Jose Abreu and DECLINE in card prices - OPINIONS WANTED

[whitesoxfan3579]

I got back in this hobby in March 2014 and Jose Abreu is one of my favorite active players to collect. Last year I bought a lot of his rookie and key cards. I expect to keep these cards in my PC.

Nevertheless, I can't help but notice that these same cards that I bought last year (i.e. 1) 2014 finest black refractor auto /99, RC 2) 2014 bowman chrome bubbles RC /99, and 2014 bowman chrome gold prospect /50) among others go for significantly less than what I initially purchased them for. Furthermore, some of these price drops are surprising to me for several reasons: 1) bowman chrome prospect gold refractor is one of his key cards (I know it doesn't help that I don't have his auto on this card) 2) they are serial #'d cards and more in demand than the base counterparts 3) none of these cards are produced by panini, which I understand is hurt significantly because it is not a MLB licensed product.

Last year when I purchased these cards I was fully aware that prices were high because of his outstanding performance in the field (.317/.383/.581 with 36 hrs & 107 rbis.). IMO, Abreu is still having a fairly solid year in 2015 - .289/.385/.503 to go along with 24 hrs and 80 RBIS, which makes this drop in prices even more surprising.

What do you guys attribute to the significant drop in prices of these Abreu cards among with many others? Do you expect these cards to recover their value if he continues to excel on the baseball diamond? Finally is this drop in prices typical for other comparable players during this same time period?

Seeing this makes me nervous to purchase other modern cards of players I like in case I want to resell the cards in the future. It also serves as a reminder to maintain a diversified collection - one where prices of players/cards are already set and don't change a whole lot (i.e. vintage cards and scarce and desirable 90's inserts).

I would appreciate your thoughts and opinion on this matter. Thank you in advance.

[anusinha]

MVP candidate on a contender? Top prospect? If not, then no one cares.

[poppincurbs]

It's all about the "Hype Train"...2 years ago Puig, then Abreu, then Bryant, then Joc, then Schwarber, then Correa... etc.

It's exactly why I don't waste my money on these players when their prices are outrageous. It's very rare when one of these cards INCREASE in value (i.e. Trout), so it's really just a bad investment to buy at that time.

[asujbl]

Fairly solid year, but not great, and will be 29 years old before next season starts.

That's not a recipe to hold value.

He was overvalued last year because it was the first people had seen him. If anything this is a market correction - not a "drop"

[Cavaliercards]

Hes not a rookie anymore
hes old
the hype isn't there
KRIS BRYANT
and hes not a rookie anymore
and KRIS BRYANT

[Bhenry4]

Abreu's prices have been discussed a few times on here. His age, 28 and 29 this offseason, does not help. See Paul Goldschmidt. He will never have enough time to accumulate HOF numbers.

The aforementioned fact that he plays for the White Sox doesn't help. He's also not a prospect. He's yesterday's news, and while his numbers are good, they're not MVP good.

For price sustainability, focus on guys that are young enough and have the tools/skills/stats already to potentially make the HOF. If you're looking for a quick flip, stick to prospecting for immediate gains (and losses). My two main PC's (at least the ones that cost me a lot) are a HOF and someone that has the potential to make the HOF.

[Reverend Ghost]

Yeah, add in the fact that he has signed multiple times for multiple products, this was definitely a sell while he's hot situation as opposed to a buy because he's going to get hot again. Even if he had matched the numbers he put up last year, nothing can stop the New Can't Miss each season brings. His stuff was crazy hot at first because he only had a few cards. By the time Topps Chrome hit, the market started adjusting.

[Bars and Bar]

Abreu's prices have been discussed a few times on here. His age, 28 and 29 this offseason, does not help. See Paul Goldschmidt. He will never have enough time to accumulate HOF numbers.

The aforementioned fact that he plays for the White Sox doesn't help. He's also not a prospect. He's yesterday's news, and while his numbers are good, they're not MVP good.

For price sustainability, focus on guys that are young enough and have the tools/skills/stats already to potentially make the HOF. If you're looking for a quick flip, stick to prospecting for immediate gains (and losses). My two main PC's (at least the ones that cost me a lot) are a HOF and someone that has the potential to make the HOF.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[no10pin]

All of the reasons above.

