Strasburg card price hits the mainstream

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-Stephen-Strasburg-baseball-card-that-costs-a?urn=mlb,243549

The Hanley Checklist: 2007 UD SPX (Update #3)

Originally published 3/23/10.

SPX is a confusing set to identify the myriad of parallels (I am without the help of Beckett because I’ve joined the anti-Beckett ilk, though I may have to cave if I want to have a list to join the super collector ranks). Please let me know if you find any errors in this list. I did the best that I can using the incomplete UD website, various card blogs, and checkoutmycards.com.

Cards that I have are pictured and text in bold. Here are all the Hanley Ramirez cards in 2007 Upper Deck SPX Baseball.

Update 1 – 5/7/10 Added two single jersey cards via eBay. Silver /199 and Green /175.

Update 2 – 5/13/10 Added two cards via eBay. Gold single jersey /99 amd Silver single patch /99. Had a Winning Trios in hand but it was damaged during shipment. Ugh.

Update 3 – 6/25/10 Added gold Winning Trios card.

• Base #66

• Winning Materials Bronze /199, single jersey
• Winning Materials Silver /199, single jersey (5/7/10, eBay)
  

• Winning Materials Gold /199, single jersey

• Winning Materials Blue /175, single jersey
• Winning Materials Green /175, single jersey (5/7/10, eBay)
  

• Winning Materials Silver /99, single jersey
• Winning Materials Gold /99, single jersey (added 5/13/10 eBay)
  

• Winning Materials Silver /50, double jersey
• Winning Materials Gold /50, double jersey
• Winning Materials Bronze /25, double jersey
• Winning Materials Green /15, double jersey
• Winning Materials Limited Gold /99, single patch
• Winning Materials Limited Silver /99, single patch (added 5/13/10 eBay)
  

• Winning Materials Limited Bronze /50, single patch
• Winning Materials Limited Green /25, double jersey and patch (got two…willing to trade one)
  
• Winning Materials Limited 3 /15, Auto and double jersey/patch
• Winning Materials Limited 3 /10, Auto and triple patch
• Winning Trios Gold /75, triple jersey

• Winning Trios Silver /50, triple jersey
• Winning Trios Bronze /30, double jersey and patch
• Winning Trios Green /25, triple patch
• Young Star Signature, Auto
• Young Star Signature Spectrum /25, Auto

Got a long way to go. Total 11/24

A Quick One While He’s Away

Still deep into the paper with no end in sight. With the deadline looming, I’m in full panic mode.

To relax, I went over to Saints of the Cheap Seats, one the blogs that I check out thanks to the links on I am Joe Collector.  Now, not only am I stressed with a paper, but I’m also jealous of Saints great luck with box breaks. I think the best card I got out of 2009 Sweet Spot was a dual jersey of Beckett and Matsuzaka.

Also, I’ll be following the condensing project and shoebox legends, since I’ve been wanting to downsize my collection and could use the inspiration.

Anyway, looks like there won’t be any posts until after Memorial Day weekend. Happy vacation and thanks to all the vets.

Upcoming

No real post until I finish this paper…just know that there will be lots coming, including:

• An opinion post on bloggers vs Beckett
• The start of my touring reviews of LCSs
• A write up on my visit to Nationals Park for the Beltway Series against those Baltimore birds
• An addition to the 2007 SPX Hanley collection
• A massive eBay lot of Hanley cards that demand scanning
• A contest which might actually get one person to enter

Until then (probably Wednesday), good night and good luck.

Giveaway at Enough Already

Tim over at Enough Already is sponsoring a contest.  Answer some questions and advertise the contest and you have a chance to win a treasure trove of cards.  Ni.

Hanley Apologizes, All Is Right In The World

“I’m sorry that all this got so ugly. My intent was not to cause a distraction. I’m sorry that things got this heated. The team, the fans don’t deserve it. We are all professionals here and we’re pulling for the same side. I’ll try to close this chapter and focus on playing baseball.”

