For fans who have followed the franchise since it rose to prominence in the early-1980s, it can be a bit hard to believe that more than three full decades have passed since the face of the franchise arrived in the Bay Area via the University of Notre Dame. While many season ticket holders can still remember the calm pocket presence, smooth delivery and pinpoint … [Read more...]
Post-War Rookie Card Investments On a Budget
There's little proof but plenty of circumstantial evidence and a lot of skepticism. Performance enhancing drugs have tentacles that reach back to the rookie card market of the 1980's, destroying values of power hitting record holders and at least one strikeout king. Even with the quantity of cards produced, the game's records are typically popular enough to fuel some … [Read more...]
Derek Jeter Cards Are Current Generation’s Mantle
It's been more than 20 years since we saw the first Derek Jeter baseball card. A confluence of factors relating to the player--and the man--make his rookie cards nothing to sneeze at. When it comes to talking about the most popular baseball players of all time, certain names always come into the conversation for card collectors. For many who watched him in his prime, Mickey … [Read more...]
Jeremy Lin Rookie Card from National Treasures Sells for $21,580
New York Knicks' sensation Jeremy Lin went one for 11 and committed eight turnovers against the Miami Heat Thursday night. It was not the type of blue chip performance the buyer of a $21,000 rookie card hopes to see, but such is life in the prospecting game. The Panini National Treasures Lin rookie card that had been getting so much attention over the last week sold to that … [Read more...]
Wagner, Plank, Ruth, Mathewson Among Highlights in New Catalog
There are sports cards and sets ranging from less than $1,000 to $750,000 in Memory Lane Inc.’s upcoming I Own it Now catalog, many of them rarely offered. The dilemma for collectors is whether to pull the trigger at the listed price or wait a little while and try to save a few bucks. If there’s something you want, that wait can be agonizing. Other collectors may not be as … [Read more...]
National Treasures Lin Prime Patch Auto Could Be Ultimate Game of Flip
All of his rookie cards have entered the wealthy part of sports card town over the last week, but the National Treasures Jeremy Lin Prime Patch Autograph card, numbered to 25, could prove to be a lot better--and easier--than flipping houses. At least for one guy. Yair Rozmaryn is a New Yorker and a Knicks fan who gambled $1,000 on one of the cards prior to Lin's 38-point … [Read more...]
Jack Butler Waited for Rookie Card, Hall of Fame Call
Add one more member to the roster of 1950s Pro Football Hall of Fame rookie cards. Steelers' defensive back Jack Butler was elected Saturday after a 52-year wait. He joined several players from the modern era on the list of inductees for 2012. Waiting was nothing new for Butler. He didn't get a football card until his seventh year in the league. Butler, now 84, made … [Read more...]
Eli Manning Rookie Cards Smothered by Hungry Bidders
When you mentioned "Manning rookies" a few years ago, there wasn't any question who you were talking about. Fresh off a Super Bowl win and a growing pile of NFL records, there was no doubt it was Peyton Manning. Not anymore. Make way for Eli Manning rookie cards, big brother. The expected run to eBay began for both buyers and sellers after Super Bowl XLVI Sunday night. … [Read more...]
Ozzie Smith Rookie Card Sells for $20,852
The result of an auction is probably sending scores of collectors to their 1979 Topps sets and unopened packs, hoping there might be a fifth Ozzie Smith rookie card that could earn the favor of a PSA grader. The latest Mile High Card Co. auction closed early Friday morning with a PSA 10 copy of the most valuable card in the 1979 Topps set selling for a whopping … [Read more...]
Griffin Rookie Cards Not As Pricey a Year Later
The sale of the 1/1 National Treasures Blake Griffin rookie card for over $38,000 earlier this month generated some national headlines but it might paint a far too rosy picture for the overall market for the L.A. Clippers' young superstar. The average price has actually dropped in recent weeks. Often times, a player who explodes onto the scene--especially in a flashy sort … [Read more...]