Kris Bryant Auto Superfractor coming to a repack near you (hopefully!)

The Kris Bryant autograph superfractor has found a home – only to be going to a new home, and maybe a new place after that.

Prospect Rush is a repack product featuring the ultimate break for prospectors. The company has said on Twitter that it purchased the Kris Bryant 2013 Bowman Chrome Superfractor Autograph to be put into an upcoming product.

The company likely spent A LOT of money. But this type of hype will bring attention to the company (see: this post), and get case breakers, prospectors, and thrill seekers to purchase it.

It seems as though the Bryant will be placed in Prospect Rush Draft, which is scheduled to come out in May.

This is an interesting take on repack products. Many of them tend to focus on a specific sport, but Prospect Rush goes for a smaller part of the marker. The cards include many Bowman and Bowman Chrome autographs, many of which are graded. The cards it has shown off on its Twitter page features many of the current top prospects .

There are several repack companies these days with Prospect Rush, Leaf, Fairfield, and Super Break Sports. Let’s talk about repack products in this week’s #CardChat on Twitter. Tune in at 3 p.m. on Monday.

Hobby news making its way into the mainstream

Every once in a while something in our little card world breaks its way into mainstream media. Usually, it has to do when a card is worth lots and lots of money.

It’s happened again. Kris Bryant's 2013 Bowman Chrome Superfractor Autograph has turned up and the card is on eBay with a BIN of $89,999. Will the card go for $90K? Of course not, but the consigner says there are offers of on table between $35K and $45K, according to a Fox Sports report.

Prospecting is a crazy part of this hobby. Guys who have yet to play even a second of Major League Baseball can have their cards sell for thousands. The same happened with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper’s Superfractors. Now, it’s Kris Bryant’s turn.

But don’t tell this to the doomsday media outlets. There was a video piece in the Washington Post recently entitled The Rise and Fall of Baseball Cards. Short version: Collecting isn’t the same as it was in the boom of the 1980s and 90s (but, really, what is?), card shops are closing and baseball players don’t like to smile at 7 a.m.

Yet, there is no mention of how ecommerce has affected the hobby. No mention of eBay, COMC, cards being sold on Amazon. No talk of prospecting or how vintage collecting is bigger than it has ever been. Nothing about those who only sell online spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or group breakers – you’re never going to see those guys selling at a card show or opening a hobby shop, but they exist.

As someone who has spent more than a decade in the news world, it can be difficult to get over your biases when beginning a story. You have a preconceived notion, but it’s important to keep an open mind and ask questions to get the full story rather than mold a story into hole you created. Maybe MSM can get it right the next time.

Something extra with Razor Rookie Retro

There was some news that came out about Razor Rookie Retro on Tuesday. Razor Rookie Retro, which is supposed to be the last Razor product Brian Gray is involved with, will have a little something extra inside.

Every pack will contain a 2010 baseball prospect autograph along with the graded rookie card. These aren’t basic autos either. There will be Metal prismatic autographs, Metal base and colored parallel autos, Gray wrote on Freedom Cardboard.

The Razor Rookie Retro checklist should be released sometime today and I will have that posted as soon as possible. However, Gray also said it could come as late of Thursday. Since the product ships out next week, collectors are anxiously awaiting to see it.

The reason the checklist is not available yet is because there is still tweaking being done to it. As market values change on cards, different cards are being included in the product while others are being taken out.

One of the cards we know that could show up is the 2010 Bowman Chrome Stephen Strasburg Superfractor. Gray paid $21K for the card to include specifically in this set.

Update: View the checklist here.

You can stop buying 2010 Bowman

Man, all of the big cards have pretty much bell pulled. The 2010 Bowman Bryce Harper superfractor has been spotted on Freedom Cardboard (link).

This card actually looks reaaaally good. Looks better than the Stephen Strasburg, I think.

Arguing for and against the Strasburg BGS grade

Yesterday, most of the talk surrounded the grade the 2010 Bowman Stephen Strasburg superfractor received from Beckett Grading Services. I wanted to wait a day to write about it simply because I needed time to let it fester. Knee-jerk reactions just aren’t my thing because I usually ended saying something stupid.

Here's a scan of the card that was posted by the person who originally pulled the card.

Instead of offering an opinion, let’s look at both sides of the argument.

Here are the guidelines as written on Beckett’s website:

Gem Mint 9.5
Centering: 50/50 one way, 55/45 the other on front. 65/35 or better on back
Corners: Mint to the naked eye, but slight imperfections allowed under magnification.
Edges: Virtually Mint to the naked eye. A speck of wear is allowed under intense scrutiny.
Surface: A few extremely minor print spots, detectable only under intense scrutiny. Deep color, devoid of registration or focus imperfections. Perfect gloss, devoid of scratches and metallic print lines

Mint 9
Centering: 55/45 both ways on front. 70/30 or better on back.
Corners: Mint upon close inspection. A speck of wear is allowed under intense scrutiny.
Edges: Virtually Mint to the naked eye. Unobtrusive specks of chipping on the borders are allowed.
Surface: A handful of printing specks or one minor spot. Very minor focus or color imperfections. Clean gloss with one or two tiny scratches barely noticeable to the naked eye. One faint, unobtrusive metallic print line is allowed.

Argument for the grade: Yesterday, Beckett posted on their blog an interview with director of BGS Mark Anderson and senior grader David Poole.

“The weakest grade is the 9 centering,” Poole said. “It’s off left to right, just within our guidelines of being 9 guidelines. Back off as well.”

