Harper's Bazaar

For the second straight season, a Washington Nationals phenom is driving the sports card market.  This week, his current minor leaue team's hometown paper and SI take a look at his card values, his questionable attitude, and most important to hobbyists and investors, the value of his autograph along with his willingness to sign it. 

Have you had a big Harper pull from a box break?  Share it with us! 



For kids and adults, the hunt is on for Bryce Harper's autograph

 

HERE HE COMES

Topps lets its (facial) hair down

Over the years, various characters of the game of baseball have become characters of the game thanks to facial hair.  That might not have been their only quirk (Al Hrabosky, Rollie Fingers, etc.), but it certainly made them unique.  Those beards and 'staches have been featured on dozens of baseball cards over the years, but always as part of the rest of their body, and normally in uniform.  Only now has a beard taken on such a life of its own that it will now be immortalized on its own card.  I'll give you three guesses who the beard belongs to......first two do not count :)

Brian Wilson's Beard Gets Own Baseball Card

A Lost Art Revived By Jimmy Fallon & Bob Costas

Granted, they are '89 Topps, but if you're looking for an easy and fun way to knock your baseball cards right out of mint condition, Jimmy Fallon and Bob Costas bring an age-old game back to life.......

The "state of the hobby" address

The North County Times has just done an excellent three part series on the baseball card hobby, covering what it used to be, where it is today, and what the future might hold.  Most of the heavy hitters in the business are quoted, and the point of view of the brick and mortar dealer, the manufacturers, and the collector are covered.  It's a very nice, and accurate, summary of how we got here and where we might be headed, although if I have one qualm, it would be the glossing over of the impact of eBay (and on a broader scale, the internet itself) on both mom and pop dealers and on the hobby itself. 

Take a look at all three parts below............

BASEBALL CARDS SPECIAL REPORT PART I: Once-thriving baseball card industry tries to hold on to collectors

BASEBALL CARDS SPECIAL REPORT PART II: Baseball card business came crashing down after its peak 20 years ago

BASEBALL CARDS SPECIAL REPORT PART III: Sports cards evolving in effort to lure next generation of collectors

Deficit reduction

While debt continues to pile up around M Street in our nation's capital, a few miles down the road, 2 of baseball's hottest players' cards are raking in enough dough to make a dent (albeit a tiny one) in that massive deficit :-)  Before the Tommy John Surgery Heard 'Round The World took Stephen Strasburg out of commission until at least 2012, he was carrying both the hobby and his team, which had a relatively strong first half.  While Bryce Harper has yet to wear the Nationals uni just yet, his cards are picking up the Strasburg torch, but to a much lesser extent from a price standpoint.  Still, if his fast minor league start continues, there's a chance those prices could go from "inflated" to "ludicrous".  Perhaps the Tea Party is interested in making the investment to pay down the deficit.  

Bryce Harper's trading cards rising in value

For the love of the hobby.....

It's always fun for me to share the story of how folks like you and I grew to love this hobby with others.  These days, with publishing being as easy to do as sitting in front of your laptop, I enjoy reading the stories of others about their introduction to card collecting, and there are more of these than ever!  Discover how a discarded pack led to a still strong passion for the hobby........

Stars on Cards

A game within a game, Part III

Alongside the Topps 60th Anniversary "Greatest Cards of All Time" promotion, Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has decided to come up with his own list.  The rules and regulations for his list are a little different, and I actually prefer his over Topps.  He is posting his list in 5 card increments.  Here is the latest..........

Greatest baseball cards: Pack 3

An outsider's perspective

A few weeks ago, we looked at how one of HGTV's biggest stars viewed baseball cards as an investment.  Now another investment website has offered their two cents on baseball cards as an investment these days.  They also invoke a hobby name I hadn't heard in quite a while. 

So, if you're in this to get rich (and best of luck with that, by the way), here's another opinion on how to go about it.........

