BGS Grading

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19Nov/090

Beckett Grading Registry – is an old favorite returning?

Beckett Grading

We all know about the change in message board format that Beckett made and how many people that upset. Another thing that went away, that many liked, was the Beckett Grading Registry. alifaxwa2 on freedomcardboard.com made a post 6 days ago wondering if this had been brought back to life.

Today, we can confirm, it is indeed coming back. Below is the text of an email I received from Chris Gilmore.

Beckett Grading Services has been working on a new Graded Card Registry, and during an initial testing phase, the original Registry was briefly actived. Although this has been taken back down, we are very excited to be preparing a new and improved Beckett Graded Card Registry for launch in 2010.

Sincerely,

Beckett Grading Services

Thumbs up Beckett, do it up right.

19Nov/090

Beanie Babies are still worth money??!!??

Ty Billionaire

I never would have believed that some Beanie Babies were still worth something...but apparently...there are a few.

Flash the Whale - sold for $405
Peanut the Elephant - sold for $825
Ty the Billionaire Bear - sold for $1,100!!!!
Humphrey the Camel - sold for $238

These sales are few and far between however, only the ones that are truly rare command any sort of money.

I remember buying a "Peace Bear," at a boutique store for $6, walking down the street and selling it to the local card shop for $30. What a happy day that was for this 8th grader.

19Nov/091

The overproduction of the early ’90s

Some time ago, I wrote a post about 1990 Topps, it was the first hobby pack that I remembered opening. It is hard to have a discussion about cards in the early '90s, without immediately gravitating to the word "overproduction."  That word defined the era.

You won’t get an argument from anyone who is sane and rational that overproduction occurred. It is just a fact of life and those printing presses may still be running. Most of us that built up huge collections of cards as kids, hoping for an early retirement, have long since resigned ourselves to the truth. Those cards aren't worth much at all and likely never will be.

As I was browsing eBay today though I thought of another unfortunate consequence of this overproduction. The superstars we grew up watching have a lack of collectible, rare, rookie cards. Aside from some Tiffanys here and there, rookie cards of even the biggest stars, in the best condition, are attainable for just a few dollars.

Why is this bad you ask? Just think for a second on how much you could spend on Mickey Mantle cards from the 50s and 60s. It could be a lifelong quest in which you expand hundreds of thousands of dollars, it is for some people. It could literally be as big as you want to make it.  A huge percentage of the dollars spent in our hobby are spent on rare vintage cards. What about collecting the finest grades of Frank Thomas rookie cards from the year 1990? Holy Grail?

Thomas Score 9.5

Nope, how about Holy Fail. The card in the picture above sold for $15 bucks. Thus, collectors turn to other things, such as rare inserts etc. Yet even that isn't quite the same as a rookie card, how cool would it be, to have a Frank Thomas Gold Ref Auto /50? It could be the 1952 Topps Mantle of its day.  It would make a whole era of collecting interesting again.

However, there is likely an upside to all of this. As a kid, I didn't even have $15 to spend on cards, let alone thousands to buy Mantles. I did have 44 cents though and that bought me a pack of 1990 Topps. With that 44 cents I got a crack at rookies of Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Sammy Sosa, Kevin Maas, Greg Vaughn, Bernie Williams and so much more. Had cards been priced a lot higher (with lower production runs) you could make an argument that significant chunk of people who are into cards today, might not be. They simply could not have afforded the entry price at the gate.

So although we wish there were big cards to chase of our favorite generational players, we also need to recognize that we might not be chasing cards at all, were it not for the low price of entry.

Want a rookie card of arguably one of the most dominant pitchers of a generation? Want it in the finest condition? Did you answer yes to both questions? Do you have six dollars? Then the card below can be yours!

Martinez UD 9.5

18Nov/090

Timing – now that’s timing – Brandon Jennings Patch Auto

Anyone busting any 2009-10 basketball products right now is hoping to see Brandon Jennings cards.

Apparently, h2doit on eBay hit the jackpot.

Jennings Panini Patch Auto

I'm not a huge fan of how the auto smudged on the sticker but you know what, I'd take the card if you forced it upon me :)

18Nov/090

Here’s hoping for many more – D.J. Richardson Dunk

D.J. Richardson Dunk

The pic is above and the video below. Props to ndillini on Illiniboard for posting it.

18Nov/090

D.J. Mbenga, a big man who is feeling rather small

NBA.com posted their most recent rookie rankings. As you might expect, Brandon Jennings is #1.

However, I noticed something else, the name DJ Mbenga, the Laker's center.
That would be this guy:
Mbenga

Apparently, he got dunked on by Blake Griffin in the preseason. Big deal right? Blake dunks on everybody, saying you got dunked on by Blake Griffin surprises people about as much as saying you ate candy on Halloween.

