Advice on Modern Rookie Cards 2000-2019

[bcbgcbrcb]

Thank you for the great insight, Jason. Everything there sounds right on from the very short time that I have been collecting this stuff.

So you are really gambling a few hundred per on those jackpot type cards in hopes of winding up with the next Trout $10K+ card. (Of course, some will become all-stars, possible HOF’ers or solid players, in the end, I think you might do a little better than break even for these levels of players. Probably hundreds of busts for every Trout, don’t think that’s a real smart way to collect/invest, but that’s just my opinion.

[VoodooChild]

Hey Phil,

Oh no, in my post I said I learned to stay away from those 1st Bowman autographed pre-rookie cards. I never bought the low serial #'d crazy priced ones anyways. I've done ok with some "under the radar" prospects like Lindor at the time was reasonably priced for a #'d /500 one. But for every one like him, I busted on like 10 others. Now, I do buy all the Pirates still but they never have a prospect that gets those crazy prices...ha! But I do have a Gerrit Cole auto #'d/150 that I paid a couple hundred for that worked out.

So yeah that's why I now wait to buy their Topps Gold parallel RC cards because that way I'm not taking a risk on a 17 year old in low-A that probably won't ever even make the majors. And if I do want autographed cards, I like the Gypsy Queen and Topps Museum issues for those because I like the look of them.

[ToddW.]

My .02 on modern is either 1st Bowman Chrome Auto or Flagship (Base Topps). Flagship includes Series 1, Series 2 & Update and the most desirable will vary by player. Most recently update has been it (2018 and other years). This year (2019) it seems to be Series 2, as most of the first rookies are in Series 2 (Tatis/Alonso etc). Update only has Vlad (although he has a not-so SSP print in Series 2 as well), and second tier such as Huira and others. Its possible next year it could be Series 1 as that is where Yordan Alvarez will have his first "RC logo" card). Sometimes Topps Chrome may be the target, but if you focus on flagship you usually can't go wrong.

[packs]

Topps Heritage beats out most other Topps products if you're looking for "investment".