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Mike Trout has become somewhat of a household name since his inaugural professional year in 2011. His rookie year cards from 2011 have picked up quite a bit of attention over the years and the interest continues to grow with each passing year. Trout is such a notable producer with already a Rookie of the Year award, 2x MVPs, 5x All-Star appearances, and 5x Silver Slugger awards at the time of this writing. Amazing stuff for a guy who’s still in the early years of his professional career.
I’ve always found it highly interesting that Mike Trout wasn’t over-hyped prior to his call-up in 2011. It’s often the case that prospects are way over-hyped with grandiose expectations nobody could ever possibly meet. The almost regular result is disappointed collectors and lackadaisical long-term fan support. Granted, there are exceptions. But the over-hype catalyst creates problems both for athletes and collectors alike. The prospect is put under significant stress due to the impossibly high expectations and the collector absorbs risk associated with player collectibility. As I said, however, there are exceptions. Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant both have proven to be solid investments and I personally am rooting for them to enjoy long successful careers. But there are plenty of failed attempts peppered throughout the league and sadly but commonly, they often outweigh the ultra performers.
Sometimes, I feel like media coverage should chill for a bit while players are called up and developed over those critical first few professional years. This may reduce stress on point of the prospect and create less risk associated with collectability. The media would be better served to produce coverage of player performance instead of over-hyping the audience and creating impossible-to-meet athletic expectations. This brings us right back to Mike Trout. He wasn’t over-hyped. He was called up and performed. Once performed, he was covered. Done! In a way, his media record is a benchmark for how to produce coverage for future prospects. Low stress and low risk, I can appreciate that.
I believe all Mike Trout rookie cards are important to the hobby. His true rookie cards were released in 2009. However, his rookie year cards i.e., anything from 2011, are just as significant and hold strong collectability. Featured here is the most impressive collection of Mike Trout cards from 2011 Topps Update. Enjoy this rare occasion to see so many rare and 1/1 parallels of this card in one place.
To view the current eBay auctions for Mike Trout baseball cards, click here.
One of my biggest hobby blunders that I will forever live with: Selling his 2009 Bowman Sterling autograph for $25.99 in spring training before the 2012 season. It’s now a $600 card. I still feel heartburn just thinking about it.
I can understand that. But you probably don’t feel as bad as the guy that sold his 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Orange Refractor AU/25 for $66 during that time. That card is now worth over $10,000.
this is true. hahah
or even worse I divorced Thomas Vines in 2016 with a tiny buyout of this Mike Trout Collection (see photos in article) because I couldn’t prove the value of the 1/1 cards !! (In my defense, I wanted the divorce very badly, so I have no regrets!!)
Do you have any information regarding the 2011 Topps update Hobby Black border /60 and what they have sold for over the past two years? I heard that PWCC had one listed that was graded 9.5 not sure if auction was ended with no sale.
I have two of them I picked up in late 2011
I remember seeing the PWCC listing and it sold handsomely. You can see the sale data in their auction results archive. It was a strong sale.
would you be open to selling one of the two?