And I laugh

I want to say I never actually thought I would get linked up so my apologies to Mario for wasting a bit of your space.

My name is Richard, I was looking for 15 minutes of fame and I got it. I mean everything I posted over the weekend, but who honestly has the time to do a blog like this? I mean, come on.

I am not a Beckett employee (past, present or future) for the record.

SCU Rebuttal: Uncovering Bias My “Undying Love” For Upper Deck

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Ive (sic) noticed that my “bias” for UD seems to be the focus of every criticism of this blog, so Im (sic) happy to address it while its an issue for people.

First off, before I start the discussion, I want to say that there will always be bias on this blog. Always. The reason for this is because everything I write is opinion, nothing more. It just so happens that those opinions seem to have many hobby-wide ripples among people who frequent the blog, but they remain my feelings and my feelings only. This blog never has and never will be objective. You should all know that by now.

That’s your reason for having a “bias?” Epic fail. Does a newspaper columnist have  a bias because all he/she writes is opinion? I don’t think so. Opinion does not equal bias. Bias is to play favorites, opinion is to give thoughts. You have both. And no one is questioning your objectivity. It’s very obvious there is none.

Now, people seem to be a little disturbed by the fact that most of the negative remarks here on the blog are in reference to Topps and Donini rather than Upper Deck. My detractors seem to think this is because im (sic) in bed with UD or because they are more responsive than other companies. They are partially correct, UD is very much more communicative, yet my gain is nothing from the stuff I say. I get nothing for SCU from any company, despite the number of offers.

While this may be so, and I don’t have the time to read all of your past posts I may have missed to 100 percent confirm this, you never say anything negative about Upper Deck so why would we not think you’re in bed with them?

In regards to the responsiveness that UD has to many collectors, including myself, I dont (sic) see why I shouldnt (sic) let that change the field a little. How is transparency a bad thing? I mean, if I have a problem, I have the ability to talk to someone who makes the decisions! That is great no matter how you slice it. How much would you love to talk to Apple about their decision to re-release the iPhone 3G less than a year after you paid 300 for the original? What if you could talk to Microsoft directly about the XBOX’s red ring of death? Wouldnt (sic) that make it easier to form an opinion about things? Ill tell you, it makes forming opinions a lot easier when you know someone cares and is listening. That will never be a negative.

Do you really think Apple and Microsoft don’t read their feedback? And how exactly does talking directly to them change your ability to have an opinion about something? It would likely change your opinion about it, but it’s not going to make you not have an opinion. My opinion about the Milwaukee Brewers is bad and I’ve spoken to them nor do I speak to a large group of people about it, but it doesn’t make me having an opinion any more difficult. And even if nobody cares or listens to me talk about how I don’t like the Milwaukee Brewers, forming that opinion is not going to be any harder.

Its not that I havent (sic) given Topps and Donini the chance, either. When I first started SCU, Scott Prusha of Donini was the first of the manufacturers to contact me about something I said. I was excited for the prospects of speaking with the man, but I was quickly disappointed. During my interview, instead of answering the tough questions, he pushed me away with “no comments” and the like. In fact, Topps didnt (sic) even respond to my initial interview request!

As much as the blogging community doesn’t want to admit it, the majority of us are not real mediums. The closest thing in the card blogsphere that I have seen to a real media outlet is Wax Heaven, and even that is pushing it. That being said, I’m not surprised Topps didn’t respond to your request. The same thing happened when you tried getting Rookie Premiere credentials. You over rate your status in the media quite a bit sometimes. And consider this, if every news source started only reporting negatives on someone who gave them no comments to a question or two, no professional sports team would ever make any statement ever again.

On the other side of things, UD came at me with a completely different approach. Gregg proceeded to answer every single question I had with reckless abandon, no matter how poorly his answers reflected on the company. He wanted me to be content with the info I wanted, and has never had a problem giving insight into the business. What about Topps and Donini? I havent (sic) heard boo from them since.

Does this mean that I wont bash UD for their stupidity? Never. I will not ever be shy to tell you guys what I actually think. The problem is, UD doesnt make a fourth of the mistakes that the other companies do. This may equivocate a bias in many people’s mind, but Im (sic) okay with that. Those sentiments come with the territory.

