Category Archives: chrome is king

Why Topps Retail Chrome May Be Better Than Hobby

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Topps Chrome has always been the exception to the Hobby vs Retail debate, at least in my mind. I never think buying retail is even close a good idea, unless its something that is offered more efficiently in retail, or more cost effectively. When it comes to buying products outside of chrome, the good hits are at ridiculous odds instead of favorable, you usually pay a ton more for a lot less (in terms of hits), and the cards are even different sometimes. I am familiar its a little different for people who are out to collect the sets, but even then, hobby packs can usually live up to an beyond anything retail can offer.

With Chrome, its completely different. In addition to being able to pull all the normal types of cards from hobby, they have also added the Blue Refractors and XFractors to the product. The Blues look and sell great, and are even worth more than the coppers for some players.
Speaking of the coppers which come 2 per hobby box, those are available as well in retail, along with the blues and regular refractors as well. Paying 20 bucks for a blaster may actually net you some nice hobby cards, as well as an auto or some of the retail exclusives. Instead of paying 65 for 1 auto and 2 coppers, you are instead paying 20 bucks for 3 blues, 3 x fractors, 3 regular refractors, a copper (usually), and a possible auto, all which sell better than the hobby config. Considering that most of the autos in chrome sell for under 10 bucks, its not a big deal to give them up for the possibility of the other cards.
On top of all of this, the retail packs seem to be doing very well on the boards, and even here on SCU. I have bought 1 blaster and 3 fat packs, and I have ended up with a Sanchez copper and a Stafford xfractor among others. Those two cards alone have paid for my stuff. I have seen people pull black autos, gold autos, and regular autos aplenty over on blowout too, which only adds to the fun.
Im going to be picking up some more, as I think this year’s chrome is the best in years. Its the first time I have actually bought retail over hobby.

Sometimes You Need More Than Rarity For Value

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Earlier last week I posted that Demitrius Byrd’s chrome auto may end up being the most valuable scrub auto of the year. For those of you who are curious, Byrd was injured pre-draft in an accident, thus making his auto pretty hard to obtain for the companies. Byrd had obviously signed some of his stickers, but not enough to put him in the number usually reserved for a scrub auto. Topps put him on the checklist, though his auto is listed currently at 1:7000 packs. At that rate, his autograph exceeds the odds of pulling a superfractor, but it isnt enough to drive value for a player that may not have a career.

There have been a few that have surfaced on eBay, with a recent one selling at $41.00. All things considered, thats still a huge amount for a player in his position, though not the numbers one would typically expect for a ridiculously rare pull in high print run product.
Interesting, none-the-less.

Why Parallels Work In Chrome

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I just bought the Harvin Red Refractor yesterday evening, and it got me thinking. Why do I do this every freaking year? Why do I value these parallels when every other type makes me cringe?

Chrome may be the only product left that you buy not because there are hits in a box. With only one autograph in each box, and still carrying a price tag over 50 bucks per box, the product is banking on the value of more than just the value of the auto. With more than 50% of the boxes containing an auto of a non-premiere rookie, its almost a surprise that collectors still love this product as much as they do. In fact, there are a few explanations including price, value of the base cards, but also importantly, the parallels.

In every other product during the course of the year, non-auto parallels of veterans of rookies rarely take more value than the parallels in chrome. A base parallel of a guy like Tom Brady numbered to 24 in Donruss Elite versus a red refractor numbered to 25 of him in Chrome are not comaprable in any way. Elite costs more per box, has more hits per box, but the base parallels are pretty much worthless. What makes Topps Chrome parallels work?
First is design. Always design. The base chrome parallels in Topps always are some of the best looking cards of the year. Simplicity rules the game, and there are never any lightning storms on the cards. Second, they have been around for fucking ever, and collectors value the history as much as the brand itself. However, Elite has been around a long time as well. Third, I believe the name has something to do with it, as Refractor has become synonymous with rarity and cool technology. Lastly, I think the Topps brand has a lot to do with it too. Topps collectors are never going to hesitate to go to extreme lengths to complete a set. When you have people like that, who have been collecting the set since my father was a kid, you are going to have demand. Where there is demand, there is value.
I think nostalgia has a good factor in this as well, as most of the older collectors out there can remember back to 1993 Finest baseball. When you have a pedestal like that in your head, its easy to justify value of a card that has very little basic differences than other base parallels.
Also, when you have EASY to follow color schemes, the parallels become idiot proof. For instance, which sounds better? Elite Status or Red? More people can identify with a color than a word. Color is the most basic common denominator out there. If you ask anyone out there which they perceived to be a more valuable parallel, copper (/649), or gold (/10), they would always say gold. It crosses boundaries.
Im not saying you should go out there and chase rainbows, but I will say it will be fun if you do. I have collected chrome since I was a child, and I can say that I have never had many complaints about the basic concepts of the product. For every player I have collected, I have a chrome rookie, usually multiples. The fact that there are thousands of people out there like me will mean that the brand will never lose its bang. Chrome is king, even in football.