- Thread starter
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- Aug 7, 2008
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This is a continuation of a thread I started over on the BMB.
We all have asked these questions at one time so I'm starting a reference page for the commonly asked questions. These questions are to answer as many non-subjective questions as possible. I'll start putting questions up that I have seen asked multiple times. If you have any additions you'd like to see/make, post them here.
__QUESTIONS__
Are O Pee Chee (OPC) and Topps the same?
Can you show me the 2000 Pacific Prism Variations?
How can I tell a card is glossy?
How can I tell what gray stock vs white stock is?
How do I put pictures in my posts or in my signature?
How many printing plates of a card exists?
What are common places to buy cards online?
What companies grade cards?
What is the best way to ship cards?
What is the difference between Topps and Topps Tiffany?
What is the difference between on-card autographs and sticker autographs?
What is the difference between Hobby and Retail Boxes?
Why are some printing plates reversed?
How do I crack a PSA slab?
__ACRONYMS & DEFINITIONS__
What are Pack Wars?
What does bump mean?
What does CMB stand for?
What does DC stand for?
What does F/S stand for?
What does F/T stand for?
What does Flip mean?
What does OT stand for?
What does PC stand for?
What does PM stand for?
What does PWE stand for?
What does SASE stand for?
What does TTM stand for?
What does ttt stand for?
What does WTTF stand for?
What does "did not mean minimum grade" mean?
What is a Blaster?
What is a Hot Pack?
What is a Rainbow?
What is a "sub bump"?
What is an Insert?
What is Grading?
What is Pack Searching?
What is Slabbing?
Hopefully this will help collectors with graphical answers of questions we often see.
================================================
__QUESTIONS__
Are O Pee Chee (OPC) and Topps the same?
ANSWER: No! OPC was actually a Canadian candy company independent of Topps. They even began producing cards way before Topps did. OPC sometime in the 60's had an agreement with the biggest U.S. card distributor, Topps, and started producing "sister" cards of Topps. Sometime in the 70's or 80's OPC began printing bilingual cards (like Leaf) because they were Canadian. This didn't last long and they once again began producing cards in English.
OPC finally left the card industry because they lost too much money during the baseball strike in '94. They were bought sometime around the mid 90's by another candy company and just recently in 2006 that new company came into an agreement with UD. Now in 2008, UD is producing buyback reprints of early OPC cards, hence the new revival of the old product.
One thing to note, OPC cards are very similar to Topps Tiffany cards. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two is based on the copyright on the back of the card. Both Topps and O Pee Chee (Canada) print their company name in this location.
Can you show me the 2000 Pacific Prism Variations?
ANSWER: By far one of the most confusing variation sets of all time.
How can I tell a card is glossy?
ANSWER: The sheen (surface) on the front of the card is different. As you can see from the picture, the glossy card on the right has a smooth coating whereas the base card on the left has a rugged coating.
How can I tell what gray stock vs white stock is?
ANSWER: Stock is a term used for the type of paper a card is printed on. In order to see the stock a card is printed on, turn the card on its side and look at the paper type. White is obviously white stock and coarse gray is gray stock.
How do I put pictures in my posts or in my signature?
ANSWER: You cannot upload pictures to Beckett. In order to put pictures in your posts or in your signature, you need to point Beckett to look at another site for your pictures. You first need to put your pictures someplace online. If you have your own personal site, you can use that, but most of us use http://www.photobucket.com which is a free picture hosting site. If you use photobucket.com, you first upload your picture on the site. Once you upload the picture, you can view the picture on photobuckett. You will notice underneath the picture there will be a few entries. Currently they are:
Email & IM
Direct Link
HTML Code
IMG Code
What you do is copy the contents of "IMG Code" which has a URL stuck between two tags IMG and /IMG. Paste this whole code into your signature or post and the pictures will appear. The code will look something like this (this is example code I use for my current signature):
There is a special forum for testing your sig and posts. Go here to test applying pictures to your sig and posts:
http://www.beckett.com/beckettforum/Def ... pics&f=100
How many printing plates of a card exists?
