Roberto Alomar Collector's Thread

[thelesquad]

The NextGem guys have affected the market because of their willingness to throw an ungodly amount of money at this set (and a few other 90's inserts).

 

[nosterbor]

Most all of the 90's serial numbered to 100 or less cards have gone crazy. A 1997 E-X2000 Essential Credentials serial numbered to 99 of Juan Gonzalez for $300. how about a 97 E-X2000 Credentials Juan serial numbered to 299 For $110 or a 1998 Donruss Crusade Green serial numbered to 250 of Juan for $150. AS Harry Carey would say.
HOLY COW!

 

[Dilferules]

The 1997-98 Green PMG Michael Jordan (/10) became a massive high dollar card because somebody decided that was THE card.
With the increase in Green prices, it increased the Red (/90) prices.
With the increase in Jordan prices the rest of the 1997-98 basketball PMGs rose.
Then the popularity of that set gradually spilled over into other PMG sets including 98-99 basketball, 1997 through 1999 football, and 1998 and 1999 baseball.

5 or 10 years ago the baseball PMGs were popular but not especially more popular than the other good '90s parallels or Crusades. Now they are really pricey, especially the '98s because there was no 1997 set so that's by default the best one. I missed the boat on the '98s and have zero in my A's collection, but do have most of the 1999 set at least.

Essential Credentials are similar but not quite as extreme maybe...the popularity of the basketball set bled over to other sports and increased prices.

There were no basketball Crusades so those have had to increase just due to baseball popularity without getting a basketball boost.

 

[banjar]

That's a good theory.

Those red/green PMG basketball cards are outstanding. I kinda wish they had used that design for baseball instead of the bizarre designs they went with. The football ones look pretty good too ;-)

The 1997-98 Green PMG Michael Jordan (/10) became a massive high dollar card because somebody decided that was THE card.
With the increase in Green prices, it increased the Red (/90) prices.
With the increase in Jordan prices the rest of the 1997-98 basketball PMGs rose.
Then the popularity of that set gradually spilled over into other PMG sets including 98-99 basketball, 1997 through 1999 football, and 1998 and 1999 baseball.

5 or 10 years ago the baseball PMGs were popular but not especially more popular than the other good '90s parallels or Crusades. Now they are really pricey, especially the '98s because there was no 1997 set so that's by default the best one. I missed the boat on the '98s and have zero in my A's collection, but do have most of the 1999 set at least.

Essential Credentials are similar but not quite as extreme maybe...the popularity of the basketball set bled over to other sports and increased prices.

There were no basketball Crusades so those have had to increase just due to baseball popularity without getting a basketball boost.

 

[banjar]

I'd never heard of them before. But yeah, their website is basically a showcase for 1998 PMG cards.

The NextGem guys have affected the market because of their willingness to throw an ungodly amount of money at this set (and a few other 90's inserts).

 

[banjar]

I'm nodding my head in grim agreement.

Most all of the 90's serial numbered to 100 or less cards have gone crazy. A 1997 E-X2000 Essential Credentials serial numbered to 99 of Juan Gonzalez for $300. how about a 97 E-X2000 Credentials Juan serial numbered to 299 For $110 or a 1998 Donruss Crusade Green serial numbered to 250 of Juan for $150. AS Harry Carey would say.
HOLY COW!

 

[banjar]

Speaking of high priced 90's inserts, I took the plunge and splurged on this one. It came slabbed as a PSA9, but I'm kind of anti-grading these days so the first thing I did was crack it out.

I had also found this one a few years back - a backdoor copy without the serial number.

 

[WizardofOz1982]

Speaking of high priced 90's inserts, I took the plunge and splurged on this one. It came slabbed as a PSA9, but I'm kind of anti-grading these days so the first thing I did was crack it out.

View attachment 345794

I had also found this one a few years back - a backdoor copy without the serial number.

View attachment 345795

Something interesting I found while building the Platinum Blue and Platinum Red sets is the back has a peel as well and if you peel it the serial number comes off with it. Luckily I just peeled a common to test instead of peeling a Griffey or something.

 

[banjar]

Interesting. I just tried that with a duplicate platinum red card. I did find a peel-able layer on the back, but I found it quite hard to get off. I had to pick at it with my fingernail for a long time. I didn't try long enough to get from the corner to the serial number, but it was definitely much harder to get off than the peel on the front. I am guessing the layer on the back was meant to be part of the card, not something to be peeled off?

Something interesting I found while building the Platinum Blue and Platinum Red sets is the back has a peel as well and if you peel it the serial number comes off with it. Luckily I just peeled a common to test instead of peeling a Griffey or something.

