Category Archives: strasburg is a bad investment now

A “Super” Great Superfractor Auction

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Im confused. Why in god’s name would anyone want to grade a superfractor? I just don’t understand the point, especially when the card is not available anywhere else. People often argue protection, but if that is the case, why even get it with a grade? When you factor in that the guy who graded the Stras superfractor needed a little “help” to get the 9.5, its really not worth the risk, when all you can do is damange the value of the card rather than help it, in most cases. That is all after the inherant risk of sending a card like that through the mail to begin with.

This auction is a great and hilarious example of that. The Jason Heyward superfractor 1/1 out of 2010 Bowman was one of the biggest pulls of the entire print run and this is the second time its been posted for sale. Despite the fact that its his THIRD chrome card and SECOND auto, people out there still want to pay thousands for it for some god forsaken reason. In the auction mentioned above, the buyer is also going to get a Strasburg Auto which looks to be graded a 9.5 legit instead of a “9.5,” something that looks to be driving this auction even higher than it normally would. That isnt the funny part though.

The funny part is that the Heyward was stupidly submitted for grading and came back with a 9. That’s what you deserve when you try to use a system that shouldn’t be used. It was almost an 8.5 from what it looks like on the auction description, so maybe the seller got a little “lucky” with this card as well.

Guys, I seriously hate the grading system to begin with, as stated numerous times on this site, but I do think its even more ridiculous when someone thinks that a grade on a superfractor adds more to the card than just an ugly slab. That’s where line should be drawn.

Based On These Sales, Could Topps Set Records?

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Its been a long time since a player like Strasburg has come on the scene. Some of his cards are even outselling Albert Pujols, and that says to me that people arent really paying attention to the cap of the card values but really just that Strasburg is on them. With recent sales topping ridiculous amounts, how high is the ceiling for the rest of Topps Calendar?

Allen and Ginter has already sold out at Blowout, and Bowman Chrome will not be far behind. Plus, with the supply of 2010 Bowman jumbo boxes drying up, things are starting to get so insane on prices that I cant even explain it to people not in the hobby.
Check these out:

Strasburg Orange Auto /25 – Wait what? Who in their right mind would drop that kind of cash on a card like this. I can only imagine what is going to happen when the Chrome version comes out. Its going to be even more insane.

Base Strasburg Auto BGS 10 – Ok, this may deserve to be on the top of this list because I am in utter shock. With the recent grading “scandal” I think its becoming more understood what really makes up a BGS grade. Then when you factor in that this bidder paid a premium of multiple THOUSANDS of dollars and you just have to scratch your head. Plus, im not even going to go into my difference between 9.5 and 10 argument again. Holy shit.
Base Strasburg Auto PSA 10 – Im literally floored by this sale. PSA 10s are generally believed to be at the level of a BGS 9.5 with a few 10 subgrades, and yet this thing sold for how much? Strasmus in june indeed.
Base Strasburg Auto BGS 9.5 – When comparing the base raw to the base 9.5 and seeing that the price doubles is completely fucking ridiculous. I dont have anything else to say about that. Show me another card where that happens. Plus, who is seriously paying 600+ for these non-chrome cards anyways?
Strasburg Million Card Giveaway Base – For this price you are already 5/6ths of the way to a base auto, so why even try? I still cant believe how much these are going for, and it is even more crazy how much the codes are going for now that there is a chance to unlock one of these. Unbelievable.
Overall, its pretty much understood that Strasburg’s cards are going to mean gold for a Topps brand that needed to prove that having the exclusive was worth everyone’s time. I would expect HUGE jumps in everything they release for the rest of the year, and for those of you who bought in to cases early, welcome to big money.

Move Over Manny Ramirez’s Grill, Here Comes Strasburg!

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In case you guys havent been following, the Strasburg Red Auto 1/1 is over 100K now for the auction, which says a lot about the legitimacy of the 100+ bids. Obviously, no one is actually going to pay that much for a card that isnt Michael Jordan related or has Honus Wagner related to it, so I don’t think we can count on a sale. For that price, you might as well invest in a house rather than a piece of cardboard for an uproven and unseasoned pitcher.

