2006 Bowman Chrome Superfractor Autograph Alex Gordon

Recent Sales:

2007 – $6100

2008 – $5500

Today - $1526

Why people pay crazy amounts of money for some of these rare prospect cards is beyond me.  Dont get me wrong, i do the whole prospect thing to but you would never see me drop a few grand on “The next big thing”.  There are very few players whose cards have increased in value after they’ve reached the majors and most “prospectors” know that if you’re still holding onto a players cards after they’ve made it then you’ve missed the prime time to sell.

Alex Gordon just wrapped up his third MLB season and has done nothing but disappoint Royal fans and collectors holding onto his cards.  Granted he was out most of the 2009 season due to an injury but he still has not shown much of anything to make us hopeful that he’ll figure things out and become the player he was projected to be. 

People obviously still have faith in him seeing the card sold for $1500.  I just dont understand why some people would pay that amount after three years of not performing in the majors.  When i first saw this card listed i assumed it would only sell for around $500-$600.  I guess some people have more money than brains. 

It will be interesting to see if the transaction actually occurs seeing that the winning bidder is a brand new member with 0 feedback.  It could have been a poor attempt at shilling the auction knowing how much money the seller was going to lose? 

As most of us collectors know there is no such thing as a “cant miss” prospect and Alex Gordon is just another example of that.

So i decided to try my luck with a box of 2009 UD Ballpark Collection from blowoutcards.com for a product review.  I’ll be honest, i dont usually buy UD products but i really liked the look of these cards and decided what the heck.

$153.99

1 Box 4 packs per box

Three memorabilia cards or one auto and two memorabilia cards in every pack on average

Pack 1

Dual Swatch Matt Kemp/Juan Rivera /400 (creased)
Quat Swatch Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, And Justin Verlander /400
Jersey Button Ken Griffey Jr /4

Pack 2

Dual Swatch Kerry Wood/Justin Verlander /300
Quad Swatch Jake Peavy, Andy Pettitte, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon /500
Six Swatch John Smoltz, JD Drew, Rocco Baldelli, Xavier Nady, Mark Teixeira, AJ Burnett /160

 
Pack 3

Dual Swatch David Murphy/Delmon Young /400
Quad Swatch Joe Mauer, Russ Martin, Victor Martinez, Kenji Johjima /500
Swatch Auto Derek Jeter (damaged)

Pack 4

Dual Swatch Johnny Damon/Robinson Cano /400
Quad Swatch Cal Ripken Jr., Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Melvin Mora /400
Rookie Autographs Phil Coke /375

My thoughts:

I love the design and i love how its jam packed with hits for only $150.  I got lucky with the two big hits but i still think its a great product for the value. 

I think there are only two negatives about the product:

1. Card condition.  Almost every every hit has some type of edge damage.  One of my dual swatches had a few creases going right through the center of the card.  And my Jeter autograph, the window of the swatch was damaged on the right side. 

2. The players dont match their correct teams.  There were a lot of cards like this and even the Griffey was messed up.  It stated Mariners but shows him in a Reds uniform.

My overall grade:  A-

It definitely left me wanting to buy another box.  For pictures of the rest of the hits CLICK HERE

Many collectors are posting on Freedomcardboard.com that they have received their 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft autograph redemption cards of Mets prospect Wilmer Flores.  One member posted about a month ago that he had received a few of his but he was the only person that i am aware of to receive them at that time. 

Now the only outstanding redemption from 2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects are the Michel Inoa autographs.

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom

12 cards per pack 20 packs per box and 10 boxes per case

Each box has 3 autographed relic and/or relic cards per box

Base card parallels

Blue numbered to 99 – our case had 25
Gold numbered to 50 – our case had 10
Red numberd to 1 – our case 3!!!!
Printing Plate numbered to 1 – our case 1

I conducted a group case break of this on freedomcardboard.com and all i have to say is WOW!!!!  I really like the look of the cards especially the auto relics and the single relic ticket cards.  I would have to say our case was loaded.  We pulled five 1/1 cards, three from the same box.  I was so excited when i pulled the first and became more and more like a gitty school girl after each one.

