The 1998 Topps Tek Thread

[elberson]

I made it down to 11 more 1998 topps tek Barry bonds needed, thanks rustygreerfan!

 

[SINFULONE]

is that Alex Rodriguez?

Yes.

 

[RustyGreerFan]

I thought it was either A-Roid or A-Frod?

 

[MansGame]

I've read "Beckett prices" in this thread a few times... Honestly, they still put out a price guide and cards like 1998 Topps Tek are still displayed and updated?

Also, if so, how long are the "semi-stars", "stars", etc. lists? I remember back in the '90s guys would jump from list to list and eventually fall off after so many years out of the game.

Is Albert Belle listed in Beckett or is he on a specific list or is he a unlisted common? Just curious lol

 

[George_Calfas]

Mac- my view is this.
Beckett is a guide
eBay is current market trend

One provides a suggested starting point for value and one provides worth.

 

[MansGame]

Mac- my view is this.
Beckett is a guide
eBay is current market trend

One provides a suggested starting point for value and one provides worth.

Probably the best explaination I've ever heard lol... simple and true. Thanks GC!

 

[togaman]

Beckett monthly lists the 98 TEk but the values rarely change although the 90 card set price went form $90 to $120 (still too low) a few year ago. Beckett seems tome to be geared toward hyping the new cards that come out. Beckett list cards like Albert Belle as $1.25 commons. The long lists of cards (Unlisted $3.00) and Semi-Stars ($2.00) Yet the Monthly Beckett lists month-after-month out of favor players like Bonds as $6.00 listed cards way above what anyone actually ever pays for them. On the other hand nowhere to be found on those Beckett lists are Future HOF guys like Craig Biggio, Ivan Rodriguez and particulary lots of HOF guys with cards older than 10 years who are certainly NOT commons. Yet that Unlisted Stars $3.00 list include names like Frank Thomas. Jason Hayward, Ardolis Chapman, Nick Markakis?, Nick Swisher with Hall-of-Fame guys like Roberto Alomar, Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Willie McCovey , Duke Snider etc etc listed as SemiStars........ so I take the Beckett price with a grain of salt for the older stars. While its great if you are a buyer giving you an opportunity to buy HOF cards at semistar prices Beckett does not accurately reflect the true value of older HOF players. I do realize the card market and Becketts price guides and players they seem to highlight are driven by collectors busting box after box looking for high $$ inserts of the the next Bryce Harper or Mike Trout....

 

[MansGame]

Beckett monthly lists the 98 TEk but the values rarely change although the 90 card set price went form $90 to $120 (still too low) a few year ago. Beckett seems tome to be geared toward hyping the new cards that come out. Beckett list cards like Albert Belle as $1.25 commons. The long lists of cards (Unlisted $3.00) and Semi-Stars ($2.00)

Cool - So Albert Belle doesn't show up in Beckett anywhere, so he is considering a common? Or just from cards in the '90s? Again, just wondering.

Also, do they still have the lists in the back which tell you who is all considering a semi-star, etc.? How long are those lists seriously? I mean they must have hundreds of players names on them from years past unless they just drop semi-stars from the '90s into the common pool after so many years...

 

[togaman]

I would think the Albert Belle 1998 TEK cards would be relatively easy to find Have you checked Sportlots or COMCs? so a buck and a quarter is probably about right for Hi Beckett for Joey Belle

 

[MansGame]

I would think the Albert Belle 1998 TEK cards would be relatively easy to find Have you checked Sportlots or COMCs? so a buck and a quarter is probably about right for Hi Beckett for Joey Belle

I've really looked everywhere I think for Belle '98 tek cards and am still 18 patterns away... I have all the '99 patterns.

 

[Dilferules]

Mac- my view is this.
Beckett is a guide
eBay is current market trend

One provides a suggested starting point for value and one provides worth.

That's a good rule for most cards, but for seldom-sold tough cards like Diffractors there are a lot of problems with it. My example is that there's currently 2 hardcore Trent Dilfer collectors, me and some other guy. If a card /25 pops up that we both need, it might sell for $50-75. If you have the same card and put it on ebay the next week, it will sell for $3. So if you had that card right after the $50-75 sale, is it REALLY worth $50+ when there's no way you could sell it for 1/10 that price?

You could say the same thing for Diffractors...if multiple Juan Gonzalez collectors need the one you have it's worth more than a Griffey. If only one hardcore collector needs it, then a Griffey is worth more. But you don't know how many people need it so there's no real way to pin down a value for that card.

Cool - So Albert Belle doesn't show up in Beckett anywhere, so he is considering a common? Or just from cards in the '90s? Again, just wondering.

Also, do they still have the lists in the back which tell you who is all considering a semi-star, etc.? How long are those lists seriously? I mean they must have hundreds of players names on them from years past unless they just drop semi-stars from the '90s into the common pool after so many years...

I've got the most recent Beckett (the last issue on my subscription, I subscribed for old time's sake and will not be renewing - I use the online price guide for trading) and nowadays it only lists "2012 unlisted stars" and "2012 semistars". Belle is not on either list, but I don't know that he has a lot of 2012 cards. The lists are pretty long as they include a ton of prospects, etc.