Abreu is still having a nice year, but not as good as his rookie year. Prices that were set last year with the assumption that he would be as good or better this year.
The hype has moved on several times since he was a rookie.
He is old for a 2nd year player.
He signs in every product that Topps/Bowman puts out.
The White Sox have underperformed this year.
Etc, etc, etc.

[hairyharold]

guys like to use imagination when they prospect.

unfortunately his age and declined numbers from last years torrid entrance leaves little to the imagination. last year was his ceiling and unfortunately new prospects with unreached ceilings have captivated prospectors leading to a declined interest in Abreu

[Ferg1945]

I bought 3 or 4 boxes of Bowman the day of release last year and pulled an Abreu. Sold it that day for $270 raw. Now his BGS 9.5/10s sell for what... $85?

If he starts hot next year... and continues to stay hot you will likely see a bump in prices. It will give you a chance to sell some to get back a % of what you spent... but long term he will be good... but nothing like his old prices.

[jlzinck]

This should be a win for you as a COLLECTOR. You can buy him for less now.

[Halbert]

Plenty of good answers here. Expect them to keep going down.

[phreak23]

Abreu's prices have been discussed a few times on here. His age, 28 and 29 this offseason, does not help. See Paul Goldschmidt. He will never have enough time to accumulate HOF numbers.

The aforementioned fact that he plays for the White Sox doesn't help. He's also not a prospect. He's yesterday's news, and while his numbers are good, they're not MVP good.

Pretty sure this post covers it all. Nothing else needs to be said.

[phreak23]

This should be a win for you as a COLLECTOR. You can buy him for less now.

Exactly!!!!!! Sure you overpaid for some of his key cards last year, but as prices drop and he continues to be at least an All-Star caliber player you will probably locate some steals on cards you need for your PC. So in the end it should even out for you OP :)

[rudyjustinfarrell]

It's all about the PHENOM.

[whattheblood]

I had someone send me a message trying to dump there Abreu collection:

"" Hi, my name is EDITED . Nice Abreu card by the way. Reason I am contacting you is because like you I have some VERY nice Abreu Autos and cards. Over 200 to be exact. After getting blasted in Iraq I medically retired after 20 years of service. I began collecting Abreu cards last year with high hopes of selling this and next year. One problem, my injuries took a significant change to the worst and not only do I face multiple surgeries but I'm on 200mg of morphine per day so selling cards isn't going to happen for me anytime soon. I was wondering if you could take these off of my hands for a VERY reasonable price. Book Value is just over $23,000. All I would ask for is the $7,000 I have into them. You will EASILY make that back with the first ten autographs. You will still have 200 cards left to make another $8,000 or more and that's at current eBay sales. His cards are going back up as you know due to his outstanding bounce back this season so that figure is going to be significantly higher. You know the bowman platinum prospects Autographs of him? Well to start, I have ALL OF THEM. Including the Magenta 1/1 Printing plate Auto of it too. Black/10, Red/25, Camo/35, Gold/50 & Blue/199. Just those 6 cards alone will bring you better than $3,500 and a lot more if you grade the other five and sell as a set because the black/10 is graded already 9.5 with 10,10,9.5,9.5 for subs and 10 on auto. I also have 5 of the a Topps Finest Autos: Refractor, Gold/50, Black/99, Blue/125 and Xfractor/149 which will bring you another $1,000 to $1500. So just those 11 cards will almost pay for the lot in itself. Still there are plenty more autos, game used, low #'d Parallels, including a gold refractor/50 in just about every card like Topps chrome, bowman chrome, Topps Archives, etc. And even those cards are worth as much as some Autos. Bottom line, you will make a really nice profit on these cards and simply put, you will double your money, or triple your money if you grade only the top 50-100 cards, some are already graded, and you will quadruple your money if his cards spike again in November. It's like 213 cards in total and if you can imagine this it's Every rookie card he ever had, a couple dozen autographs but rare ones and high end, several dozen low #'d cards, over 100 are SSP and SP as well. Less than 10% are base cards due to making the goal of having every rookie card as some are base but most are SSP. Can you call me so I can further explain and send photos. . I have an offer from a dealer for $8,000, but I cannot make the 1200 mile trip and no way would I send these in the mail without payment respectfully. If you seen these cards your mouth will hit the floor. All cards are in mint, Gem and pristine condition as I had a few graded for quality. I can sell these one by one and I'm going to miss out on my initial goal but you can. Drawbacks of being a wounded warrior. Can you at least text me so I can send you photos. You won't be disappointed. Thank you for your time. -

