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Is your players auto price getting watered down?

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Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
Most will soften over time, unless they are at the highest end of the spectrum, and even those have probably softened from astronomical prices to just way out there prices (Koufax for example).

I am still hopping to land a few at "bargain" levels eventually, such a Puig and several of the other recent Dodger prospects. Mariano Rivera is another one that is still high to me, but has probably come down some with his recent inclusion in a number of sets. I have a couple Jeter, but would like to get his UD3 (Griffey too), because I like the odd design, but those remain fairly strong it seems.

I don't know the whole story but it seems like Puig and the Dodgers are not getting along and some teams may shy away from him. I think that auto will be affordable at some point.

I traded away my '96 Leaf Rivera auto rainbow a year or two ago for some PC items I wouldn't be able to buy and said I would replace the Riveras but still haven't yet. He is signing more and prices are a bit better but the same doesn't hold true for the ones I need to replace.
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
Bagwell stuff varies. It really depends. If we all decide to go after it at the same time prices get stupid. But if we do what we've been doing lately, they are pretty close to normal. The newer stuff sells well if it's nice. But still usually below what people want on their BIN's. The older stuff has actually cheapened a bit which I am totally cool with. I place a higher emphasis on the older stuff. The new stuff is coming out so quick and so much it's hard for anybody to keep up.


With any particular card though, there are other factors come into play nobody takes into account it seems. Such as is it listed when other similar items are up(i.e. other autos, even if rare)? Is it ending around the holiday's? Are there several people who need the card? Has one sold recently? ETC. Some of these you can't know the answers to but watching Bagwell autos, these factors have all come into pay, especially recently. A few months ago, several older autos dropped and they went cheap compared to what they would normally go for. Didn't help that other things were up and we were all having to choose what to go after. Had someone bid with the intention of winning them all, they would have been able to a lot easier than in years past. That's why when people tell me that the time of year, and even some of these other factors are present, isn't a big deal, I believe them to be wrong. I would love to have seen what Dynasty and Archives autos fetched if released in the summer. As it stands, I think more money was paid for Museum Collection stuff. Kind of hard to argue one is nicer than the other.

As for the autos being churned out and possibly dropping prices all over the board, I think it already has. IMO, Panini has started to overload the market with basketball and football autos to the point where everything is much more affordable. Which really, I like. I'm cool with that. Might not be worth much but it's nice to get what you want without paying too much. These companies are on the final frontier of what they can reasonably do with a card unless your expecting some kind of star wars type technology. The Game Used stuff has been about bled out. All that is left is autos. I mean, what else could they offer you in a pack that hasn't been offered? That would make you pay the kind of prices wax commands as it is? And I think we can all agree that wax is already maxed out in price. In 5 years, if even the strongest autos in a product are watered down rehashes, I can't see people even spending the money to open it. But what else is there to offer?
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
I had better be that O'Neill you told me about. I saw it ended with just two bids!
 

Hawk8

Well-known member
Jul 13, 2013
8,376
229
Louisiana
I just picked up a card so cheap I doubt it will get delivered.

I have had this happen a couple of times and some times the card get sent and sometimes it's magically out of stock. If it is out of stock then I call eBay and notify them so the seller can't sell it in the future on eBay.
 

Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
Man I saw a Bernie Williams Tek auto sell for $4.79. I never would have guessed that years ago.
 

bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
Tim Wakefield has popped up in more and more with prices fluctuating dramatically. There are only a limited number like myself who really collect him but there are the Red Sox fans who jump in because they want an auto of him as well. Any auto from his playing days is still pricey and very hard to find.

As for Biggio in the 3-4 years I've really been monitoring his prices he has been retired and signing all the live long day, and outside of a few big sets 20-40 will get 60% if not more of his autos.
 

EtherealSOC

Active member
Dec 31, 2012
199
49
Nova Scotia, Canada
For David Justice, who I would argue is close to Bernie and Paul O'Neil when it comes to hobby following, his auto was sitting pretty until about 2012. He didn't have a certified autograph for a number of years and then suddenly he was all over Topps Tribute and Triple Threads, each with three or more versions and all the rainbow variations. Then in 2013 Topps he had a base auto that was selling for over $20 when it was released - now I can get them for $4 or so. He hasn't had a Topps card from 2015 or 2016 and might not for some time, but Panini has started to issue his cards and he has a ton of autos. Panini Pantheon, which just launched, has a handful in their checklist, and while they are selling pretty well ($15-$20) right now, that price is going to go way down once the novelty of it being new fades and the supercollectors fill their wantlists.

