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Listia "Treasures"

Ask anyone who shops on Listia and you'll probably hear the same refrain:  "It's like a giant yard sale - there's plenty of good stuff but you really have to look for it."  In my estimation, that's a fair statement.  However, it's muddied a bit because on Listia everything is "free."  And by free, I actually mean you pay in terms of credits rather than in dollars and cents (or pesos).  I have no idea what an accurate conversion rate for dollars to credits is - though I do know you can buy 1500 credits for $5.00 which would mean that $1 = 300 credits.  On the other hand, you can make a large bulk purchase of 16,000 credits for $40.00 which would mean $1 = 400 credits.

Personally, I think that the purchase price of credits is grossly inflated - I go by the idea that 1000 credits = $1.00.  This seems to be a much fairer estimate of worth - for instance, some of the LEGO minifigures routinely go for 3,000 - 7,000 credits - or about $3 - $7 which isn't too far off of what you'd pay on eBay (in terms of cash).

For sellers, Listia is nice because you don't have any fees - I'm growing more and more tired of the eBay fees (plus the PayPal fees - each of which go to the same company).  On Listia, there are no fees.  Of course, on Listia you don't actually ever get cash - you sell your stuff for credits and then you buy new stuff with those credits.  It's kind of like a giant Ponzi scheme really.

Anyhow, back to the treasure aspect of the site.

Whenever I get on Listia, I do two or three searches.
1.  I search for LEGO sets.  I love being able to add LEGO sets for cheap - and I'm always looking for new blog fodder over at The Legend of LEGO.
2.  I search for Barry Larkin cards.  I don't often find Larkin cards that I don't have - but when I do I'm extremely happy.  Listia seems to have very few Barry Larkin collector's currently browsing the site - which means I often get a good deal on his cards.
3.  Once in awhile I do a generic Reds search, or possibly a search for stuff on my want list.  I don't usually have much success here but I have had success with both #1 and #2.

Speaking of Larkin cards on Listia - my latest addition to my collection is this oddball:

I bought it for about 50 credits if memory serves - and quite honestly, I have no idea what the set is.  The card itself is quite a bit taller than usual and the back says "Bookmarkers."  It's not numbered in any other way - though it was printed in 1993 by the Colla Collection.  This site seems to think that Larkin is #27 in the set, though I have no idea how (or where) that number comes from.  A Google search brought up a post from April 2011 on Angels in Order in which there is a bit more information quoted at the bottom of the page:

From KeyMan Collectibles website:
Produced by BCP - The Colla Collection/Terry Smith Creations, the 1993 Diamond Marks baseball Card set consist of 120 cards that measure 2 1/2 x 5 This test issue was a series of Book Markers depicting Major League Baseball Players. They were sold in foil packs of 10 cards. The bookmarks were designed & created by Terry Smith Creations, using the photography of Barry Colla productions. The cards are unnumbered and are arranged in alphabetical order by player.

If anyone has any more info on the card (or set), I'd love to learn about it.  Either way, it's another nice addition to my collection - and certainly a nice oddball (complete with official team logos by the way).

And that's why I use Listia - the hidden treasures (not to mention a great place to dump off my excess baseball cards)!

Comments

  1. The 2009 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards says this:

    1993 DiamondMarks

    While they look like baseball cards and were sold in foil packs like baseball cards, DaimondMarks were licensed as book marks. Issued by Barry Colla Productions, the 2-1/2" x 5" cards feature Barry Colla’s trademark high-quality player photos on front and back. The UV-coated fronts feature black borders with the player’s name in white above the photo and a color team logo beneath. Backs, also bordered in black, feature two color player photos in an open book design. There is a portrait photo on the left and a head-and-shoulders reproduction of the front photo at right. A bookmark with team logo is incorporated in the design. The 120-card set is unnumbered and is arranged in the checklist below alphabetically within league and team.

    ====

    There were from 3 to 7 players per MLB team.

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