The NBA Finals, the NFL Draft, Major League Baseball, NHL and warmer weather. What more could you ask for if you are a sports fan? This week’s list is all baseball, but next week, you can expect a rise in some football cards with the NFL Draft.
Panini Prizm Baseball has gotten mixed reviews about its look, but it sells for good money. Gold Prizms /10 get the most hype and usually out-sell the autographs in the set. Prizm has a nice mixture of legends, veterans and prospects to appeal to all baseball collectors. A Gold Prizm Mike Trout (pictured) sold for a high premium of $510. This is pretty crazy money considering it is not even a rookie card. Yankees players are also popular with a Bernie Williams autograph SP sold for $355 and Derek Jeter gold Prizms are selling for $300-$400. Prizm has also brought controversy because they just released a “2012″ product in April of 2013, but regardless, it is a very popular product.
Brandon Crawford Rookie Autographs
Brandon Crawford is mainly known for his glove, but recently, his bat has been hot. Crawford was hitting .352 earlier in the week, but that has since dropped to .317. Last year, he hit .248.
When his bat was hot, so were his cards. His 2011 Bowman retail autograph was selling for $15-$25 when last week they were only averaging $5. His 2008 Elite school colors autograph /25 sold for a solid $75 when it was selling for $40 pre-Opening Day. It is not likely that he hits over .300 by the end of the season, but if he does, he’d be in the top 10 shortstops in the league.
2012 Topps Five Star Football Inscription Autos
Topps has not yet figured out how to match UD Exquisite and Panini National Treasures and contend for the honor of having a players absolute best card. There are some aspects of the set that they do right. There is no better example of this than the inscription autograph set. It gets better when players get creative and put something besides a bland stat or the obvious super bowl mvp inscription.
The pictured card here is Andrew Luck with a “Chuckstrong” inscription as a show of support for his head coach Chuck Pagano’s leukemia research campaign. Creativity is rewarded as this card sold for $775. People still love the unique.
2009 Bowman Chrome Chris Johnson Autographs
Chris Johnson, not the football star, but the third baseman for the Atlanta Braves is off to a hot start. Although he might not be Chipper, but he is hitting like him recently. Leading the National League with a .418 average, Johnson has been stroking. And yes, he was also in the Justin Upton trade in the offseason, so it is looking even more lopsided now.
Johnson’s cards have seen a nice jump because of his hot start. 2009 Bowman Chrome refractor autographs were only hitting $7 last week and are up to $26 this week. X-fractor autographs are hitting $32 and they were around the $18 mark last week. He is making the best out of his opportunity with Atlanta.
2011 Oswaldo Arcia Rookie Autographs
Oswaldo Arcia made a brief appearance in the Bigs, and then was promptly sent back down and then sent back up because Darin Mastroianni went on the DL. He has only 1 hit in the big leagues, but he is a promising prospect. The Twin’s willingness to bring him up might mean that they will do so again this season. Be ready for a solid week in the majors to lead to some big sale prices.
His 2011 Bowman Platinum autographs jumped from $10 to $20 after his call up and his 2011 Leaf Metal Draft and Valiant autographs doubled as well.
2008 Bowman Chrome J.P. Arencibia Autographs
Arencibia has been all muscle early in the season by hitting 7 home runs. In the power-hitting Blue Jays lineup, JP seems to be underrated because he usually hits 6th. He hit 18 home runs last year and should surpass that by the All-Star break if he keeps up the pace. However, with power comes strikeouts, and he is leading the league.
Arencibia’s cards have increased in price over the past couple of weeks. Before the season had started, his 2008 Bowman Chrome autographs were selling for $5-$8, but now they have reached the $20 mark. Other refractor autographs will continue to rise as long as his power still shows.
2010 Bowman Chrome Nolan Arenado Autographs
The Rockies are off to a hot start and so is one of their top prospects. Nolan Arenado is batting .389 with 3 home runs in Triple-A Colorado Springs and is a favorite to get called up this season. If he keeps tearing it up, it could be sooner rather than later.
His cards have seen a jump because of his start. 2010 Bowman Chrome autographs were selling for $25 last week and are up to the $35-$40 mark this week. Refractor autographs are also up from $47 to $60 this week.
2012 Panini Elite Mac Williamson Autographs
Although he is only batting .218, Williamson has shown promise in his first couple of weeks in San Jose. The San Francisco Giants prospect hit 9 homers in only 33 games last year and he has hit 2 this year. Collectors are beginning to realize that this guy has excellent power because his 2012 Elite autographs are up from $3-$5 a couple of weeks ago to $10-$15 mark currently. Recently, a gold die-cut /5 autograph sold for $126.
Still Hot
Matt Harvey 2010 Bowman Chrome Autographs
Third week in a row he is on the Hot List. Harvey out-dueled Stephen Strasburg on Friday by going a solid 7 innings. Fans in the ballpark chanted “Har-vey’s Better!” His cards have not slowed down a bit. A red refractor autograph BGS 9/10 sold for $2,700 and even 2010 Bowman base cards are selling for $7 a pop.
Justin Upton 2006 Rookie Autographs
Leading the majors with 9 home runs. 2006 Bowman Sterling Autographs up to $55. 2006 Bowman autographs still around $100. X-fractor autographs are over $200.
Tony Cingrani 2012 Bowman Chrome Autographs
Solid big league debut against Jose Fernandez going 5 innings with 8 strikeouts and only 1 earned run given up. 2012 Bowman Chrome autographs still hitting between $45-$50.
