers every Saturday morning. That funded my card habit when I was too young to get a job. I currently collect because I never really stopped. Baseball cards remind me of my childhood and a more innocent time, before bills, mortgages, and taxes.


2) What was the turning point in your collecting ____ ? What put you over the edge and made you completely focus on ______ ?



There have been two distinct turning points. I started helping out at a card shop making $5 an hour in 1994. Before the internet and before I was old enough to buy from mail order dealers in Tuff Stuff, my collecting options were limited to 5000-count commons boxes at shops and trading with my friends. Working at the shop allowed me to trade with every collector who came in the store. Since the other employees also collected, they always set aside their Marlins cards for me. And frankly, I enjoyed it more back then. Buying pack after pack trying to find a 1994 Museum Collection Jeff Conine was a helluva lot more rewarding than hopping on ebay and clicking a BIN.


The second turning point involves Stanton. In 2010 I bought his Bowman Chrome Topps 100 Superfractor RC for $200 and it immediately became my favorite card. I finally owned a Super I was proud of (die in a fire, Greg Reynolds). It was my first high end Marlins 1/1 since I’d sold my Cabrera MLB logo a few years prior. In 2011, my ex dumped me and I spiraled into a deep depression. I ended up selling the card to pay for more booze and coke. I always regretted it, even though I got $500 for it. I never thought I’d see it again. That was the end of my attempt at a player collection. It wasn’t until 2013 that I bought another nice Stanton card. I bought his 2013 Topps Chrome Super for $175 in an attempt to do the rainbow. I ended up picking up a few other nice cards of his, but I was never really serious about collecting him…until December 2013. The Super I’d sold showed up on Ebay again at auction. I knew I had to win it, and I did. For $300. I technically ended up paying nothing for it over the span of 3 years


3) What has been the high point in collecting ______ ? The low point ?



The high point? Hmm. Two instances come to mind. In 2008, I went against everything I believed in and purchased a card from Burbank – the 1997 Finest Jeff Conine Gold Embossed Refractor. I HATED Burbank and I hated their overpriced inventory. I bit the bullet and paid $37.50 for it. Good thing I did, because I’ve seen one other example in the last 7 years. It went for $440. The other instance is being able to find all three 2014 Five Star Stanton 1/1’s. I initially bought the bat barrel right after the product was released, and hoped to find the MLB logo auto and the knob. I knew it was a longshot, but the logo came up for sale early this year, followed by the knob. I overpaid, but oh well.


The low point involves losing out on the 2010 Topps Chrome Stanton Super auto. I’ll go into greater detail when I answer your next question.



4) What deal did you have slip through the cracks, that you regret ? Why didn't it work out ?

So yeah, a few months ago the Super auto showed up on Ebay. I emailed the guy a few times and he told me he’d take $6500. No big deal, but it’d take a few weeks to get that kind of cash together. I listed a bunch of high end stuff on Ebay and raised more than $4k in a few days. I knew I’d have to list my SGC 92 OPC Gretzky rookie to come up with the rest. I’ve owned several over the years, including a pair of PSA 9’s; this was the nicest example out of all of them. I had no doubt it would cross to an 8.5 with PSA, and possibly a 9 if I cracked it out. PSA 8.5’s were selling for $5k, and I’d been planning on crossing it for awhile. I didn’t have the time so I immediately listed it for $2250. The BIN was hit within a few hours. I REALLY didn’t want to let it go, but it’s not every day that I get an opportunity to pick up a Super auto RC. After it was paid for, I went to make an offer….it wasn’t there. I looked in completed auctions, and there it was with the $8k BIN in green. I was furious. I emailed the seller and he said he took $6k because he didn’t think I was serious. *********. Remember how I said PSA 8.5 Gretzky’s were getting 5 grand, and it might cross to a 9? A 9 recently sold for $30000. THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! To add insult to proverbial injury, I was out both the Gretzky and the Stanton



5) What's your favorite piece / card in your collection ? Why ?

The 2010 Triple Threads Platinum patch/auto RC 1/1, mainly because of the hell I went through to acquire it. It showed up in December of 2014. I had to sell my Trout Blue Refractor to afford it. Sold it for $4000 or so and sent it overnight at my own expense so Paypal would release the hold on my cash. In typical USPS fashion, it did not arrive the next day. Or 3 days after that. The buyer rightfully filed a claim, which sent my PP balance to -$3850. Somewhere around 14 seconds after he filed the claim, and before I realized he had, I bought and paid for a $750 card…which charged my bank $4550.

