Wow, this baseball card world is sad...

[Brett Keith]

i don't understand how this is called prospecting. So people are buying this kids auto/patch cards for $800-$900. There aren't many players in the MLB today that have RC auto/patches selling for that much. This kid is gonna have to be amazing for they're investment be worthwhile and for them be able to flip the card for a profit

At those prices it isn't really prospecting, although I know there are people that believe it is. It was prospecting for those that bought in the $250-400 range after the card came out. I myself, was planning on collecting Harper, had the base, patch/auto /50 and auto /5, but sold because prices got so high and I knew they wouldn't sustain. I'll either rebuy them later or just wait till he's in some Bowman Chrome product. By the way, how many players in the MLB have rc auto/patches?

 

[Sweetness]

This Bryce Harper KID is... "THE NATURAL!!!!"

 

[thegreathambino]

i don't understand how this is called prospecting. So people are buying this kids auto/patch cards for $800-$900. There aren't many players in the MLB today that have RC auto/patches selling for that much. This kid is gonna have to be amazing for they're investment be worthwhile and for them be able to flip the card for a profit

go look and see what these sell for

05 06 the cup crosby patch auto (only 18 yrs old when this came out)
05 06 the ovechking patch auto
03 04 exquisite lebron patch auto (like 19 yrs old when released.)
05 06 exquisite patch auto
2006 adrian peterson exquisite patch auto

now granted those are other sports, i used thos as a comparison because baseball dosent have a super highend product to get the key rc's from. The closest things are chrome gold refractos. So in that case go look what Braun, Hanley, Mauer, Wright gols refractor autos go for.

my arguement to that is, baseball has a farm system. In hockey, bball and football i believe, when you get drafted, u either don't get signed, or you go on the team. And usually the top picks in the draft always make an impact and do well. Baseball, has a long road ahead of them.

 

[XdanX]

i don't understand how this is called prospecting. So people are buying this kids auto/patch cards for $800-$900. There aren't many players in the MLB today that have RC auto/patches selling for that much. This kid is gonna have to be amazing for they're investment be worthwhile and for them be able to flip the card for a profit

go look and see what these sell for

05 06 the cup crosby patch auto (only 18 yrs old when this came out)
05 06 the ovechking patch auto
03 04 exquisite lebron patch auto (like 19 yrs old when released.)
05 06 exquisite patch auto
2006 adrian peterson exquisite patch auto

now granted those are other sports, i used thos as a comparison because baseball dosent have a super highend product to get the key rc's from. The closest things are chrome gold refractos. So in that case go look what Braun, Hanley, Mauer, Wright gols refractor autos go for.

my arguement to that is, baseball has a farm system. In hockey, bball and football i believe, when you get drafted, u either don't get signed, or you go on the team. And usually the top picks in the draft always make an impact and do well. Baseball, has a long road ahead of them.

Well in hockey if you dont sign you can continue to play in independant or if your within age junior leagues, also in hockey they have levels of farm teams just like MLB. Also keep in mind NFL teams have up to 4 strings of reserves so you dont have to sign and be a stater right away.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Other sports HAVE to be used in a comparison because there has never been a successful player or investment to compare to in baseball. Even if this guy should pan out, the cards released today may not be the ones sought by collectors. This should all send up red flags!

i don't understand how this is called prospecting. So people are buying this kids auto/patch cards for $800-$900. There aren't many players in the MLB today that have RC auto/patches selling for that much. This kid is gonna have to be amazing for they're investment be worthwhile and for them be able to flip the card for a profit

go look and see what these sell for

05 06 the cup crosby patch auto (only 18 yrs old when this came out)
05 06 the ovechking patch auto
03 04 exquisite lebron patch auto (like 19 yrs old when released.)
05 06 exquisite patch auto
2006 adrian peterson exquisite patch auto

now granted those are other sports, i used thos as a comparison because baseball dosent have a super highend product to get the key rc's from. The closest things are chrome gold refractos. So in that case go look what Braun, Hanley, Mauer, Wright gols refractor autos go for.

my arguement to that is, baseball has a farm system. In hockey, bball and football i believe, when you get drafted, u either don't get signed, or you go on the team. And usually the top picks in the draft always make an impact and do well. Baseball, has a long road ahead of them.

Well in hockey if you dont sign you can continue to play in independant or if your within age junior leagues, also in hockey they have levels of farm teams just like MLB. Also keep in mind NFL teams have up to 4 strings of reserves so you dont have to sign and be a stater right away.