He also said the corners have some problems on the back, but not anything to keep it from a 9.5 corner. In addition, he said: “the edge has some roughness going on, but still within the 9.5 guideline range.”

Regarding the surface, Poole said there were some indentations on the back, but hard to see.

Argument against the grade: Reading the blogs and forums, there are a lot (if not most) of the people arguing against the grade. The centering might fall within BGS’s guidelines, especially since the back is probably within the 70/30 guideline. The front is too difficult to tell in a scan, but 55/45 might be generous.

The biggest issue with the grading is the edges. According to Beckett’s guidelines, edges are to be virtually mint to the naked eye. Based on the scan of the card, you can see fraying without the help of magnifying glass or microscope or whatever fancy tools are used.

Unfortunately, just based on scans it’s too difficult to tell about surface and corners.

The person who originally pulled the card even said on Freedom Cardboard’s forum: “I had to say wow when I saw this story. I personally held it and I thought for sure no chance at 9.5 … more like 8.5 the edge is rough real rough … it’s not 1979/80 opc with wire cuts so I dunno what BGS is thinking.”

Conclusion: Regardless if the card deserved the grade, perception is reality in this world. Too many collectors that are on the social media sites do not agree with the grade. Some have said they will no longer use BGS while I am sure there are many people who continue to grade their cards.

There is a conflict of interest here, but the same thing can be said for anyone even though spouting against the grade. How many blogs out there get free or sponsored boxes from card companies? How many blogs use advertising on their site? With media companies such as newspaper and magazines, they are still in the business of making money. If they didn’t make money, many people wouldn’t have jobs. But there is a fine line for everyone here.

Strasburg Superfractor back on eBay?

http://blogbeckett.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/strasburg-superfractor-owner-tries-for-hail-mary-in-wake-of-red-11-auction/Last week, Chris Olds had an exclusive interview with the Stephen Strasburg superfractor buyer (link). He talked about his impulse to buy the card and so on. He didn't know what he would do with the card.

I didn’t think of selling the card. I was just anxious to actually receive it.  As for this being a long-term purchase or not, it’s difficult to say. Luckily, my wife is very supportive, even though her first response was “Are you crazy?  That is a lot of money for one baseball card.” But I think after his first start, she was even more supportive.

I would like to keep it displayed at my office, but I suppose everything has its price.  I do consider it to be an investment, hopefully in the best pitcher of all time.  But with Strasburg-mania running so high, I have thought about posting it on eBay just to gauge the interest.  I guess we’ll see.

I guess it didn't take that long. After three stars, Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and, remarkably, 32 strikeouts and five walks in 19 1/3 innings.

So, now, the card is back on eBay (auction link).

According to the auction, the card is off in the grading house, but pictures are available upon request. Additionally, there is a reserve to this auction. I would imagine the reserve is around $20,000 since he paid about $16,800 for it.

I do have questions. I looked at the feedback for the seller. How come he hasn't been active apparently since 2008 and why wouldn't the original seller of the Superfractor card leave him any feedback? Things I think about at midnight while the Yankees are getting clobbered by the Diamondbacks.

Update: Beckett confirmed with the owner of the card, the auction is legit. 

Why Strasburg collectors should be wary

Remember when Joba Chamberlain was good, or at least was supposed to be good. Joba came up to the Yankees in 2007 and struck out 34 guys in 24 relief appearances. He was the Yankees (supplemental) first round draft pick in 2006.

The 24-year-old was rocketed through the minors. In 2007, his hype was at an all-time high.

His 2007 Bowman Chrome autograph initially sold for $5,000. Stephen Strasburg blew that out of the water, but those chasing Strasburg’s cards could learn a lesson from Mr. Chamberlain.

The superfractor would likely not sell for the same type of money now. In fact, most of 2007 autos can be had for under $100 - often times close to $20.

He couldn’t be had for that kind of money three years ago. Then, it was considered a steal.

That’s not to say his cards won’t ever be worth more money again. Chamberlain is still a work in progress for New York and could eventually become the Yankees closer when Mariano Rivera retires. However, relievers are never worth as much as money as closers in the secondary market.

This year Chamberlain isn’t doing great. Entering Thursday, he’s 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA, 32 strikeouts, eight walks in 28 1/3 innings.

Can Joba ever make it back?

2010 Bowman Jason Heyward Superfractor - auction over

Even though our boy (I can't say his name again) has gotten most of the attention around MLB, eBay and our humble blog, there was another guy who had a big auction going on that ended Sunday night.

Atlanta Braves' rookie Jason Heyward superfractor ended. This was the official RC (auction link), so besides being Heyward - who is having a solid rookie season - there is only one of these cards with that fancy RC card logo on it.

Even more special, this card has an auto.

Any good Heyward cards in your collection?

I have a gold 2010 Bowman base card. That's about it.

Don't forget to enter our contest. 

Blowout Cards posts 2010 Bowman "Superpull"

When I woke up this morning I scanned through Twitter because it's what I do. Wait, no one else does this? Liars.

Anyway, I came across a tweet from Blowout Cards about a customer pull from the weekend and thought I would share it with you guys in case you don't have a Twitter account. Someone pulled a Martin Perez superfractor auto, and from what I have read sneaking around online there are people who think the card could end near $5,000. Your guess is as good as mine, and probably better. It is interesting to watch the refractor and superfractor auto's on eBay.

I don't know much about the kid, I don't really do prospecting but I will read through my Prospectus and see what the deal is with some of these auto's. Who knows, maybe I will pick up a couple of cheap guys. That's how I ended up collecting Adam Lind.