[Reverend Ghost]

I had someone send me a message trying to dump there Abreu collection:

"" Hi, my name is EDITED . Nice Abreu card by the way. Reason I am contacting you is because like you I have some VERY nice Abreu Autos and cards. Over 200 to be exact. After getting blasted in Iraq I medically retired after 20 years of service. I began collecting Abreu cards last year with high hopes of selling this and next year. One problem, my injuries took a significant change to the worst and not only do I face multiple surgeries but I'm on 200mg of morphine per day so selling cards isn't going to happen for me anytime soon. I was wondering if you could take these off of my hands for a VERY reasonable price. Book Value is just over $23,000. All I would ask for is the $7,000 I have into them. You will EASILY make that back with the first ten autographs. You will still have 200 cards left to make another $8,000 or more and that's at current eBay sales. His cards are going back up as you know due to his outstanding bounce back this season so that figure is going to be significantly higher. You know the bowman platinum prospects Autographs of him? Well to start, I have ALL OF THEM. Including the Magenta 1/1 Printing plate Auto of it too. Black/10, Red/25, Camo/35, Gold/50 & Blue/199. Just those 6 cards alone will bring you better than $3,500 and a lot more if you grade the other five and sell as a set because the black/10 is graded already 9.5 with 10,10,9.5,9.5 for subs and 10 on auto. I also have 5 of the a Topps Finest Autos: Refractor, Gold/50, Black/99, Blue/125 and Xfractor/149 which will bring you another $1,000 to $1500. So just those 11 cards will almost pay for the lot in itself. Still there are plenty more autos, game used, low #'d Parallels, including a gold refractor/50 in just about every card like Topps chrome, bowman chrome, Topps Archives, etc. And even those cards are worth as much as some Autos. Bottom line, you will make a really nice profit on these cards and simply put, you will double your money, or triple your money if you grade only the top 50-100 cards, some are already graded, and you will quadruple your money if his cards spike again in November. It's like 213 cards in total and if you can imagine this it's Every rookie card he ever had, a couple dozen autographs but rare ones and high end, several dozen low #'d cards, over 100 are SSP and SP as well. Less than 10% are base cards due to making the goal of having every rookie card as some are base but most are SSP. Can you call me so I can further explain and send photos. . I have an offer from a dealer for $8,000, but I cannot make the 1200 mile trip and no way would I send these in the mail without payment respectfully. If you seen these cards your mouth will hit the floor. All cards are in mint, Gem and pristine condition as I had a few graded for quality. I can sell these one by one and I'm going to miss out on my initial goal but you can. Drawbacks of being a wounded warrior. Can you at least text me so I can send you photos. You won't be disappointed. Thank you for your time. -


I don't want to be one disabled vet calling another's bluff, but I'm mildly sketched by this story. Anytime I see 'wounded warrior' I see 'scam'. I can admit when I'm wrong, and in this case, I hope there is a plate of crow waiting for me.

[Bhenry4]

I don't want to be one disabled vet calling another's bluff, but I'm mildly sketched by this story. Anytime I see 'wounded warrior' I see 'scam'. I can admit when I'm wrong, and in this case, I hope there is a plate of crow waiting for me.

It could also be the claim that the Platinum autos will fetch $3500. He calls this year a bounceback season as well, haha.

[BestRCs]

What do you guys attribute to the significant drop in prices of these Abreu cards among with many others? Do you expect these cards to recover their value if he continues to excel on the baseball diamond? Finally is this drop in prices typical for other comparable players during this same time period?

Seeing this makes me nervous to purchase other modern cards of players I like in case I want to resell the cards in the future. It also serves as a reminder to maintain a diversified collection - one where prices of players/cards are already set and don't change a whole lot (i.e. vintage cards and scarce and desirable 90's inserts).

I would appreciate your thoughts and opinion on this matter. Thank you in advance.

The significant drop in price for Abreau has many factors IMO.

