Winner Announced – Elite Non-Auto Parallel Contest
In a previous post, I asked you how much money you thought I would get from my Elite non-auto parallels I pulled.
As a reminder, in my 3 cases of Elite I pulled the following:
In my 3 cases of Elite, I pulled the following:
26 Gold Status Diecuts /50 - Chapman was the highlight
41 Red Status Diecuts /100 - Tate was the highlight
99 Blue Aspirations Diecuts /200 - Ackley was the highlight
My total sales were as follows:
26 Gold Status Diecuts /50 - $93.29
41 Red Status Diecuts /100 - $57.72
99 Blue Aspirations Diecuts /200 - $117.40
Total sales were $268.41, that makes Thomas, who guessed $252.52 the winner of an Elite auto. I'll be sending him and email and getting the prize out.
Thanks to everyone for participating!
A Mighty Flood No Longer – 2009 Elite
On the 28th of January I wrote a post titled "A Mighty Flood." The flood referred to in that post was the amount of 2009 Elite Extra cards currently on eBay. Additionally, I mentioned that if you were looking to buy "your guy," from 2009 Elite, the time might be at hand. I figured that it was probably time to evaluate that post and see if any of my assertions "hold water." In the original post, I ran a bunch of eBay searches and totaled results, I'll re-run them now, again, all confined to the baseball category. Here we go:
2009 Elite- Then: 4,591 results, Now: 3,357 results
2009 Elite AU*- Then: 2,406 results, Now: 1,162 results
Elite Aroldis Chapman-Then: 54 results, Now: 21 results
Elite Dustin Ackley- Then: 83 results, Now: 63 results
Elite Tate - Then: 57 results, Now: 49 results
I think the most notable drop-off in listings is in the "2009 Elite AU*" search. There will always be some Ackley, Tate and Chapmans listed. Those are the big names people busting packs are trying to sell to recoup their money. However, "your guy" that you were buying, there is probably a lot less of him on there and if there are still buyers, prices have jumped a bit. I know my buys certainly have.
Did you get all you wanted before things started to dry up? The mighty flood is now much more of a meandering river.
Grab that cash both hands and make a stash
In the relatively short history of modern prospecting; the Bowman Chrome era, we have seen some mighty leaps and some mighty big falls.
For example: How about Billy Rowell 2006 Bowman Chrome Draft non-auto Gold Refractors for $400? Or a Yovani Gallardo 2004 Elite Autos for $10. One good, one not so much, two of many possible examples.
Since the release of 2006 Bowman Chrome Draft, prices on prospects, even great ones at release have ebbed somewhat. Several factors have contributed to this; the global economic slowdown, the slower influx of new prospectors, the exit of people who once prospected but quit once prices got too high and probably lots of other reasons.
As a result, prices have declined a good bit and now even the best prospects are available for reasonable prices at release. Particularly when the market is flooded with options, like the month after BDP, Sterling and EEE came out. My point is better made with numbers though: so let us look at 5 examples.
2009 1st Round Picks:
3. Donavan Tate - 2009 Elite Auto /999 on-card - $20 per
4. Tony Sanchez - 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Auto - $10 per
6. Zack Wheeler- 2009 Sterling - $7 per, Elite - $7 per, BDP - $10 per
8. Mike Leake - 2009 BDP - $7 per
11. Tyler Matzek - 2009 Sterling - $8-$10 per
We aren't here to debate the merits of each of these prospects, but this is true: In each case, these players are near the top of their organizational prospect chart, have at least some scouts who are big believers, were highly touted in college and high school and perhaps even performed well in the minors.
In spite of all that, you still have the opportunity to build a large stash of this player at a relatively low cost per card. Maybe you buy 30 Matzek Sterlings for $300, Kershaw Sterlings once sold for $40 per so if Matzek gets even half way there, to $20, where Bumgarner is, you double your money.
So my question to you is this: Is it time to build a big stash of "your guy," or are there other reasons that continue to keep you out of the market?
A Special Offer – Elite Ebay Auctions
I have a ton of 2009 Elite Auctions ending tonight. Click the link to the right to see what I have available for sale.
If you buy something from me and mention this blog, I'll give you half price shipping!
