Reviewing the 2020 Rookie Cards

 Looking over rookie cards and properly valuing them is crucial to building a good collection as I have mentioned in passing over and over again on this blog.  Today, I will look over the 2020 rookies and "rate" the value of a couple of them.  

Bo Bichette a SS for the Toronto Blue Jays is an outstanding young player who is continuing the family legacy of his father who also played in the MLB.  As a result of both factors, one day if he has the career I suspect he will have, his rookie card will spike in price.  Right now, countless of these cards are up in eBay and supply is high so it's only going for roughly a $1.  

Dylan Cease is a special one for me because I was in attendance at Guaranteed Rate Field for his MLB debut July 3rd, 2019.  I went with some friends because we all suspected Cease would become a very successful big leaguer.  Despite some early struggles, he has really started to become more successful in the early portion of the 2021 season.  I think prices of his card will only increase in value as time passes.  

The 3rd and final card I will review is much different from the other two.  Danny Hultzen  won't have any more cards made after him, despite it looking much different in the early 2010's.  Drafted early in the 1st round of 2011 by the Seattle Mariners, he looked primed for greatness.  However many injuries and minor league stops later, he made his long awaited MLB debut 9 years later in 2019 for the Cubs as a 29 rookie.  He threw 3.1 innings and then retired following another year in the minors in 2020.  Some players careers take very interesting paths and Hultzen is one of those.    

 

Linking to A Beginner's Guide to Buying, Selling, and Collecting Baseball Cards

I read a very detailed article on the hobby of collecting cards at A Beginner's Guide to Buying, Selling, and Trading Baseball Cards - HobbyLark.  As far as being attached to the hobby, this person is very in-tune with everything that is going on and claims to have more then 30 years of experience.  

Some things that I have not covered on my blog include the ways to acquire cards which include trading, online, and retail stores.  My primary way of collecting cards has been retail stores as Target used to carry the complete set from each year, I'm not sure they still do.  By online, the author is referring to eBay or other auction sites.  These sites are good for the collecting of just one or a couple cards are often utilized as a means to build a collection.  For example, if you wanted to collect every Bryce Harper card ever made you made you would not want to go to Target.  You would want to go to eBay. 

   Shown above is an example of a Bryce Harper 2012 Topps Rookie Card.  This card was very highly sought after at the time it was produced as Harper was a very popular prospect who many had projected to do great things in the major leagues.  We have discussed the appeal of rookie/prospect cards in another post and Bryce Harper is yet another example of that.  Also something that was discussed that applies here, as time passes on and this card gets older and older, it's value will likely increase because supply gets lower.  

This article is very detailed and I recommend my readers giving it a look when they have the time.   

Top 5 Mistakes New Collectors Make

The Top 5 Mistakes in order:

 1. Every card has a value and that value is always changing.  Not understanding value of cards is often a mistake new collectors make.  Selling too early is the most common mistake.  

2. On the contrary of the first mistake, some collectors hold cards too long.  For example, rookies that come up with lots of promise but flop, those cards will lower in value.  These cases are more tough to time right right.

3. Keeping care of your cards is important and finding proper storage is key to maintaining the value of these cards.  A dusty shoebox is not the place.  

4. Keep every card that you come into contact with, don't throw any away under any circumstances for the simple reason that supply and demand is always changing.  

5. Don't remain so reluctant to do trades with other collectors, sometimes a trade benefits everybody.

As you can see, most of these mistakes are based on understanding the laws of supply and demand.  Basically, if you took a HS economics class you would understand these laws.  Typically, supply and demand are constantly shifting and that is no different in the card market.  If a high-school student can understand it, then practically every adult should be able to as well in order to avoid these common mistakes.  New collectors can make sure to make their transition into the hobby rather seamless just by understanding these common mistakes and the reason they are made by newcomers often.      

Critiquing the Collecting Community

Critiquing things can be difficult, especially when the thing you are critiquing is something that you are very passionate about.  That is the case in this instance as I am looking at the community and something that they can improve on.  

