How to Ship on a Budget

If you're not careful, shipping can take up a large amount of your hockey card budget. In Dec 09, I made 20 trades, and I probably paid at least 30$ for just the postage. If I had bought new bubble mailers and materials for shipping every time, the cost for shipping can rise quickly. There are several things that you can do to save when shipping your cards.

First, always re-use your bubble mailers. When trading, you get one bubble mailer going out and one coming in. You can re-use that bubble mailer for the next trade. I usually cover the old address with a recycled piece of paper.

Thin out your packages. As long as your package is thinner than 2 cm (3/4 inch in the US), you can ship using the "oversized envelope" option (large letter in US). Don't let the postal clerk tell you otherwise. If they get huffy, don't confront, just ask for how much postage you need and put it on yourself and mail away.

Finally, be sure to lighten up your packages. In Canada, there are price hikes at 100g, 200g, 250 g, and 500g. If you are in this hobby for the long term you could save a lot of money by buying digital scale. I bought one for 20$ shipped over 2 years ago and it paid for itself in 4 months.

Its always a good idea to get become familiar with the postal office's pricing and restrictions. I can't speak much for the US, but in Canada you can ship paper like objects like photos or cards without a declaration form as over-sized letter mail. Don't let the postal clerk tell you otherwise. Just say that the package contains photos or paper products. This is fine for smaller cost items, but be sure to declare more expensive items, or even ship them via a trackable method. You can get a guide from the local post office with a handy table for figuring out the postage you'll owe. I've included a series of tables below from the Canada Post website which has costs for the different weights.

Here are some handy tips on how to accomplish all of the above:

• Anything thicker than a 10 ct card box is thicker than 2 cm when placed in a bubble mailer. If its thicker than 2 cm, then you can't mail it as an over sized letter.
• With adequate protection it IS possible to ship 100 cards in an oversized letter mail. More than that is pushing it.
• The bubble mailer needs to be only big enough to hold the cards. Cut off excess paper and bubble and tape the side shut if you are near the cutoff. This can save you a couple of grams if you need it.
• Re-use old bubble mailers. Tape a sheet of used paper to the front.
• Make smart trades if you need supplies. Run out of game used top loaders? Trade for some game used cards.
• Run out of team bags? Team bags are fancy speak for "plastic bag + taped shut". Here are some alternatives: Re-used team-bags, the bags that 100 ct penny sleeves come in, the bag that the team bags come in, old pack wrappers (as long as they can fit a top loader in the interior)
• Sandwich your cards. For 9 cards (or equivalent thickness), here's a cheap way to send securely every time: two decoys, three top loaders, 5 penny sleeves and 1 team bag. Take the three highest value cards put them in penny sleeves and top loaders. In the last two penny sleeves, place three cards in each (be careful when inserting). Sandwhich the cards as follows and place them all in a team bag: Decoy - Top Loader - 3 in sleeve - Top Loader - 3 in sleeve - top loader - decoy. Then tape the team bag securely shut so that none of the cards can move. You just protected the corners of 9 cards. If you use thin, but stong decoys, you can get up to 15 cards this way, but its a push.
  

All the best in your hockey trading!

2009-10 Trilogy

I'm a bit short on time for this one, so it's going to be a wham-bam-thank-you-blogger post for print runs.

As usual, we should expect to see 3 RC in every pack for a total of 1,200 cases produced. Starting with that, we can get some approximate print runs:

SITUATION A

• Base ~4,300 of each
• Classic Confrontations ~85 of each
• Ice Scripts ~200 of each
• Young Star Scripts ~200 of each
• Superstar Scripts ~300 of each
• Honorary Swatches ~260 of each
• Line Mates ~450 of each
• Hat Trick Heroes ~150 of each

I assumed that if you pulled a gold or platinum parallel, it would NOT replace the non-numbered version of a hit. Without this assumption one, it looked like 1/5 boxes would be shorted a GU card.

IF your parallel hit replaces a regular GU hit, 1/5 boxes would be short a GU and the print runs would be as follows:

• Base ~4,300 of each
• Classic Confrontations ~85 of each
• Ice Scripts ~200 of each
• Young Star Scripts ~200 of each
• Superstar Scripts ~300 of each
• Honorary Swatches ~200 of each
• Line Mates ~400 of each
• Hat Trick Heroes ~80 of each  

They're both within the right ball park though.