ANSWER: In general, there are four printing plates of a given card: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.
What are common places to buy cards online?
ANSWER:
In general:
http://www.beckett.com
http://www.ebay.com
http://www.naxcom.com
http://www.bidville.com
http://www.sportlots.com
For Boxes/Cases:
http://www.blowoutcards.com
http://www.dacardworld.com
http://www.charmcitycards.com
http://www.atlantasportscards.com
What companies grade cards?
ANSWER: There are four main companies that grade cards: PSA, BGS, SGC and ***.
PSA (Professional Sports Authenticators) - PSA was the first in the industry to grade. They grade on a scale of 1-10.
BGS (Beckett Grading Services) - Beckett's grading service. They also grade on a 1-10 scale. Beckett is a more strict grading service than PSA.
SGC (Sportscard Guarantee) - SGC grades on a scale of 10 to 100
*** (Global Authentication, INC.) - Former PSA employees that not only grade cards, but also grade movie memorabilia.
Also to mention, there are a few more grading services to complement the four above, SCD (Sports Card Digest) and onlineauthentics.com.
On top of these grading services, there are a few more to note: KSA, GEM and PSI. These however are more frowned upon in the card community.
What is the best way to ship cards?
ANSWER: There are a myriad of ways to ship cards. Always be sure to ship your cards in as much packaging as possible to prevent damage. Follow as many of these rules as possible:
1) Always ship your cards in toploaders
2) Try not to tape the top of the toploader shut. Put a piece of paper over the open end of the toploader and tape either side of the paper to the toploader to ensure the card doesn't move
3) Ship your card in a bubble mailer or very padded envelope
4) Avoid shipping your card in a PWE. If you have to ship in a PWE, ensure the card is sufficiently protected with inflexible padding
5) Always use DC and Shipping insurance to protect yourself.
What is the difference between Topps and Topps Tiffany?
ANSWER: Base cards are non-glossy (see above) and printed on gray stock (see above). Tiffany cards are glossy and are also printed on white stock. The easiest way to tell if a card is a Tiffany is to look at the back because it almost always has a brighter color variation.
What is the difference between on-card autographs and sticker autographs?
ANSWER: On-card autographs are autographs in which the player signed the card itself. Sticker autographed cards, on the other hand, are where a player autographs a group of stickers, and the stickers are later placed on the cards. In the case of the on-card cards, the player had to actually interact with the card. With the sticker autograph, there is no guarantee the player ever touched the card.
What is the difference between Hobby and Retail Boxes?
ANSWER: "Retail boxes" are found in large department stores such as Target and Walmart whereas "Hobby boxes" are found at card shops, card shows and more hobby related forums. "Retail boxes" (aside from special boxes called "Blasters") are not sealed products. This means they are free game for people to pack search (see below). "Blasters", on the other hand are sealed, but are still labeled as "Retail boxes". The primary differences between "Hobby" and "Retail" cards vary, but for the most part are both defined by the odds of a pack containing an insert and also with the number of cards that come in a pack. For the most part, "Hobby" packs have a much higher chance of containing high end inserts and usually contain more cards than a "Retail" pack. Each product varies, but before buying a box, read the difference in odds of obtaining an insert and number of cards in a pack before purchasing a box.
Why are some printing plates reversed?
ANSWER: Some printing plates, Chrome as an example, appear to have a reverse image. This is because the process in which the card is created is slightly different. In these cases, the image of the plate is cast onto a film which is used to create the card. I will not explain the physics behind the process, but the process of putting the plate onto the film requires the plate to have a reverse image. It is not an error, it is a production method.
How do I crack a PSA slab?
