Autographed rookie cards...

[Looking4Luka]

It seems like no one collects or even talks about autographed rookie cards. Everyone is chasing the mass produced base cards. Am I missing something here?

People are paying hundreds of dollars for a player's mass produced rookie card but won't buy an autographed serial numbered card for a fraction of the price. Since when has the base card become the product hit?

Luka Prizm base RC PSA 10 - $900 (Pop 12,000)
Luka Absolute Rookie Auto /125 BGS 9.5/10 - $754 (Pop 24)

https://imgur.com/a/4c8Zbxu

https://imgur.com/a/LDz5R09

[mc1]

#inb4lukasmomishot

[Deadshot]

These are weird times. But it works out great for you if you like/value autos. Collect what you like - other people will catch on later.

[STLtoMN]

you are comparing apples to oranges

try comparing a prizm base to a prizm auto...or an absolute base to an absolute auto

[mc1]

Did he or did he not sign those? Was it his assistant? His mom?

[Looking4Luka]

Originally Posted by mc1

Did he or did he not sign those? Was it his assistant? His mom?

This product has an unquestionable autograph. Here is the list of product with authentic autographs: (all sticker autos and loopy "LULU" autos are questionable)

Absolute
Certifed
Chronicles
Contenders Optic
Flawless
Immaculate
Opulence
Next Day Auto

[asujbl]

No one cares about Absolute

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by Looking4Luka

It seems like no one collects or even talks about autographed rookie cards. Everyone is chasing the mass produced base cards. Am I missing something here?

People are paying hundreds of dollars for a player's mass produced rookie card but won't buy an autographed serial numbered card for a fraction of the price. Since when has the base card become the product hit?

Luka Prizm base RC PSA 10 - $900 (Pop 12,000)
Luka Absolute Rookie Auto /125 BGS 9.5/10 - $754 (Pop 24)

https://imgur.com/a/4c8Zbxu

https://imgur.com/a/LDz5R09

You are comparing Luka's Flagship rookie card with some random rookie year insert auto.

Try comparing to his Flawless or National Treasures RPA.

[Ober12]

Originally Posted by asujbl

No one cares about Absolute

It is far from the most popular brand, but I bought one of these autos a while back because it is one of the few autos of his that I really trusted. I'd much rather have that card than a loopy lulu from a more popular product. The post above yours mentions this as well (quoted below). I would also say that I'd definitely rather have the auto over a prizm base, but I understand the appeal behind the flagship RC card.

Originally Posted by Looking4Luka

This product has an unquestionable autograph. Here is the list of product with authentic autographs: (all sticker autos and loopy "LULU" autos are questionable)

Absolute
Certifed
Chronicles
Contenders Optic
Flawless
Immaculate
Opulence
Next Day Auto

[heatdawg]

Sticker autos are worthless IMO. And then we battle in our minds, was this card really signed by the player? I am leaning 10-20% of players do not sign their cards.

Plus the color and inserts just look so much nicer overall from an artistic POV. I myself could not care less if auto's went away or were super rare which is really how they should be.

[discodanman45]

I will buy auto cards, but will never buy a sticker auto card. To me the sticker autos are a horrible addition to the card collecting hobby. On-card autos tend, not all the time though, to have more care taken for the signature and look great to me. The problem though is an autograph is so common that it holds no value. It seems every player problem has a contractual obligation to sign 10,000 cards a year... Even retired players must spend days of a year signing cards over and over. They are torturing the 80 year hall of famers by making them spend the rest of their days signing their name on stickers.

[Kobe101]

Originally Posted by Deadshot

These are weird times. But it works out great for you if you like/value autos. Collect what you like - other people will catch on later.

Absolutely great advice!

And if you are not into all the shiny stuff that is going crazy you can sell what you have to buy what you like.

[richcowcow]

Yes, I think people will catch on later. When you have 15k luka prizm base graded already and growing, autos should be worth more than they are.

