Running list of Leaf Pride of the Pinstripes autographs pulled.

[Krom]

This stuff is junk, but with the big names in it there had to be a ton of crap loaded into the product for it to work financially. So I guess while it completely sucks people are getting a majority of garbage it also should surprise no one.

I am glad you were able to figure all of this out on your own. You get a star today.

 

[A_Pharis]

(1) Anyone who purchases this product expecting to make money probably needs to reevaluate their buying habits. At the price point, you should go into it expecting not a lot. The price accounts (mostly) for the bigger names. So for every multi-$100 sig.. you're gonna have quite a few stinkers. This product is for "Yankee" fans (using the team loosely) who just want cut sigs.

(2) Though one person said otherwise, this is better than buying a box and having it be empty if it isn't a "big" hit. Besides - they have to have SOME sort of contents for legal reasons - I believe.


I don't think it's THAT bad. People have spent a LOT more on products with much worse content. It's funny how short memories are when it comes to loss on wax.

 

[MansGame]

(1) Anyone who purchases this product expecting to make money probably needs to reevaluate their buying habits. At the price point, you should go into it expecting not a lot. The price accounts (mostly) for the bigger names. So for every multi-$100 sig.. you're gonna have quite a few stinkers. This product is for "Yankee" fans (using the team loosely) who just want cut sigs.

(2) Though one person said otherwise, this is better than buying a box and having it be empty if it isn't a "big" hit. Besides - they have to have SOME sort of contents for legal reasons - I believe.


I don't think it's THAT bad. People have spent a LOT more on products with much worse content. It's funny how short memories are when it comes to loss on wax.

To the bold above... so nearly EVERYONE? I'd be willing to bet more people buy wax to flip/make money, than to keep as PC. Just saying... don't go flaming out on me people, it's the truth.

 

[A_Pharis]

To the bold above... so nearly EVERYONE? I'd be willing to bet more people buy wax to flip/make money, than to keep as PC. Just saying... don't go flaming out on me people, it's the truth.

So you think "nearly everyone" saw an item advertised as an entry level product and expected to make money on it?
Just because a product comes out doesn't mean it's meant to make money - despite the intention of the buyer. If every product were profitable, then shouldn't we all be flipping wax instead of having day jobs?

You wouldn't go buy Topps Opening day, would you? How about those cheesy little baseball-themed gaming cards? That's right - everyone knows those are entry level, low return products. I don't think this product was introduced as a profit-maker, and if you saw a $40 price point thinking it was... then, yes, you need to tune your buying acumen.


Edit:

Below you will find the sell sheet for 2013 Leaf Pride of the Pinstripes Cut Signature…

Please note the following key selling points:

- Greatest checklist of Yankee Greats EVER! Over 1100 Yankees are present of this challenging and exciting checklist..
- ENTRY LEVEL PRICING…. Affordable item for all levels of collectors..
- EVERY CARD COMES BECKETT SLABBED FOR PROTECTION!
- The biggest names in Yankee history are present and accounted for…
- MULTIPLE 1/1 cards in every case!!!!!!
- NO CARD NUMBERED OVER 10 COPIES!!!!!!! Extreme value add!!!!!


http://www.leaftradingcards.com/2013_Leaf_Pride_Pinstripes/13LPP_Sales_Sheet_v2.pdf

You should have seen the bolded and said "Yeah... there's gonna be some stinkers."

Technically, the wording in that can be interpreted pretty loosely. BUT - that's what good marketing is. Marketing is meant to draw in buyers, and Leaf does. Hook. Line. Sinker.

I -for one - like the product. I'm not buying it as there aren't players I need, but I understand the goal of the product. I think it met that goal.

 

[MansGame]

I wasn't taking a shot at you but rather just making a statement because I think nearly everyone today buys wax in hopes to make a buck and not to add to their binders and build a well rounded PC and not sell anything lol... feel like that was how it use to be before the internet at least.

