Wow - Modern Card

[marvjung]

Originally Posted by dstraate

So a quick question... Was this card pulled from a pack, auctioned pre-circulation, or what?

I'd like to think some 8 year old just paid for a year at community college with this thing.

Back in the day I was trying to pull $20 Griffey Jr. Rookies. My how the times change.

The card was pulled from what's called a jumbo case; so instead of the conventional packs that you would find, the packs that this particular card was pulled from had about twice the normal number of cards you would find in a standard pack.

I spoke to a cardshop owner over the weekend and I think there's more to this than what meets the eye; more specifically, supply vs demand. As I spoke to him, the jumbo boxes/cases apparently have skyrocketed in cost after release. They were released at about $100 per box, but now command nearly $200 per box. Also, the increase in price in the secondary market occurred as for whatever reason, large quantity of the Bowman cards were not purchased by dealers, thereby creating a limited amount of product released. (although without actual production numbers from Topps, this is questionable)

One other thing about Bowman which hasn't been mentioned yet is that Topps releases the Bowman product with the moniker, "Home of the rookie card" label. I don't buy very much modern day stuff, but when I do, it's usually Bowman. In addition to modern day players, there's several players that are up and coming.

As per the modern day marketing etiquette, Bowman has base cards, then cards with different borders (refractor, super refractor, x-fractor) and then couples the rarity with the insertion of autographs. Of course, this material is released based on odds - as mentioned in several posts before, much like a lottery (1 in 1000 chance for a refractor, 1 in 10,000 chance for an super refractor).

So there are several variables that make the Straussburg card so valuable to modern day collectors:

1. Considered first TRUE rookie card (although he had an earlier release).
2. It's a x-refractor labeled at 1/1.
3. Speculators like him

Lastly, back in the day as I was leaving the hobby, 1992 to be more specific, Topps had a hit on their hands with the Bowman product released then - Manny Ramirez, Mike Piazza rookies - all skyrocketing because it was a great product with supposed limited release. Many liken the 2010 Bowman product to the 1992 release.

Personally, I'm sticking with the pre-war stuff (I just bought my first Magee - corrected - card and I'm super excited about it - probably far more excited about that card than the Straussburg - and quite frankly, if I had obtained that card, I would have it shoved up on Ebay too - to buy more pre-war )