Luckily it didn’t overdraft my account, that would have been another headache. Speaking of headaches….the Trout arrived a week after it was supposed to, and I finally got the hold released. I made our previously agreed upon $2600 offer for the Stanton. I told the guy I’d pay him directly through Paypal to save on Ebay fees, because what the hell could go wrong? A lot, apparently. I knew my PP address through Ebay was my PO box. I KNEW I’d previously deleted all of my old addresses. The next day, I camped out at the post office with both text and email alerts set up to let me know of delivery. At 2:21, my phone blew up. “Delivery attempted, no authorization required, left in mail box.” HUH?? There was no slip and no card in my PO box. And furthermore, I paid $50 for overnight delivery on a four-figure card, what the hell do they mean I didn’t need to sign for it?! I went to the counter at the post office to see if it was a mistake on their end. They looked up the tracking, and it was delivered to 12914 Jollyville Road at my old apartment. That I moved out of four years ago. And the ******* didn’t pay two extra bucks for signature confirmation.

I, uhh, realized I still had a copy of the mail key, so I uhh kind of went over there and checked the mail. It was not in there. Went and knocked on the door and no answer. I continued to go back for several days and get them to answer with no luck. I finally got pissed and put on a work shirt, pulled my hat down, knocked and said “MAINTENANCE.” That did the trick. A grizzled methhead looking trailer park trash lady opened the door. I kindly explained the situation, told her I knew it was delivered, and asked for it. She slammed the door in my face. I then called the police, they came and searched her apartment with no luck. Where the hell was it? It was never returned to the seller, I tried to file a claim and lost, and it almost turned me off collecting him again. I’d all but given up, but 3 months later I got an Ebay message from the seller saying it was returned to him on February 18[SUP]th[/SUP]. He sent it out to the proper address and I got it the next day. He didn’t pay for signature confirmation the second time either. Moron



6) What's your wife / significant other / family think of your obsession (or collecting) for ______ ?



She thinks I spend too much time playing with cards. Which is probably true, but at least I’m not out boozing and going to bars or playing poker


7) What's your white whale or just a card you can't seemingly track down or acquire ?



For Jeff Conine, it would technically be the 1996 Pinnacle Aficionado First Pitch Preview. I say “technically” because I own 3 of them. Or did, until I moved six months ago and they disappeared somewhere. I’ve looked through every box and they’re nowhere to be found. I’ll also add all three 1997 Flair Legacy Masterpiece 1/1’s. None have showed up as far as I know. For Stanton, it would be the 2013 Topps Tribute WBC American Flag patch. A flag is the last high-end logo I’ve yet to acquire. It’s been on Ebay for the past month. I asked the seller what he wanted, and by the time I got the funds together I made my offer about an hour before the auction ended. I guess he didn’t see it, because he never responded and never relisted it. I sent him a message last week but he never responded


8) Have you met the player you collect and what was the experience like ? (For set collectors, it'd be asking about meeting other set collector's of said set and having discussions with them).



Nope, and after reading Stanton’s twitter, I’m not sure I want to. He kinda sounds like a dingbat. I’m not sure if I’d be turned off by meeting him if he was an airhead. Even when I was a kid, I never saw athletes as heroes and was never really interested in meeting them. They’re just guys who are really talented at sports. Furthermore, if I met Stanton and told him I’ve spent thousands of dollars on little pictures of him, he’d probably be creeped out. I’ve never met Conine either, although I wrote to him when I was a kid and asked for his autograph. I got it back signed a few months later. To this day, it was the only time I’ve ever written to an athlete asking for his signature. I actually emailed him back and forth last year. I own twitter.com/jeffconine. I registered it not thinking it would be available. I found his contact info through the Marlins front office and offered it to him. He said thanks, but he doesn’t do twitter. Told him if he ever changed his mind, he’s welcome to have it.

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9) What is your biggest pet peeve about collecting ______ ?



