Blue Wave vs. Gold Refractor Autos: Comparison of 2012 Bowman Baseball Sales

[bradical]

I have seen a number of debates on various message boards regarding if people preferred the 2012 Bowman Chrome Blue Wave Autos over the Gold Refractor Autos. Both of the cards are numbered to 50, and the Blue Wave Autos have definite appeal over the Gold refractors, but do the consumers like them better? Check out the sales data compiled from eBay over the last couple weeks. The prices seem pretty similar, however with a much smaller Blue Wave sample size, it looks as if the Gold Refractors are edging them out in sales prices.

http://www.dailywax.com/2012/05/blu...tos-comparison-of-2012-bowman-baseball-sales/

 

[matfanofold]

I'd prefer the gold, it is much more widely known and accepted as a bowman staple. The blue wave, for now at least, is a novelty item. Just my 2...

 

[Jared]

I'd prefer the gold, it is much more widely known and accepted as a bowman staple. The blue wave, for now at least, is a novelty item. Just my 2...

I agree. I think the golds will continue to be THE card to get that is /50.

Note: I haven't seen a blue wave autograph in person but I'd still take the Golds just by seeing them online.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Its always interesting when two cards are produced to the same low number. Topps did it with the canaries and platinums/supers last year, of course there have been supers and reds in B.Chrome for years.

I honestly prefer the new look over the old one as I think its more interesting and it relates most directly to the year in question. However its hard to believe that having two cards with an equally low print run doesn't make both less valuable than if there were only one card made to that low number.

 

[BowmanChromeAddict]

Having seen the Gold Refractors and the Blue Wave Refractor Autos in hand, I can say hands down that I would be going for Blue Wave autos just based upon the sheer beauty of them. Sure, I'm still a bit bitter over my pack experience, but I have to admit that the card quality is outstanding. The Blue Waves truly are gorgeous.

 

[D-Lite]

I'm loving the blue wave autos too, though I'm accumulating both in roughly equal quantities of my player at the moment.

 

[aaron41984]

I think some of the initial Gold Ref sales at release are still skewing the results. i.e. Brandon Jacobs high sale of $150 despite the average sale price of $82.

 

[bradical]

I think some of the initial Gold Ref sales at release are still skewing the results. i.e. Brandon Jacobs high sale of $150 despite the average sale price of $82.

To be fair, the Blue Wave autos should experience the same initial bump in prices.

 

[aaron41984]

To be fair, the Blue Wave autos should experience the same initial bump in prices.

Not really. People made offers and hit buy it nows with no guidelines. Everyone knew where /50 autos were selling when the blue waves released.

 

[bballcardkid]

I much prefer the blue wave autos. I have one in hand and it's one of the nicest looking cards I've ever owned.

 

[jbhofmann]

To be fair, the Blue Wave autos should experience the same initial bump in prices.

Not the same. People already had data to gauge where Blue Waves should fall.

 

[bradical]

Not the same. People already had data to gauge where Blue Waves should fall.

Look at the data, the first Blue Wave autos sold for more than what the last few have sold for.

 

[aaron41984]

Look at the data, the first Blue Wave autos sold for more than what the last few have sold for.

Not double the price like the intial gold sales. The first Blue Wave Jacob Anderson sold for $68 and they have actually been consistently around $100 since then.

This is a pointless argument but the fact of the matter is that the comparison is not apples to apples.

 

[jbhofmann]

Look at the data, the first Blue Wave autos sold for more than what the last few have sold for.

I applaud your data, but again it is not the same. The Gold prices at release set the prices for the Blues when they were released. If Golds and Blue Waves were released at the same time, then yes it would be a fair comparison.

 

[bradical]

It's sometimes not even worth the effort....

 

[jbhofmann]

It's sometimes not even worth the effort....

No need to take your ball and go home...

It's like comparing Leaf Valiant Orange Prismatics to Leaf Valiant Purple Prismatics. Purples never had the luxury of being the first to hit the market. The first couple of GOLD sales will be strong as buyers are trying to gauge the market. The first couple of BLUE WAVE sales will be strong as buyers are trying to gauge the market. One big difference is that potential BLUE WAVE buyers have GOLD data to set the bar at where they should be. GOLD buyers didn't have that concrete data.