Anyways, clearly by some of the reaction in this thread, people are pissed because they can't "make their money back" on their "investment". I agree with you that if anyone really went into this hoping for a ROI on their box, they need to rethink things.

On the other side of the coin, I find it hard to believe this release would really sell if ONLY people who would buy to PC were the buyers... clearly a release like this is only successful if you do attract the gamblers and people who are chasing the big name/ticket cards. Just IMO but clearly there isn't a market for just guys who PC Yankee stuff to buy up all the boxes of this stuff.

Either way, I think it's a pretty cool release and price point to at least walk away with a slabbed certified autograph of even a no-name player. I've paid 10x as much for a crappy box where I ended up with a bunch of base cards and some crappy memo card from Topps.

 

[George_Calfas]

If people are looking to make money busting wax is not the way to go. Busting for me is fun not a means to an income.

I think this product is just as fine as any other on the market today. My only beef was the lack of checklist prior to being live. Buyer should not be forking over cash w/I knowing who is exactly (or 90ish %) in the product.

 

[MansGame]

If people are looking to make money busting wax is not the way to go. Busting for me is fun not a means to an income.

I think this product is just as fine as any other on the market today. My only beef was the lack of checklist prior to being live. Buyer should not be forking over cash w/I knowing who is exactly (or 90ish %) in the product.

Love this post and totally agree with it all.

 

[Austin]

I bought a box of this knowing exactly what the risk was and what I'd most likely get.
However, as a Yankees fan, if I didn't get a major star, all I wanted was a recognizable Yankee who actually played at least a full season, even if he wasn't any good.
Instead, I got Juan Padilla, who played six games and most Yankees fans didn't even know he wore the pinstripes.

I know I'm complaining and knew the risks, but I bought this product as a Yankees fan, not to sell, and didn"t even get a real Yankee.

Anyway, I think what would have been nice to soften the blow of 99% horrible box breaks would have been base cards in the box.
Then us Yankees fans could at least trade with each other and build a set or just collect our favorite Yankees.

 

[MansGame]

I bought a box of this knowing exactly what the risk was and what I'd most likely get.
However, as a Yankees fan, if I didn't get a major star, all I wanted was a recognizable Yankee who actually played at least a full season, even if he wasn't any good.
Instead, I got Juan Padilla, who played six games and most Yankees fans didn't even know he wore the pinstripes.

I know I'm complaining and knew the risks, but I bought this product as a Yankees fan, not to sell, and didn"t even get a real Yankee.

Anyway, I think what would have been nice to soften the blow of 99% horrible box breaks would have been base cards in the box.
Then us Yankees fans could at least trade with each other and build a set or just collect our favorite Yankees.

Pretty good suggestion that would of made the release that much better and probably wouldn't of increased the cost a huge amount.

 

[rsmath]

So for every multi-$100 sig.. you're gonna have quite a few stinkers. This product is for "Yankee" fans (using the team loosely) who just want cut sigs.

This product is even worse than I thought with that regard. I'd think you could get at least 2-3 year Yankee veteran sigs for reasonable money to keep the financials of producing the product within budget so you don't have to resort to using so many Yankee cup of coffee players in the product.

The product should be renamed "Leaf Yankee MLB Debut" since it seems most players probably made their MLB debut with the Yankees and most were cup of coffee debuts at that.

I am not going to buy any boxes because of the stinker this product is. I have a few autos on my radar for players with local ties but I am not paying $30+ ebay unrealistic BIN's for them when they should be $5-10 at most. People will just have to have their cards unsold at their $30+ starting/BIN or take a big loss to get rid of them.