Ebay sellers who won’t let go of the past and refuse to lower their prices. I also collect Vince Young. As you can imagine, his cards aren’t worth as much as they were several years ago. But that doesn’t stop Ebayers from listing $10 autos for $150. These are the same sellers who get their ******* in a bunch when you make a lowball offer that’s actually in line with real-world value. Sorry you lost your ass investing in a crappy quarterback at the height of his popularity, but your cards aren’t worth what they were in 2007. You can either cut your losses and get something out of them, or make no money and continue to relist them for the next 50 years. I partially blame Ebay and their zero listing fees for this annoying phenomenon. I know its not costing you a dime to relist your $50 card over and over, but after it goes unsold for the 143[SUP]rd[/SUP] time, how about you wisen up and lower the damn price? This is a marketplace, not a museum.


10) How have forums / eBay / COMC helped your collecting of _____ ? How have they hurt ?

Ebay has helped immensely. If not for Ebay, I probably would have lost interest in collecting long ago. While it takes away the satisfaction of finding a card you’ve been searching for for years, its nice to have nearly everything available for the right price. I just recently started using COMC, but I’ve found tons of Conines I needed and filled a ton of holes in my collection. I don’t really use forums for trading. FCB doesn’t really have an active trade forum, and BO is a cesspool of idiots I’d rather not converse with. I’ve had a lot of success picking up stuff from the 90’s collectors on here, and I appreciate every time I get a PM linking me to an auction I might like. I’ve found several rare cards from others here that I missed during my Ebay searches.




11) How much competition do you face in your collecting of _____ ? How often do you check forums / auction sites for your player ?


I don’t know anyone else who seriously collects Conine. If I’ve ever gotten in a bidding war, it was more likely with a set collector than a Conine collector. I’m not sure how many hardcore collectors Stanton has. I know I’ve bought a few out. Jmscoggin on Blowout has a pretty good collection, and I’ve bought a few from him. I don’t think he goes after the high end stuff though.



12) Any thoughts of ever giving up the collection ?


Nah. When I started seriously collecting again in 2013, I made sure that none of my card money ever comes out of my paycheck. I’ve had to sell off stuff in the past because I was haphazardly spending, but I’m done doing that. I might sell off a portion of my vintage stuff if I ever decide to buy a house, but my Marlins collection isn’t going anywhere.



13) How has the generosity of FCB'ers or other forum / site members helped your collection ? Elaborate.


I’ve gotten a bunch of freebies from guys like [MENTION=1759]magicpapa[/MENTION]. I’ve bought a ton of 90’s stuff from various members. And as I already said, I’ve picked up a ton of rare Stanton's from people messaging me. The Man Cave guys have also helped me over the years. [MENTION=2231]Nate Colbert 17[/MENTION] recently sent me some awesome vintage SGC 96’s to help me with my type set. I know I’m forgetting a TON, but I drink too much beer to remember everything and everyone. I do appreciate everyone, mentioned and unmentioned, who have helped me build a fun collection.


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RStadlerASU22

Active member
Jan 2, 2013
8,881
11
Good stuff Will. Nice read and you sure have had some crazy buy/sell/delivery stories. Glad you've got the life turned around and are enjoying the hobby.


Ryan
 

ASTROBURN

Active member
Jun 23, 2011
4,576
0
Santa Cruz, CA
Interesting read. I cringe at the prices of Bagwells, and bout crapped myself hearing the prices you have paid for your collection.

i was wondering though, how your screen name is Josh Hamilton, yet i saw no mention of collecting Josh Hamilton?
 

fordman

Well-known member
Feb 22, 2013
3,190
32
Ohio
Great questions and answers for a great read.

Fordman

Sell me your Jay Bruce cards!
 

Gwynn545

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2008
5,526
44
North Seattle
Great stuff! I love these! I always find a time when I can sit and really read these! Not sure why I love reading about other player collectors, but I do. The things you collect, [MENTION=1888]JoshHamilton[/MENTION], is amazing! You have some great cards and some awesome stories! Congrats on getting things turned around!
 

EricTownsend88

New member
Jun 13, 2014
48
0
Great and interesting read. And awesome collection! I hope you pulled yourself out of that depression and are not wasting baseball card money on those Josh Hamilton like habits anymore! :)
 

AmishDave

Featured Contributor, Collector Showcase, Senior M
Sep 19, 2009
12,383
37
Ely, MN
And, if anyone has any suggestions or folks they'd like to see get interviewed, please feel free to PM me or tag them in this thread !
 

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