A Different Game of Cards

29. Jun, 2010 125 Comments
Eric Goodman

These aren’t my father’s baseball cards. And, having grown up in the sports card crazed world of the 1990’s, I can’t say these are necessarily my baseball cards either.

$Stephen Strasburg Superfractor$

Stephen Strasburg Bowman Chrome superfractor sold for $25,000 on eBay

On Monday evening, a lucky gambler named Robert J. Power turned a nearly $9,000 profit on a Bowman Chrome superfractor 1 of 1 version of Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg that he had purchased for $16,304 on May 29 from eBay. While all that geeky superfractor talk might be confusing to the uninitiated collector, remember that baseball and business are all about the numbers and someone netted a nearly five-figure profit in one month’s time on a single product that they had already spent five-figures on.

For those who only remember baseball cards as having wood-style borders and coming with a stale and foul-tasting stick of gum inconveniently adhered to the last card in the pack, you should know that the innocent hobby you enjoyed as a kid is now for the high-rollers only. With such marketing techniques as manufacturing the rarity of cards through one of a kind ” 1 of 1″ versions and including guaranteed player autographed cards with the purchase of certain packs and boxes, the industry, particularly the Topps Company who have literally cornered the baseball card market, have created a unique world where the customer knows exactly what they will be getting and, at the same time, is totally in the dark as to what specifically their money will net them. Think of it as gambling gone on a diet.

Whereas purchasing a scratch-off ticket at your local bodega is a game of chance where you will either win money or lose it depending on the stated odds, the baseball card market offers a unique guarantee to the gambling consumer. For example, the Bowman jumbo box that Mr. Power found the elusive Strasburg superfractor within had guaranteed at least three autographed rookie cards per box, as well as providing printed odds on what it would take for them to land special version cards like serial numbered subsets featuring different colored borders and hologram-like refractor technology. Of course, you can still collect cards for the sheer enjoyment of trying to complete the base set but, with so much information available to the consumer nowadays, it has almost become another form of the stock market.

Once the Strasburg superfractor sold for the intial $16,304, a wave of excitement rippled through the industry since the only remaining 1 of 1 version of the Nationals pitching phenom at that time was a red-bordered, autographed version of his rookie card. This automatically birthed a new crop of collectors looking to cash in on the potential rare find. The autographed Strasburg card was evenutally pulled from a pack and had reached $999,900 in bids as of last week, but then was removed from eBay due to what was believed to have been fraudulent bidding. If you are wondering if the number nine got stuck on my keyboard, I can assure you that is not a mistake. The figure stated above is, indeed, $100 short of a million dollars.

Whether you are a hardcore baseball devotee or just a casual fan, it’s hard to ignore the fact that baseball cards are hot once again and can make you a rich man if you’re lucky enough.

“When I heard that there was a one-of-one Strasburg card still out there waiting to get pulled, and that some previous Strasburg cards had been selling on Ebay for a few thousand dollars, I thought to myself, why not give it a shot and buy a box – try and pull that ‘lotto card’ and then flip it immediately.” said 26-year old Matt Cubeta, who last was serious about collecting trading cards as a kid in the 1990’s.

The trading card industry always had its fair share of “get rich quick investors” standing right next to the traditional, set-building purists, but that juxtaposition is now even more prevalant than ever. Still, there are some people like Matt Davis, an active hockey card and occasional baseball card collector, who are still in it for the joy of honoring a specific favorite player or team.

“I collect sports cards and memorabilia as an extension of my affinity for particular sports, teams, and players,” said Davis, who grew up in the Kansas City, MO area and has a large collection of St. Louis Blues hockey cards from past and present. “With that said, I do get excited when I buy a box of cards and find one of those manufactured rare cards in one of my packs. However, I don’t go chasing after those rare cards too often, because it’s simply out of my price range. I definitely go for quantity over quality in regards to my collecting habits.”

No matter what your reasons are for spending hard-earned cash on something as seemingly trivial as sports cards; the hobby is truly as big as ever. Much like how the Nationals are hinging their hopes on a pitcher who currently holds a 2-2 record with 48 strikeouts, you too can take a dive into the pool that is Strasburg Mania. However, be prepared to sift through your share of huge misses before you hit upon that true diamond in the rough. On the second thought, perhaps dropping $5 on the latest Mega Millions lottery jackpot that I saw while getting my breakfast this morning isn’t that bad of an idea. At least when I lose on that purchase, I can rip up the ticket and move on. In the meantime, I have a stack of Yankees bust Hideki Irabu rookies for sale if anyone’s interested.