 

[predatorkj]

i don't understand how this is called prospecting. So people are buying this kids auto/patch cards for $800-$900. There aren't many players in the MLB today that have RC auto/patches selling for that much. This kid is gonna have to be amazing for they're investment be worthwhile and for them be able to flip the card for a profit

go look and see what these sell for

05 06 the cup crosby patch auto (only 18 yrs old when this came out)
05 06 the ovechking patch auto
03 04 exquisite lebron patch auto (like 19 yrs old when released.)
05 06 exquisite patch auto
2006 adrian peterson exquisite patch auto

now granted those are other sports, i used thos as a comparison because baseball dosent have a super highend product to get the key rc's from. The closest things are chrome gold refractos. So in that case go look what Braun, Hanley, Mauer, Wright gols refractor autos go for.

my arguement to that is, baseball has a farm system. In hockey, bball and football i believe, when you get drafted, u either don't get signed, or you go on the team. And usually the top picks in the draft always make an impact and do well. Baseball, has a long road ahead of them.

No they don't always do well.Do yourself a favor and look at the last 10 years for every sports draft for the entire first round.See how many names come up that you could say they do well versus those who aren't doing so well.And in football...the reason they don't have a minor league is because there is college.In basketball there are development leagues but in truth...the nature of the game does not require anywhere near the skills being a baseball player does.Not saying baseball is harder but there is a lot more to develop.Last I heard they do have minor league teams for Hockey as well.

As for why people pay this much...obviously they get caught up in the hype.Nobody is prospecting at these prices(as has been mentioned).The only people who are are idiots.About the only thing you can say is that some people may really believe he is the Lebron of baseball.Maybe he is.But in 10 or 15 years these cards(even if he is on his way to becoming a sure fire HOF'er) will be a lot lower.Its merely people getting caught up in the hype as always.It happens with every player.Remember Hunter Pence.Yeah...his SP Prospects auto'd rookie was going for $500.Now...ask Trevor or one of the other Pence guys how much they fetch now.The reason this kid's hype is so high is because he has been in sports illustrated, Beckett and countless other media related stints.So now you have people who don't even collect going after his stuff.Hell...he must be good if he made it to the cover of sports illustrated.Hitting 570 foot homers and with a good arm to boot.People who don't know what they are getting into get pretty crazy and they overpay.They don't understand the market.That's all.

 

[Brett Keith]

i don't understand how this is called prospecting. So people are buying this kids auto/patch cards for $800-$900. There aren't many players in the MLB today that have RC auto/patches selling for that much. This kid is gonna have to be amazing for they're investment be worthwhile and for them be able to flip the card for a profit

go look and see what these sell for

05 06 the cup crosby patch auto (only 18 yrs old when this came out)
05 06 the ovechking patch auto
03 04 exquisite lebron patch auto (like 19 yrs old when released.)
05 06 exquisite patch auto
2006 adrian peterson exquisite patch auto

now granted those are other sports, i used thos as a comparison because baseball dosent have a super highend product to get the key rc's from. The closest things are chrome gold refractos. So in that case go look what Braun, Hanley, Mauer, Wright gols refractor autos go for.

my arguement to that is, baseball has a farm system. In hockey, bball and football i believe, when you get drafted, u either don't get signed, or you go on the team. And usually the top picks in the draft always make an impact and do well. Baseball, has a long road ahead of them.

Hockey has a minor league system. We have the Blues "AAA" team here in Peoria. A team can also send you back to your junior team until they feel your ready. Jonathan Toews, the young captain for the Blackhawks, was drafted 3rd overall in 2006, but played the next season in college before joining his team. That's really irrelavent though. Bryce Harper is unique, so is the situation, so it's not smart to lump him in with the average baseball top prospect. Are these prices too high? Well yeah, but like I said, unique player, unique situation. Nobody on eBay is paying $1000 for the card now, it's in the $500-700 range already and will likely drop more once he gets more autographs out there, but right now he has 55 total autographs available. There's many more than 55 people who aren't bright, or get overly excited that have money to spend. Supply didn't even come close to meeting demand. I just don't get people's shock or outrage.

 

[predatorkj]

First of all, Beckett doesn't create prices, they report them. They are always two months behind on actual sales.

:lol: Got a comedian here!

Yeah really.I would hazard a guess(and it was confirmed...at least by shop owner who is a consultant to beckett) that they don't ask about every single card and if they do it can't be done on a month to month basis.They focus on the more up to date and rare cards as opposed to a single color GU of some scrub released 3 years ago.So where do those prices come from?Out of thin air perhaps.Who knows.I think they do provide a valuable service since they give you a starting point to go off of.Its recognized by the hobby.Otherwise you'd be paying $20 for that Brandon Phillips single color GU rather than the $2 its really worth just because the shop owner had free reign to get chaotic with the prices.

 

[justinmandawg]

Why even collect players that are retired? I mean they don't even play anymore. It's not like their stats are going to improve.

Seriously, I don't care what anyone buys. If everyone liked a certain thing, then prices would be higher for that set to the point most people would be priced out. This is a good thing for guys that collect vintage. A 1k purchase possibly just kept 1k out of vintage cards. I like it all.