Saying you got dunked on by Ty Lawson...a guy who is a foot shorter than you are? Well, that might make one feel rather....small.

18Nov/090

College Basketball is in full swing! – but…

Paul 

One of the highlights of my life, from a sports perspective, was attending the 2005 NCAA Final Four. As a University of Illinois student at the time I was thrilled that the Illini had made it and that it was in St. Louis! If you don't remember how close the Illini were to not making it, check out this video of their comeback vs. Arizona on youtube.

Anyway, the point is, I'm a huge college basketball fan. I attended just about every Illinois home game while I was at school, as well as, a handful of games on the road.

We have now entered a wonderful time of year, we are in the middle of the NFL season, NCAA football is in full-swing AND college basketball is starting. From a fan's perspective, it doesn't get a whole lot better than this. Although the Illinois football team stinks, the basketball team is looking good and the revitalization of the Chargers is simply amazing. In short, I've got good teams to cheer for!

One of the things I find myself doing quite often, while watching Chargers games, is surfing eBay for collectibles, particularly cards of the players I am watching. Yes, this can lead to impulse buys but still, it is fun. As a collector and fan I enjoy both watching and collecting items of my favorite players.

Which leads to one big **SIGH** when it comes to college basketball. There really is nothing to collect, eBay search Brandon Paul, one of Illinois' most exciting new players. What do you get? Nada that relates to Illinois' freshman guard. This is why the 2007 MCDAA cards excited me so much, finally, I could collect the "diaper dandies" I so enjoyed watching. However, it seems that the MCDAA cards were a 3-year flash in the pan and now we are back to nothing.

I love college basketball and I am excited to see how this year plays out for the Illini but I would love some collectibles too!

**Upper Deck: this is directed towards you! You and your NCAA license!**

17Nov/091

Panini Kobe Bryant Auto Spotted

I was checking eBay tonight and I spotted a Kobe Bryant Panini Auto.

Bryant

That picture does not do it any favors but from what I can see, that looks pretty dang nice.

17Nov/090

2009-10 Panini Leaf Rookies & Stars – First Looks

Some cards from Panini's Leaf Rookies & Stars release are slowly starting to trickle on to eBay. Panini's previous releases: Prestige and Panini Base Basketball have admittedly been a bit lower end.

Leaf Rookies & Stars promises something a bit more in the middle. You have a chance for auto patches, as well as the on-patch, patch autos.

Two examples are below:

Jennings Rookies & Stars Auto Patch

Harden Auto Patch

I really don't have much of an opinion on these cards. It certainly is nice to see players in NBA jerseys. Other than that they don't strike me as wonderful, nor terrible. They are what they are and that is, a bridge to the better products like Leaf Limited and Contenders (which I am quite excited about).

It is nice to have consistent stream of basketball products coming out though and for that, I give Panini props.

17Nov/090

Razor Sales – looking back

Razor Beckham

A year ago Razor was making waves in the prospecting world. Exclusives were being signed at a rapid rate, the exclusives were guys that mattered, guys that we all wanted to see in chrome form. Tim Beckham, Justin Smoak, Ethan Martin, Tim Melville, Brett Lawrie, Aaron Hicks, Destin Hood, Pedro Alvarez and on and on and on. There were lovers and there were most certainly haters. Both made predictions on how these would fare in the market on a long-term basis.

From Razor's perspective, there were enough lovers. Sales were brisk and Signature Series sold out. A few months later Razor started releasing Razor Metal (similar to chrome) on eBay, these cards sold OK at the time.

I thought it would be worth looking at 5 Signature Series sales recently and considering how they look in retrospect.  It seems that owners of the Metal cards are hunkering down, there have been very few sales recently.

Here we go - Sig Series

1. Tim Beckham Razor Exclusive Auto - $6.70 thumbs down, these were selling @ about $25 near release. These were hurt by both the Metal cards and the base autos /499.

2. Zeke Spruill Blue Auto /25 - $8.24 - thumbs down here as well, Zeke had a good year, so this is awfully low.

3. Kyle Lobstein Black Silver Auto /5 - $12.51 - thumbs down, he's an exclusive and this is just so low. Likely would have sold for $25 or more upon release.

4. Yonder Alonso Auto /699 - $13.50 - sad to say this held value better than others. These were at $20-$25 upon release.

5. Eric Hosmer Auto /699 - $7.50 - again, not a great sale. Hosmer didn't have a good year either so this might be a wash.

It is a fair assessment to say the value of the Sig Series Autos on the secondary market is quite low.  These have lost value since release, even in the case of players that have done well.

If I was going to hold for the long term, I'd choose the metal autos but those are no sure thing either.

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