ANSWER To Crack Open a PSA Holder. I have seen many posts and questions about this task. I finally had my first "Operation". I used the method that is one of the most common. You take a flathead screwdriver, Position it at the top of the case in the middle. With a hammer, Gently and i mean GENTLY start tapping on Screwdriver that is positioned in the middle of the top of the case. You DO NOT want to hit it HARD, your not trying to kill it in 1 shot, If you hit it too hard, you are risking driving the end of the screwdriver past the guidelines and into the card itself. These cases are not fort knox. Gentle, and I stress GENTLE taps will send the screwdriver into the case. When you see that about 1inch or even less is inside the case start sliding the screwdriver along all four sides around the case. You will see the air pocket start lifting on the sides. YOU MUST go SLOW. With a wild hand you can make the screwdriver slip and drive right into the card. Slowly and Precisely guide the screwdriver around the entire case. Remember this is NOT A RACE. Carefullness and Precision is needed to do this. Once all the sides are lifted, carefully take the case off. If it is not lifted on all four sides STOP! You do not want to snap the case off because this will cause a possible breakage of plastic shards that can scratch the card. before you take the card out, make sure all 4 sides a detached from holder. If you go slow and do exactly what i stated you will have NO problems. I did this operation one time, and i was as careful as you can be. Remember, GO SLOW and if you feel nervous, stop and relax. Then go back. DO NOT RUSH WHEN DOING THIS.
__ACRONYMS & DEFINITIONS__
What are Pack Wars?
ANSWER: Pack Wars are basically a combination of a card game and opening boxes of cards. Pack Wars are a special product that can be bought at most hobby shops. The gist of the game is two collectors buy a Pack War box together. Inside the box there are three packs.
1 game pack for player A
1 game pack for player B
1 prize pack
Each game pack consists of 3 stat cards. Player A plays Player B in a simple stats game. The winner of the best out of 3 games gets the prize pack which can be anything from a standard GU jersey to a legendary cut auto.
What does bump mean?
ANSWER: "bump" is not an acronym but serves the same purpose as "ttt". These are always posted in a single word post. The purpose of this is to move the thread to the top of the thread list on a forum.
What does CMB stand for?
ANSWER: CMB stands for "check my bucket". This is commonly referring to a link in the posters signature that will direct a user to page picturing cards the posters has for trade.
What does DC stand for?
ANSWER: DC stands for "Delivery Confirmation". This is a service offered by postal services. This process puts a code on your package which is scanned every time a postal office touches the package as well as when it reaches the recipient. This is a significant way to protect yourself to ensure the package made it to the recipient.
What does F/S stand for?
ANSWER: F/S stands for "For Sale"
What does F/T stand for?
ANSWER: F/T stands for "For Trade"
What does Flip mean?
ANSWER: Flip is defined as the process of buying a card as an investment, then selling it for a profit.
What does OT stand for?
ANSWER: OT stands for "Off Topic". This is dedicated to threads that have very little or no relativity to the forum it was posted in.
What does PC stand for?
ANSWER: PC stands for Personal Collection
What does PM stand for?
ANSWER: PM stands for Personal Message.
What does PWE stand for?
ANSWER: PWE stands for "Plain White Envelope". When a card is sent in a PWE, it is sent without protection in a plain envelope. Most traders/buyers want their cards sent in a bubble mailer to protect the card during shipping.
What does SASE stand for?
ANSWER: SASE stands for "Self Addressed Stamped Envelope". When a seller/trader asks for one of these, they want the trader to send an envelope which the trader has put both a stamp on (to pay for postage) as well as their address on so the person that receives the SASE does not have to address the envelope or pay for postage.
What does TTM stand for?
ANSWER: TTM stand for "Through The Mail". This is the process in which collectors send cards/photos/relics, etc via mail to a player asking for an autograph.