His age for one...he was a rookie last year and now he's almost 30 (28). people get excited in the beginning and then come back to reality and think that reality was a lot harsher for Abreu than most others. At his age for the price to not drop he had to have the same or better output.... Another reason would be the position he plays... 1B/DH... He's in his second season and he's already DHing... that's tough to swallow. The appeal for a DH is so low. He would've needed to hit 70 HRS
And thirdly the wild influx of all the young prospects has pretty much pushed him down the ladder.... Joc, Kris, Kyle, Correa etc... the resurgence of interest in Harper... Trout's continual ascension. That's a lot to over come.


And Yeah I think you should be nervous.... I used to be nervous all the time collecting current players who just started. So to save myself a lot of heartache I stopped that long time ago. I'll buy one or two cool low dollar ones for fun but mainly stick to hall of fame/ retired players mostly or players who are safe bets like Ichiro or for instance a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers in football. It really for me at least makes collecting a lot more enjoyable.

[poppincurbs]

Lol that's a person desperate to get their money back on a poor investment..

That's exactly why you don't spend 7k on ANY cards lmao

[Reverend Ghost]

It could also be the claim that the Platinum autos will fetch $3500. He calls this year a bounceback season as well, haha.


Yeah, I was definitely thrown by the sales pitch. I think that, coupled with the 'I'm a wounded warrior' (I have yet to meet, in my circle and outside my circle of brothers, a vet that identifies as a 'wounded warrior'). Dude is pretty all-together for someone on a morphine drip. Again, I hope I'm wrong, really really wrong, but this is almost as jacked as the Longo Superfractor stuff that went down last night.

[phreak23]

I don't want to be one disabled vet calling another's bluff, but I'm mildly sketched by this story. Anytime I see 'wounded warrior' I see 'scam'. I can admit when I'm wrong, and in this case, I hope there is a plate of crow waiting for me.

I wouldn't touch that deal with a 10' pole! Anytime someone tries to use their hardships as a sale pitch that would ultimatley "benefit" me I run!! :o

[Reverend Ghost]

Lol that's a person desperate to get their money back on a poor investment..

That's exactly why you don't spend 7k on ANY cards lmao


This, lmao.

[Reverend Ghost]

Maybe this guy is THE Nigerian Prince though...

[whitesoxfan3579]

I had someone send me a message trying to dump there Abreu collection:

"" Hi, my name is EDITED . Nice Abreu card by the way. Reason I am contacting you is because like you I have some VERY nice Abreu Autos and cards. Over 200 to be exact. After getting blasted in Iraq I medically retired after 20 years of service. I began collecting Abreu cards last year with high hopes of selling this and next year. One problem, my injuries took a significant change to the worst and not only do I face multiple surgeries but I'm on 200mg of morphine per day so selling cards isn't going to happen for me anytime soon. I was wondering if you could take these off of my hands for a VERY reasonable price. Book Value is just over $23,000. All I would ask for is the $7,000 I have into them. You will EASILY make that back with the first ten autographs. You will still have 200 cards left to make another $8,000 or more and that's at current eBay sales. His cards are going back up as you know due to his outstanding bounce back this season so that figure is going to be significantly higher. You know the bowman platinum prospects Autographs of him? Well to start, I have ALL OF THEM. Including the Magenta 1/1 Printing plate Auto of it too. Black/10, Red/25, Camo/35, Gold/50 & Blue/199. Just those 6 cards alone will bring you better than $3,500 and a lot more if you grade the other five and sell as a set because the black/10 is graded already 9.5 with 10,10,9.5,9.5 for subs and 10 on auto. I also have 5 of the a Topps Finest Autos: Refractor, Gold/50, Black/99, Blue/125 and Xfractor/149 which will bring you another $1,000 to $1500. So just those 11 cards will almost pay for the lot in itself. Still there are plenty more autos, game used, low #'d Parallels, including a gold refractor/50 in just about every card like Topps chrome, bowman chrome, Topps Archives, etc. And even those cards are worth as much as some Autos. Bottom line, you will make a really nice profit on these cards and simply put, you will double your money, or triple your money if you grade only the top 50-100 cards, some are already graded, and you will quadruple your money if his cards spike again in November. It's like 213 cards in total and if you can imagine this it's Every rookie card he ever had, a couple dozen autographs but rare ones and high end, several dozen low #'d cards, over 100 are SSP and SP as well. Less than 10% are base cards due to making the goal of having every rookie card as some are base but most are SSP. Can you call me so I can further explain and send photos. . I have an offer from a dealer for $8,000, but I cannot make the 1200 mile trip and no way would I send these in the mail without payment respectfully. If you seen these cards your mouth will hit the floor. All cards are in mint, Gem and pristine condition as I had a few graded for quality. I can sell these one by one and I'm going to miss out on my initial goal but you can. Drawbacks of being a wounded warrior. Can you at least text me so I can send you photos. You won't be disappointed. Thank you for your time. -