Video on the story: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5201535

DIY Topps Cards – Now That’s Lazy

From the Beckett website, Topps has decided to make a special insert in 2010 Topps Series 2 which involves one of the dumbest concepts ever: do-it-yourself cards. That’s right, Topps has had enough with paying artists for sketch cards of varying quality and decided to have the consumer make their own sketches, submit them to Topps, and potentially have their drawing inserted into future Topps product. Let me get this straight, you want hobbyists to make a drawing, send it back, and then possible rip it from a future pack?!! That’s some circular economic magic: can you imagine the horror of busting open a pack and your “hit” is a sketch from a fellow collector with great enthusiasm but little versimilatude (no offense to the artist, but example).

OK, so these are extra cards in the packs, but why would you want to put in effort to generate product for Topps for which you’ll receive no compensation? Why not offer something to people whose art cards are selected for inclusion in a future set? How about instead of sending it back to Topps, let’s just post our drawings online and use them to generate our own blog content? How about we use a “Hot or Not” type of system so that we can get some more Web 2.0 mojo? How about Topps slow down on the gimmickry that seems to just pour out of the company?

Addition 5/21/2010: In light of a comment from a blogger I hold in high esteem, let me add that the bad sketch concept was meant in jest.  I’m sure that the selected winners will be of great quality.  However, I still question the legitimacy of this gimmick…but it might just be my cautious nature and continued annoyance at the scout and Rip girl autograph cards. If that makes me a troglodyte, then so be it.

Hanley the Angry Loaf

As a Hanley Ramirez fan, I’m often bummed by the lack of attention afforded the two time All-Star and last year’s NL MVP runner up.  This may be due to his playing for a stingy organization or in a terrible baseball area (South Florida, primarily the Miami area, is football crazy, as evidenced in the excellent ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on the Miami Hurricanes. Futbol, on the other hand, floundered against expectation.).   Still, a budding superstar finds a way to become a (sports) household name in spite of their clubs’ futility; too bad Hanley choose to use the bad publicity option.

During a game against the Latino-hating racist state Diamondbacks, Han-Ram booted a ball that was in play.   Instead of “playing the game the right way” (a phrase I’ll examine later), Hanley loped after the ball like he was participating in a fun run, resulting in two runs scored and a runner on third.  He was removed from the game by an obviously perturbed Fredi Gonzalez because “we felt that the effort wasn’t there that we wanted.”  So, next day, instead of coming out with the obvious, PR-coached mea culpa, Hanley fired out some strong words.  About his coach: “It’s his team. He can do whatever he [expletive] wants.”  About apologizing: “We got a lot of people dogging it after ground balls. They don’t apologize.” About respect: “I respect everybody. But I don’t know if I get the same respect back.”  This is not a happy El Nino.

There are several theories/topics to cover with this story.  First, the theory from SI’s Jon Heyman: Hanley may be a “selfish, spoiled, egotistical ballplayer.”  According to Heyman, insiders have whispered about petulant actions from the past that were covered up by his team-first manager and that this is the first public exposure of the querulous side of Hanley.  Hanley in the past has thrown tantrums in the team plane, alienated teammates, and dared to trouble his upstanding manager.  Of course, my first reaction is to question the sources that attest to Hanley’s long list of bad behavior.   It wouldn’t be surprising if negative perception comes with having a salary that’s 25% of your team’s payroll.  Jealousy can color complaints, giving off the appearence of arrogance: I imagine coaches and teammates are more than annoyed at the bling given to Hanley by team owner Luria.  Of course, this is speculation and Hanley might be an ass.

Second, let’s look at the source of the outrage at Hanley.  He dogged it while running for a ball.  There’s no denying the fact when you watch the video of the play.  It looks like he’s cruising toward the ball.  It’s an ugly truth, but players do take plays off and fans/media hate players who don’t give constant, consistent effort.  For instance, one of the highest compliments (and commonest cliches) is “he never took a play off” (did a Google search for the phrase “never took a play off” and got back 1750 results, most lauding someone for their tenacity).  We expect ball players to go hard at all times, holding up Charlie Hustle as an idol of non-idleness and booing the laxidasical Man-Ram.  Why?  I, for one, applaud conditional laziness.  Running out ground balls with feeling is expected, to not run out a ball is one of the most common reasons for benching.  However, if a player were just dinged on the ankle from a misdirected fastball, isn’t that a condition for running like a chicken with its head attached?  Why don’t we get upset at people who don’t sprint in from the outfield when changing sides or relief pitchers who stroll in from the bullpen? I think that there’s something to be said about judicious laziness, especially during a long, long, long season like baseball.  Of course, this argument doesn’t apply to Hanley’s kick ball.