How can you tell which is right? The easiest way is Hat Trick Heroes. Are Hat Trick Heroes 3-4 a case? Then my guesses are pretty good. Here are some other interesting things to note:

• The '1-2 Clear Cuts' are a case hit!
• 3-4 Gold parallels per case (probably one of each Hat Trick Heroes, Honorary Swatches and Line Mates)
• 6-7 SP rookies per case
• 4 of 5 cases will have one Platinum parallel case hit
• 1 of 5 cases will have a SP auto #ed to 10 or less (1-2-3 Clear cut, 1-2-3-4 Clear Cut or the auto'ed versions of the Game used cards #ed to 5)

Hope that you liked the read! If you have any questions, feel free to to ask.
Cheers

National Hockey Card Day - Follow Up

I missed something in my last post. If you follow Upper Deck's Facebook page, they've also announced a bonus to the National Hockey Card day. Basically, they've hidden 11 signed memorabilia items. throughout Canada.

If you recognize any of the shops in this photo:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144391&id=61698633950&ref=mf

Buy the corresponding item, you'll get the free prize! Since I was so late with this post, I'll help out.
For anyone who lives in the Ottawa Area, you're sure to know this store:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3589684&id=61698633950

That's Game Breakers in Ottawa located at 780 Baseline Road. If you buy a box of O-Pee-Chee Hockey you could win a 2009 NHL Rookie Photo Shoot Autographed Jonas Gustavsson mini stick!

Now the second one threw me for a loop.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3589683&id=61698633950

 

That's because this photo was taken from the back of the store, and not from the front. It also threw me for a loop because I wrote an article about it some time ago, Carboard Memories located in Brampton at 230 Sandalwood Parkway East. If you buy a box of MVP Hockey you could win a 2009 NHL Rookie Photo Shoot Autographed Matt Duchene mini stick. The inside of the sore has changed a bit, but the best part is that I see that he's moved the Glass case back!! That means we can once again pick our own packs! Wow. What a nice development.

Anyways, go get your free cards & hopefully someone can pick up the extra autographed pieces as well.

National Hockey Card Day - Canada Only

Well, tomorrow is National Hockey card day. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, Upper Deck is giving away one free pack of hockey cards per customer to local hobby shops and Retail card sellers. The details can be found at Upper Deck's 2010 National Hockey Card Day website.


If you're looking for the whole set, be sure to make note of the retail stores involved. Currently, Toys R Us, Jean Coutu, London Drugs, Rexall and Pharma Plus are all listed as retails stores giving away the packs. If you're a frequenter of your local card shop, you might be able to deal for more than one pack though.

The set is comprised of 15 cards, 5 rookies, 5 Canada players and 5 'Heroes'. The Rookie cards don't look too bad. I like the Canada set, but I'd prefer to see the players in their team Canada sweaters. As for the heroes set, its a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the retro look in yellow and brown isn't too bad. What my real issue is that three of the heroes are current players. Here is a pic of this year's cards.

And here's a sample of last year's cards

Overall, I think Last year's heroes look way better and have a better checklist. This year's rookie design is better, and the two Canada sets are more or less equivalent. It is nice to see that they didn't reuse any designs, but did reuse colours which gives the set a nice continuity from '09 to '10.

If this year's release is anything like last year's, each pack will have a mix of cards, but it won't be totally random. There will probably only be three kinds of packs and if you get the same pack twice, get ready for 5 duplicates.

There were also some logistical issues last year. First off, not every shop advertised on the UD website actually had packs to give away. Some didn't get them till the day after and couldn't give them away on the day of. Secondly, my local card shop told me that they had to pay for the packs. Even though you're getting this for free, it may not be Upper Deck that's paying for it. Either his local distributor hoped to make some cash, or Upper Deck is getting the local shops and retails to pay for the cards and having a massive advertising campaing to get them to give them away for free.