Long story short, a David Justice certified auto was impossible to find for under $20 in 2010. Now you can find them for $4-$5 with some effort.
 

bigunitcards

Member
Sep 8, 2013
654
0
OKC, OK
RJ has had on card autos in the vast majority of Topps releases the past 3 years. Usually his highest parallel is /20 with a few exceptions of /50 runs, but normally short printed. You can now get a Tek auto /25 the first week of release for under $60. I would say the price is half of what it was in 2014, I love it.
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
Tim Wakefield has popped up in more and more with prices fluctuating dramatically. There are only a limited number like myself who really collect him but there are the Red Sox fans who jump in because they want an auto of him as well. Any auto from his playing days is still pricey and very hard to find.

As for Biggio in the 3-4 years I've really been monitoring his prices he has been retired and signing all the live long day, and outside of a few big sets 20-40 will get 60% if not more of his autos.

Whole heartedly agree with Biggio. I've even picked up a few new ones just for that reason. Not my favorite player from the astros but it's hard to go wrong at $20-$25 for a HOF'er(the only thus far) from your favorite team.
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
RJ has had on card autos in the vast majority of Topps releases the past 3 years. Usually his highest parallel is /20 with a few exceptions of /50 runs, but normally short printed. You can now get a Tek auto /25 the first week of release for under $60. I would say the price is half of what it was in 2014, I love it.

As a collector I think we all like the prices. But, if you ever decide to sell, you could be looking at a big loss for anything numbered more than /25. I never thought I'd see prices dropping like they have.
 

bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
As a collector I think we all like the prices. But, if you ever decide to sell, you could be looking at a big loss for anything numbered more than /25. I never thought I'd see prices dropping like they have.

It's for that exact reason I only buy/collect what I like. If I ever have to sell my collection it will be for something serious enough I wouldn't care that it was at a loss.
 

AnthonyCorona

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2014
9,600
68
Modesto, CA
It's for that exact reason I only buy/collect what I like. If I ever have to sell my collection it will be for something serious enough I wouldn't care that it was at a loss.
That's the best way to go about collecting IMO

Collecting: Phil Bickford, Brandon Wood (still), Yankees and Rockies
 

Austin

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
5,706
41
Dallas, Texas
Are the prices really dropping solely because there is a much greater supply?
Or is the overall demand going down because people are increasingly leaving the hobby?

I'd say a combination of both. Think about all of the player collectors just on this board who have stopped collecting cards.

The larger supply and lower demand is good for those of us looking for cheaper cards, but it's bad news overall for this shrinking hobby.
 

corockies

New member
Mar 23, 2013
1,213
0
Colorado
I think Cal Ripken Jr. held a seminar for players telling them to sign everything abundantly so there's plenty out there available. That way when a player is asked for an autograph at a game they have nothing to worry about if the person isn't getting their signature for personal reasons.
 

hive17

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
21,426
24
Are the prices really dropping solely because there is a much greater supply?
Or is the overall demand going down because people are increasingly leaving the hobby?

I'd say a combination of both. Think about all of the player collectors just on this board who have stopped collecting cards.

The larger supply and lower demand is good for those of us looking for cheaper cards, but it's bad news overall for this shrinking hobby.

In the case of Yount, it's because of supply.
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
Ok, instead of quoting everyone, I'll just give my thoughts(for what they are worth). And yes it's long winded...

I do agree with Austin that it's probably a bit of both supply and demand. But I think one is causing the other. (This is one of the reasons I stopped collecting comics although I don't think I'll quit sports cards.) There are a lot of people collecting retired players and their goal was to put together the best collection they could given their financial situation and what's available at any given time. But, every time you look up, a new set with your player in it comes out. With a zillion auto parallels. Now nobody is saying you have to have everything because you can't. But it usually feels at least somewhat bearable when you know you'll lose some and win some because at least you feel like you'e in the fight, treading water at least. But now, you're stuck between trying to chase older and newer stuff. IMO, you're not paying any less for the new or even old rare stuff you need, because chances are, if you've been around long enough, you'll have all the normal riff raff and the stuff that does pop up, your rival needs too. So you're stuck in this continuous cycle of constantly trying to keep up.

Meanwhile, you see cards you long ago paid $x amount of dollars for that are now selling well below what you paid for them. So now you look back at what you have and it might be safe to say, unless another copy of that particular card does not surface for a good long while, if you have to sell it, you'll take a significant loss. On every single card this happens with. Which, is something I'm starting to see more and more as I watch the market for autos(many times for a particular auto or card as I am being picky) I am after, not just of my main PC but also for other players I want an auto of.

