One of the really enjoyable things about writing a list like this is the cyclical nature of it. At some points in the year it’s football heavy, often baseball heavy, sometimes more basketball than others (that is if rookie cards came out last year grumble grumble sigh) and in amongst that you have a sprinkling of hockey, magic cards, celebrity autos (remember how hot those Michael Phelps autos got??!!?) and so much more. Heck, this summer we had lists that were Olympics heavy.
As a writer, this a beautiful thing because I already tire out jokes and because of the fact that this particular list is football heavy you don’t have to hear me repeat things like “David the Price is Right”, Nelson “Cruz Missile”, “Ryan Brauny Paper Towels”, “Jurickson’s been good profar” and Jemile and Rickie I could go on for Weeks. Aaaaand there I went and did it to you anyway.
So don’t be one of those “that sport isn’t for me collectors.” Carpe diem! Variety is the spice of life! Or for the simpletons out there like me, Taste the Rainbow (remember that Skittles commercial where the kid whispered it in the creepy voice yeah…). This is your time to expand your horizons and least follow another sport nominally through this list.
Outside of making you a well-rounded sports fan and card collector, this does something else for you. It keeps things more interesting than they may already be. One of the downsides of collecting is those major dead spots that happen in every year. It’s like dribbling a basketball on a floor and hitting a dead spot. The ball doesn’t pop back up to you and you wind up standing there, looking at the floor humming the tune to “Ironic” or some other angry girl anthem by Alanis Morrisette. On that rather strange note, lets get to it.
1. 2009 UD Exquisite Andre Brown Auto Patches /99
Comments: I think I used the Wally Pipp/Lou Gehrig analogy last week and that probably was my last punch on that ten punch card. However, lets be honest many cards that make that list are there because a guy played well in the stead of the guy who got injured in front of them. Lou Gehrig is the classic example of this but the jury is still out in New York regarding if Andre Brown will have the impact on the Giants franchise that Lou Gehrig had on the Yankees. Or not, he won’t, there that’s settled. However, something that is unsettled should be you as you run towards your “dead hits” box to look for those Andre Brown autos that you pulled in 2009 and swore as you flipped them into the box. Exquisites for example are selling for over 5 times what they were last week as they moved from $15 to $75 this week.
Comments: Ramses has made the list, he was played by Yul Brenner opposite Mr. Heston – oh wait, not pharoah! This Ramses has nothing to do with the movie classic, nor does he have any people to let go but what he did do was have the best game of his life on Thursday Night football in prime time (says this angry owner of many Rueben Randle cards). Eli looks like he’s ready to put up another stellar season and with Hakeem Nicks injured seemingly all the time Ramses may benefit. BINs were popping Thursday night with most cards doubling or tripling in price.
3. Michael Crabtree 2009 Rookie Autos
Comments: It’s the class of 2009 this week and it’s also hammer time, right? I mean seriously why don’t we have a dual auto of Crabtree and Hammer yet? I’m giving out this idea for free. Michael Crabtree was a beast at Texas Tech but hasn’t really had a breakout season in the NFL yet. So of course that season would be when the Niners go out and acquire Randy Moss and Mario Manningham in the offseason right? Right. Crabtree has been thrown to a lot already this season by another person who will grace this list and being on arguably the best team in the league through the first two weeks doesn’t hurt either. Autos like the Topps above have moved up nearly 100% in the past week.
4. Alex Smith 2004 Contenders Autos
Comments: Label him what you want: “Game Manager” “just ok” or some other mediocre phrase, it doesn’t matter. The 49ers are absolute annihilating the competition this season and Alex is at the helm and making plays. Quarterbacks who win lots of games in the NFL have cards that sell for lots of money and Alex is resurrecting the hype that followed him into the NFL as the #1 pick and that is NOT an easy thing to do. A buy it now was just hit on a contenders for $250, which is the new high but they routinely sold this week for $175 as compared to $115 last week.
5. C.J Spiller 2010 Contenders Autos
Comments: Spiller was one of those guys that you had to wonder if he was going to translate to the NFL. However, it seems like recently a lot of the traditional “they will or will not translate to the NFL” things have gone out the window. You have tailbacks like Darren Sproles and Jacquizz Rodgers, running QBs, super athletic tight ends and I could go on. If you have the talent, they will find a place and scheme for you. Spiller, like Brown earlier got his break because Fred Jackson went out and he’s made the most of it (playing against the Chiefs certainly helps). His cards have now surpassed the levels they sold when he was a rookie and with Contenders at $45 they are up 50% over last week.
6. Dylan Bundy 2011 Bowman Chrome Draft Autos
Comments: It’s ok, you can wipe the tears away now, here’s some baseball. 2011 Bowman Chrome Draft is shaping up to be an absurd autograph checklist and at the head of it is Dylan Bundy who after his call up had Autographs hit $80 up from $60 last week. The guy started the year in low class A, unreal.
7. Trent Richardson 2012 Rookie Autographs
Comments: I’ve talked to Chris Gilmore a great deal about football over time and Trent Richardson has more than once been a topic of conversation. Except that his last name is never mentioned, it’s just Trent. Like the guy you hang out and have a beer with, they are that close. There must have been a lot of loud yells, or is it hollers? From Alabama on Sunday because Trent had a great game for the Browns and his cards immediately took a 50% leap because of it. In a related story Brandon Weeden was a different QB and you have to think that something is correlated there…
8. Lamar Miller 2012 Finest Autos
Comments: Lamar was a guy who a lot of fans were high on as a late round sleeper pick. It was said that he had the skills to go much earlier – who really knows. In spite of this, he was admittedly pretty underwhelming in the preseason and many card owners like myself had on our sad faces. That is until Lamar Miller followed the stellar Reggie Bush into the game last Sunday and racked up some yards and a touchdown. This caused Lamar’s autos like Finest to move up and get more bids immediately.
9. Reggie Bush 2006 SP Authentic Patch Autos
Comments: Speaking of Reggie Bush, I mean someone make sense of this for me. The guy is an absolute rock star coming out of USC, has little success with the Saints (who have absolutely adored the pass catching back Darren Sproles), goes to a much lesser team in Miami and has a career year. And oh by the way, he had a career game last week. Speaking of resurrecting the hype, Reggie will have to have some more big games to truly see anything close to the prices he used to but already cards are moving like the SP Authentic pictured above.
Comments: Already we are running out of superlatives for this guy but lets just say this, the fact that autograph sales above $500 for lower #’d cards are routine says quite enough to those of us who collect cards.
11. 2011-12 UD Fleer Retro
Comments: On the routine absurd sales front – the basketball market was dying for new product and fleer retro gave them a nice high end one. Anything with Michael Jordan’s face on it sells for $100s of dollars and that is truly absurd.
damn, is baseball season over?