Flippin' Cards

I was one of the lucky few selected to purchase a Strasburg eTopps card. I thought about it for about a minute before deciding to send that card right off to eBay. I just wish that I had checked my e-mail yesterday, but I did something better which was spend some time with my daughter (who for some strange reason had her mind set that she needed a whoopie cushion, so she now has a self-inflating whoopie cushion)

First off, 1,999 isn't all that limited when you think of all of the different Strasburgs out there numbered to 1, 5, 25, 50, 99 and even 999. eTopps is fringe enough as it is and I don't see this card retaining too much popularity once all the dust has settled. There will be a lot more numbered cards this year with and without autographs that people will be chasing.

Second, the few times that you can actually make some money back on eTopps cards you've got to take advantage. I've stopped buying the cards at IPO because many times you can get them for a quarter of the price a few months later. The only cards that I've sold for more were this Strasburg and a LeBron James rookie.

Third, I'm in the final stretch of paying off an upcoming Disney trip and funds for cards are scarce. If I combine this with some cash that my mom gave me for Father's Day then I should be all set when Ginter comes out.

Fourth, there's no such thing as a pitching prospect. This phrase existed long before Todd Van Poppel was drafted, but it should have been reenforced by Van Poppel, Prior, Wood, Taylor, etc. It's a ridiculously small number of pitchers whose rookie cards end up being worth something when all is said and done. I'd much rather pick up something that is worth something other than financial value to me.

Fifth, it's fun to just sit and watch the bids come in when it comes to something like this. I put the card up for a one day auction this morning and hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised by the end result.