For additional information about how TTM works and helpful pointers on the topic, post your questions on the following thread hosted by 'DANO (HOF 05) SECRIST':
http://www.beckett.com/beckettforum/Def ... &t=1596610
Please note this thread moves from month to month so your best bet is to do a search for "TTM Help Desk" with the BMB Search functionality located at the top of the BMB Message Board page.
What does ttt stand for?
ANSWER: ttt stands for "to the top". The is what a person does to move a thread to the top of the thread list on a forum.
What does WTTF stand for?
ANSWER: WTTF stands for "Want To Trade For".
What does the "minimum grade" mean?
ANSWER: The "minimum grade" is a term used both by grading services as well as buyers/sellers of memorabilia. The "minimum grade" is the guaranteed lowest possible condition grade the card is in. You can send cards into some grading services for a fee that will only grade cards based on your "minimum grade" requirements. This means if you send a card in seeking a "minimum grade" of 9, the card will only be graded if it is a 9 or higher because it met the "minimum grade" requirement.
For online buyers of memorabilia, it is a good idea to ask seller what the "minimum grade" of the card would be before buying along with asking for sharp scans of both the front and back of the piece of memorabilia in question.
What is a Blaster?
ANSWER: A Blaster is a sealed Retail Box (see above).
What is a Hot Pack?
ANSWER: A "Hot Pack" is a pack of cards that is known to contain an insert. There are a few ways which these packs are found.
1) The first method, which is quite controversial, is pack searching. This is where a knowledgeable person takes a pack and knows how to "feel" the pack to see if an insert inside. These packs can be bent a specific way to see if an insert is in there, or a person can dig a fingernail between cards in an unopened pack to see if an autograph sticker exists. This is why it is highly discouraged to buy "Retail" packs which are non-sealed boxes. These are usually searched by pack searchers who buy nothing but the packs that contain the good cards and leave the empty packs for the general public.
2) The second method is when an entire box has a high end insert. These are known as hot boxes where the entire box had a certain insert and the last couple of packs were known to have the same inserts.
3) The final method is a fake method where sellers reseal a pack of cards with a low end insert which has almost no value.
Please note, "Hot Packs" are usually fake. Many sellers take advantage of buyers by opening a pack, putting in a very low end game used or autograph card, resealing the pack, then selling it as a "Hot Pack".
What is a Rainbow?
ANSWER: A "Rainbow" is a term used to describe a collection of all variations of the same card in a given set. The following picture below shows a "rainbow" of Bowman Chrome cards. The rainbow below contains the Chrome, Refractor, X-fractor, Blue Refractor, Gold Refractor, Orange Refractor, Red Refractor and Superfractor.
The same term can be applied to Game Used cards as well. An example is below of a red, black and yellow jersey swatch followed by a few patches.
What is a "sub bump"?
ANSWER: Sometimes collectors feel cards they have sent in for grading deserved a better grade. In this case, collectors send the card back in to be regraded hoping for better results on some of the subcategories of the grading system. If you read the section on "What is grading", you will notice that there are many categories of grading. A "sub bump" would be the upgrade in the grade of a single category of the grading system on a given card.
What is an Insert?
ANSWER: An Insert is a special card in a product which is not part of the base set. Insert cards are much more rare than base cards and are hence, harder to obtain. Insert cards are produced with special odds that you can find on the back of either the product box or pack.
What is Grading?
ANSWER: Experts at companies such as BGS and PSA specialize in a process called grading. Grading is the process of taking a card and stating what the condition of the card is. The condition of a card is based on five primary criteria:
1) Surface condition
3) Centering
4) Printing condition
2) Corner condition
5) Edge condition
The condition of the card is given "grades" based on each individual category and then given an overall grade. The grades usually come down to a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is poor and 10 is the best (gem mint).
What is Pack Searching?
ANSWER: This is the process of taking a pack and "feeling" the pack to see if an insert is inside. Read the definition of "What is a Hot Pack?" above for a more indepth definition.
What is Slabbing?
ANSWER: Slabbing is another term used for Grading.