Are you sure? I think it’s that they don’t make a fourth of the mistakes in your eyes. They have retro products too you know? They use sticker autographs too you know? They even use them on their flagship Exquisite sometimes. Isn’t that the cardinal sin?

Despite what people actually think, the idea of the blog continues to stand true. Basically, if you fuck up, im (sic) going to be there to call you on it. Unfortunately for everyone, Donini and Topps happen to fuck up a lot, that means a lot of negative opinions here on SCU. It has nothing to do with anything else other than my feelings on certain goings on.

People also fail to realize that baseball and football are vastly different industries. The idea that Topps may not be the top company in a sport is very foreign to people who dont (sic) venture outside of baseball that often. Expectations which hold true in baseball do not necessarily hold true in football and vice versa. Therefore, when a detractor considers that notion, they may be able to see where the UD bias stems from: UD JUST MAKES BETTER FOOTBALL STUFF. Bottom line.

Baseball and football are not that much different. The biggest difference between the two is the way rookies are handled. Otherwise, they are the same beast. I collect both heavily so I should know. Nostalgia holds a place in both and Topps does it well. Autographs and relics hold a place in both and Donruss and Upper Deck do that well. What you likely mean to say is this: “Expectations which hold true in high-end do not necessarily hold true in low- to mid-end and vice versa.” And since all you do is deal with high-end, you have no use for Topps because they don’t do high-end nearly as well as Upper Deck. It’s not a problem to like Upper Deck better, but it is a problem to be a general card blog and unfairly give lesser treatment to the others just because you don’t like them.

When you look a little deeper into the slinging that goes down, most people just need something sticky to throw at me. Why they chose the “bias,” im (sic) not sure, because its an inevitable part of a non-objective site. I guess they got bored with the fat jokes.

Yep, it must be the fat jokes. Let me tell you what it really is. You make bold statements that not everyone agrees with. We are your Siskel and Ebert.

SCU Rebuttal: Please, Enough With The Retro Sets

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I’m going to try a new format for rebutting Gellman’s posts. Here’s to hoping it works.

When I think of Topps, all I can think about is how awful their high end stuff is, and how bored I am with their stupid ass retro sets. Now that I have seen Topps Magic Football first hand, all I want is for them to stop putting out retro sets. I know that they are having huge troubles selling anything that isnt (sic) Chrome or Base Topps, but that is no excuse for boring us to tears with this absolute crap.

While I do agree Topps’ high-end department is not up to today’s standards, I can’t agree that their retro sets are stupid. Allen & Ginter is one of the, if not the, most popular baseball set year in and year out of late. You can say the same for Topps Heritage and Bowman Heritage. And you can’t tell me Turkey Red and Topps Mayo were busts. Yes, the retro themes will get old, but they haven’t yet to a majority of collectors. I consistently see wantlists for Magic and Mayo on the message boards.

In fact, I was so bored out of my mind by Magic, that I couldnt (sic) even muster the enthusiasm to write a review. It would have been the lowest graded product so far this year in my mind. The cards are printed on weird stock, the pics are all players in college unis, and they are all playing on empty fields surrounded by trees. I dont (sic) get the appeal of putting this together, it just seems like its a retro set for the sake of putting out a retro set.

Of course you would give Magic a low review. 1) It’s not an Upper Deck high-end product and 2) We all know you hate Topps. A Topps product could never get a fair review from you. The stock they are printed on gives them a retro feel, nothing weird there, the players are in their college threads because that’s the point of the set and they are playing on empty fields to give them a retro feel once again. Oh and sorry some collectors collect players from certain colleges and want cards of players in the college uniform.

Last year we had Mayo football, which fell flat on its face. I wasnt (sic) too excited about it to begin with, but after hearing about checklist problems and seeing the structure made exactly like A&G in football form, I didnt (sic) even touch it. Magic takes it to a whole new level, as the whole set is lacking pizzaz (sic) and pop. This is coming from a guy who praises painted “masterpieces-style” cards at every turn. These are amateur and devoid of character.

Mayo football fell flat on its face huh? That’s probably one of the stupidest things you have ever written. How can you possibly say that? Oh right, because it’s not an Upper Deck high end product, so you don’t like it.

Then you get to the autographs, and things get worse. In typical Topps fashion, they incorporated a bordered sticker spot INTO THE FUCKING DESIGN, and are staying with the gross foil stickers instead of moving towards on card. Mayo was on card, A&G was on card, all the retro sets are on card, why is this one on stickers that are built into the design? IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE! At least use clear, small, blank stickers instead of creating a bordered place for them and using huge ass ones. I guess they are still stuck in 2003.