 

[Billy Packer]

I don't get all the negativity toward this product. Sure the checklist should've been published pre-release - that's a legitimate complaint. But come on... it's a one-per box cut signature product with a price point under $40 that gives you a chance (a long shot granted, but a chance nonetheless) to pull an autograph of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, etc. Of course there are going to be stinkers... probably mostly stinkers... but it's a nice looking set - probably as well-put together as one could hope for with no licensing whatsoever - and they're all slabbed. The kind of irrational response by so many of the haters in this thread is exactly why I don't spend much time around here any more.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

This product is even worse than I thought with that regard. I'd think you could get at least 2-3 year Yankee veteran sigs for reasonable money to keep the financials of producing the product within budget so you don't have to resort to using so many Yankee cup of coffee players in the product.

The product should be renamed "Leaf Yankee MLB Debut" since it seems most players probably made their MLB debut with the Yankees and most were cup of coffee debuts at that.

I am not going to buy any boxes because of the stinker this product is. I have a few autos on my radar for players with local ties but I am not paying $30+ ebay unrealistic BIN's for them when they should be $5-10 at most. People will just have to have their cards unsold at their $30+ starting/BIN or take a big loss to get rid of them.

This is great in theory, but in reality almost impossible with the numbers. Note, for the sake of discussion, let's say there are 6,000 total cards.

Let's say you pay $5/each for these "2-3 year Yankee veteran sigs" (keep in mind there is a maximum of 10 per player) for a staggering and earth-stopping $50 total payout per #/10 signature...you then pay a minimum of $5 for delivery (to and from) of the autographs. So now we're at a best case scenario of $55 per 10 autographs, but for the sake of argument, let's bump the maximum number of signatures per player up to 15, for a total of $80 per 15 autographs. And to point out, this doesn't involve time contacting and agreeing to a tiny signing like this...but we'll disregard those costs at the moment.

Cheapest direct autograph cost is $5.34/signature, but this is reality and in reality you can grab bulk signed index cards of relative no name former players around $1 each...but it's tough to be selective (IE: all Yankees, etc). So now let's say that you're acquiring some bulk Yankees at a rough cost of $2 per signature. And again we'll disregard all time and costs it takes to acquire these bulk autographs.

For discussion, we'll assume that these types of autographs (roughly $3.50 per signature) account for 5,500 cards. ($19,250 total cost)

The big name boys.

Okay, now we've got to acquire Ruth ($1700), Gehrig ($2000), DiMaggio ($100), Mantle ($200), Maris ($200), Munson ($800) etc. so if we assume these are each 1/1s (although there appear to be two Maris, etc) we're at roughly $5000 for 6 total autographs. And again, no consideration for acquisition time, etc.

We're now at $24,250 in costs for 5,506 autographs but we to tackle the mid and mid-upper tier guys who might not be household "Yankee legend" names but will range from $5-400+ per signature (Waner, Vance, etc on the high end). For ease, we'll make them all $30 for the remaining 494 autographs for a total of $14,820.

Total autograph costs (minus all acquisition etc.) puts us at $39,070...or $6.51 per signature average. Not bad average.

Now we need to print and build the cards...I'll put that at $8/card including the slab from Beckett. So we're at $14.51/card.

It's packaging, packing and distribution time...which I'll put at a solid $2/card for a $16.51 cost per card.

Now keep in mind, we haven't paid anyone yet for their time involved (design, acquisition, sales, general costs, etc) of which I'll add another $8/card for $24.51 per card.

So let's assume (wild speculation throughout this entire post) that Leaf wholesales these at $30/card with an MSRP of $40.00...that leaves a best case scenario $5.49 in profit per card for Leaf.

Again, this is all full of absolute, unfounded assumptions when it comes to numbers and dollars, but the logic still dictates that the slightest shift in dollar/signature can greatly affect the bottom-line with 6 autographs accounting for 14% of the cost of 6000. If you want Ruth, Gehrig and Munson...you also get Tanyon Sturtze.

 

[MansGame]

This is great in theory, but in reality almost impossible with the numbers. Note, for the sake of discussion, let's say there are 6,000 total cards.