wow.. 213 cards?? I only have 20 or so.. LMAO. Unfortunately when I receive messages like this, which isn't too often I ignore it because in most cases it is spam. Talk about having way too much INVESTED in one player.. Diversify, diversify, diversify... My oh my!

[JKcards]

I have a five star auto also. That's why I got rid of my sxhwarber as soon as I pulled it. Rarely will you find a player who's auto never declines in price.

[COEFOR]

"Hello bud, I was medically retired after two years from the Air Force to include one horrible 4 month deployment spent at Balad. I was within 500 meters of one indirect fire incident which caused PTSD and I also suffer from health related issues due to eating 4 meals of steak and lobster everyday. Please buy my cards. God bless."

[NeedChapmans]

It's very rare (very very rare) to find a prospect that is hyped, comes out of the gate on fire, stays on fire for his first full season, and then never back-tracks in terms of performance throughout his young career. Value will dive if given a chance, and most every prospect gives you that chance.

After a handful of failed attempts at collecting the true high end prospect (Zunino, Taveras, Cingrani to name a few), I've decided to take a different route of sorts and invest in the 3rd, 4th year players that are undervalued with the chance of true dominance in the game today (Bumgarner, Stanton for example). The return on these two guys has been much more fulfilling, and the risk has been much less, as they're prices were very stable at the time I invested (so a bad season didn't result in a $5 base auto for example).

I still dabble in the Andrew Luck's of the world but my focus is much more on sustained HOF talent vs finding the next Mike Trout.

[whitesoxfan3579]

This should be a win for you as a COLLECTOR. You can buy him for less now.

This is true and a solid point.

On the other hand, if Best Buy is selling a TV for $1,000 and that same TV is selling for $700 at Walmart, am I receiving a good value for my money if I purchase the TV at Walmart?

[Reverend Ghost]

"Hello bud, I was medically retired after two years from the Air Force to include one horrible 4 month deployment spent at Balad. I was within 500 meters of one indirect fire incident which caused PTSD and I also suffer from health related issues due to eating 4 meals of steak and lobster everyday. Please buy my cards. God bless."


LMFAO exactly

[phreak23]

It's very rare (very very rare) to find a prospect that is hyped, comes out of the gate on fire, stays on fire for his first full season, and then never back-tracks in terms of performance throughout his young career. Value will dive if given a chance, and most every prospect gives you that chance.

After a handful of failed attempts at collecting the true high end prospect (Zunino, Taveras, Cingrani to name a few), I've decided to take a different route of sorts and invest in the 3rd, 4th year players that are undervalued with the chance of true dominance in the game today (Bumgarner, Stanton for example). The return on these two guys has been much more fulfilling, and the risk has been much less, as they're prices were very stable at the time I invested (so a bad season didn't result in a $5 base auto for example).

I still dabble in the Andrew Luck's of the world but my focus is much more on sustained HOF talent vs finding the next Mike Trout.

I've done this by mistake with Jake Arrieta and Anthony Rizzo, loaded up on tons of cheap autos and rookies last year for my Cubs PC. The way things are going now it makes me want to unload them and cash in soon!

[whitesoxfan3579]

I appreciate the super fast, very helpful, & insightful responses. I am really enjoying being a part of this forum. If I asked my wife or friends that don't collect a question like this they would look at me funny. They just would not understand.