I agree that stickers weren’t the way to go with this, but boy am I happy they did them the way they did. Yes, I would have loved to have seen on-card autographs or clear stickers. But since they opted to use the silver ones, thank God they put a border around it or they really would have looked stupid.

What is even funnier, is that despite the fact that Topps has their certified auto language THREE TIMES on the card (Border around auto, on the sticker, and on the back), they are the ones that are having the most problems with counterfeits. Suck on that beast for a second, bitches.

I do appreciate you are still trying to push counterfeit autos, but was it really necessary to throw in a snide comment against Topps?

Regardless, with A&G being extremely subpar (sic) in design this year, and this product being as blah-tastic as I could ever imagine, Topps should be banned from making more than one retro set per year. Its getting to the point of overkill. With Philadelphia, Goudey, Goodwin, Allen and Ginter, Heritage (Bowman and Topps), I am fucking sick of this retro nostalgic shit. Give me something new, and stop going to the old sets out of laziness.

A&G was sub-par in design? I would say you in the minority there. So Gellman, you are tired of the nostalgic sets? Well then why don’t you go back to your precious high end Upper Deck sets and quit your crying. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. It’s very simple really. I can see it now, you are probably going to write two or three more posts about this set, all saying the same thing. You always do.

SCU Rebuttal: Some People Are Too Stupid For Words

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In this post on Sports Cards Uncensored, Gellman makes up a story about someone who is selling a fake patch card. Yes, the card is very blatantly fake, but does that call for a racist post?

Gellman’s “story” can’t possibly be construed as anything but racist. The name Senor Jose Collectadora? Is this the Hispanic version of Joe Collector? Why does he have to have a Hispanic name?

Now to mention, one of the tags for the post is “for our Spanish speaking friends.” That is just terrible.

Considering the seller’s name is Kelly, it’s even worse.

Here is the story Gellman wrote for those who may not have seen it.

One day, Senor Jose Collectadora was on ebay and saw some SICK MOJO CARDZ!!! posted for his favorite player Tony Romo. He immediately hit the 19.99 buy it now because he knew he was getting a MAJOR STEAL!!!!! on a Romo NFL logo patch 1/1 that usually sells for hundreds. When he got it, he picked it up only by the edges because he knew he had to send it in for grading and didn’t want it to be messed up in any way. Fingerprints are BAAAAADDD. Of course, before he sent it in, he made sure to check his bible to see the book value for when he posts it on the message boards for his “daily steelz thread!!!!!!!!!!!”

Upon seeing that 1/1s were “too scarce to price” he began to think he had more SICK MOJO than he thought he had before! This could be a card worth thousands of dollars! He posts his steal on the board, and people laugh him off the page. When he sees the laughs, he starts to see a little bit of the stupidity behind his purchase. He pulls up the auction and sees that in the description, its listed as a custom card and is not real in any way. Jose doesn’t care, and posts it on eBay thinking that he can get someone else to fall for the plan. I mean, he cant stand being made fun of, and this is the way to make him feel better.

That’s just plain racist man.

Welcome to SCU Rebuttal

Hi everyone and welcome to the Sports Card Uncensored Rebuttal site.

I don’t disagree with everything Adam Gellman says, but there is enough rubbish he talks about that makes rebutting his some remarks for normal collectors worthwhile. I don’t hate Adam. He does a lot of good things, especially with all the things he has reported on fake cards. In a way, he is good for the hobby. But in a bigger way, he is not. And that is why I plan to rebut a lot of his posts to show the alternate opinion on things.

He says often that people say he is just a angry young man venting. Well Adam, you can’t tell me you aren’t and expect me to believe it. You are a coward who hides behind his computer screen and screams and yells.

Now I know a lot of you probably think I am a Beckett supporter. It’s quite the contrary. I could care less about them and their prices. If they are there, they are there. If they’re not, they’re not.

I also know I’m going to get some hate. And that’s fine. I’m expecting it. Just know, I do not care in the least what you have to say about what I do. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. I can hear it now, “then why do you read Gellman?” I already told you, I don’t hate everything he does.

So without further ado, let the rebutting begin.