Profit Potential.... Bowman Chrome Vs. Sterling

[Russ S.]

We all know Chrome is king. On card auto, and more desirable.

If a player has both cards of the same year, I.E, Dylan Bundy, is there any profit potential in the Sterling at all, when Chrome is king.
More or less looking at the lower numbered Black Autos of Sterling.
Not talking ROI of a base or refractor auto. Talking the high ends here.

Thoughts, opinions?

 

[markakis8]

I think anything has potential to rise if the player gets enough attention or accomplishes no small feat.

I don't prospect really, but I've sold base Topps "RC" at the right time and made a decent chunk of change on them. Just gotta know when to sell.

 

[hail2thevictors]

I think it's all about the player-and as markakis said, sometimes you have to sell at the right time. But, Sterling is always a good value IMO, especially the higher end stuff. I'm buying a guy who has a chrome and sterling auto, and his sterling high end is just way too cheap to pass up IMO.

 

[shayscards79]

This year's Sterling competes well with chrome if you have "tier A" auto. Which is dumb that they did that.. but Starling, Moore, etc sell well because these guys are harder to come across.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

We all know Chrome is king. On card auto, and more desirable.

If a player has both cards of the same year, I.E, Dylan Bundy, is there any profit potential in the Sterling at all, when Chrome is king.
More or less looking at the lower numbered Black Autos of Sterling.
Not talking ROI of a base or refractor auto. Talking the high ends here.

Thoughts, opinions?

It seems safe to say that one year Topps will make Sterling measurably better than BC just to mix things up and to get their customers to buy more and different product. One day saying things like "Chrome is King" to try to reinforce the status quo won't work LOL.

However what happens in the longer-term after the short-term investors leave? This may answer your question as there's already eight years of data to look through... so how does 2004 Sterling ROI stack up against 2004 BC ROI? If it comes to a wash historically I don't see people paying a premium for one side over the other...or rather they shouldn't if they're sane.

I'm trying to remember if 2004 Sterling was more popular than 2004 BC when it was released, it may have been.

In any case its always much easier to raise the value/float the market on individual rare cards you're talking about here from either BC or Sterling. If those selling WANT a particular card to sell for more, it will because the limited supply makes the market easy to control.

 

[Topnotchsy]

Back in 2006 (and a couple of years afterwards) I was buying Lester cards, and specifically focusing on the Sterling Black Refractors. I ended up with 7 out of the 25. They were a bit cheaper than the Bowman Chrome gold refractors, and turned up more frequently (despite the lower print run.)

What I discovered was that when they got hot, they could sell as well as the gold refractors, but overall there is simply less market demand, which results in having to hold for longer if you are holding out for a higher price.

With this year's cards I'm feeling (looking at prices) that the purple refractors have really hurt the values of the black and gold refractors. This may mean that now is a good time to buy, as it may only be temporary, but hard to say...

 

[TwinGnats]

Regardless of logic branding is still powerful. How many times have we seen cards where one is markedly more scarce but the more common one is in more demand. Just take Bowman Golds vs. Chromes. Golds are usually, by math more rare but nobody cares.

We all know Chrome is king. On card auto, and more desirable.

If a player has both cards of the same year, I.E, Dylan Bundy, is there any profit potential in the Sterling at all, when Chrome is king.
More or less looking at the lower numbered Black Autos of Sterling.
Not talking ROI of a base or refractor auto. Talking the high ends here.

Thoughts, opinions?

It seems safe to say that one year Topps will make Sterling measurably better than BC just to mix things up and to get their customers to buy more and different product. One day saying things like "Chrome is King" to try to reinforce the status quo won't work LOL.

However what happens in the longer-term after the short-term investors leave? This may answer your question as there's already eight years of data to look through... so how does 2004 Sterling ROI stack up against 2004 BC ROI? If it comes to a wash historically I don't see people paying a premium for one side over the other...or rather they shouldn't if they're sane.

I'm trying to remember if 2004 Sterling was more popular than 2004 BC when it was released, it may have been.

