Vol. V, Issue #2 -
March 2017
**
Strat Wise - Part IX **
(by Marc Wasserman, Commissioner of the Cyber Baseball
Association {CBA} )
(Note from the Wolfman:
- For those of you who have been
following our newsletter over the years, you will already be familiar with the column
called "Commissioner's Corner written by Marc Wasserman, the
commissioner of the CBA -- where he has discussed with us his
experiences and insights about being a commissioner of a Strat-o-matic
baseball league. Marc is also in charge of our Ultimate Strat Baseball Youtube
video channel, so he has posted to this column, at times, the latest videos we have added recently to our
very own Youtube
video channel. In this column, Marc talks about Vintage
Strat-o-matic Cards, a hot topic these days and how to find them.
So, stay tuned
to this channel in future issues as Marc
will return with more of his
latest ideas and perspectives on the game we all love.)
Strat
Wise - Part XI
(Vintage Strat-o-matic Baseball Cards)
In my column this month I wanted to address a very
hot topic among veteran SOM gamers, that is
"Vintage Strat-o-matic Cards". I love these old
Strat-o-matic cards. The "Character" and "Identity"
of these old cards is just so unique. Vintage
cards have much more value for me than any old
baseball cards. A strat-o-matic card tells us so
much more about a professional baseball player in my
opinion than the old Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Bowman
cards ever could. The reasons for this are obvious.
First, there are so many variable linked to the MLB
player statistics that are not shown on the back of the
regular baseball cards which we take for granted
shown on their respective SOM card. What I am talking about is
things like their ability to "Hit and Run", "Bunting
Ability", "Speed", their "Throwing Arm" (OFers and
Catchers), to name just a few. The old baseball
cards could give you a general idea of a player's
speed when you look at the number of SB's they had
but that really doesn't tell us everything we would
want to know.
But with SOM, we can easily see their stealing
rating, running rating, and even to an extent the
avoidance of hitting into a
double play by these speedy players. It is said for those who ground into
fewer DP's, it could be argued that such players may be
able to get down the line quicker on groundballs
they hit. Thus, the SOM card provides for all of us
a quick snapshot containing much more relevant information
than the old vintage baseball cards could ever give
us. Dare I even say, a more accurate player profile
than any Topps card you will ever see, yes?
Now, turning our attention to the vintage
Strat-o-matic card market, I see an alarming pattern
happening here. The so-called "collector sharks" who have
killed off baseball card, coin, and stamp
collecting, have even made attempts to 'collectorize' the
SOM Baseball cards and teams on EBay now. EBay has
quite a few vintage SOM Baseball cards that are
listed, were you aware of this? Teams, sets of teams and
individual cards are listed as well. The EBay sharks are
looking to capitalize on the understated market
values of these strat cards, and over the last two
years are starting to drive the values of the
vintage SOM market upwards and upwards. Perhaps its
time for serious SOM gamers to take a good look, right now,
and perhaps buy such cards as soon as possible
before their prices continue to sky rocket to a
level that is outrageous and unaffordable.
For myself, that these vintage SOM Baseball cards have now
taken on a value that has been associated with
collectibles, leaves me and many others
cold. There are those who see the collectorization
of SOM cards to be a great loss of innocence. Many
cards are getting priced out of the range for the
common collector. This can greatly disaffect many
gamers and thus, would limit the hobby for collecting these
vintage cards and seasons by granting access only to
those strat gamers who can shell out the dough to
get their hands on them. Of course, the solution and
the preferred choice should be for gamers to buy the past seasons
through the game company but these cards will be the
updated modern versions of them. The
'Cadillac' seasons, in my opinion are works of art
and worth every penny. But for those of us who
recall our youth and the like, and we want to hold
them ole' cards again. Well then....
Regarding these vintage cards, what should or could
you pay for them? Certainly only what you can
afford. But what's the accepted values of these
cards? Well, no one can say for sure. I would say
that Chris Rosen of
http://moonlightgrahamsmarketplace.com/
would be whom I consider the foremost expert about
what the proper pricing should be. He is without
question the long time "go to guy" to get old cards
and sets. We at USBN reached out to Chris when we
set up our vintage based challenge game against MLB
broadcaster/player Billy Sample. Chris came through
with exactly what we needed and we are so grateful
to him.
EBay, as I mentioned before is another card source,
however it is not as good as it once was. In fact
its over run with Card Sharks, in my opinion with a
"Buyer Beware" sign now up. They are dealing and
over inflating the prices of the cards
intentionally, to profiteer on our hobby. I see many
card sets sold off as individual teams. It's nice to
be able to buy just 1 or 2 teams. EBay's price range
on the strat cards depends basically on the year the
cards were issued. Older cards are steeper priced of
course.
Now, I haven't seen too much where the physical
condition controls the SOM Baseball cards' value
like it does with normal baseball cards. If we see a
trend where the condition affects the price, we are
in trouble my friends because this then would signal
the collectors have come into the hobby and are
driving up prices based on condition. This issue is
what killed off the Coin and Stamp hobbies, as well
as it killed off the baseball and sports cards, and
it now threatens to raise the price bar on our
hobby.
Nonetheless, expect that the condition of the strat
card will factor, to some extent, into the final
pricing. No need to buy from the collector sharks my
friends though. They have definitely over inflated
the trading and selling of affordable SOM cards
online for sure. Of course, you do have the option
to ignore such blatant overcharged prices. You can
spot the overpriced sharks quite easily by seeing
how they advertise the cards at MINT or Near Mint
condition as a basis for their way too high costs to
buy them.
You can still find a few good options on EBay to get the cards
and teams at a fair price however, you just have to look
past the Strat EBay dealers who are the sharks that
are hawking out
single cards, and teams. I can't help it but all I
see there is a broken full season set. One less set
that can be had and enjoyed in total. "Hey man, why
don't you put that old set back together so that
someone who love those cards can get it whole?" "Well, I can
make more money by breaking it up", is their reply,
which is too bad as making lots of money is not what
getting these vintage cards is all about, right?. Oh boy,
oh boy
then, with one less set in the world. Not only this but
the cost of these sets are completely rising, and should
continue to rise even more especially once they are
appearing on EBay all the time now.
Some sports card dealers can be helpful in obtaining
SOM Baseball sets or cards for you. They generally
do know people who may have SOM cards in their
collections and can arrange a special deal. There is
nothing like a reliable sports card dealer who has
earned your trust. You may also want to go through
Craigslist or talk with your strat friends to get
these cards, but please, don't throw away your money to the
EBay sharks.
However, I think the best way to proceed is to buy
from the game company itself. It's the cheapest, and the
best for your game play. But if you must, you can go
to EBay but as I shared before, it is way over inflated for the
asking price of
these cards right now. So I caution you not to fall in
line with this.
I generally have obtained my collection, which
I personally use and cherish as gifts, through
private sales. I have found the best deals on
Craigslist and through word of mouth -- friends of
friends. You may get better prices there. Craigslist
may still be the best resource I believe though. You just
have to be persistent in searching all these various
sources as there are sales that do
pop up from time to time. Local classifieds are a
good resource as well. For now, beware of EBay for SOM cards and stick to legit persons or a broker
like Moonlight Graham.
"So Wass, what's the prices I should pay for SOM
cards?" Wass says, "as little as possible, and collect
them to play with them not stare at them."