We all have asked these questions at one time so I'm starting a reference page for the commonly asked questions. These questions are to answer as many non-subjective questions as possible. I'll start putting questions up that I have seen asked multiple times. If you have any additions you'd like to see/make, post them here.
__QUESTIONS__
Are O Pee Chee (OPC) and Topps the same?
Can you show me the 2000 Pacific Prism Variations?
How can I tell a card is glossy?
How can I tell what gray stock vs white stock is?
How do I put pictures in my posts or in my signature?
How many printing plates of a card exists?
What are common places to buy cards online?
What companies grade cards?
What is the best way to ship cards?
What is the difference between Topps and Topps Tiffany?
What is the difference between on-card autographs and sticker autographs?
What is the difference between Hobby and Retail Boxes?
Why are some printing plates reversed?
How do I crack a PSA slab?
__ACRONYMS & DEFINITIONS__
What are Pack Wars?
What does bump mean?
What does CMB stand for?
What does DC stand for?
What does F/S stand for?
What does F/T stand for?
What does Flip mean?
What does OT stand for?
What does PC stand for?
What does PM stand for?
What does PWE stand for?
What does SASE stand for?
What does TTM stand for?
What does ttt stand for?
What does WTTF stand for?
What does "did not mean minimum grade" mean?
What is a Blaster?
What is a Hot Pack?
What is a Rainbow?
What is a "sub bump"?
What is an Insert?
What is Grading?
What is Pack Searching?
What is Slabbing?
Hopefully this will help collectors with graphical answers of questions we often see.
================================================
__QUESTIONS__
Are O Pee Chee (OPC) and Topps the same?
ANSWER: No! OPC was actually a Canadian candy company independent of Topps. They even began producing cards way before Topps did. OPC sometime in the 60's had an agreement with the biggest U.S. card distributor, Topps, and started producing "sister" cards of Topps. Sometime in the 70's or 80's OPC began printing bilingual cards (like Leaf) because they were Canadian. This didn't last long and they once again began producing cards in English.
OPC finally left the card industry because they lost too much money during the baseball strike in '94. They were bought sometime around the mid 90's by another candy company and just recently in 2006 that new company came into an agreement with UD. Now in 2008, UD is producing buyback reprints of early OPC cards, hence the new revival of the old product.
One thing to note, OPC cards are very similar to Topps Tiffany cards. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two is based on the copyright on the back of the card. Both Topps and O Pee Chee (Canada) print their company name in this location.
Can you show me the 2000 Pacific Prism Variations?
ANSWER: By far one of the most confusing variation sets of all time.
How can I tell a card is glossy?
ANSWER: The sheen (surface) on the front of the card is different. As you can see from the picture, the glossy card on the right has a smooth coating whereas the base card on the left has a rugged coating.
How can I tell what gray stock vs white stock is?
ANSWER: Stock is a term used for the type of paper a card is printed on. In order to see the stock a card is printed on, turn the card on its side and look at the paper type. White is obviously white stock and coarse gray is gray stock.
How do I put pictures in my posts or in my signature?
ANSWER: You cannot upload pictures to Beckett. In order to put pictures in your posts or in your signature, you need to point Beckett to look at another site for your pictures. You first need to put your pictures someplace online. If you have your own personal site, you can use that, but most of us use http://www.photobucket.com which is a free picture hosting site. If you use photobucket.com, you first upload your picture on the site. Once you upload the picture, you can view the picture on photobuckett. You will notice underneath the picture there will be a few entries. Currently they are:
Email & IM
Direct Link
HTML Code
IMG Code
What you do is copy the contents of "IMG Code" which has a URL stuck between two tags IMG and /IMG. Paste this whole code into your signature or post and the pictures will appear. The code will look something like this (this is example code I use for my current signature):
Code:
[ATTACH=full]153548[/ATTACH]There is a special forum for testing your sig and posts. Go here to test applying pictures to your sig and posts:
http://www.beckett.com/beckettforum/Def ... pics&f=100
How many printing plates of a card exists?