In the short time that I have started collecting again I think have learned a lot. For instance this year I was able to resist buying Rodon's first Bowman Chrome card and to this day I still don't have it. Seeing how a ROY's prices dropped so fast was all the motivation I needed to hold off (at least for now). Not to mention I know there is a lot more risk involved when you buy or invest in pitchers today I have also diversified my collection by purchasing key rookie cards in the best condition that I can afford (i.e. '57 topps robinson, '58 topps maris, '82 TT Ripken, etc). And finally I keep in mind the mantra that when purchasing a card whether it's for the PC or to sell or just about anything else for that matter never put money into something that you can't afford to lose.

[phreak23]

I appreciate the super fast, very helpful, & insightful responses. I am really enjoying being a part of this forum. If I asked my wife or friends that don't collect a question like this they would look at me funny. They just would not understand.

In the short time that I have started collecting again I think have learned a lot. For instance this year I was able to resist buying Rodon's first Bowman Chrome card and to this day I still don't have it. Seeing how a ROY's prices dropped so fast was all the motivation I needed to hold off (at least for now). Not to mention I know there is a lot more risk involved when you buy or invest in pitchers today I have also diversified my collection by purchasing key rookie cards in the best condition that I can afford (i.e. '57 topps robinson, '58 topps maris, '82 TT Ripken, etc). And finally I keep in mind the mantra that when purchasing a card whether it's for the PC or to sell or just about anything else for that matter never put money into something that you can't afford to lose.

Waiting is always the best route! Unless you can get in early before hype strikes. On the basketball side I was very lucky to get most of my Nikola Mirotic rookies early and super cheap before he began to make a name for himself. With Kris Bryant I am waiting, I was able to land a few nice cards at very fair prices, but his Bowman auto for example I still can't touch, odds are those won't be dropping any time soon.

[JMPKCP]

Nice day for him so far today....looks like he's closing in on .300, 30 HR, 100 RBIs again, and no one cares. :(

[enbambam6986]

Nice day for him so far today....looks like he's closing in on .300, 30 HR, 100 RBIs again, and no one cares. :(

I think most people know he's an animal, but don't invest because white sox fans don't seem to care. All I hear is Chris Sale, Chris Sale, and Chris Sale

[exitmusicblue]

I think most people know he's an animal, but don't invest because white sox fans don't seem to care. All I hear is Chris Sale, Chris Sale, and Chris Sale

'cause Sale actually has a shot at HOF or Cy... it's hard enough to remember most HOFers after a few decades, who'll remember a solid hitter on a non-playoff team except his true fans?

The silver bullet for Abreu would be a couple MVPs.

[Bretsky]

It's very rare (very very rare) to find a prospect that is hyped, comes out of the gate on fire, stays on fire for his first full season, and then never back-tracks in terms of performance throughout his young career. Value will dive if given a chance, and most every prospect gives you that chance.

After a handful of failed attempts at collecting the true high end prospect (Zunino, Taveras, Cingrani to name a few), I've decided to take a different route of sorts and invest in the 3rd, 4th year players that are undervalued with the chance of true dominance in the game today (Bumgarner, Stanton for example). The return on these two guys has been much more fulfilling, and the risk has been much less, as they're prices were very stable at the time I invested (so a bad season didn't result in a $5 base auto for example).

I still dabble in the Andrew Luck's of the world but my focus is much more on sustained HOF talent vs finding the next Mike Trout.

Smart logic here...

[Orange October]

Wow that PM about the $3500 Platinum autos was nuts

[theflushingmets]

abreu = puig = chapman = cespedes = castillo=orlando hernandez

you can say the same for almost all the asian players that come here, except the asian market keeps those cards prices higher longer.

these players come in hot right off the boat from cuba, and it hurts them that almost all their first cards are MLB rc logo cards cards. Because companies know these older cuban hype players drive initial sales, they put out a ton of cards right off the bat as these guys typically get added to the 25 man roster pretty quickly. None of these guys had only a handful of autos to build momentum while they spent 2-3 years in the minors. Once the novelty wears off, sellers flip them the second they have any sort of impact at the MLB level and move on to the next hype player.