In any case its always much easier to raise the value/float the market on individual rare cards you're talking about here from either BC or Sterling. If those selling WANT a particular card to sell for more, it will because the limited supply makes the market easy to control.

 

[Russ S.]

Back in 2006 (and a couple of years afterwards) I was buying Lester cards, and specifically focusing on the Sterling Black Refractors. I ended up with 7 out of the 25. They were a bit cheaper than the Bowman Chrome gold refractors, and turned up more frequently (despite the lower print run.)

What I discovered was that when they got hot, they could sell as well as the gold refractors, but overall there is simply less market demand, which results in having to hold for longer if you are holding out for a higher price.

With this year's cards I'm feeling (looking at prices) that the purple refractors have really hurt the values of the black and gold refractors. This may mean that now is a good time to buy, as it may only be temporary, but hard to say...

Good point. Thanks for the Lester example.

With only 10 Purple Autos in Sterling, you really think that dampers the price of the Blacks though?

So for example, if I could get a Sterling Black Refractor auto for near the price of a BC Blue auto, i should probably just go with the BC? Card would be PC for a bit, but with potential to flip in the future.

 

[George_Calfas]

Take the BC Purple Wong -v- the Sterling Purple Wong
BC (#3/10) [ebay:1qdzv284]130620937706[/ebay:1qdzv284] sold for more than twice the BS (#1/10) [ebay:1qdzv284]230733039793[/ebay:1qdzv284]

 

[koal]

purple wong

 

[Russ S.]

Take the BC Purple Wong -v- the Sterling Purple Wong
BC (#3/10) [ebay:6fy8iqud]130620937706[/ebay:6fy8iqud] sold for more than twice the BS (#1/10) [ebay:6fy8iqud]230733039793[/ebay:6fy8iqud]

I actually forgot that BC even had the purples this year. ::facepalm::

I am just trying to base if it's better to splurge on a Bundy Sterling Black Auto or invest it in say a bowman chrome blue auto or a few refractors.

I really like the Sterling Purple Autos though for guys who only have Sterling autos and no Bowman Chrome. They should do well!

 

[Topnotchsy]

Back in 2006 (and a couple of years afterwards) I was buying Lester cards, and specifically focusing on the Sterling Black Refractors. I ended up with 7 out of the 25. They were a bit cheaper than the Bowman Chrome gold refractors, and turned up more frequently (despite the lower print run.)

What I discovered was that when they got hot, they could sell as well as the gold refractors, but overall there is simply less market demand, which results in having to hold for longer if you are holding out for a higher price.

With this year's cards I'm feeling (looking at prices) that the purple refractors have really hurt the values of the black and gold refractors. This may mean that now is a good time to buy, as it may only be temporary, but hard to say...

Good point. Thanks for the Lester example.

With only 10 Purple Autos in Sterling, you really think that dampers the price of the Blacks though?

So for example, if I could get a Sterling Black Refractor auto for near the price of a BC Blue auto, i should probably just go with the BC? Card would be PC for a bit, but with potential to flip in the future.

What I am saying is that I think to this point the Purple's have dampened the price. I am less certain whether that will remain that way (which if it does not would mean that the profit potential on those is likely better than on the Chrome's, though as mentioned earlier, the overall demand will likely always be higher on Chrome's.)

Right now I think Sterling could go in two directions. It is possible that people begin to really view it as a second tier option, and the prices will really suffer, or it could be that while the parallels are not selling too well now (I saw a Bundy Purple go for like $170 recently, which IMO is really low compared to what top names got in past years, especially since it is /10) but will bounce back.

Not sure the design this year helps either...

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

What I am saying is that I think to this point the Purple's have dampened the price. I am less certain whether that will remain that way (which if it does not would mean that the profit potential on those is likely better than on the Chrome's, though as mentioned earlier, the overall demand will likely always be higher on Chrome's.)...

On the note of increased production, its also fair to say that prices would be higher for a player if there were only one brand and not two (or three, or four, etc).