A mighty flood – 2009 Elite Extra
If you've got "a guy" from 2009 Elite, you should probably consider buying now. The market is flooded with singles. Let me give you some examples of eBay searches and the stunning results they yield. All are confined to the baseball category.
2009 Elite- 4,591 results
2009 Elite AU*- 2,406 results
Elite Aroldis Chapman-54 results
Elite Dustin Ackley- 83 results
Elite Tate - 57 results
Plus you've got 2009 Bowman Sterling and 2009 Bowman Draft
competing for buyer's attention. That's another 3600+ listings right there. So perhaps the time has come for those of you wanting to load up on a particular prospect or brand to enter the market? It certainly seems that way to me but I'm open to dissenting views.
2009 Elite Extra Edition – Grading Quality
I blogged a few weeks ago about how 9.5s have been a scarce breed in Panini brands thus far.
One of the things I speculated upon in the blog was whether Elite Extra Edition would yield any cards that were more grade-worthy. Rather than speculating based on secondary market sales, as I have had to do with other Panini products, I got to see these up close and personal.
I broke 3 cases of Elite, that is approximately 400 autos.
In my own humble opinion, none of the diecuts were worth grading, both auto and non-auto variety. I pulled 185 Base Autos and 116 Turn of the Century Autos, excluding redemptions. About half of those I eliminated because I determined the player wasn't "good enough to grade." Of the remaining 150 cards, the 36 below are the ones I selected to send to BGS. I was fairly liberal in determing what I sent. If you are now reading this thinking "oh, crap, I bought from him, he sent me the crap." Never fear, I didn't, I made my grading selections after making most of my FCB sales.
One other item was of note, the on-card base autos were in universally worse shape than the sticker autos. See below for a contest.
Dustin Ackley Base Auto /899
Chase Anderson TOTC Auto /25
Luke Bailey TOTC Auto /100 x 2
Bobby Borchering TOTC Auto /799
Rex Brothers Base Auto /699
Tanner Bushue Base Auto /652
Caleb Cotham Base Auto /549
Matt Davidson Base Auto /599
Kyle Gibson Base Auto /645 x 3
Brandon Jacobs Base Auto /725
D.J. LeMahieu Base Auto /645
Kent Matthes TOTC Auto /619
Jenrry Mejia TOTC Auto /844
Shelby Miller TOTC Auto /690
Bryan Mitchell Base Auto /699
J.R. Murphy TOTC Auto /840
Luke Murton Base Auto /750
Wil Myers Base Auto /799 x 2
Wil Myers TOTC Auto /50
Chris Owings TOTC Auto /799
Brooks Pounders TOTC Auto /844
David Renfroe Base Auto /695
Garrett Richards TOTC Auto /99
Mike Spina Base Auto /580
Max Stassi TOTC Auto /810
Donavan Tate Base Auto /999
Donavan Tate Elite Series Auto /199
Donavan Tate TOTC Auto /225
Zack Von Rosenberg Base Auto /770 x 2
Everett Williams TOTC Auto /799
Alex Wilson TOTC Auto /710
The contest is this, comment in the blog about how many BGS 9.5s (or 10s, but that won't happen) you think I will receive from this lot. The closest to the actual number wins a free elite autograph to be determined. If more than one person guesses the number right or there is a tie, both people will received Elite Autographs.
2009 Elite Extra Edition 3 Case Break Review
I've been slow on the blog lately due to busting and sorting of my 3 cases of Elite Extra Edition. If you are interested in seeing what I pulled, the majority of it is listed or will be listed on eBay shortly, see my listings here.
For now, here are a couple observations from my cases.
1. The Private Signings cards look really fantastic in person. I pulled an Ackley, a Hobgood and a Mark Fidrych.
2. Disappointing thing #1 - only one Gold Status autograph. Fortunately it wasn't a total dud, Neil Medchill.
3. Disappointing thing #2 - I pulled a Black Status Auto of Eric Smith.
4. Elite Series is by far the best looking insert set. College Ties and School Colors do not hold a candle.
5. The on-card autos do look really nice. They are a step towards Bowman Chrome cards which is a good thing.
6. I pulled 8 Dustin Ackley Autos and 8 Donavan Tate Autos. Being that they were two of the biggest attractions in the set, I got my moneys-worth from that perspective.
7. All the hot boxes were together in one area of the case. Thus it was possible and a ton of fun to bust 4 hot boxes in a row.