Still, the above argument wasn’t made in vain; I’ve got a bone to pick with the Florida Marlins in general.  Using the logic of most fans, we want to see effort, especially from the stars since they make all that money.  Just check the twitter feed from many Marlins fans and you’ll read some variation of disgust that Hanley is being paid so much money and that he needs to show a proportional amount of effort on the field.  However, if I were Hanley, I’d feel disgust for playing for one of the cheapest teams in professional baseball in front of some of the worst, no-show fans in the US.  Perhaps what Hanley is exhibiting is a result of being in a bad working environment.  Sure, we laud those who have the internal hustle, but most of us know what it feels like to be disgruntled at work.  Some of us, myself included, react in very unprofessional ways when unhappy at work (my worst stories, like berating a coworker, is so much more over-the-top than jogging to a ball), and I suspect there might be some frustration from Hanley.  He’s playing on a team high on upside (read: rookies) and low in batting order protection (his name is Dan Uggla), the ownership stands by Fredi Gonzalez when they can’t get Bobby Valentine to sign, and his home ball park is awash with empty, ugly colored seats during games.  Maybe it’s time we ask for some hustle from the team and stop singling out a thus-far quiet young star.

Of course, one of the other frustrations I have with the story is the outpouring of admiration for Fredi Gonzalez as their new favorite coach.  While what Gonzalez did was correct as a manager (correcting a player for not playing in a manner that creates a winning product on the field), his actions of removing Hanley from the game and benching him for the next night’s game was not special.  It was a routine move, a correction, a teaching moment…what coaches are supposed to do. This is similar to Chris Rock’s bit about parents complementing themselves on being a good parent; you don’t deserve a cookie because that’s what you’re supposed to do.   I think there’s this “us vs. them” mentality and the “us” team of fans/media love to back the older guys, the coach, the official, etc, when they go up against the ”overpaid” superstar (more so when there’s a racial or socioeconomic element, which there isn’t in the Hanley case).  We expect the norm to be cowtowed coaches who give in to the whims of overpaid divas, which strikes most as unfair.  So, when someone stands up to them (and by stands up, they perform the duties of their job), they are suddenly heroic.  I find this notion part and parcel in the American Dream storyline of hating our heroes and therefore unsurprising, but still unsettling nonetheless.

So, what was the point of this meandering, unformed blog? Well, I’m arguing that, even if he’s being a schmuck, there are other issues at play in the quick villification of Hanley.  He’s not that bad a guy (of course, it would be ironic if news comes out now that his main hobby is batting manatee)…of course, cynicism and personal interest note, he is the topic of my collection and bad news may hurt his value, so it would be in my best interest to try to mitigate the damage his rep has on his value.

Vacation Monday

I’ll be coming back from a weekend away in Atlantic City Monday, so I’ll probably be behind in the card news. So, instead of a proper post, here’s a sad little card that won’t be part of my SPX collection.

Seller on eBay mailed it in a plain white envelope with some bubble wrap around the card protector’s midsection.  Thus, damage to the top left (nearest the serial number). Sent it back…awaiting money back. Sad.

Box Prices Per Hit – A Completely Unscientific Study

After reading SCU’s newest rant against another overpriced release filled with subpar design and sticker autographs, I decided to do a little analysis of box prices per hit…a completely unscientific, non-expert study of pricing.  I’ll look at some “hit end” box prices (using Blowoutcards for box pricing) and attempt to determine the cost for each “hit” (either relic or auto).  Of course, in order to do this, I had to come up with a price for the base and parallel/inserts to subtract from the total. This will be a point of contention since I tried to stay consistent with an arbitrary value but had to change the value for SPx since the cost per hit was reduced because it had the most amount of base cards per box.  I attempted to try this analysis on set collection products (like Heritage, Allen&Ginter, or Bowman to reference the Strasburg craze) but couldn’t find a satisfactory number to really determine the theoretical value of the hit.  That and I wanted to stop looking up values and get on with my life.