[enbambam6986]

abreu = puig = chapman = cespedes = castillo=orlando hernandez

you can say the same for almost all the asian players that come here, except the asian market keeps those cards prices higher longer.

these players come in hot right off the boat from cuba, and it hurts them that almost all their first cards are MLB rc logo cards cards. Because companies know these older cuban hype players drive initial sales, they put out a ton of cards right off the bat as these guys typically get added to the 25 man roster pretty quickly. None of these guys had only a handful of autos to build momentum while they spent 2-3 years in the minors. Once the novelty wears off, sellers flip them the second they have any sort of impact at the MLB level and move on to the next hype player.

If those guys were mets from the start, they would still be $100 autos. Just sayin...

[HOFAutoRookies]

This should be a win for you as a COLLECTOR. You can buy him for less now.


Works with my PC guy, Mauer.

[StlScott]

It's very rare (very very rare) to find a prospect that is hyped, comes out of the gate on fire, stays on fire for his first full season, and then never back-tracks in terms of performance throughout his young career. Value will dive if given a chance, and most every prospect gives you that chance.

After a handful of failed attempts at collecting the true high end prospect (Zunino, Taveras, Cingrani to name a few), I've decided to take a different route of sorts and invest in the 3rd, 4th year players that are undervalued with the chance of true dominance in the game today (Bumgarner, Stanton for example). The return on these two guys has been much more fulfilling, and the risk has been much less, as they're prices were very stable at the time I invested (so a bad season didn't result in a $5 base auto for example).

I still dabble in the Andrew Luck's of the world but my focus is much more on sustained HOF talent vs finding the next Mike Trout.

From @RyanDivish: Mike Zunino to report to #Mariners' spring-training facility to retool swing Mariners add 4 Tacoma Rainiers players to roster | The Seattle Times (http://bit.ly/1NirLwx)

Yeah... Everyone goes crazy on the different iterations of Bowman Chrome when they first come out. One thing I have learned is that SS and Rookie ball can be very deceiving. Now I am trying to wait till guys have some actual success (see poster boy Alex Jackson who I am convinced is Josh Vitters). My Biggest failure in the hobby was not buying Josh Donaldson after figuring out the guy was a star in the making.

[whitesoxfan3579]

A lot of good points in this thread and I am learning a lot as a result:

Originally Posted by NeedChapmans
It's very rare (very very rare) to find a prospect that is hyped, comes out of the gate on fire, stays on fire for his first full season, and then never back-tracks in terms of performance throughout his young career. Value will dive if given a chance, and most every prospect gives you that chance.

After a handful of failed attempts at collecting the true high end prospect (Zunino, Taveras, Cingrani to name a few), I've decided to take a different route of sorts and invest in the 3rd, 4th year players that are undervalued with the chance of true dominance in the game today (Bumgarner, Stanton for example). The return on these two guys has been much more fulfilling, and the risk has been much less, as they're prices were very stable at the time I invested (so a bad season didn't result in a $5 base auto for example).

I still dabble in the Andrew Luck's of the world but my focus is much more on sustained HOF talent vs finding the next Mike Trout


This is a really smart move on your part! If I knew then what I know now I would have waited before purchasing key Abreu cards. I expect to keep just about all of these cards. I bought them with the intention of adding to my ever growing PC, however sometimes "recognizing" a loss is just as painful as "realizing" a loss.


Originally Posted by JMPKCP
Nice day for him so far today....looks like he's closing in on .300, 30 HR, 100 RBIs again, and no one cares.


and another one yesterday. thru 133 games (528 abs): .295/.350/.519 to go with 27 homeruns and 86 rbis. This puts him 14th in avg., 12th in hrs, 8th in rbis, 11th in slugging, and 25th in obp. not MVP numbers, however still very solid and good enough to me to prove that his ROY was not a fluke.

[sabrgeek]

Last yeas's hero -- been replaced by people such as Correa and Bryant. Not going to be a HOFer. Understandable why softening in interest

[shayscards79]

If you are collecting.. be happy that prices are going down.

Market saturation plays a huge factor here as well. Kris Bryant will be no different next year.

[Bretsky]

The good news is that as prices go down you can get some of the cooler autos at a better price. For me I would love to get any heritage or archives autos that come out of his in the future. Good news is I won't have to pay the hefty price.

[Nyfancam01]

SELL WHILE HOT.

Never buy while "THE NEW HOT GUY"

remember Jeremy Lin?? lol Strasburg?? ALWAYS SELLLLLLLLL never buy.


oh, And Kris Bryant