 

[togaman]

WHAT HE SAID

 

[rinkrat38]

Last Beckett update on '98 Teks raised the value of a Ripken diffractor to $60 and left Jeter at $40, Bonds and McGwire at $30, and ARod at $25. They raised Griffey from $20 to $25. Those are the only players they currently value above $20. They reduced the value of a Juan Gonzalez diffractor from $12 to $6 and the value of a Pedro Martinez diffractor from $12 to $10, but raised the value of a Manny Ramirez diffractor from $8 to $15. Go figure.

I haven't seen a Pedro Martinez diffractor offered on eBay or anywhere else in years. Guess there's nothing out there for Beckett for comparison purposes. But Pedro may well be going into the HOF on the first ballot in two years, and there are still shrines to Pedro in many, many dens around New England, and hordes of Pedro collectors. I guarantee you that any Pedro diffractor is worth a lot more than $10. Same for any of a dozen or so of the other stars of the 1990's-2000's.

Just as a test, I offered to trade (specifically, not sell) any of three of my duplicate Juan Gonzalez diffractors on the Juan Gone website for ones I need. I checked the posted collections of several of the major Juan Gone collectors. Looked like they all had two of the three. None of them had the third one. I immediately was offered $210 for the three. (No, I didn't accept.) Guess they're worth a bit more than $6 apiece.

 

[togaman]

is that ONLINE Beckett Richard?

 

[George_Calfas]

Last Beckett update on '98 Teks raised the value of a Ripken diffractor to $60 and left Jeter at $40, Bonds and McGwire at $30, and ARod at $25. They raised Griffey from $20 to $25. Those are the only players they currently value above $20. They reduced the value of a Juan Gonzalez diffractor from $12 to $6 and the value of a Pedro Martinez diffractor from $12 to $10, but raised the value of a Manny Ramirez diffractor from $8 to $15. Go figure.

I haven't seen a Pedro Martinez diffractor offered on eBay or anywhere else in years. Guess there's nothing out there for Beckett for comparison purposes. But Pedro may well be going into the HOF on the first ballot in two years, and there are still shrines to Pedro in many, many dens around New England, and hordes of Pedro collectors. I guarantee you that any Pedro diffractor is worth a lot more than $10. Same for any of a dozen or so of the other stars of the 1990's-2000's.

Just as a test, I offered to trade (specifically, not sell) any of three of my duplicate Juan Gonzalez diffractors on the Juan Gone website for ones I need. I checked the posted collections of several of the major Juan Gone collectors. Looked like they all had two of the three. None of them had the third one. I immediately was offered $210 for the three. (No, I didn't accept.) Guess they're worth a bit more than $6 apiece.

Most value changes are based upon the player and not the set. I would guess that Cal cards went up across the board (or most sets). 1993 Finest Refractors are one of the few sets in which I can remember player values changing based upon set and not player........of course these value have changed little in the past few years. FWIW $40 in the guide seems a proper starting point on Jeter.
DEREK JETER 1998 TOPPS # 14 DIFFRACTOR PATTERN 51 YANKEES BGS 9.5


Juan collectors are an amazing group.

 

[PadresFan86]

Most value changes are based upon the player and not the set. I would guess that Cal cards went up across the board (or most sets). 1993 Finest Refractors are one of the few sets in which I can remember player values changing based upon set and not player........of course these value have changed little in the past few years. FWIW $40 in the guide seems a proper starting point on Jeter.
DEREK JETER 1998 TOPPS # 14 DIFFRACTOR PATTERN 51 YANKEES BGS 9.5


Juan collectors are an amazing group.

You have to take into consideration that the Jeter listing is poorly labeled. "Tek" isn't even in the headline.

 

[George_Calfas]

You have to take into consideration that the Jeter listing is poorly labeled. "Tek" isn't even in the headline.

True, it does have the important bits though, imho.........Honestly I dont search TEK just diffractor, yes I might miss a few listings but for my player(s) I hit enough cards.

 

[gradedeflator]

I've managed to pick up four Pedro Martinez diffractors within the past 2 years. The first one I got on COMC for $7 in 2011, and the last three all this year for between $23-32 with shipping, at auction. I remember seeing two others on ebay that I did not win either.

I haven't seen a Pedro Martinez diffractor offered on eBay or anywhere else in years. Guess there's nothing out there for Beckett for comparison purposes. But Pedro may well be going into the HOF on the first ballot in two years, and there are still shrines to Pedro in many, many dens around New England, and hordes of Pedro collectors. I guarantee you that any Pedro diffractor is worth a lot more than $10. Same for any of a dozen or so of the other stars of the 1990's-2000's.

 

[88UDKidGriff]

So I have 2 Tek cards I would like to trade: Tony Gwynn (card 23/pattern 60) and Mo Vaughn (card 87/pattern 88). I would like to get a Chipper Jones and Greg Maddux in return. Let me know if you want to make a deal.

 

[togaman]

So I have 2 Tek cards I would like to trade: Tony Gwynn (card 23/pattern 60) and Mo Vaughn (card 87/pattern 88). I would like to get a Chipper Jones and Greg Maddux in return. Let me know if you want to make a deal.

So you want to want to trade a $ 3.00 Gwynn and $2.00 semi-star Ortiz for a $3.00 Chipper Jones and a $5.00 Maddux ?