So while we all say we want to collect for our own personal fun, I don't care if you're the richest guy on earth, nobody likes to buy something just to find out they paid a lot more than the next guy. And the card is now worth a fraction of what you paid for it. The only thing that can even kind of negate this is the market for 1/1's and such. And, even those are not as strong as they used to be. So now you start to really wonder what the point is. Trying to collect something they never seem to stop making, constantly over paying for what you do need, and realizing if you ever decide to sell, you're not losing a little bit of money, but a lot.

I think this is why the demand may be lessening because, yeah, people get tired of it and the chase gets old because it goes from "you might get close" to "a dog chasing it's own tail". I think my only question is: where does this bottom out?

As for the comment above about Ripken telling players to sign so they can feel ok about declining fans at a game, I don't know if that was a joke or for real. But, there will always be cards and items that don't come signed in any form other than being obtained via IP or through an autograph appearance. This is the only reason I can even see for why a guy like Biggio can charge over $100 a show for his autograph. I've heard people say they just want the chance to meet the player but I don't buy that because anybody who has been to one of these shows lately knows it's so streamlined and conveyor belt like it's not even funny. And even if the guy is personable and talks to you for the thirty seconds they can before the handler next to them starts pushing you along and ushering the next guy over, you probably won't do that too many times before you realize you're paying a lot of extra money for the thirty second chat. I've gotten to the point where if I go to a show or signing, I ask for my item to be signed where I prefer it and afterwards just move along. Depending on the player, a lot of them will not even look up to acknowledge you.
 

Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
Ok, instead of quoting everyone, I'll just give my thoughts(for what they are worth). And yes it's long winded...

I do agree with Austin that it's probably a bit of both supply and demand. But I think one is causing the other. (This is one of the reasons I stopped collecting comics although I don't think I'll quit sports cards.) There are a lot of people collecting retired players and their goal was to put together the best collection they could given their financial situation and what's available at any given time. But, every time you look up, a new set with your player in it comes out. With a zillion auto parallels. Now nobody is saying you have to have everything because you can't. But it usually feels at least somewhat bearable when you know you'll lose some and win some because at least you feel like you'e in the fight, treading water at least. But now, you're stuck between trying to chase older and newer stuff. IMO, you're not paying any less for the new or even old rare stuff you need, because chances are, if you've been around long enough, you'll have all the normal riff raff and the stuff that does pop up, your rival needs too. So you're stuck in this continuous cycle of constantly trying to keep up.

Meanwhile, you see cards you long ago paid $x amount of dollars for that are now selling well below what you paid for them. So now you look back at what you have and it might be safe to say, unless another copy of that particular card does not surface for a good long while, if you have to sell it, you'll take a significant loss. On every single card this happens with. Which, is something I'm starting to see more and more as I watch the market for autos(many times for a particular auto or card as I am being picky) I am after, not just of my main PC but also for other players I want an auto of.

So while we all say we want to collect for our own personal fun, I don't care if you're the richest guy on earth, nobody likes to buy something just to find out they paid a lot more than the next guy. And the card is now worth a fraction of what you paid for it. The only thing that can even kind of negate this is the market for 1/1's and such. And, even those are not as strong as they used to be. So now you start to really wonder what the point is. Trying to collect something they never seem to stop making, constantly over paying for what you do need, and realizing if you ever decide to sell, you're not losing a little bit of money, but a lot.

I think this is why the demand may be lessening because, yeah, people get tired of it and the chase gets old because it goes from "you might get close" to "a dog chasing it's own tail". I think my only question is: where does this bottom out?

As for the comment above about Ripken telling players to sign so they can feel ok about declining fans at a game, I don't know if that was a joke or for real. But, there will always be cards and items that don't come signed in any form other than being obtained via IP or through an autograph appearance. This is the only reason I can even see for why a guy like Biggio can charge over $100 a show for his autograph. I've heard people say they just want the chance to meet the player but I don't buy that because anybody who has been to one of these shows lately knows it's so streamlined and conveyor belt like it's not even funny. And even if the guy is personable and talks to you for the thirty seconds they can before the handler next to them starts pushing you along and ushering the next guy over, you probably won't do that too many times before you realize you're paying a lot of extra money for the thirty second chat. I've gotten to the point where if I go to a show or signing, I ask for my item to be signed where I prefer it and afterwards just move along. Depending on the player, a lot of them will not even look up to acknowledge you.

Wow, everything you covered above is like you read it from my mind. You hit the nail on the head with all of the above in my opinion.
 

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