Yasiel Puig has arrived.
So much so that Topps has already promised he will be a feature in many of the products through the rest of 2013. Obviously he meets a lot of the qualifications for huge marketing potential. Five tool player and top prospect, hits 2 homers in his second game, plays in LA, you cant beat that. Collectors are going nuts over his cards, as I mentioned a few days ago, but in the immortal words of Ron Burgandy – “wow, that escalated quickly.”
Craziness in action:
2012 Leaf Valiant Yasiel Puig Base Auto RC
2013 Bowman Yasiel Puig Top 100 Prospect RC
2013 Bowman Yasiel Puig Mini Refractor
2013 Bowman Yasiel Puig Mini Refractor – BLUE WAVE
When you have base cards selling above 20 bucks, and unisigned refractors selling around 100
, you know this guy has really made a splash. Although he has had a bunch of autos in Leaf products over the last few years, his first Topps cards came in 2013 Bowman as a mini and top 100 prospect card. People obviously want the licensed stuff, and it shows in the way the cards are performing. Topps also announced that Lucky redemption 4 will be an auto blue sapphire refractor, which has made the cards go for hundreds more
.
Remember, he has only played 3 games.
Panini has also said that they will be putting him in their products as well, but I just dont see them doing anything of note without any autographs. Why buy an unlicensed unsigned card, when you can get the real thing?
Ill tip my hat to Bryan Gray for going out of his way to get Puig under the Leaf banner prior to being called up, as this is the time where he turns in his chair and you see him smiling devilishly. “Well, what took you so long?” Leaf has a history of taking big gambles like this, and like with Puig, it has paid off in spades for Ichiro and Damian Lillard. He puts his money where his mouth is, and though I hate that exclusives are in place, Leaf has become a player as a result.
The only question that remains is whether or not Puig can put together a whole season worthy of recognition from collectors, and where his first official autographs start to sell. There is a lot of time between now and when the live autos are in packs, and we all know what can happen. Im sure Dodgers fans dont really care.
Crazy what some of these young prospects are going for. I know Profar and Puig are now playing actual games in the majors now, but look at young guys like Paul Goldschmidt and Jean Segura who are absolutely tearing it up on the field – you can get their rookie cards for a fraction of the price that Taveras, Puig, and Profar cards are going for. It’s ridiculous.
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