 

[Topnotchsy]

What I am saying is that I think to this point the Purple's have dampened the price. I am less certain whether that will remain that way (which if it does not would mean that the profit potential on those is likely better than on the Chrome's, though as mentioned earlier, the overall demand will likely always be higher on Chrome's.)...

On the note of increased production, its also fair to say that prices would be higher for a player if there were only one brand and not two (or three, or four, etc).

Not sure if you are focusing on Chrome and Sterling, or Sterling and Platinum. I think that Platinum was a big hit to Sterling. Chrome stands on its own, but Sterling has never really captured a specific market, and now it and Platinum seem to be occupying a similar space and competing for hobby dollars.

 

[Russ S.]

nvm

 

[Crewfan82]

[quote="George_Calfas":q82ox6dj]Take the BC Purple Wong -v- the Sterling Purple Wong
BC (#3/10) [ebay:q82ox6dj]130620937706[/ebay:q82ox6dj] sold for more than twice the BS (#1/10) [ebay:q82ox6dj]230733039793[/ebay:q82ox6dj]

I actually forgot that BC even had the purples this year. ::facepalm::

I am just trying to base if it's better to splurge on a Bundy Sterling Black Auto or invest it in say a bowman chrome blue auto or a few refractors.

I really like the Sterling Purple Autos though for guys who only have Sterling autos and no Bowman Chrome. They should do well![/quote:q82ox6dj]

I don't think it really matters. If a guy gets hot everything goes up regardless of the brand. I do think it is safer to buy into a higher end BC auto because it will hold it value longer if you end up holding for a while.

 

[Wes]

Sterling Base
Chrome Base
Sterling Refractor
Chrome Refractor
Sterling Gold Refractor
Chrome Blue Refractor
Sterling Black Refractor
Chrome Gold Refractor
Sterling Purple Refractor
Chrome Orange Refractor
Chrome Purple Refractor
Chrome Red Refractor

I left out the 1/1's. Does that price ranking - low to high - look right?

 

[Topnotchsy]

[quote="George_Calfas":ezo373bs]Take the BC Purple Wong -v- the Sterling Purple Wong
BC (#3/10) [ebay:ezo373bs]130620937706[/ebay:ezo373bs] sold for more than twice the BS (#1/10) [ebay:ezo373bs]230733039793[/ebay:ezo373bs]

I actually forgot that BC even had the purples this year. ::facepalm::

I am just trying to base if it's better to splurge on a Bundy Sterling Black Auto or invest it in say a bowman chrome blue auto or a few refractors.

I really like the Sterling Purple Autos though for guys who only have Sterling autos and no Bowman Chrome. They should do well!

I don't think it really matters. If a guy gets hot everything goes up regardless of the brand. I do think it is safer to buy into a higher end BC auto because it will hold it value longer if you end up holding for a while.[/quote:ezo373bs]

While this is true in some cases, it is absolutely not the rule.

Recent example Michael Pineda:
While many of his cards doubled or tripled when he was moved, his Marquee Museum only went up from like $200 to $250. There is a huge difference depending on the card.

Recently I have been buying Leaf cards because I think that they are very undervalued. That said, when Bundy went up recently, his Leaf RC Auto's have barely budged if at all.

 

[Russ S.]

Sterling Base
Chrome Base
Sterling Refractor
Chrome Refractor
Chrome Blue Refractor
Sterling Gold Refractor
Sterling Black Refractor
Chrome Gold Refractor
Sterling Purple Refractor
Chrome Orange Refractor
Chrome Purple Refractor
Chrome Red Refractor

I left out the 1/1's. Does that price ranking - low to high - look right?

Looks pretty accurate.
I have a chance to add a Sterling Black Ref. Auto to the PC, and it is indeed priced between the BC Blue & Gold. (Closer to Blue of course.)

 

[Russ S.]

While this is true in some cases, it is absolutely not the rule.

There is a huge difference depending on the card.

Recently I have been buying Leaf cards because I think that they are very undervalued. That said, when Bundy went up recently, his Leaf RC Auto's have barely budged if at all.

Very True!