ANSWER: In general, there are four printing plates of a given card: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.
What are common places to buy cards online?
ANSWER:
In general:
http://www.beckett.com
http://www.ebay.com
http://www.naxcom.com
http://www.bidville.com
http://www.sportlots.com
For Boxes/Cases:
http://www.blowoutcards.com
http://www.dacardworld.com
http://www.charmcitycards.com
http://www.atlantasportscards.com
What companies grade cards?
ANSWER: There are four main companies that grade cards: PSA, BGS, SGC and ***.
PSA (Professional Sports Authenticators) - PSA was the first in the industry to grade. They grade on a scale of 1-10.
BGS (Beckett Grading Services) - Beckett's grading service. They also grade on a 1-10 scale. Beckett is a more strict grading service than PSA.
SGC (Sportscard Guarantee) - SGC grades on a scale of 10 to 100
*** (Global Authentication, INC.) - Former PSA employees that not only grade cards, but also grade movie memorabilia.
Also to mention, there are a few more grading services to complement the four above, SCD (Sports Card Digest) and onlineauthentics.com.
On top of these grading services, there are a few more to note: KSA, GEM and PSI. These however are more frowned upon in the card community.
What is the best way to ship cards?
ANSWER: There are a myriad of ways to ship cards. Always be sure to ship your cards in as much packaging as possible to prevent damage. Follow as many of these rules as possible:
1) Always ship your cards in toploaders
2) Try not to tape the top of the toploader shut. Put a piece of paper over the open end of the toploader and tape either side of the paper to the toploader to ensure the card doesn't move
3) Ship your card in a bubble mailer or very padded envelope
4) Avoid shipping your card in a PWE. If you have to ship in a PWE, ensure the card is sufficiently protected with inflexible padding
5) Always use DC and Shipping insurance to protect yourself.
What is the difference between Topps and Topps Tiffany?
ANSWER: Base cards are non-glossy (see above) and printed on gray stock (see above). Tiffany cards are glossy and are also printed on white stock. The easiest way to tell if a card is a Tiffany is to look at the back because it almost always has a brighter color variation.
What is the difference between on-card autographs and sticker autographs?
ANSWER: On-card autographs are autographs in which the player signed the card itself. Sticker autographed cards, on the other hand, are where a player autographs a group of stickers, and the stickers are later placed on the cards. In the case of the on-card cards, the player had to actually interact with the card. With the sticker autograph, there is no guarantee the player ever touched the card.
What is the difference between Hobby and Retail Boxes?
ANSWER: "Retail boxes" are found in large department stores such as Target and Walmart whereas "Hobby boxes" are found at card shops, card shows and more hobby related forums. "Retail boxes" (aside from special boxes called "Blasters") are not sealed products. This means they are free game for people to pack search (see below). "Blasters", on the other hand are sealed, but are still labeled as "Retail boxes". The primary differences between "Hobby" and "Retail" cards vary, but for the most part are both defined by the odds of a pack containing an insert and also with the number of cards that come in a pack. For the most part, "Hobby" packs have a much higher chance of containing high end inserts and usually contain more cards than a "Retail" pack. Each product varies, but before buying a box, read the difference in odds of obtaining an insert and number of cards in a pack before purchasing a box.
Why are some printing plates reversed?
ANSWER: Some printing plates, Chrome as an example, appear to have a reverse image. This is because the process in which the card is created is slightly different. In these cases, the image of the plate is cast onto a film which is used to create the card. I will not explain the physics behind the process, but the process of putting the plate onto the film requires the plate to have a reverse image. It is not an error, it is a production method.
How do I crack a PSA slab?
