Tuesday, September 10, 2024

That was fast

It seems that COMC has finally gotten their act together.


My first order of 2024 was requested on the first day of 2024. It arrived on the 25th.


Of March.

 

Then, because COMC is the only place with affordable mid-grade 1956 Topps singles (fvck you very much, 4 Sharp Corners) I placed another order in spring. Requested shipping on May 12, received cards July 13th. 

Better, but still godawful. Both orders took so long to fill that I got an apology email with a $5 voucher for shipping on my next order. And so, like the sucker that I am, I placed order #3 and requested shipping on August 28th. I was expecting it to arrive around Halloween.


It got here yesterday. 12 days - that's almost like a real business. I didn't pay for expedited shipping or anything. 

Perhaps if I knew their turnaround times had drastically improved I'd have bought more cards and waited another month. Alas, I have just 40 cards to show off today - starting with the aforementioned '56 singles:


The seller I usually buy these from had a 25% off sale, and posted something else I'd had on my wantlist for years - a vintage Walter Payton card.


I'd been shopping around for a 1977 Topps Payton but the prices and my profits from eBay sales were never in sync. Instead I bought back the oldest football card I had as a young teenager.(That one was an OC copy with at least one rough corner.)

Some thick boys and prospects. There was a blue parallel #d/99 of the Syndergaard relic for about $2.50, but I bought the base for $1.27 and picked up the Pedro with the balance. My prospecting days are over but the Lazaro Montes was mislabeled and the Jackson Chourio was priced way too low.

Cheaper shiny here. Almost all were 50 cents each or less. Rasmus Asplund is a fringe NHL player but a blue color-matching auto for under $1.50 is hard to pass up; I nearly bought a Casey Mittlestadt Blue Rainbow auto for about $5, but then I would have had to put back the Prizms.

More hockey here (yes, the top two cards are from a hockey set.) The Neighbors and Cuylle Young Guns were a package deal; I sent an offer which basically got me the Cuylle for free. The Hull completes my Lost Rookie Cards insert set and triggered this order in the first place, since no one else has this card for under $8.

Picked up what I thought would be among the final Arizona Coyotes cards - but then I saw 2024-25 Upper Deck MVP was released without any mention of Utah. The Game Dated Moments card is ridiculous; the caption reads "Coyotes players say goodbye to the 2023-24 season...." Umm, what?!?!?

Finally some PC teams here, including a Blue Diamond Dustin (not to be confused with Dustin Diamond) and Juke Box Heroes inserts of the Hughes brothers. I foolishly bought the Yoshida and Casas refractors for 35 cents each even though I have absolutely no more room for any Red Sox inserts or parallels of any kind. I had to take out all the mini cards, put those in a separate box, and then it was still a tight squeeze.

I've had to get very selective about buying Boston base cards, too, as I only have space for about 20 across all my binders. Once my incoming Sportlots order arrives, I'll have less than a dozen pockets available.


And, not to dunk on COMC after giving them their flowers, but I bet the Sportlots seller will ship faster than 12 days. Just sayin' ;P



I did make one more very minor purchase. Picked up a couple cheapies on eBay and...


.... got that 2,000th feedback ten minutes after paying the seller. Woo-hoo!!! 🥳





Thanks for reading!



~



9 comments:

  1. Collecting a graded '56 set blows my mind every time you show them.

    I've ordered from COMC once this year, it was in July, and I got my order in 17 days. I posted about it. https://nightowlcards.blogspot.com/2024/07/human-see-human-do.html

    Hope they can keep it going.

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  2. Yeah, I had a similar experience in July as well. I too hope they can keep this pace. I might order more.

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  3. I like sets like that 50's set. But Parkhurst was a Canadian company so it's weird that the set was totally US-focused. Even the one hockey player was a Detroit Red Wing. Should have had a Louis St. Laurent card or John Diefenbaker card, not Harry Truman. (Had to look that one up).

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  4. I sure hope my cards arrive in 12 days too. This post motivated me to request a shipment and there's a card in my order that I might want to take with me to the last game at the Coliseum (which is in 15 days). It's cutting things a little close, so we'll see.

    P.S. Congratulations on receiving your 2000th positive feedback!

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  5. They must be putting more emphasis on shipping cards out to buyers than processing orders for sellers. I sent in a batch to sell in early June and they have yet to do anything with it. Also, I sell on Sportlots and I try to send out orders within 1 or 2 days. What the Post Office does with it after I drop them off, I have no control...

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  6. Sportlots order arrived today :D

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  7. Congrats on finally getting your 2000th positive feedback! I'm encouraged to see y'all's reports on fast COMC shipping times; I'll still probably wait till after Black Friday to ship my purchases.

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  8. I suppose that it's too much to hope for that these shipping times hold through the upcoming holidays.

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