 

[WizardofOz1982]

Interesting. I just tried that with a duplicate platinum red card. I did find a peel-able layer on the back, but I found it quite hard to get off. I had to pick at it with my fingernail for a long time. I didn't try long enough to get from the corner to the serial number, but it was definitely much harder to get off than the peel on the front. I am guessing the layer on the back was meant to be part of the card, not something to be peeled off?

Correct but some of them get loose with age I guess. The common I peeled was already separating on the back and it peeled as easily as the fronts do.

 

[banjar]

Rudiarius

From latin-dictionary.net:

noun

Declension: 2nd
Gender: masculine

Definitions:

1. (one who has received his rudis/wooden sword on retiring)
2. retired gladiator

Side note: I took Latin all four years in high school. Why? I don't know. I wish I had taken a living language instead. But alas, I still only speak one usable language. On the plus side, I can occasionally figure out a crossword puzzle clue that others miss.

 

[banjar]

Speaking of 1998 PMG, this bozo is asking $15,000 for a PSA9. Nice of him to include a Best Offer option.

1998 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Alomar /50 PSA 9 -SEE MAY 3 UPDATE BELOW | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1998 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Alomar /50 PSA 9 -SEE MAY 3 UPDATE BELOW at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

"...at the best online prices at Ebay" - that is a direct quote from his listing.

 

[banjar]

At this point in assembling my collection, maildays are fewer and farther between. Probably 2 a week on average.

Many of them are cards like this - the 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Team Trios Single Memorabilia /50. A run-of-the-mill card that doesn't really get me super pumped up. But it does feature fellow HOF'er Jim Thome and another helluva player in Kenny Lofton. And it fills a nice little hole in the collection.

 

[banjar]

Another kinda ho-hum addition. 2004 Leaf Exhibits Sincerely Left. But it was the first new Exhibits I'd found in well over a year, so there's that.

2004 Leaf Exhibits was one of the most insane insert sets of all time. Maybe not THE most insane, but has to be top 10. There are 44 different versions of this silly card, all with minute little differences. Then Leaf duplicated the entire thing in their Second Edition issue, with 44 more cards with a blue tinge. Ay yi yi.

 

[banjar]

Well, I'm mired waist-deep in the longest dry spell of maildays since I started collecting again in 2014. I think I've only picked up three cards on my wantlist in the last month. Two 1999 Topps Teks, which are cool, and this little beauty - the 1999 UD Century Legends Century Collection /100.

I'd never run across a copy before, and then all of the sudden the same seller had two of them, listed at $20 BIN. Needless to say I mashed that buy button. He had an impressive array of cards from this set for sale, and probably still does, at really reasonable prices. I'm pretty pumped to add this one!

 

[banjar]

Still slow going out there. The ol' PC ain't getting many new additions these days.

But there are a few here and there. I have a new 1998 Tek diffractor on the way, and then there's this one that showed up yesterday. Another 2004 Leaf Exhibits! This time it's a second edition one, the "1939-46 Best Wishes Right" variation.

 

[banjar]

I hadn't found a new Sportkings card in a while, until last week when the same seller had a couple rare ones for sale. Nice to add these two, they fill nice little holes in the collection. First one is PR 19, second is PR 4.

Another seller also has three Sportkings 1/1's listed, but with his ludicrous asking price of $1600 for the three, I'm not even bothering to send a best offer.

 

[mrmopar]

I believe Garvey had a couple Sport King cards, but I never saw them in the wild. I was of the belief that certain "dealers" had priority, unlike most other issues that made their way out to the public. I could be way off here but if just seemed odd that I had no idea these existed until one person showed 2 cards among dozens of other high end items that were 1/1 (if I am recalling this correctly). I just didn't understand at the time how this person had come to own all of these SK cards!

 

[banjar]

Yeah. Seeing this one seller with those three 1/1's makes me suspect that you are right. He actually just listed another one for the insane price of $500, so that's four of Alomar.

In total, this guy currently has 410 sportkings 1/1 listed. Four Hundred And Ten. Plus, there are many other sportkings 1/1's that don't actually say 1/1 on back, and he has a truckload of those too.

I believe Garvey had a couple Sport King cards, but I never saw them in the wild. I was of the belief that certain "dealers" had priority, unlike most other issues that made their way out to the public. I could be way off here but if just seemed odd that I had no idea these existed until one person showed 2 cards among dozens of other high end items that were 1/1 (if I am recalling this correctly). I just didn't understand at the time how this person had come to own all of these SK cards!

 

[mrmopar]

Its possible, but unlikely that he won them at auction. That leaves a few possibilities, such as they never hit the public and this is a direct manufacturer/seller or they got back doored/direct sale to one or a few people, essentially the same as the first option but not being sold by the original maker now. Nothing else makes sense to me though as to how this could have happened. I'd bet it's the same guy who had/has the Garvey cards. I remember a guy sharing a bunch of SKs on one of the card sites years back, which is where I saw the Garvey cards for the first and only time.