Have you visited our store? Click here.While compiling this list, it occurred to me that 80% of it is made up of 1/1s and 70% are rookie-era cards. While this is just a small chunk of what I watched in the month of May, these are the nicest pieces of the batch. Put your baseball caps on and get ready to dive head-first into the wonderful world of the May 2018 Editor’s Choice. Here we go!
Manny Machado 2013 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs Superfractors #12 BGS 9.5
Sold: May 14, 2018
# of Bids: 67
Final Price: $12,354
Manny Machado 2013 Bowman Chrome Superfractors #205 BGS 9.5
Sold: May 8, 2018
# of Bids: 38
Final Price: $2,275
Am I surprised by the end prices of these two Manny Machado rookie-year superfractors? Nah, not really. He’s proven to be a useful Shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles and because he’s so effective, they play him a lot! He logged 667 At Bats in 2013.1 Even though I had no intention on bidding, I really enjoyed watching these two cards in May.
Aaron Judge 2014 Bowman Draft Top Prospects White Ice #TP39
Sold: May 17, 2018
# of Bids: 56
Final Price: $1,991
Aaron Judge stuff, while still very liquid, has really calmed down in 2018. I think that’s partially due to the Shohei Ohtani attention. Given the current health status of our two-role phenom, however, I think we’ll see more strong Judge sales close this year. It’s not every day we get to see one of his 1/1 parallels from 2014.
I was surprised by the Ronald Acuna end price. I was expecting a little more but to its credit, it is a non-AU paper, which consistently sells for less, which is a very good thing if you’re the buyer. I like these 2018 Bowman Platinum 1/1s. I bet they look amazing in-hand.
Nick Senzel 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospects Superfractors #BCP120
Sold: May 16, 2018
# of Bids: 16
Final Price: $338
Ken Caminiti 1999 Upper Deck Century Legends MVPs #C40
Sold: May 4, 2018
# of Bids: 12
Final Price: $265
Nick Senzel makes it onto the list again this month. I’ve been watching his stuff a bit over the past several months and it almost always performs well, especially these superfractors. The end price is what we can expect to see for his non-AU superfractors in the current market.
The Ken Caminiti sale was a monster. I feel like the price is less related to the player and more to the set. 1990s 1/1s are routinely desirable regardless of player and this example validates that claim even though there is a small market for Caminiti stuff. I love these MVP 1/1s; the holo-foil really pops off the cards.
Sonny Gray 2011 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Gold Canary Diamond #BDPP35
Sold: May 5, 2018
BIN
Price: $139.99
Ken Griffey Jr.1997 Upper Deck Power Package Jumbo #PP1
Sold: May 13, 2018
# of Bids: 22
Final Price: $105.50
I watched the Sonny Gray for months and considered buying it myself but never got around to it. Oh well; I can’t get ’em all. This is an exceptionally nice card. Topps did a great job with the Canary Diamond parallels; I wish they’d bring them back. This 2011 card has the ‘1st Bowman Card’ logo but he’s found in 2010 Bowman Chrome and featured in a USA uniform. That said, I guess the ‘1st Bowman Card’ logo gets added only when the player is featured in their professional team uniform. Whatever the case, this is an excellent card to have.
This particular Ken Griffey Jr. Jumbo card is one of those retail exclusive unicorns. Here’s the technical jargon – These 1997 Upper Deck Power Package Jumbos were inserted one per Series 1 retail jumbo pack sold exclusively at Sam’s Club. Talk about proprietary. What this means to collectors of players featured in this set is they may be looking for a while before locking one down. I rarely see these; this being my first Griffey appearance.
Andruw Jones 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity Holographic #38
Sold: May 22, 2018
# of Bids: 7
Final Price: $67
Stephen Strasburg 2010 Topps Chrome 206 Chrome Red Refractors #TC32
Sold: May 6, 2018
# of Bids: 4
Final price: $28
Since I already have a number of these Longevity Holographics, I considered bidding on the Andruw Jones. It was a tough choice because there was a Frank Thomas card I wanted even more so I passed and figured I’d just discuss the card here. I love these. If you’re unfamiliar with them, the Longevity parallels are serial numbered to 50 with the first serial number – ’01/xx’ being holofoiled. They are stunning cards in person but are ultra condition sensitive.
This was the first time I’d ever seen this Stephen Strasburg Red Refractor so how did I respond? I bought it. This was a very valuable card back in June of 2010 and at the time I’d only seen the base example. All these years later, I’d only ever seen the Blue and Gold Refractors before this Red surfaced. I didn’t pay much attention to the 206 line but I like the concept. Anyway, I had to add this one and am glad I did but I will say this – like the 2010 Bowman Chrome release, the 2010 Topps Chrome 206 Refractors have a way of warping over time. This card is severely warped and I’m hoping it doesn’t get damaged should I decide to have it graded. Warping aside, this card is gorgeous.
References:
- Manny Machado. www.baseball-reference.com ↩︎