Let's say you pay $5/each for these "2-3 year Yankee veteran sigs" (keep in mind there is a maximum of 10 per player) for a staggering and earth-stopping $50 total payout per #/10 signature...you then pay a minimum of $5 for delivery (to and from) of the autographs. So now we're at a best case scenario of $55 per 10 autographs, but for the sake of argument, let's bump the maximum number of signatures per player up to 15, for a total of $80 per 15 autographs. And to point out, this doesn't involve time contacting and agreeing to a tiny signing like this...but we'll disregard those costs at the moment.

Cheapest direct autograph cost is $5.34/signature, but this is reality and in reality you can grab bulk signed index cards of relative no name former players around $1 each...but it's tough to be selective (IE: all Yankees, etc). So now let's say that you're acquiring some bulk Yankees at a rough cost of $2 per signature. And again we'll disregard all time and costs it takes to acquire these bulk autographs.

For discussion, we'll assume that these types of autographs (roughly $3.50 per signature) account for 5,500 cards. ($19,250 total cost)

The big name boys.

Okay, now we've got to acquire Ruth ($1700), Gehrig ($2000), DiMaggio ($100), Mantle ($200), Maris ($200), Munson ($800) etc. so if we assume these are each 1/1s (although there appear to be two Maris, etc) we're at roughly $5000 for 6 total autographs. And again, no consideration for acquisition time, etc.

We're now at $24,250 in costs for 5,506 autographs but we to tackle the mid and mid-upper tier guys who might not be household "Yankee legend" names but will range from $5-400+ per signature (Waner, Vance, etc on the high end). For ease, we'll make them all $30 for the remaining 494 autographs for a total of $14,820.

Total autograph costs (minus all acquisition etc.) puts us at $39,070...or $6.51 per signature average. Not bad average.

Now we need to print and build the cards...I'll put that at $8/card including the slab from Beckett. So we're at $14.51/card.

It's packaging, packing and distribution time...which I'll put at a solid $2/card for a $16.51 cost per card.

Now keep in mind, we haven't paid anyone yet for their time involved (design, acquisition, sales, general costs, etc) of which I'll add another $8/card for $24.51 per card.

So let's assume (wild speculation throughout this entire post) that Leaf wholesales these at $30/card with an MSRP of $40.00...that leaves a best case scenario $5.49 in profit per card for Leaf.

Again, this is all full of absolute, unfounded assumptions when it comes to numbers and dollars, but the logic still dictates that the slightest shift in dollar/signature can greatly affect the bottom-line with 6 autographs accounting for 14% of the cost of 6000. If you want Ruth, Gehrig and Munson...you also get Tanyon Sturtze.

Well said.

 

[BBCgalaxee]

This TWELVE PAGE thread just shows how many leaf haters and Topps lovers there are on this board.

If this product"deserves" 12 pages, then the massive bomb known as wbc tribute should be 20 pages. That is a huge bomb and one of the worst products of the last several years (at the original Srp).



Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

This TWELVE PAGE thread just shows how many leaf haters and Topps lovers there are on this board.

If this product"deserves" 12 pages, then the massive bomb known as wbc tribute should be 20 pages. That is a huge bomb and one of the worst products of the last several years (at the original Srp).



Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

To be fair, there should have never been a Topps set dedicated to the Westboro Baptist Church.

 

[Slette]

Shirley Phelps-Roper disagrees and wants you to know that God hates the sarcastic

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

Shirley Phelps-Roper disagrees and wants you to know that God hates the sarcastic

I always preferred Mr. Furley over the Ropers.

 

[RiceLynnEvans75]

I always preferred Mr. Furley over the Ropers.

There's an idea for a cut card. Mr. Furley on one side and Mr./Mrs Roper on the back. Loved that show.

 

[TBTwinsFan]

Erick Almonte 1/1 pulled

 

[TBTwinsFan]

Ron Blomberg 1/1 pulled