Finally I can breathe.  The busiest shopping weekend of the year is over, and all of our efforts at the store to improve stock paid off.  In fact we may have sold it a bit short and not cranked up the ordering as much as we could of as we ran out of product by Saturday night.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell where the market is at until you are in the thick of things.  It’s this reason that I am constantly telling people not to sell talented skill position players who stick with teams and have roles too early and too cheap.  Seriously, what do you have to gain by selling Shane Vereen contenders auto for $3?  Wait until he gives you a chance to sell.  Running backs who stick in a contributing role always have a good few weeks that cause the cards to spike.  There are at least two on the list this week.

#1 Colin Kaepernick Rookie Autographs

Every time I hear Tim Tebow being talked about as an underdog story I wanna puke.  It undermines real underdog stories like Colin.  He’s a guy out of high school that no one wanted.  Nevada was the only school to offer a scholarship for football as most considered his mechanics to be too awkward for football.  Tebow’s mechanics are much worse and he was the #1 recruit in the country.

Like Tebow one thing that no one who watched him play basketball, baseball or football ever denied was his pure athletic ability.  It was in fact a basketball game that got him his football scholarship.  Many people will remember the run he had at Nevada as they beat many teams they weren’t considered to be in the same league as.  As it stands right now he is the best player in school history, and they are no doubt glad they did not over look him.

Collectors who did not overlook him are happy as well as he is now giving them the chance to reap the rewards of an early gamble.  Even his base cards are selling right now as a Topps Finest base rookie of his brings $4.  His treasures autographs have doubled from $200 to around the $400 mark and his contenders autograph has moved from $15 to $65 in recent weeks.  Turning hard work and opportunity into achievement is something Colin has been doing his whole life.  Don’t expect it to stop now that he has gotten his shot.

Many of you have asked why I nearly always point at Panini Contenders when I quote market prices, and the reason is pretty simple.  I often use contenders as a barometer because it’s a high end autograph that does not have a ton of parallels or patches to affect the end prices.

#2 Julian Edelman Contenders Autographs

Next on the hot list is another opportunistic pick.  Edelman is getting playing time due to some injuries in New England where one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Tom Brady has a nack for distributing the ball. This has led Edelman to put up some really good numbers.

Make no mistake about it, Julian is an amazing athlete.  I remember his combine performance in 2009 as he caused some of the evaluators to think that the timing equipment had malfunctioned as he clocked a 3.9 second time in the 20 yard shuttle.  He’s a better athlete than Danny Woodhead is, so perhaps he can stick around and have a more lasting impact.  He got destroyed this past week and will be out at least next week with a concussion, but he’s a strong bet to bounce back get back on the field.

#3 The New FCB Chat System

It’s no secret that this website needs a traffic boost.  The way sports cards are right now every thing is that way.  Intrest is down seemingly across the board and sites that used to be really busy have seen a slow down.

Here at FCB we have chosen to address that with promotions and technology to boost the interest of the user base.  The first was the tagging system that lets users be more aware of what is going on as it relates to them in conversations.  The second is this chat system.  It’s a MAJOR upgrade that took a minor miracle to pull off correctly.  It includes chat rooms and live on one one chat with video.  Coming soon is the ability for group breakers to have their own live streaming room much like you see on ustream or blog tv.  This will be added with NO COMMERCIALS at all so you can avoid missing critical parts of breaks for a swifter wet jet ad.

#4 Cecil Shorts Rookie Autographs

When a guy gets drafted out of D3 and does not get cut during camp or in the off season you know he’s got something special.

Ok, so his cards aren’t lighting the world on fire.  They are however up double from what they used to be.  One of the most disappointing pulls from 2011 rookie products is looking like he could be something as the Jaguars had a personnel shake up with pretty boy Blaine Gabbert hurt and Chad Henne in at quarterback.   He’s still not a guy you wanna pull when you bust boxes, but those that bought could theoretically double their money this week.  I would hold off a little longer though because he’s gonna get a few more opportunities and maybe he will have an even bigger week down the stretch.

#5 Robert Griffin anything

I feel like a broken record talking about RG3.  The sporting world has simply ran out of superlatives for him as he exceeds anyone’s expectations.

It’s Monday as I write this and on my TV is the Eagles v Panthers matchup and I can’t help but think of the parallels between Cam Newton and Griffin.  Will griffin struggle in a sophomore campaign like Newton?  To answer that you might have to look at the talent around him.  I give the edge in that category to Griffin as I think the skins are in MUCH better shape than the Panthers are.  It will certianly be interesting to see what kind of players they gain and lose this off season and how it will affect RG3.

#6 LaMarcus Aldridge SP Authentic Autographs

Most of the time attention is a good thing.  Current top NBA rookie Damian Lillard is turning heads and forcing people to watch the Portland Trail Blazers and their top scorer LaMarcus Aldridge.

This is a rebuilding year for the Blazers.  This means that Aldridge will see more bench time than other team leaders.  He looks like a really good buy for next year when the team should hit stride and actually compete for something worth while.  His SP Authentic is about $55 right now and a value buy at that price.  He also has other autographs that can be scooped up cheaper if you are looking for less risky buys.  I don’t think I have to remind you what happens to his cards if a basketball player starts getting big boy attention.  You had better act fast though, if you would have bought last week you would have gotten it for about $35

#7 Slade Heathcott Chrome Autographs

Sometimes it takes elite athletes time for their skills to translate to actual production in baseball.  It’s one reason why the Philadelphia Phillies hold players in the minors so long.  They draft athletes and give them time to develop.  This has been the story of Heathcott’s young career.  He has that rare combination of power and speed that drove Mike Trout to a near MVP award winning season. If he can stay on the field next year in AA you could see a break out year.

If he has even half the season that Trout did this year that Yankee uniform could drive sales to ridiculous heights.

The WAY TOO CHEAP list.

Torrey Smith Contenders autos at $9.  Dez Bryant (yes I know he’s a head case) but he’s an elite talent and you can find his contenders auto for $30.

Leaf Army autographs of Robert Woods, TJ Yeldon, and James Wilder are all under priced.

Kyrie Irving autographs are indeed expensive but he is scoring like a grown man and his rookie cards should reflect that soon.  He’s definitely on my buy list.