Being a west coast Bengals fan, I don't get to catch a lot of the radio/tv chatter that you might get if your team is in your local market. I rely almost solely on Bengals.com and sometimes twitter to get updates on the team during the week. I remember going to the site early in OTA's and hearing about WR Armon Binns - who was a rookie in 2011, but didn't play (except on the practice squad). The Bengals site reported that Binns looked good, and I think Jay Gruden (the Bengals offensive coordinator) even said something like Binns wasn't going to blow you away with speed, but he ran good routes and had good hands.
That all sounded good to me.
Andy Dalton likes to drop back and once he hits his last step - the ball comes out. So while Binns doesn't have speed like A.J. Green - he suits Dalton's style of getting the ball out quick. I've notice that Binns has caught a few balls in the teams first few games - so he activity has been a bright spot for the team on offense. We'll see how the rest of the year pans out, but I actually picked up a 2011 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Football autograph 'helmet' signature card on COMC.com shortly after reading Jay Gruden's comments on the Bengals website several months ago. I don't have the card listed for sale, and I only paid $2.00 for it, and I'll either take delivery of it at some point, or if the price gets into the double digits, I might have to sell and buy a different player with the proceeds. There have been lots of micro-movements of players cards going up during the first 2 weeks of the NFL season, and this is just the example on my favorite team.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
How To Tell If A Michael Jordan 86/87 Fleer Rookie Is Fake?
I get quite a bit of e-mail, probably because I tell people to contact me on every podcast I do - and my e-mail is pretty easy to find on my website. I've gotten lots of great ideas from collectors - not to mention I usually just publish the responses I give out in the Q&A Mail Bag Section on the main site. I'm a month behind and got a big update coming for that - but wanted to publish something I just got today. While I'm no expert in identifying a fake card, this is just the first step you can take to seeing if your Jordan is real. I would strongly recommend taking it to a local hobby shop - or better yet, just spend a little money (probably less than $30) to send it in to PSA or BGS to be graded. If the card looks like it's in good condition - the added value of a high grade will make the $30 you spent getting it graded seem like pocket change.
Here is what I wrote back just based on what I've heard being around hobby shops my entire life:
The best way to find out is by sending it in to a professional grader, PSA or BGS are the best - and I have outlined a bit of information about that process here:
http://www.sportscardradio.
And Here:
http://www.sportscardradio.
The cost would be around $20 - $50 depending on how fast you want it back.
If you want to examine it yourself - take a magnify glass and inspect the card for "pixel dots" ... back in this day everything was usually printed with dot-matrix type printing and you should see lots of tiny dots that make up the colors on the card. The existence of these printing dots does NOT mean it's authentic - just means it has a better chance at being authentic. Typically fakes are simply xerox copies that can't replicate the pixel dots. The crisper the pixel dots, the more likely it's authentic (or a really good fake).
Next examine the back of the card. Typically fakers will spend less time on the back. The Fleer Logo, and placement of text should all match what authentic copies look like. The colors should be consistent with what you see in authentic copies:
Here is one of the finest condition Jordan RC's on the market and you can compare the coloring on this card with yours with:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-
Here is a search for all the authentic ones on eBay graded by PSA or BGS - you can see that collectors really pay attention to condition, so be careful handling this card. You can also compare logo colors and text placements with these authentic ones to get a better idea if yours is real.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.
Lastly, how you acquired the card. Fakers usually sell this card for well under what it should sell for, which is a clear sign it's probably fake.
Hope this helps, hope it's real - this is a very valuable and important card in basketball.
Here is what I wrote back just based on what I've heard being around hobby shops my entire life:
The best way to find out is by sending it in to a professional grader, PSA or BGS are the best - and I have outlined a bit of information about that process here:
http://www.sportscardradio.
And Here:
http://www.sportscardradio.
The cost would be around $20 - $50 depending on how fast you want it back.
If you want to examine it yourself - take a magnify glass and inspect the card for "pixel dots" ... back in this day everything was usually printed with dot-matrix type printing and you should see lots of tiny dots that make up the colors on the card. The existence of these printing dots does NOT mean it's authentic - just means it has a better chance at being authentic. Typically fakes are simply xerox copies that can't replicate the pixel dots. The crisper the pixel dots, the more likely it's authentic (or a really good fake).
Next examine the back of the card. Typically fakers will spend less time on the back. The Fleer Logo, and placement of text should all match what authentic copies look like. The colors should be consistent with what you see in authentic copies:
Here is one of the finest condition Jordan RC's on the market and you can compare the coloring on this card with yours with:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-
Here is a search for all the authentic ones on eBay graded by PSA or BGS - you can see that collectors really pay attention to condition, so be careful handling this card. You can also compare logo colors and text placements with these authentic ones to get a better idea if yours is real.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.
Lastly, how you acquired the card. Fakers usually sell this card for well under what it should sell for, which is a clear sign it's probably fake.
Hope this helps, hope it's real - this is a very valuable and important card in basketball.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
2012 Topps Finest Mohamed Sanu Autograph Relic #/100
If you've been following the blog, you know that Mohamed Sanu is off my sleeper list since I've been writing about his cards since the first sets came out this season. While I haven't gone off the deep end and drafted him in my fantasy league - I have been lucky enough to land a few of his cards from my wishlist.
The latest card I'm going to add is from 2012 Topps Finest Football. I don't know yet if I will get the jumbo relic version (seen here), or the smaller patch relic ... or there is even an on-card autograph version that is somewhat expensive because collectors really like those cards. As of today, this card can be had for about $9.00 ... which is at the tip of my range, considering Armon Binns and Brandon Tate have been seeing some run for the Bengals - and it might cut into Sanu's playing time. However, the team did cut Jordan Shipley - so he'll certainly see some playing time, especially as the season wears on . I'm thinking if the WR depth on the Bengals stays healthy, he probably won't see much action - and it should keep his cards in the affordable range. I don't see him going off for 1,000 yards, so this same card might be $9 bucks at the end of the season ... we'll see.
Either way, I'm happy I got a few cards of Sanu's before the season just in case, as last season A.J. Green and Andy Dalton started taking off in values before I could buy enough of them. If he does get off to a fast start, at least I got a few before they get out of my budget.
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