Prestige has now been out for close to a week, and there are a few autographs that have high numbers and low presence on eBay. They may not be the top players in the 2012 Rookie Class, but something isnt exactly right with how these cards are popping up. We all have seen that the cards out of 299 like Andrew Luck and RGIII have been up and sold frequently over the last few days, but there are others numbered higher that arent making their way onto eBay.
The first, and most odd of this whole group is Morris Claiborne, drafted to one of the most popular teams in the league. According to the checklist, his card is numbered to 249, but there is only one on eBay so far:
Morris Claiborne Prestige Auto /249
Additionally, there are guys like Harrison Smith and Danny Coale, Drafted to the Vikings and Cowboys. Both cards are out high numbered, which means they should be everywhere, but there are only a small amount that have been sold so far. They are selling well above average as a result:
Harrison Smith Prestige Auto /999
Danny Coale Prestige Auto /599
Of course, there are SP autographs on the draft day cards, which are very rare for the big players in the draft. However, I can see that is more a result of the nature of the card, not the numbering being so off.
My guess is that there will either be lots of these guys in retail packs, or there is someone at Panini with a lot of explaining to do. Remember the Carlos Dunlap Contenders situation from 2010, where they were so rare upon release, but everyone pulled them in retail. Not sure on this one.
Based on past years, I would say this is just a matter of packing certain guys light into hobby and heavy into retail. I think we’ll see a deluge of Claiborne & others in retail. Personally, I like the strategy simply because it adds intrigue and prolonged exposure for a product. Just today I’ve 2-3 articles with speculation as to what is up. If I’m Panini, that’s great exposure for my product. As a collector, I like the mystery as well. Even though I am not busting any Prestige, I’m interested to see how “The Case of the Missing Rookie Autos” turns out.
I agree that they’re probably hanging onto those for retail. Sad to think some shmuck will most likely purchase that Claiborne for a ton of money, only to see it go for $15 in a month.
Yeah, I was wondering about this too. Was looking for Nick Perry, found just one on ebay in the last week or so and it sold quite a bit higher than I expected. Guess I’ll wait to see how it shakes out.