football cards home
buy football cards
browse cards
why so cheap

Football Card
Samples
Click on image to
see a larger version

Trading Tip
Don't jump to conclusions.
Sometimes cards get lost in the mail. Human error can't stop it. If your cards don't show up, it doesn't necessarily mean you've been ripped off. Contact the person you traded with to see if they had any delays in shipping. Quite often there is a reasonable explanation.

A couple years back I sent some cards that never arrived. The person I was trading with, a repeat trader I might add, started threatening to press charges and blackballing my name on all kinds of trading boards. I offered to return his cards, no questions asked. I also suggested he picked a new batch of cards. I even emailed every single person I had traded with in the past that I still had email addresses for to see if I mistakenly sent them the cards. After several more daily threats, he picked another batch of cards worth $43, the exact value of the original deal. When I sent the cards I included a note apologizing for the inconvenience. It was nobody's fault, just a post office mix up. I just felt it was best to be polite. Ten days later he sent me a message saying he got the cards and that I wasn't a thief after all. The damage was done. Name-calling and threats are impossible to take back. - tip from www.tradercracks.com

Frequently Asked Question
What is crash numbering on trading cards?
As a general rule, collectors want what they can’t get (within reason of course). The more rare and limited a card or set of cards, then the more valuable and cherished it can be to collectors. When a card has sequential crash numbering placed on it by the manufacturer, then it indicates that the card is limited to the amount “crash numbered” by machine in foil or ink onto the card.

Crash numbering is done in sequence to a group or set of cards in which each individual card has it’s own number. For example, the first card would be crash numbered “1 / 100.” The second card would then be crash numbered "2 / 100," and so on up to the number 100. Many collectors appreciate knowing exactly how many cards were produced of a set and what number they have of that set.

As a collecting tip, look for crash numbered cards that are significant in the player’s career (like jersey number, career home runs hit, etc.) or numbers that are also coveted by collectors (like the first or last card of the run).

Crash numbering of some highly collectible autographed cards (usually cards numbered to very low quantities or to the player’s jersey number) can also be done by hand with a pen. This is also sometimes true when replacement cards are returned by the customer service departments of trading card manufacturers to collectors, who send in damaged versions of cards originally crash numbered by machine.

Customer Testimonial
Nice Cards! Good Packaging! Thanks!

Glossary Term
Insert ratio - These numbers are associated with cards that are not commonly available within the packs of cards. The ratio indicates what the odds are of finding such a card within packs. This is generally communicated on the packaging of a product with a ratio after a specific name, such as “Top Hitters 1:24,” which would indicate that the subset or insert set called Top Hitters is short printed (vs. the rest of the set) and will fall at an approximate ratio of 1 in every 24 packs. Sometimes, just the total number of cards produced for a specific short printed card is announced, as these cards are generally sequentially numbered and no approximate ratios are available at that time.

Even More Links

Questions? Email us at qa@footballcardlots.com

| Find Value Of Football Cards |

Football Card Lots Home | Why so Cheap?

Advertising Partners

Santa Rosa web design