When a hobby box becomes a lottery ticket.......

Just in case you hadn't been able to sleep at night wondering who found the '52 Mantle in the Topps "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" contest, no more calls please......we have a winner!!  It does appear, however, that it's taking an act of Congress to actually get it.......

Collector Wins Baseball Cards “Crown Jewel”

Topps 2011: Where Else You Gonna Get Baseball Cards, Year 2

As you're probably aware, Topps has released details on its 2011 base set.  I'm not getting any younger, so my tendency is to do the whole "you neighborhood kids get off my lawn" thing, but as someone who has just rediscovered the hobby over the past few years, am I the only one who wonders what the obsession in the industry is all things "retro"?  I'm not asking for a design and set that screams 2050, but I am asking for something a little less Prohibition era. 

A related story to keep your eye on here.......although he's denying it publicly, Michael Eisner is strongly rumored to be taking over the Tribune Co. (Chicago Tribune, WGN, etc.) when it emerges from bankruptcy.  You have to wonder what direction Topps would take if he takes on a lesser day-to-day role in the company. 

Here's the rundown of what we'll see for the first major baseball card release of 2011.........

ANGILLY: Topps’ 2011 set again honors company’s past

Bridging the gap between Strasburg Mania and Bryce Harper Mania

Before you click through to read the story, you should keep a few things in mind.  First and foremost, the source is the owner of a card shop in the player's home state, where he might as well be Governor.  Second, his alma mater, while still a Top 10 team, isn't playing quite up to par yet, so there's the nostalgia of times gone by probably driving the market in his back yard.  Only in college football can the "glory days" be a mere 9-ish months ago :-)  Third, he's not a starting QB yet, and who knows whether he'll ever be? 

Is it nice to see the sports card market thriving after the Tommy John Express claimed yet another phenom poised to carry it on his back?  Is it slightly hyperbolic for a brick and mortar store owner and "homer" to indicate that a guy who has picked up a total of 2 yards in his professional career will singlehandedly resuscitate the hobby?  Yes, and yes. 

Tim Tebow's Rookie Cards Top Industry

The kids are NOT alright!

As a rabid college football fan and alum of the University of Alabama......2009 BCS Champions and current consensus #1 team in the nation, by the way........I have been to college games in all four corners of the country and argued (and won) the attributes of the SEC vs. all other conferences and the intensity of all the major traditional rivalries (Ohio State/Michigan, Texas/Oklahoma, Army/Navy, etc.).  I have a truckload of facts and recent history to prove the superiority of the SEC, but that's another post for another day. 

No one outside the South truly understands how deeply religious this part of the country is about college football allegiances.  This clip pretty much sums it up.  Wherever your loyalties lie, they are deeply rooted and "indoctrination" occurs upon emergence from the womb :-)

 

Before And After........Jahvid Best

While we generally cover baseball cards here, I think it's safe to assume that many of us here are also football fans, and possibly football card collectors.  With football season in full swing, that will begin to get more ink here as baseball winds down.  Throughout the baseball season, we've proven time and again that monumental events, i.e. no hitters, perfect games, home runs in a first big league at-bat, cause the impulse buyers on eBay and elsewhere to show up and overspend in droves!  With baseball still driving the card hobby, does that same "rule" apply to football cards when a much-hyped rookie on and up and coming (albeit not quite there yet) team busts out and proves he might be well worthy of the hype?  Let's examine the case of Jahvid Best, the Detroit Lions running back who had his football equivalent of a debutante ball with 232 combined rushing and receiving yards and 3 TDs in Sunday's game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.  What difference did 24 hours make in his card values both prior to and just after his breakout game. 

Let's take a look at "before" and "after" eBay prices on 2 of Jahvid Best's 2010 auto rookie releases:

2010 Donruss Elite "Turn of the Century" Auto SER# /249

BEFORE - $35.99 on Sept. 15th

AFTER - $75.99 just a few hours after he ran circles around the Eagles on Sunday!!  

One game was responsible for a 111% increase in the card's value!! 

2010 Rookies &Stars Auto Patch SER# /299

BEFORE - $62.99 just before kickoff Sunday

AFTER - $124.50 shortly after the game

A immediate 98% spike here!!

For cooler heads and patient people, the novelty seems to have subsided during the week.......with the Elite AND the R&S card settling in at more affordable levels, which is where they should stay.........until the clock hits 00:00 on the next 200+ yard, 3 TD performance :-) 

 

 

Another walk down memory lane......

Fox News would have a field day with the headline :-)  It would be nice if stories like these had happier endings and a true collector could be able to cash in on some of the mother lode he helped build as a kid, but clearly the memories trump the investment potential for the writer, making it truly relatable to hobbyists like us.......

Behold the former czar of baseball carddom

Introducing Panini's latest card (or is it a "set"?)

Included in this year's Donruss Elite Extra Edition set is.......someone who has no association with baseball other than her apparent love for Pepperdine Waves baseball (or could it be the players on the Pepperdine Waves baseball team?). 

At press time, we cannot confirm that the card will be numbered 36 DD.  Thank you, I'm here all week.  Try the veal :-)

Pamela Anderson is on a trading card