[Ober12]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

I will buy auto cards, but will never buy a sticker auto card. To me the sticker autos are a horrible addition to the card collecting hobby. On-card autos tend, not all the time though, to have more care taken for the signature and look great to me. The problem though is an autograph is so common that it holds no value. It seems every player problem has a contractual obligation to sign 10,000 cards a year... Even retired players must spend days of a year signing cards over and over. They are torturing the 80 year hall of famers by making them spend the rest of their days signing their name on stickers.

Let's they do sign 10,000 a year (I'm sure this could be fact-checked by looking over all 2018-19 checklists for Luka autos, but I have no intention of doing that myself), that's still less Luka RC Autos than RC Prizm base cards (there's already nearly 12k PSA 10s).

Also, no retired player is forced to sign anything, they are working out contracts with Panini by themselves and if they're signing a bunch then they probably don't mind doing it or don't mind they money they're getting from it.

[tyrith]

I don't PC basketball cards, but I PC hockey and I've noticed one giant difference between the two.

Like other people have said, it's the damn stickers.

The main sets are all sticker autos. You have to get into premium products before you get hard autos. In hockey, the mid tier sets are pretty much all hard autos - stuff like SP Authentic. So while some people like to PC Upper Deck Young Guns rookies, there's a viable /999 auto product and a bunch of /49-/299 type autos that actually look good and don't come out of $800 boxes. So you can actually build a collection out of nice looking auto cards.

In basketball, if you collect autos, your collection is either going to be heavy on cards coming out of Absolute, Immaculate, Noir, NT, etc etc or it's going to look like crap. And I think there's a big extent where the non-NT products feel contrived in terms of autos (although I personally love the look of Noir.) Plus NT itself is chock full of stickers anyway!

The overall presence of stickers, and a lack of an accessible hard auto product, reduces the overall value of autos to basketball collectors. That's my own pet theory, at least.

[mc1]

Autos fade.

[shootit]

that auto looks like he signed it too lol

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by Looking4Luka

This product has an unquestionable autograph. Here is the list of product with authentic autographs: (all sticker autos and loopy "LULU" autos are questionable)

Absolute
Certifed
Chronicles
Contenders Optic
Flawless
Immaculate
Opulence
Next Day Auto

Regular Optic has legit autos too

[Looking4Luka]

Originally Posted by Chris P

Regular Optic has legit autos too

No... most of them have Lulu autos. Some have them have the legitimate auto.

[razorsharp]

Upper Deck did autograph rookies right.

Panini does them wrong.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by Looking4Luka

No... most of them have Lulu autos. Some have them have the legitimate auto.

Thats what I meant..they have legit autos..the base ones.

[gameissued]

I think a lot of the high prices are because of LeBron Chromes, Giannis Prizms, hoarders, pumpers and followers. There's a thread hundreds and hundreds of pages long already on the topic of Luka autos. I've concluded that everyone has already made up their own opinions and will buy what they believe in.

[Looking4Luka]

Originally Posted by Chris P

Thats what I meant..they have legit autos..the base ones.

Not all of them from that subset have the authentic, unquestionable autograph. Only some copies. Most have the Lulu auto... I'd say 85% of the cards from that subset. The "authentic" autograph carries a huge premium.

[RyanMW]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

I will buy auto cards, but will never buy a sticker auto card. To me the sticker autos are a horrible addition to the card collecting hobby. On-card autos tend, not all the time though, to have more care taken for the signature and look great to me. The problem though is an autograph is so common that it holds no value. It seems every player problem has a contractual obligation to sign 10,000 cards a year... Even retired players must spend days of a year signing cards over and over. They are torturing the 80 year hall of famers by making them spend the rest of their days signing their name on stickers.

I'm with you. I have a few stick autos from breaks and what not. I think it's ridiculous. I'd rather players not sign at all than sign stickers. It destroys the appeal of the card for me. And for non-collectors, like my dad, it's the first thing they see. "Oh, cool card! He autographed it?" Then they look closer "Aw, it's just signed on the sticker, not the card itself. That's lame."

[RadicalAlmond]

Prizm is king and No one really chases Prizm autos. That is the card game.