If Bryce Harper was coming up today

[msucollector4]

Everybody knows that Bryce Harper was insanely hyped, even when he was still in high school. He had an unprecedented level of hobby hype before having a MLB Ab but this was the early 2010s. The hobby has grown tremendously in terms of people and money being sent.

My question is this: What would Harper-mania look like if he was drafted in say 2022 or 2023? Would it be on the level of Wander-mania? Even more?

[ThoseBackPages]

even more

[Skipscards]

It'd look similar to what it did when he came up originally, with insane hype. The only difference is maybe the Nationals lock him up before it was too late.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Harpermania was already bigger than Wandermania. It's not even close.

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

The same or more. Definitely not less.

[Twalk1975]

Someone on here would surely note that he played college ball, and he was a catcher. That'd be two strikes against him having any chance of becoming hobby good.

[Mattsurewood]

The hype was HUGE back then...with all these "influencers", his cards would be very very expensive out of the gate...

[jcfill]

Originally Posted by Mattsurewood

The hype was HUGE back then...with all these "influencers", his cards would be very very expensive out of the gate...

Very cool piece!

[ClevelandIC]

The other part of Harper lore that I don't understand is old dudes hated this guy when he came into this league.

I think he would be welcomed into the league with open arms this time around. He debuted when no one was allowed to celebrate big homers, have fun or just be a little bigger than the game. The player style is now valued and highlighted. The amount of people who dislike Harper for no reason is insane

[Americards]

Originally Posted by msucollector4

Everybody knows that Bryce Harper was insanely hyped, even when he was still in high school. He had an unprecedented level of hobby hype before having a MLB Ab but this was the early 2010s. The hobby has grown tremendously in terms of people and money being sent.

My question is this: What would Harper-mania look like if he was drafted in say 2022 or 2023? Would it be on the level of Wander-mania? Even more?

He would be too old if he got drafted in 22 or 23

[ldsports]

it would be the same "hype", however the values are inflated now so they cards would be more expensive.

[NYRE2PECT]

10x fire, bruh.

[oddstuff]

He was drafted #1 overall as a 17 year old in the 2010 draft (passed GED high school junior year to make himself eligible for the 2010 draft) and made MLB debut as a 19 year old. His hype today would have been greater than any other prospect in recent memory.

[LVDan]

Just by virtue of his size, power and national media buzz at the time he would dwarf any recent hype, including any recent foreign midget chomos.
Not to mention even as recently as 13? years ago baseball was bigger sport than it is now.

[tyrith]

If you swapped Bryce Harper for Jackson Holliday in the 2022 Draft, his prices would have been 2x Holliday at the start and would be completely losing their mind right now four months into a 5 WAR season at age 19. They'd be at Soto levels and headed north.

[dream34]

Originally Posted by Twalk1975

Someone on here would surely note that he played college ball, and he was a catcher. That'd be two strikes against him having any chance of becoming hobby good.

A Catcher that set the JUCO Single Season HR Record as a 17 Year Old who should've been a High School Junior.

I think it would have been a little more than Vladdy's debut in 2019 but with a bit more hype because Harper had all the legend already attached to him.

[BigL7370]

Glazing just a bit north of Ohtani levels.

[speedyjg13]

Originally Posted by BigL7370

Glazing just a bit north of Ohtani levels.

He'd be Strasburg hype x100

[Skipscards]

Harper’s mania was already bigger than Wander’s. Probably the biggest mania since Griffey Jr or even Dwight Gooden. His mania was fueled even more because he and Strasburg ended up on the same team.

ESPN even published an article about their cards 14 years ago…
https://www.espn.com/general/page2/s...23&src=desktop

But I think the person to ask is Kyle. He was on the Harper train when he was in JuCo. I don’t think anyone has created more Bryce Harper threads here than him.

[JRX]

I actually think it might be a little less than some people are saying as if he came up today, he would be debuting in a league that has Othani and Judge. Back then, Trout had the biggest season and behind him were two catchers, Posey and Molina. Miggy was in his prime, but nobody was at the level of Ohtani/Judge.

[hermanotarjeta]

He might get as much recognition as Livvy Dunne.

[ScooterD]

Originally Posted by JRX

I actually think it might be a little less than some people are saying as if he came up today, he would be debuting in a league that has Othani and Judge. Back then, Trout had the biggest season and behind him were two catchers, Posey and Molina. Miggy was in his prime, but nobody was at the level of Ohtani/Judge.

I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying, but consider that Strasburg-mania was fresh, and Trout’s emergence was fueling the prospect fire.

Harper’s 2011 bowman paper auto (raw) sold for $1,100 on release day. That’s a crazy amount for a paper auto - considering that he already had a chrome 1st auto (USA) in 2010 bowman special packs and the fact that you can get the same card now for about $200 after 2 MVPs

[JRX]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying, but consider that Strasburg-mania was fresh, and Trout’s emergence was fueling the prospect fire.

Harper’s 2011 bowman paper auto (raw) sold for $1,100 on release day. That’s a crazy amount for a paper auto - considering that he already had a chrome 1st auto (USA) in 2010 bowman special packs and the fact that you can get the same card now for about $200 after 2 MVPs

Trout was concurrent and overshadowed Harper's rookie year. They both got called up on the same day after all. My point was more that MLB was lacking a real mega star at the time.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by ClevelandIC

The other part of Harper lore that I don't understand is old dudes hated this guy when he came into this league.

I think he would be welcomed into the league with open arms this time around. He debuted when no one was allowed to celebrate big homers, have fun or just be a little bigger than the game. The player style is now valued and highlighted. The amount of people who dislike Harper for no reason is insane

There was something about his persona that just didn't sit right with some folks. Then he didn't meet the nearly impossible lofty expectations placed on him. I didn't watch him much with the Nats but do enjoy his overall enthusiasm for the game on the Phillies. I probably pick up more of his cards than anyone else. It helps that they seem relatively cheap and he's on a path to Cooperstown barring something weird (if one can still use that word) happening. I don't know where he will sit in the hobby pecking order longer term but think of him as Frank Thomas to 90s collectors which isn't a bad place to end up.

[ScooterD]

Originally Posted by JRX

Trout was concurrent and overshadowed Harper's rookie year. They both got called up on the same day after all. My point was more that MLB was lacking a real mega star at the time.

I think Strasburg was selling higher at that time than anyone we have now. Take the Sapphire and Transcendent lines out of the picture - I would be willing to bet that a Stras TC base RC was selling as high as any TC base RC we have now. Not even considering the $ difference between then and now. I can’t prove that, but I’d love see sales from that time that would disprove it