ANSWER To Crack Open a PSA Holder. I have seen many posts and questions about this task. I finally had my first "Operation". I used the method that is one of the most common. You take a flathead screwdriver, Position it at the top of the case in the middle. With a hammer, Gently and i mean GENTLY start tapping on Screwdriver that is positioned in the middle of the top of the case. You DO NOT want to hit it HARD, your not trying to kill it in 1 shot, If you hit it too hard, you are risking driving the end of the screwdriver past the guidelines and into the card itself. These cases are not fort knox. Gentle, and I stress GENTLE taps will send the screwdriver into the case. When you see that about 1inch or even less is inside the case start sliding the screwdriver along all four sides around the case. You will see the air pocket start lifting on the sides. YOU MUST go SLOW. With a wild hand you can make the screwdriver slip and drive right into the card. Slowly and Precisely guide the screwdriver around the entire case. Remember this is NOT A RACE. Carefullness and Precision is needed to do this. Once all the sides are lifted, carefully take the case off. If it is not lifted on all four sides STOP! You do not want to snap the case off because this will cause a possible breakage of plastic shards that can scratch the card. before you take the card out, make sure all 4 sides a detached from holder. If you go slow and do exactly what i stated you will have NO problems. I did this operation one time, and i was as careful as you can be. Remember, GO SLOW and if you feel nervous, stop and relax. Then go back. DO NOT RUSH WHEN DOING THIS.
__ACRONYMS & DEFINITIONS__
What are Pack Wars?
ANSWER: Pack Wars are basically a combination of a card game and opening boxes of cards. Pack Wars are a special product that can be bought at most hobby shops. The gist of the game is two collectors buy a Pack War box together. Inside the box there are three packs.
1 game pack for player A
1 game pack for player B
1 prize pack
Each game pack consists of 3 stat cards. Player A plays Player B in a simple stats game. The winner of the best out of 3 games gets the prize pack which can be anything from a standard GU jersey to a legendary cut auto.
What does bump mean?
ANSWER: "bump" is not an acronym but serves the same purpose as "ttt". These are always posted in a single word post. The purpose of this is to move the thread to the top of the thread list on a forum.
What does CMB stand for?
ANSWER: CMB stands for "check my bucket". This is commonly referring to a link in the posters signature that will direct a user to page picturing cards the posters has for trade.
What does DC stand for?
ANSWER: DC stands for "Delivery Confirmation". This is a service offered by postal services. This process puts a code on your package which is scanned every time a postal office touches the package as well as when it reaches the recipient. This is a significant way to protect yourself to ensure the package made it to the recipient.
What does F/S stand for?
ANSWER: F/S stands for "For Sale"
What does F/T stand for?
ANSWER: F/T stands for "For Trade"
What does Flip mean?
ANSWER: Flip is defined as the process of buying a card as an investment, then selling it for a profit.
What does OT stand for?
ANSWER: OT stands for "Off Topic". This is dedicated to threads that have very little or no relativity to the forum it was posted in.
What does PC stand for?
ANSWER: PC stands for Personal Collection
What does PM stand for?
ANSWER: PM stands for Personal Message.
What does PWE stand for?
ANSWER: PWE stands for "Plain White Envelope". When a card is sent in a PWE, it is sent without protection in a plain envelope. Most traders/buyers want their cards sent in a bubble mailer to protect the card during shipping.
What does SASE stand for?
ANSWER: SASE stands for "Self Addressed Stamped Envelope". When a seller/trader asks for one of these, they want the trader to send an envelope which the trader has put both a stamp on (to pay for postage) as well as their address on so the person that receives the SASE does not have to address the envelope or pay for postage.
What does TTM stand for?
ANSWER: TTM stand for "Through The Mail". This is the process in which collectors send cards/photos/relics, etc via mail to a player asking for an autograph.