For each base, will assume $2 value per card for high-end (I’ve made allowances for lower prices for SPx due to having more base cards). Parallel/insert cards will be valued at $5 per card (a overvalue, I’m sure).  I am sure that I’m making objectionable leaps in pricing logic (for instance, why does SPx get a reduction of base while I stayed with the $2 value for the base of Tribute). Regardless, I mostly wanted to just look at the “whale” releases of Ultimate or Triple Threads.  All box prices were taken from Blowoutcards.

Ordered highest to lowest in Price per hit (P/H) value.

2010 Razor Legends of the Diamond: Box Price $230; 1 card; P/H $230

2009 UD Ultimate Collection: Box Price $141; 4 cards (3 base, 1 relic/auto/relic auto); P/H $135

2010 Famous Fabrics Series 1: Box Price $121; 1 card; P/H $121

2009 Topps Sterling: Box Price $217; 6 cards (3 base, 1 parallel, 1 relic, 1 auto OR 3 base, 1 relic, 2 auto); P/H $103 OR 70.33

2008 UD Premier Baseball: Box Price $229; 7 cards (2 base, 3 relics, 1 auto, 1 relic/patch/auto); P/H $45

2009 Topps Tribute: Box Price $317; 30 cards (18 base, 6 parallel, 3 relic, 3 auto); P/H $41.83

2010 Topps Triple Threads:  Box Price $160; 12 cards (6 base, 2 parallel base, 2 triple relic, 2 triple relic auto); P/H $34.50

2010 Topps Tribute: Box Price $244; 30 cards (18 base, 6 parallel, 3 relic, 3 auto); P/H $29.66

2007 UD Ultimate Collection: Box Price $248; 16 cards (4 base, 8 relic, 4 auto); P/H $20.00

2008 UD SPx Baseball: Box Price $110, 30 cards (debatable, base will be changed to $1, but have to stay consistent, right? I think it’s 20 base, 3 parallel, 7 hits OR 7 base, 3 parallel, 10 hits); P/H $10.71 OR 8.80

2009 Bowman Sterling: Box Price $205; 30 cards (12 base, 6 relic, 12 auto); P/H $10.05

2007 Bowman’s Best Baseball: Box Price $175; 75 cards (base price changed to $1…60 base, 6 parallel, 9 auto); P/H $9.44

2009 UD Ballpark Collection: Box Price $129; 20 cards (8 base, 10 relic, 2 auto); P/H $9.42

—

Before jumping to any conclusion from this little list, I think it is very important to note that not all these hits are equal.  The higher end products have the higher priced chase cards as well as brand identity.  Additionally, the hits are not manufactured equally: SPx has single jersey swatches as hits, while the Tribute memorabilia cards feature three pieces.  Moreover, all of these box have the potential, albeit a pretty small one, to make a profit by pulling the right card.  One would make almost twice the box price by hitting this 2009 UD Derek Jeter which sold for $271 or this near-double of the box price for a six hockey jersey pieces on a Famous Fabrics card.  It’s all risk reward, right?

Therefore, the pertinent question, as always, is “what type of collector are you?” Are you a prospector? If so, then buying rookie heavy products like Bowman’s Best would be an ideal buy low – sell high strategy.  Are you a high-end gambler? Then it doesn’t really matter which high-end product you buy, since you’ve obviously got the money to burn to attempt to buck the tiger and beat the odds. Are you a mid-price collector, like myself? Then you’re best bet to maximize your value potential and stick with a product that doesn’t have as much upside, like Ultimate or any 1 box equals 1-5 cards, but delivers some fun cards, like an SPx.  Of course, looking at the costs vs reward, the best bet has always been to pick up the cards you want individually.  Sure, you miss out on the pulls of a lifetime, but you’ll get the best value.