Topps commons questions

 I’ve been rapidly trying to make pages on here for each Topps set with my needs on them. It turns out generating wantlists on TCDB is very easy as long as you have all of your ‘haves’ put into the site, which I do. While I probably don’t need to have wantlists on here, I feel it makes it easier for guys who don’t use TCDB. I have 15-20 sets that I’ve finished the wantlists for, and it’s going to be a slow and arduous process in getting the rest up on here, as many sets I have have are probably 500-600 cards away from being complete. I will still keep plugging away at making the blog pages and posting them to my main Ultimate Topps Project page. 

I don’t know how long it will take to finish adding the wantlists to the page, but adding cards to my project is essentially doable now because I have all of the wantlists on my TCDB profile. In a few weeks, Ill be getting a nice check from work, basically 2 weeks worth of pay, and while we’ll probably use some of it for Christmas, bills, and the like, I’m hoping to knock some commons and maybe a few key rookies off of some of the lists. That leaves some questions which I need answers to. 

I plan to meet up with my friend Jim who collect Cardinals and autographs in the next few weeks. He had a slew of doubles, and now that I have some wantlists, I’ll happily try to take some off of his hands. He also will probably have a Logan Gilbert autograph for me as he will be trying to get  an autograph for me at a Stetson University baseball banquet near the end of this month. I’ve went to games in the past and got him stuff signed and it’s fun helping him get cards done and having him help me as well. A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers purchased a new car, and the guy doing the finance actually played in the minors in the 2000’s. I didn’t have any cards of him, but I let Jim know, and sure enough, he had one of his cards and actually had an appointment to get his car serviced there soon. He was able to get the card signed, which was cool. A few months before that, Jim was getting some rehab done on his knee, and the guy at the rehab place was a #1 draft pick for the Indians in 1993, and was on a 1992 Topps Traded team USA card. Jim was able to get him to sign a minor league card for me. It’s kind of funny the former pros you run into and I feel like autograph collectors just have a knack for it. However, that’s a topic for another post. It will be nice to see Jim and hook him up with some Cardinals and seeing what I can find in his dupes box. Perhaps I’ll take a trip to Ocala and do some trading with John as well in the coming weeks. 

I’ll probably update TCDB and my list after that and then look at doing some purchases. My question is what is the best site to purchase commons on?  I knew of Just Commons (which I believe is CardBarrel now) and Sport Lots, but are there any other sites where you can buy commons for nickels and dimes?  Is it just a pipe dream?  I grew up in the ‘90’s and most commons were a nickel or dime, and while inflation has raised prices, I just don’t get how some of these newer base Topps commons are going for 50 cents to a dollar. There are jokers on a junk era FB page trying to sell lots of stars with their basic Topps cards and junk era rookie cards for a dollar or two each. I just don’t get who is paying that kind of money for the cards. 

I’m trying to make a trade with a guy on the group. He sounds like your typical ‘collected in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, quit, and came back during Covid’ guy. He sounds like he’s going after current rookies and I think he’s into grading, which is fine if that’s your thing.  He has a ‘20 Topps Gold Randy Arozarena (Cardinals uni), a 2019 Topps Chrome x-fractor autograph of Brandon Lowe, and 38 or so commons off of my lists from 1987-1990 Topps. He’s asking for current rookies. I have an extra ‘18 Topps Update Ronald Acuna card, so I offered it but asked if there are any Tigers or a few more commons to sweeten up the deal. 

I feel like Acuna could be a once in a generation player who had a historic season, and has the potential to be in the HOF. Lowe is a streaky hitter who has been injured the past 2 years, and while Arozarena has had some good seasons, both aren’t on the level of Acuna. I’m pretty sure he’s going to grade the Acuna, and even if it is an 8 it’s going to increase the value. I’m not going to grade the Acuna, or the Lowe or Arozarena if I get them. It’s just not me. Bottom line, Acuna isn’t worth less than a stack of commons and the Gold Randy and Lowe autographed xfractor no matter how low they are numbered.

 I offered a ‘18 Topps Update Juan Soto rookie which I think is more of the level of a fair trade, but he declined. Now he wants me to throw in some parallels with the Acuna, but I still think he’s getting the better end of the deal and doesn’t have a real grasp on the value of any of the cards involved. Perhaps I don’t, but I think the stats and injury history back up my reasoning. 

So my questions. What’s a fair trade for the Gold Randy, Lowe auto, and stack of commons?  What sites can I get cheap commons from?  Any other sites besides Card Barrel or Sport Lots?  Do I scour eBay for starter sets and hope for no dupes? 

I’ll probably make some trades on TCDB once I get more and more of my stuff in the site, and maybe that’s the best move. Slowly but surely I will get this project rolling and knock cards/sets off of my list. Thanks in advance for the help. 

Thanks for taking the time to check out my latest post and answer my common questions. 

-Jeremy