1. Aaron Rodgers 2005 Rookies

Comments:  As seasons progress, I get into the habit of checking the status of certain players cards each week just to see how hot they’ve gotten.  Rodgers is one of those guys.  A couple weeks ago he was on the Hot List because his standard refractors had risen to $120…well, they’ve now gone to $250.  So what did the Black Refractor /100 pictured above sell for you ask?  $610.  That’s right, 6 Ben Franklins + 1 Alex Hamilton = Aaron Rodgers, that’s high company.  Let me put that in perspective for you – a Frank Gore (stud RB by all accounts, great career) sold for one Andrew Jackson.  Now Andrew’s great but he’s worth about 3.3% of what Ben x 6 and Alex are worth.  Rodgers has entered the “Brady Zone” and anyone who held cards of him through last season is feeling as good as Packers fans are right about now.

2. Jeremy Hellickson 2010 Bowman Chrome Auto

Comments: After hearing he won the ROY award, it is said that Jeremy lept into the air and screamed “HELLickson, Yeah!”  Ok, maybe that was our resident Hellickson fan board member but that’s neither here nor there.  What is interesting is that in spite of a 13-10 season with a 2.95 ERA you could snag Jeremy’s Chrome Autos for roughly $8 in last week and previous weeks.  Does this seem awfully cheap to you?  It certainly does to me.  I suspect it has some to do with the fact that the Rays aren’t a heavily followed team and also the fact that while Jeremy was compiling quite the season, he wasn’t compiling lots of headlines.  Upon hearing he won the award, there were definitely people headed out to check eBay to see how much Jeremy’s Chrome Auto would set them back – apparently, they thought it wasn’t quite enough and bid them up to $20.

3. Matt Leinart 2006 Rookie Autos

Comments:  Does anyone else remember how hyped the rookie class of 2006 was?  Matt Leinart, Vince Young, Reggie Bush, Jay Cutler, Santonio Holmes, Bruce Gradkowski.  Thus far, the guy who has been the best NFL player of the bunch was the guy who many weren’t thinking about, Maurice Jones-Drew and oh yeah, there’s this Devin Hester guy – he returns kicks I think?  Anyway, Leinart was at the top of the list, a Heisman winner, he was going to reinvigorate the Cardinals franchise, I mean, I mean, lose his job to Kurt Warner.  Just as Matt had, his cards had fallen out of favor in the eyes of collectors.  However, Matt now suffers from another complex, the Carson Palmer effect.  A serious disease where a once maligned QB is thrust into the spotlight because of an injury to the starter.  Houston’s QB duties now rest on Matt’s shoulders and well, we shall see.  None the less, being a starting QB in the NFL as we’ve mentioned before is nothing to sniff at and Matt’s cards have been popping like BIN popcorn.

4. DeMarco Murray High-End Auto Rookies

Comments:  Felix Jones is back this week and guess what, he doesn’t have the same job he did when he left.  DeMarco Murray has that job because he’s been freaking awesome while Freaking Felix (the feelings of many fantasy owners) have been out.  DeMarco just continues to pile up the yards and with him running the ball and Tony Romo feeling better, well, Cowboys fans are starting to see the kind of offensive production they wanted 8 weeks ago.  DeMarco’s high-end rookie cards are really what moved this week, Autos like the one above sold for $200 last week and $300 this week.  DeMarco also starts a theme for us this week – he’s the second repeat Hot List offender with 3 or more appearances recently, Rodgers being the first.

5. 2011 Topps Chrome Football Case



Comments:   Cases selling way way way above factory cost a couple months after release are a rarity it seems these days.  In this era when not as many people have $1k to shell out, its just not happening.  Topps Chrome football is an exception to the rule.  Topps has really ramped up the quality of their football releases in my eyes this year, Finest was even better than last year, Inception was stellar and Topps Chrome a perennial favorite was the deepest and provided the most value in years.  It has to be a very fun bust and I’m guessing that explains why cases moved from $900 to $1100 on eBay this week.

6. Brandon Weeden 2002 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autos

Comments:  I wasn’t really in the card market back in 2002 so I would have never realized that Brandon Weeden had a Yankees card in 2002.  Wait, Brandon Weeden you say?  Isn’t that the guy going all Chris Weinke on the rest of the Big 12.  Yes, its that AARP style Brandon Weeden.  He’s now a college QB and a Heisman candidate for the #2 team in the country.  This is one of the reasons I love FCB because people noticed this, noticed his cards are up and posted in my Hot List suggestion thread.  The card above previously pretty much didn’t sell and now does for $40.

7. Russell Wilson 2010 Bowman Draft

Comments:  Wait, what do we have here?  Another 2.  The second reason I love FCB and another Heisman candidate featured on a baseball card?  You got it.  Russell Wilson, done with his stint with the Rockies is now tearing up the Big Ten playing football for Wisconsin.  Again, FCB members took notice, posted and now I think I can hear the rummaging through the commons boxes from here.  Bubba Starling sells in both baseball and football jerseys so why not Russell and Brandon?  Again, Russell was selling for virtually nothing as a baseball prospect but people love him as a football QB.

8. Prince Fielder High-End Rookie Autos

Comments: What’s Prince’s #2 you ask?  Well, he’s the second super high profile athlete from the cheesehead state to make our list, Aaron being the first.  He also may be the second best 1B free agent on the market depending on how you rank them.  All the free agent speculation (particularly that he will wind up with a higher profile team than the Brew Crew) has Prince’s cards moving, particularly the big ones (seems appropriate for the big duded right?).  If you recall these 2002 cards, one of the things that happened frequently was the autographs ran outside the lines, and no, not talking about the ESPN show.  So 10/10 and 9.5/10s became rather rare.  It is these kinds of cards that are seeing bids and activity on eBay and not just any offers, the ones in the $400 range.

9. T.J. Yates 2011 Spectrum Autos

Comments:  T.J. was one of those “oh crap it’s him” pulls from the football products this year.  The North Carolina product was stuck behind Matt Schaub in Houston and didn’t have the name recognition of a Newton, Dalton, Ponder, Locker and so forth.  However, Yates is also a #2 on this list, the 2nd Houston QB, do you remember the first?  It was Matt Leinart who has not exactly been awe inspiring in his NFL career thus far.  So T.J. isn’t nearly as stuck as he once was.  This is causing some to speculate on his cards like the Spectrum above which rose from pretty much a buck to around $8 this week.

10. Bilal Powell 2011 Crown Royale Rookie Autos

Comments: Not to be outdone, Bilal is a second in two ways on this list.  He’s the second guy whose autos previously sold for $.99 and he’s the second “oh crap its him” pull from 2011 football products.  However, once again, injuries produce opportunities and LT being out makes way for Bilal which just doesn’t roll of your tongue the way LaDainian does.  Bilal’s Crown Royale Patch Autos doubled this week from $10 to $20 as a result of him seeing the field more but his performance this week (7 carries for a stunning 11 yards) may very well mean that his appearance this week on this list will be his first and his last.