In today’s market, it seems like every product has one of those “Holy Grail” type of cards that are available to drive the sale of the boxes. Whether they are superfractors, logo autos, or any other combination of things, many of them feature rookie players that usually have not reached their full potential in their respective sports. Obviously, prospecting will always be a part of any product, as people always want to use value driven commodities as investments. However, if you are buying cards that cost the price of a car, is it really prospecting anymore? With the sheer number of HOLY GRAIL cards available, is it even that much of a holy grail at that point?

When it comes down to it, people want the rarest cards of the best players, and will pay through the nose to get them. The Bradford 1/1 NFL logo from National Treasures was recently sold for an astronomical price, and with the recent posting of the 1/1 Championship Ticket from Contenders, similar prices should be expected. So, with Bradford literally having up to 10-15 different holy grail cards put into products this year (9-14 with the Certified logo redemption replacement, haha), wouldn’t it be much more likely to invest in a wider range of cards than to put all your eggs in one basket like that?

I know personally, If Bradford had Tom Brady’s resume, or even Aaron Rodgers’ recent accomplishments under his belt, it would be much less of a stretch that his cards are outselling some of the most well known cards in the history of the hobby. In fact, the odds that Bradford becomes the next JaMarcus Russell are higher than Bradford becoming the next Peyton Manning. Based on that fact, if he goes on to have the career of a mid range QB to superstar QB, is this card going to be something worth having? There will always be some other rookie, there will always be the next hyped up guy, and Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan are great examples of this. They have both been playoff QBs each of the years they have played, and both have very impressive stat lines. Back in 2008, if you had pulled their cards, you were rolling in the dough. Now, not so much. Not because people don’t think they are great players, but more because Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow have taken the spotlight away from their accomplishments.

Football has a much different shelf life than Baseball in that respect, mainly because the products are driven by rookie players that have IMMEDIATE impacts on the teams they play for. In baseball, it can take years for a top prospect to develop, and prospecting is more a long term situation than a short term one. Sure the Strasburg super sold for much higher the second time around, but over a long term value threshold, that card would have performed much differently than any football card of a similar caliber would have – even without his injury. Sam Bradford could go on to have a great career, but the fact of the matter is that football is a latest and greatest sport. When companies are churning out holy grail after holy grail for those latest and greatest, the long term value prospects for players of past years don’t look great.

If the guy who eventually buys these cards is a huge Bradford or Rams fan, that is one thing. But if it is someone looking for any of his holy grails to make him rich, that is a different story. Considering that NT logo has already resurfaced for sale, and the Bradford Super Auction was universally determined to be illigitimate, im actually wondering if its going to be harder to sell the card again than buy one. Who knows though.