It boils down to the fact that for the most part the community is very civil and respectful towards each other.  However, as with with group, on the fringes there are some bad apples that ruin it for everybody.  These bad apples are usually trying to take advantage of newer collectors, stealing cards, and doing just about everything to collect all they want.  Don't get me wrong, I love collecting, but that doesn't mean by ill means.  When bad people do bad things, it makes less people want to get into the hobby.  In the real world when an employee makes a bad impression on a customer, they don't usually come back for a second time.  The same rings true in the card collecting community, so in order to keep the hobby alive and well we must make sure to unite together.   

The community as a whole needs to rid ourselves of these people and group ourselves in with the people that push the hobby forward as a whole.  In one of my previous posts, I discussed that act of card collecting is on the downswing and there is absolutely no stopping that downswing if these people continue to act like they have been able to.  It takes a community to change.        

Respecting the Game Rant

 Ranting is something that I take great caution in doing, however sometimes it's necessary.  I will leave a warning that a rant isn't any good unless the author strays a bit off topic into a related but distant dimension.  

In today's game of baseball are being taught to have fun and disrespect the game by doing so.  Throwing bats, yelling at opposing players, etc.  I'm not a fan of this in the least as I feel it degrades the quality of the game into something you would see out of a NBA game (meaning very low quality).  Players need to show up to work each day, ready to play the game the right way.  Not showing off after hitting a homerun, but hustling to first base just in case that ball doesn't get over the fence for a HR.  

For example, in the GIF above, Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays is shown "pimping" a homerun.  And sure this ball probably gets over the fence 95/100 times based on his reaction, but the 5 times that it doesn't?  You look like an absolute clown who will probably be thrown out at second base when trying for a double.  

MLB has tried to market this behavior as acceptable, but I don't really see anyway in which this would be allowed in the workforce.  Could you imagine an employee "pimping" a sales pitch?  Thinking he had made the sale and doing a crazy celebration only to find out that the client had replied, "I don't need this product."  The employee should be fired on the spot for such an act.  Respecting the game of baseball is something that I am very passionate about and it's beyond me how MLB could promote such terrible acts.  

Predicting the Future of Card Collecting

 At first glance, card collecting appears to be a well established hobby that isn't going away any time soon.  However after peeling back the surface and taking a closer look at things, there are causes for concern.  

The art of trading baseball cards in school yards is sadly a thing of the past.  This art was taking place in the 70's and 80's, but not so much in recent years as technology has become more prevalent for younger and younger kids.  Kids just aren't as interested in sports cards as they would be in their iPhone for example. 

The hobby has always been based on supply and demand and more specifically item scarcity.  Topps and other companies like them are now producing cards at record rates, meaning as the years pass by the cards from recent years aren't gaining value like they have in the past.  In fact, they are often losing value as time goes on because the supply is go great.  If supply continues to produce at the current rate, I predict that less and less people will be inclined to get into the hobby.  

My final reason is simply the decline in sports cards being pushed by people.  When I was a child, I got into the hobby because my family seemed to have an interest in it.  As the older generations start to pass or move on in life, the hobby continues to lose life.  It's unlikely that today's kids would pick on the hobby by themselves because the marketing is as far as I can tell nonexistent.  

All of this to say, that you had better enjoy the hobby while it lasts because the art of card collecting could be changing rapidly in the near future.         

Case Study: Mickey Mantle 1952

  This post will serve as a case study of one of the most famous baseball cards ever shown below (Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps Card)

This card, the card published directly after his 1951 rookie card is so popular because of the iconic photo, the rarity in which it is seen, and the player shown on the card.  The card when found in certified mint condition sells for upwards of over 2,000,000 dollars.  As mentioned in the last post, the crazy price is mainly due to the fact that only 3 are known to exist.  There are very likely more, often there are stories of people not knowing what they have or finding it in a basement years after it was placed there.  But only 3 have ever been identified, so this card when in mint condition could make you a very nice profit.  

 

The pose in which he is looking off into the distance is apparently very popular as it signifies the changing of the guard in CF for the Yankees from Joe DiMaggio to Mantle.  As Joe was about to retire, Mantle is seen looking off into the distance ready for a very successful Yankees tenure.  This card sits #2 on the highest value behind a Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner card.  

This is not meant to diminish other sports and their collective cards, but baseball is known to have the most historic cards and cards that garner the most money.  Other sports cards generally earn only a fraction of what the top cards in baseball will reach.  This Mickey Mantle is just one of the many examples of that being the case.