The Top-Performing Alternative Investments: Baseball Cards

Spreading the word

The more hobby evangelists we have, the stronger the hobby will be.  This guy has a pretty sweet vintage collection and is as qualified of an "expert" as you'll find based on this article.  He is also much closer to the subject of his favorite card than most of us will ever get to our favorite players.  If you're a seller or an eBayer, I strongly recommend doing things like this as a great way to market your business.  Getting it down to the grass roots is the most effective way to build your business and word of mouth about it. 

A Passion For Portrayals - Baseball card fan presents lecture at Sayville Library

 

Hammerin' Hank......Baseball Card Ambassador

Whether or not you grew up in the era when they played, I hope you have educated your children on some of the baseball greats of generations before us.  Unfortunately, sometimes it takes the passing of these legends before they are fully appreciated.  Fortunately, one of those who is still with us has given the baseball card hobby a huge boost over the past week on behalf of the Topps 60th Anniversary celebration.  Here is an excellent podcast interview AND a segment from Wednesday's Late Show With David Letterman featuring the man who remains the Home Run King in the minds of many fans.........

Podcast: Hank Aaron talks baseball cards, home runs and Jeter

 

 

With Topps in 2011, ALL days are diamonds!

In October, Topps unveiled plans for a 60th anniversary contest with a diamond ring with the grand prize.  The site is now live as of Tuesday (2/15/2011).  It is very similar in nature to last year's Million Card giveaway, with a few variations.  Click the link below to head there and start unlocking your treasures while working your way toward making an honest woman of your significant other! 

Topps Diamond Giveaway Website

Levels of (Dis)interest

To commemmorate the 60th anniversary of Topps, NPR's excellent current events quiz show, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, found someone who knew very little about baseball cards or their history for a feature they call "Not My Job" and subtitled "This Game Comes With A Shard Of Brittle Gum".  With your knowledge and love of the hobby, can you outscore actor John Leguizamo on this quiz? 

 

Actor John Leguizamo Plays Not My Job

Uncut & Uncensored!!!

The article below reminded me of a time when I first discovered the hobby in the early 80's when uncut sheets were a goldmine.  Safer than money in the bank.  Since rediscovering and re-entering the fray a few years ago, I began to read a few assorted pieces online indicating that they commanded nowhere near the premiums they got at the late 80's/early 90's peak of the hobby.  Once I gave it a search on the Bay, it looks like the value of uncut sheets have been knocked to the canvas. 

A closer look says, as suspected, the older the product, the bigger the price.  While any 80's era uncut sheet can be had for a song (or two), even some of the more rare and seemingly in-demand 80's era sheets have gone largely ignored thanks to overproduction.  Case in point.......this '82 Topps sheet featuring the Ripken RC for $56.55. 

As you would probably expect, the older the sheet, the higher the price.  A '65 O-Pee-Chee sheet featuring at least 11 Hall of Famers fetched almost $3,400.  So if you have anything pre-1970, it can still grab a pretty nice premium. 

If you're holding an uncut sheet, would it benefit you to chop it up?  Let's go to the experts.......

Babe Waxpak: To cut or not to cut card sheets, that is a complex dilemma

If you're looking to the card shop to send your kid to college......

The Stephen Strasburg example provides the textbook case of how sports cards as an investment are no safer in the long term than anything else you could sink your money into.  If investing in cards provide a better alternative than just taking your life savings and putting it all on one spin of the roulette wheel in Vegas, here's one player recommended as a target to put your money in.  An eBay search of the cards mentioned in the article indicates they can still be had for a song.......as low as 35 cents in one case (plus a rather exorbitant shipping charge for 2 baseball cards).  Then there's this one, which will cost you a little more. 

Clayton Kershaw's Los Angeles Dodgers rookie trading cards starting to pick up investment steam

A game within a game, Part II

Alongside the Topps 60th Anniversary "Greatest Cards of All Time" promotion, Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has decided to come up with his own list.  The rules and regulations for his list are a little different, and I actually prefer his over Topps.  He is posting his list in 5 card increments.  Here is the latest..........