When eBay would offer a process for pre-approving bidders, this guy should have taken advantage of that, and he could have saved himself a lot of time and a lot of getting his hopes up and having them shot down. This card will still easily sell for an absolutely ridiculous price, but now it has entered into the same territory as Manny Ramirez’s infamous “holy grail” of bar-b-que grills.

Maybe he should send it to Beckett before the next auction comes up, looks like a 10 to me, right?

*facepalm*

Buyer’s Remorse? Strasburg Superfractor BACK on eBay

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I said before that it was ridiculous that anyone would pay as much as that guy did for the Strasburg superfractor. Who would’ve guessed that it would take a whole 6 weeks for the Strasburg superfractor to be relisted? Not only is it already climbing fast, but it ends on the same day as the Red Auto 1/1. Obviously the guy who bought it A) is trying to captialize on the publicity, and B) doesnt understand that he is going to get shredded by the red auto.

Oh but wait, it gets better.
Not only is this card for sale at the moment, but IT IS BEING GRADED. Yes, because a card that sold for $16,000 is really going to be bumped THAT much by a subjective process done by a publicity starved company looking to make a buck. I guarantee it gets at least a 9.5 even though it probably is an 8, but that’s besides the point. Either way, this reaks of stupid all the way around, and I cant wait to see how it turns out.
On second thought, maybe I should go grade my kid. I think it may accomplish just as much as grading this card. At least that way, if I ever find out he was a twin, I can find out which is in better condition.
Its stuff like this that makes me laugh. Seriously, why buy if you are just going to up and re-sell? Someone doesnt know chocolate cake from Entemann’s. Cmon.
Here we are, Penthouse floor. Anyone? No? Going down then.

Insanity on the Strasburg Doesnt Even Begin To Say How I Feel

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I thought the final price of the Strasburg superfractor was absolutely ridiculous. Now, I use the word ridiculous pretty often, but that word means more in that type of situation because there is no way that anyone from the outside wouldn’t think the exact same way. When you think about $16,000 for a modern non-autographed 1/1 of a prospect who has less than a month under his belt, maybe ridiculous doesn’t even begin to describe the real feelings that 99.9% of america would think. Hell, even his base 1/1 with no discernable redeeming value other than the numbering went for close to 5K.

Then you see the price this card is currently at. With over a week left in the auction, the card is already above 20K. Its no longer the cost of a used honda, its more in the range of a new Lexus, bording on a new Mercedes. Granted, the bids on this card may be problem people muckraking the coverage of it, but some of them are probably legit. Yes, this card IS autographed this time, on card at that, but there is no reason why this card should be even close to the price its at with the recent Bowman Chrome previews that were just released. Just wait until the 1/1 autographed Superfractor hits eBay, that will be truly ridiculous in every sense of the word.

Without discussing the careers of Mark Prior and other fireballers who had similar but not equal hype to Strasburg, its not insane to think that this card would reach or surpass the modern card ceiling. In fact, im kind of surprised that Beckett didn’t chase the card, grade it a 9.5 and sell it for the seller under their account like they have so many times before. But to think that this Strasburg card is worth more than any modern card with a modern player on it sold in the last decade or so, makes me kind of queasy. Kobe/Jordan dual auto logoman? Not at this level. Lebron Exquisite rookie with a three color patch? Not even close. Peyton Manning contenders auto? Peanuts compared to Stras. Adrian Peterson Exquisite 1/1? Even Beckett couldn’t help it get to the Strasburg quotient. Joba Chamberlain superfractor? Laughably close, but no cigar.

I have said before that getting into Strasburg for a few hundred bucks is fine, especially if you one of the 10 previous fans of the Washington team. But when you start getting into the thousands or the tens of thousands, you need your head checked. At least the guy who bought the super wasn’t really a hardcore collector, so he really didn’t understand the dynamics. That is probably what is going to happen here too, but that is not an excuse. Getting in on the penthouse level, even for fans, makes absolutely no sense at this type of price, even if you have the money. Go remodel your movie theater or bowling alley in your house instead of throwing your money away. I even think Keith Olbermann has better things to do, and he makes a ton of money.

Bottom line, these bidders may laugh at us for not being in their tax bracket, but we will be the ones laughing when all is said and done.