(Pre-Blog side note: This post is going up on the same day the Ken Griffey Jr. is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. To celebrate an occasion such as this I would have put up a post about Griffey cards but I've decided to save that until next weekend. The Mariners are having their own ceremony next weekend at the game, which I'm attending. I want to tie something in from that game as well.)
I've seen a couple bloggers post about the cards they won off Listia and I decided I needed to try it for myself. Listia is a lesser version of eBay and instead of using money to bid, bids are placed using credits that can be earned for free. Listia seems very hit and miss when it comes to cards but I've seen people get some decent cards from there so I'm hopeful.
I've seen a couple bloggers post about the cards they won off Listia and I decided I needed to try it for myself. Listia is a lesser version of eBay and instead of using money to bid, bids are placed using credits that can be earned for free. Listia seems very hit and miss when it comes to cards but I've seen people get some decent cards from there so I'm hopeful.
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| 1996 Topps Stadium Club #333 |
I recently won my first auction that was for the Jay Buhner card you see above. This card cost me all of 1 credit. To get a sense of how much that is in real dollars, currently 14,300 credits = $1. I "paid" not even 1 cent for this card. Although I did have to pay $1 for shipping, which I didn't realize a head of time.
Other than a couple years in the minors with the Pirates and Yankees organizations, Buhner was a Mariner for life. He was the ultimate Mariners player. He hit for power, played good defense in the outfield, and was an all around fan favorite. Buhner continues to be involved with the organization and even provides color commentary for games now and then.
Buhner, whose nickname is "The Bone", even had his own promo night regularly called Buzz Cut Night. If a fan was willing to come down to the Kingdome and get their head shaved, they would get into the game for free.
Buhner shaving heads for Buzz Cut Night.
Turning to the card, the front looks great. There is gold foil for the letters and the banner is gold foil as well. The picture is perfectly timed and framed, with the ball and dust just coming off the bat. I also like that Buhner is wearing sunglasses in the photo. This photo screams classic Buhner.
The back of the card is a mess. The right half of the card has a frosted red glass look that does not fit in well. The Skills Matrix table also looks ugly. The back does get a bonus point for a having a different photo. Overall, I'm a fan of this card, especially at the price point.
I hope my next Listia win is just as great.
Mid 90s Stadium Club backs are so terrible you can't help but enjoy them for their oddness, at least in my opinion. But, I also consider an Edsel to be my dream car, so...
ReplyDeleteYeah you're right, these backs scream 90s identity crisis, which gives them their own charm. There is a LOT worse out there
DeleteI just came up to one year on Listia. My personal rule is that I won't bid unless shipping is free. I have tended to do the survey for credits thing, so I essentially put in time and get paid in cards. Credit values a year ago were at 3,200 per dollar, so the inflation is crazy - your credits lose value by just sitting there. There can be the odd great card though, and many decent ones!
ReplyDeleteI checked today and even the credits per dollar has risen by a couple thousand. I didn't realize the inflation was so high. I learned my lesson and won't bid on anything unless it's free shipping. Defeats the purpose of Listia otherwise
DeleteYeah - I think the recent just from around 12k to 15k on Listia is because they do a credit contest and flood 5 million more credits into the market...the high inflation just makes it hard to gather points for bigger purchases because the values degrade so quickly...still....free-ish cards!
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