Top 60 Topps: Pack 2

 

One of us

I think part of the reason the country is in the economic shape it's in at the moment has a lot to do with the CEOs who run most major corporations never spent a day consuming the product they're now in charge of.  Case in point.....the man named CEO of US Airways several years ago came from the same post at..........FREAKIN' BURGER KING!!  Guy probably never spent a day taking flying lessons OR flipping burgers, and once he landed the gig at both companies, he probably flew private jets.  Assuming he ever ate the food of the peasants like a hamburger, I'm sure it was prepared by a personal chef. 

Regardless of how you feel about the direction of the sports card hobby at the moment, you have to feel good about the fact that the guy calling the shots at Topps is a guy who knows the product he's selling and marketing.  That can only be a positive. 

He’s Back to Baseball Cards

A Cynic's Guide To The Lost and Found Box

Clearly, the D.C. police department isn't exactly chock full of sports card collectors.  The full force of law enforcement in our nation's capital is leaving no stone unturned in finding the rightful owner of.........a relatively worthless bunch of 80's era Topps cards found in East Potomac Park.  I'm not sure what's funnier about this story......the fact that a box of overproduced junk attracted international media attention or that the owner of the cards wasted perfectly good top loaders on DARRELL JOHNSON!!!!  AND JIM HOLY!!!

Fortunately, someone has arrived on the scene to mock this incident more eloquently than I could ever hope.  And by the way, if you haven't read his book yet (click on the widget below to find out more about it), I highly recommend it.

Baseball cards: Fool's gold discovered in East Potomac Park!

Before And After........Roy Halladay

Now that the SIXTH no-hitter of the 2010 season has been racked up, including 2 by the same pitcher, can we officially declare the Steroid Era over?  To put in perspective how truly monumental Roy Halladay's performance was in Game 1 of the NLDS, let's take a quick gander at the history books.  It would be enough if it were simply the first postseason no-no since Don Larsen's perfect game in the '56 World Series (only 2 days shy of 54 years ago), but it's also the first time the same pitcher has thrown 2 no-hitters in a season since Nolan Ryan in 1973 (albeit Ryan's 2 were both regular season no-hitters).  What a way to get your first taste of October baseball!

So what did creating history do for Halladay's card values?  Let's examine the crown jewel for Halladay collectors.  As always, eBay is our barometer here. We'll check the selling price of one prior to tonight and another just after the finishing touch was put on the no-hitter. 

1997 Bowman Roy Halladay Auto Rookie

BEFORE - $259.99

AFTER (7:37 PM Eastern) - $299.00

Unlike other players and cards we've covered (Armando Galarraga, Matt Garza, Jahvid Best), we've only seen a 15% spike this time.  With the stakes far higher and the achievement far more impressive, that seems a little unusual, but let's stop a minute and think of the differences this time around.  First and foremost, Halladay has been one of the top 5 players at his position in baseball for an extended period of time.  He should be a dead solid lock for Cooperstown with three to five more seasons like he's put together throughout his career.  His RC values are already pretty far up there.  Second, and relatively speaking, the '97 Bowman being looked at is also pretty rare.  The 2 we compared and contrasted appear to be the only 2 put up on eBay over the past 30 days.  Demand is already there and supply is short.  Finally, the impulse buyer crowd might bite over the next 24 hours or so on the 2 that are currently listed here and here for $399.  Then it begins to look more like the immediate jump we've come to expect with a virtuoso one game performance. 

Still, if you happen to be holding one of the Halladay cards we covered here, you could do worse than picking up somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 for the 5 minutes or so it takes to list it on eBay. 

 

Diamonds are a CARD COLLECTOR'S best friend?!?!?!

If you happen to be a card collector who might also be planning to pop the question to your significant other, now you can kill 2 birds with one stone!  And for free! (sorta.....there is the whole tax situation you'd suddenly find yourself saddled with) WITHOUT going to Jared so you could be the subject of one of those corny TV commercials!.........

Topps to give away diamonds with trading cards

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”