8. The cards are in bad shape, BGS 9.5s are going to be hard to come by.
9. I'd like to see the insert sets condensed with less subjects. The Throwback Threads Patch Auto, School Colors Patch and Throwback Threads GU Autos I pulled were all insignificant names. As some of the "rarer" hits in the set, it'd be nice if these were worth something.
10. Overall I give the product a B+ and my cases a C+.
Elite Short Prints
Mirror mirror on the wall, whose the biggest short print of them all? Yesterday, FCB member Jaypers posted EEE print runs. The numbering is actually far more standard than in year's past. No base auto is above /999, in fact, only two are above /799. That being said, there are still some SPs in the base set. They are:
Thomas Joseph /99
Chad James /99
Tyler Kehrer /99
Marquise Cooper /99
Eric Smith /99
Justin Marks /99
Colton Cain /99
Ashur Tolliver /99
Tyler Townsend /99
Jeff Hunt /99
Khris Davis /150
Once you hit the 300s there are a few cards and when you hit the 400s you've entered far more common territory. That being said, if you are looking for autographs of the players above, you better snap them up when you see them because frankly, you aren't going to see them often.
2009 Elite Extra Edition Box Break Review
Tomorrow, I receive three cases of Elite Extra Edition. Today, I got one box, thanks to the good folks at Panini for hooking me up with that box to review. This is the product I have been anticipating more than any other, so lets cut right to it.
Base Cards:
Comments: These are your standard elite base cards, nothing spectacular but in bulk, they can be sold for a nice chunk of change. Last year I sold my Wilmer Flores for over a buck each.
Inserts:
Comments: These cards are on a different stock this year, not the foil board like they have been in years past. I actually like that, lots less dings on the corners. Additionally, because it seems like production was down this year, there are more insert autos being pulled per case than in previous years.
Die-Cuts:
Comments: The blue and red colors really pop this year, very nicely done. Matzek is a nice touch too, I really like his arm and like seeing him show up in any pack.
Autos:
Comments: The on-card autos look really nice. I was very happy to pull the Sanchez so I could get a chance to see what these look like in person. In previous Panini products bubbling showed up on the on-card autos. Panini clearly changed the finish on these and avoided the bubling, good fix. Again, the die-cut blue auto of Tyler Skaggs looks really good, I like bright colors and this blue sure stands out. I pulled one of the few redemptions in the product as well, however, earlier today Panini announced that many of the redemptions are already in house and ready to be filled. The names of my autos were not Chapman, Tate or Ackley but man, they sure look nice.
Overall Product Thoughts:
I really like this product. It seems that print run is down and because of this, the cases are loaded with hits. Quality is up with the on-card autos. The checklist is deep and solid - provides a lot of players and value not found in BDP and Sterling. The customer service already seems good, with the redemptions ready to be fulfilled just a few days in. This product is not only providing value to case breakers now but also will be providing value into the future as prospects emerge and being to shine.
If you want to buy and break a prospect product from the year 2009, this one is the one to break in my opinion.
2009 Elite Extra Edition – a few updates
As myself and others wait patiently (ok, maybe not) for our 2009 Elite Extra Edition cases to arrive, the only recourse we have to satisfy the cravings is window shopping on eBay.
The market is not yet flooded with cards, not even close. However, there are a few cards that have leaked onto the market and through this window shopping I've picked up a few tidbits of information I wanted to pass along.
So, without further ado and in random order.
1. Donavan Tate Base On-Card Autos are /999 - highest number we've seen yet and probably the highest number we will see. Not nearly as high as Porcello (/1299) or other big names in past releases though, a good number I think.
2. Non-Auto Gold Status cards are now /50, in prior years, they have been /25.
3. I think the Blue Aspirations and Red Status cards look the best they ever have, they really pop due to the bright colors.
4. I'm not so sure I feel the same way about the Gold Status cards, the color seems somewhat more dull.
5. Aroldis Chapman cards are already on fire, a non-auto red /100 and gold /50 sold for $150 best offer yesterday. His autos are going to be huge.
6. I really this this Dustin Ackley Elite Series Auto looks pretty nice, so does this Jared Mitchell School Colors Auto. In past years, I haven't liked the insert autos too well, this years look better.
That's all for now, I can't wait to rip!