When I went last year to get some packs, I saw mothers and children and boys and their girlfriends picking up packs together. Last year Walmart was also involved and that box of packs moved from the front of the store, then to the back of the store and eventually to the front again throughout the day. Things like this seem to me that they'll draw in the kids even more so than sets specifically geared to children.

I won't be going to pick up this year. Better to leave it for some other kid to grab some. If you want to get yours, go for it! Don't forget to spend some dough at your LCS as well.

Cheers.

2009-10 ITG Heroes and Prospects

In The Game is quickly becoming my favourite Hockey card producer. I know that my choices are currently limited, but sometimes ITG knocks something out of the park, like BTP last year, or 1972. The only set I have a problem with really is their Heroes and Prospect set, which will be the focus of this review.

I have no problem with a set for upcoming hockey players. I'm sure there are people out there who value such a set. Its just that I'm employed full time, trade hockey cards, post a blog and live a life, so if I have to choose between watching NHL hockey and the various, younger leagues, (CHL, AHL, etc.) unfortunately the NHL wins. Sometimes these younger players makes some great plays, don't get me wrong. Its just that I feel that the on-ice quality of the product (presentation, skills, frequency, availability, etc.) is covered nicely in NHL level hockey.

ITG has released a Heroes & Prospects set every year since 2004-05. Its a nice mixed bag product which features base cards, autos, inserts and some really kicking pieces of game used jerseys. In addition to some really nice designs on the jerseys, the back of the card will actually tell you from which team the jersey comes from. This is a pretty big plus when compared to Upper Deck's certification which even leaves question marks as to whether you are even getting a jersey piece at all.

I'm generally not impressed with the designs from ITG, but I think they really look nice in this set. You can take a look at their release page. I would be supremely happy if other sets followed suit in terms of design. The base cards have a sharp player picture, although I would like to see a variety of backgrounds. Why is everyone staring up and to the left except for the bearded guy? While its nice to see Santa Claus in the back there enjoying some hockey in his time off, its a little creepy seeing him in every photo.

One of the best designs in this set seems to be the enforcers insert. Each card seems to show an action shot of an enforcer in action. Its not often you get to see an enforcer in action on a card, so its a very unique opportunity.

There's also a secondary set in here that seems to be gathering a nice quiet following. There's a small Real Heroes set which honours those hockey players who fought in the war. I haven't gone through every name, but a cursory glance shows quite a few Toronto Maple Leafs, and its owner, Conn Smythe, pictured below. If you aren't familiar with this period in history, the short version is this. Before the draft, you may have been looked down on by your neighbour if you didn't go bravely off to fight. It was considered the patriotic thing to do, especially for a young strapping Hockey player. If you didn't want to go, playing hockey didn't necessarily save you from the draft. Sometimes NHL players got drafted and in  war times, the NHL was short of players who went off to serve their country. A couple died (literally two - both of whom are in this set), most lived. All of them served proudly. If you're interested about learning more about this issue. I suggest this article by Joe @ the Greatest Hockey Legends & more at your local library.

 
On to the print runs. ITG is great for posting print run numbers for most of their product. You can view the majority of the runs on this page. Generally, they don't provide the print runs for base or inserts, so that's what's going to be covered. From the product info page, each box should pull two auto cards and two game used cards (auto versions of the game used cards count as game used cards). The good news is that we can figure out the following:

Total production is ~520 Cases
Of the 119 Autos (ITG promos say over 125, but their auto list on the website only lists 119 different cards), the average print run is ~90 which is just about right for this release. Although, there will likely be short prints which means the average print run for the autos will be higher.

Unfortunately, that's all I can give. Until I know how many and which kinds of inserts get released in a box, its all a toss up for the rest. Ill post an update as soon as I find something. The degree of breaks for this product will probably be less than SPX, but way more than Collector's Choice.

2009-10 SPx - Update

I'm still working on my Collector's Choice update since there haven't been enough people posting their breaks. In contrast, within a day of release, I've already recorded 75 boxes worth of breaks for SPx from SCF, HI and YouTube.