There are only a few things i didnt like about the product and that was the weak card stock and the dual relic ticket cards.  I like a good picture on my cards and the dual relics cut right into the picture.  The biggest thing i didnt like was the buyback ticket stub being a 1/1.  There are like a dozen of the excact same ticket stub on EBay right now.  So how is it a 1/1?

I think Topps could have made this product a little better had they made opening day ticket card autographed right on the ticket and have a ticket subset of actual stubs from meaningful games like debuts, no hitter, etc.

All the scans from the break can be viewed here: CASE BREAK PICS

6 packs per box 5 card per pack 4/8 boxes per case
Each pack contains

2 Autographs
1 World Baseball Classic Relic (All serial Numbered)
1 Rookie card
1 Prospect Card

Each box contains

1 Box Loader WBC Blue Refractor Relic Card
1 Dual Autograph Card

Parallels – 3 per box

Refractor #’d to 199
Gold Refractor #’d to 50
Black Refractor #’d to 25
Red Refractor #’d to  1

Sell Sheet with Checklist

Approximate Release date the week of December 28, 2009

My thoughts:

- The very first thing that jumped out at me was the sticker autographs.  Topps said after the release of last years that they would be going to on card autos for 2009.  Although I prefer on card autos, I don’t mind the sticker autographs too much for this product because the silver stickers go well with the silver cards.

- I am getting annoyed with the WBC cards and I can’t wait for 2010 just because of them.  I will say the fact that they are all relics will be added value to the product.

- The auto checklist although very good is mostly a regurgitation of 2009 Bowman Chrome and 2009 Bowman Draft.  No surprise to me after seeing the 2009 BDP checklist the base checklist for sterling is also very weak

Overall Grade: B-

Freedomcardboard.com member sheepshearer71 is collecting Loren Opstedahl’s 2009 Allen & Ginter cards.  He has the Ginter Wood, Silk, and three printing plates and has been desparately seeking the cyan printing plate 1/1 to complete his collection.   This collector is offering $1,000 for this card. 

If you have any information on this card even if you have only seen that this card was pulled please post below or contact me at moxacaine@yahoo.com.

Um wow? $821 for a second year card?  I guess when you’re hot you’re hot.  And Gordon Beckham is putting up a very solid rookie season and may very well win Rookie of the Year.  I would have guessed $400-$500 tops but this was a very impressive sale.

480/500 refractors
23/25 Orange Refractors
142/150 Blue Refractors
44/50 Gold Refractors
241/250 Xfractors
1482 Base Chrome

Also listed in one of the Tosoni auctions was 24 of the 25 Tim Bascom Orange Refractors.

The cards are all thrown in large lots with poor titles and can be seen here Auctions

Posted in the sellers store is the following “Cargolargo is able to bring you significant savings by buying lost cargo shipments, unclaimed freight, manufacturer and distributor overstocks, and close-out merchandise from the United States and beyond.”

Is it possible that this is all just “lost cargo” or possibly the seller purchased this lot from someone who stole the cards.

According to flightposite on FCB this seller also had all 5 Red Refractors  of Tosoni and Boscom as well as each players 1/1 Superfractor.

Topps has been contacted and are aware of the situation.  It will be interesting to see what happens from here.

Topps has announced on twitter that 70% of the autographs in the upcoming T206 product will be on card.  There were a lot of complaints from collectors after seeing the sell sheet and it showing a few autographs with stickers. 

How can you do sticker autographs in a set like this?  This would be like putting sticker autos on Allen & Ginter or Topps Heritage.  It just aint right.  The throwback cards should always be hard signed otherwise it takes away from the vintage feel its supposed to have.  I think collectors will be somewhat happy to know that only 30% of the cards will be stickers.

And thank you to everyone else for reading the site and taking part in the contest.  I plan on trying to do some type of giveaway at least once a month.