For additional information about how TTM works and helpful pointers on the topic, post your questions on the following thread hosted by 'DANO (HOF 05) SECRIST':
http://www.beckett.com/beckettforum/Def ... &t=1596610
Please note this thread moves from month to month so your best bet is to do a search for "TTM Help Desk" with the BMB Search functionality located at the top of the BMB Message Board page.
What does ttt stand for?
ANSWER: ttt stands for "to the top". The is what a person does to move a thread to the top of the thread list on a forum.
What does WTTF stand for?
ANSWER: WTTF stands for "Want To Trade For".
What does the "minimum grade" mean?
ANSWER: The "minimum grade" is a term used both by grading services as well as buyers/sellers of memorabilia. The "minimum grade" is the guaranteed lowest possible condition grade the card is in. You can send cards into some grading services for a fee that will only grade cards based on your "minimum grade" requirements. This means if you send a card in seeking a "minimum grade" of 9, the card will only be graded if it is a 9 or higher because it met the "minimum grade" requirement.
For online buyers of memorabilia, it is a good idea to ask seller what the "minimum grade" of the card would be before buying along with asking for sharp scans of both the front and back of the piece of memorabilia in question.
What is a Blaster?
ANSWER: A Blaster is a sealed Retail Box (see above).
What is a Hot Pack?
ANSWER: A "Hot Pack" is a pack of cards that is known to contain an insert. There are a few ways which these packs are found.
1) The first method, which is quite controversial, is pack searching. This is where a knowledgeable person takes a pack and knows how to "feel" the pack to see if an insert inside. These packs can be bent a specific way to see if an insert is in there, or a person can dig a fingernail between cards in an unopened pack to see if an autograph sticker exists. This is why it is highly discouraged to buy "Retail" packs which are non-sealed boxes. These are usually searched by pack searchers who buy nothing but the packs that contain the good cards and leave the empty packs for the general public.
2) The second method is when an entire box has a high end insert. These are known as hot boxes where the entire box had a certain insert and the last couple of packs were known to have the same inserts.
3) The final method is a fake method where sellers reseal a pack of cards with a low end insert which has almost no value.
Please note, "Hot Packs" are usually fake. Many sellers take advantage of buyers by opening a pack, putting in a very low end game used or autograph card, resealing the pack, then selling it as a "Hot Pack".
What is a Rainbow?
ANSWER: A "Rainbow" is a term used to describe a collection of all variations of the same card in a given set. The following picture below shows a "rainbow" of Bowman Chrome cards. The rainbow below contains the Chrome, Refractor, X-fractor, Blue Refractor, Gold Refractor, Orange Refractor, Red Refractor and Superfractor.
The same term can be applied to Game Used cards as well. An example is below of a red, black and yellow jersey swatch followed by a few patches.
What is a "sub bump"?
ANSWER: Sometimes collectors feel cards they have sent in for grading deserved a better grade. In this case, collectors send the card back in to be regraded hoping for better results on some of the subcategories of the grading system. If you read the section on "What is grading", you will notice that there are many categories of grading. A "sub bump" would be the upgrade in the grade of a single category of the grading system on a given card.
What is an Insert?
ANSWER: An Insert is a special card in a product which is not part of the base set. Insert cards are much more rare than base cards and are hence, harder to obtain. Insert cards are produced with special odds that you can find on the back of either the product box or pack.
What is Grading?
ANSWER: Experts at companies such as BGS and PSA specialize in a process called grading. Grading is the process of taking a card and stating what the condition of the card is. The condition of a card is based on five primary criteria:
1) Surface condition
3) Centering
4) Printing condition
2) Corner condition
5) Edge condition
The condition of the card is given "grades" based on each individual category and then given an overall grade. The grades usually come down to a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is poor and 10 is the best (gem mint).
What is Pack Searching?
ANSWER: This is the process of taking a pack and "feeling" the pack to see if an insert is inside. Read the definition of "What is a Hot Pack?" above for a more indepth definition.
What is Slabbing?
ANSWER: Slabbing is another term used for Grading.