Based on what I've seen:
If you get a Winning Materials or Combos Patch, it tends to replace the regular jersey version of your break.
If you get an auto'ed version of the Materials or Combos, it does not tend to replace your regular jersey break
All other hits (Trios, Shadowboxes, Flash Back, etc.) do not seem to replace a regular hit in your box.
There is generally 4 SPx Rookies/SPxcitement per box. Not the advertised 3.


I also don't see anything that needs to change. based on what's being pulled, there still looks to be about 2,200 cases of SPx. I'll stand by the numbers in my previous post.

2009-10 SPx

2009-10 SPx hockey is set to release today, so its time for another review.

SPx is one of those sets that has a distinct following. to me, it seems like the flip side of black diamond. It has a similar price point, but instead of levels of parallels, you get levels of game used cards. Much in the same way that SP Game Used is the flip side of Sp Authentic.

Aside from the first official jersey/auto RC of the year, probably the most talked about card in this set are  shadow boxes. Shadow boxes debuted in SPx Football. Before Mario left the net, he posted about them at Wax Heaven. Gellman also wrote about them in his post at Sports Cards Uncensored. They were a big hit in football and now we're going to see if they're equally popular in hockey.

 Fuhr Shadow Box from eBay item 180458893725


I was a fan of SPx a couple of years ago, but I think this year's cards look horrendous. The letter shaped swatches are clever, but not really hockey related. The Flashback fabrics are more psychedelic than anything, and don't mesh well with featuring the player, the signature or the swatch. The design for "winning" and "Rookie" makes it look like it was cut out from a newpaper one letter at a time. I have to say that so far, SPx appears as though it was a inspired by a psychotic drug trip. A definite pass for me this year.

 

Gustavsson from eBay item 220543323284
Triple GU from eBay item 220543325374

Flashback Fabrics from eBay item 360227841289

Down to the analysis. Since SPx is full of numbered cards and seeding ratios, determining the print run of each card should be a snap. Right off the bat, we know that in a case you should pull :

•  1 Autographed Rookie Jersey card #’d to 499
•  1 Shadowbox card
•  1 Signed Flashback Fabrics
•  2 Flashback Fabrics cards
•  2 Winning Trios Jersey cards
•  3-4 Spectrum parallels

Since there are only 6 Level 1 Autographed Rookie Jersey, there are just under 3,000 cases of SPx. At the same time, in a box break, you'd expect:

• 1 Rookie Jersey Card
• 1 Signed Rookie Jersey card
• 1 Winning Materials Jersey card
• 1 Winning Combos Jersey card
• 3 SPx Rookies/SPxcitement
• 65 Base Cards (subject to change after seeing box breaks)
  

If we look at total all the SPx Rookies and Spx Excitement cards, there should only be about 2,000 cases. Looking at either Rookie jersey or Signed rookie jersey odds, there should only be about 1,600 cases. I'll check out the case breaks and box breaks on this, but lets say that there are about 2,200 cases which is right in the middle of all the predictions. That way, every 4th case would have a second Level 1 RC in the case, every tenth box will be short a rookie or excitement card and the big hits will replace the signed jersey or regular jersey cards. We'll see if that pans out.

Since most everything in this set is numbered, we only have to look at 7 cards:

• 100 Base - 6,500 of each
  
•  47 Winning Materials - 650 of each
•  44 Winning Combos - 700 of each
•  30 Shadow Boxes - 50 of each
•  12 Shadow Box Stoppers - 50 of each
•  30 flashback fabrics - 150 of each
•  30 Autographed Flash Back Fabrics - 75 of each

As always, this assumes no short prints, but its a good average guess. Not a lot of surprises. Case hits, like the shadow boxes, are ~50 each which is consistent with other releases (Wax Heaven FB stars are /39, VOTC Shadow Box chasers /56). I don't have much to compare with since my only other review to date is Collector's Choice. For an autographed card, 75 seems a bit on the high side for the autographed flashback fabrics, especially given the checklist. I'm sure there will be quite a bit of variation in that set. The one interesting stat is that there are more copies of the Combos than the Materials.

Depending on how often the level 1 Rc are pulled and a few other issues like how many boxes are short Rookie Jerseys or Signed jerseys, the numbers may change. If I had to guess, I'd say they might go down a bit if anything. For now, its a good ballpark figure.

Cheers!