If there has been one complaint from collectors on Topps’ football calendar this year, its the over production of lower tier rookies, and severe short printing of top tier players like RGIII, Luck and Richardson. Now that Chrome has been on the market for a few days, we are starting to see that some players’ base autos may be in shorter supply than ever expected.
Obviously, the group A autos are ALWAYS more short printed than any other group, but I dont think I have ever seen it at this point with one player. Luck is an especially interesting case, as only one sticker base auto has been posted on eBay, and a singular on card base auto surfaced on Blowout today. Outside of that, all of his autographs have been either parallels or insert autographs.
Here is the link:
2012 Topps Chrome Andrew Luck Base Auto RC
Trent Richardson is a similar case, as only 3 base autographs have surfaced. All other autographs have been parallels or inserts. All three were on card, and so far, he may be representative of another SSP auto.
2012 Topps Chrome Trent Richardson Base Auto RC
2012 Topps Chrome Trent Richardson Base Auto RC Example 2
Robert Griffin III has had a few base autos put up, but not many more than Luck or Richardson. His first few have all sold for close to 300 bucks, but that price may go up as collectors look to build their sets.
2012 Topps Chrome Robert Griffin III Base Auto RC
2012 Topps Chrome Robert Griffin III Base Auto RC Example 2
Out of these three players, their inclusion on the SSP list is not shocking. One player that I havent mentioned yet, Ryan Tannehill has them all beat. In fact, he might be the only player on the checklist who has not had a base autograph posted. Last year, we experienced Julio Jones not having any on card autographs in the set due to issues with him returning cards, but Tannehill has other cards in the product hard signed. He is one that doesnt make much sense at all.
Im definitely confused, as Topps has commented that they were making an effort to close the gap a bit in the way the top guys are represented in their sets. Dont get me wrong, I stand by the fact that these practices might be a blessing in disguise for the people who buy singles, as it is obvious that their autographs will be MUCH more desirable and carry more value this way. However, its also difficult for those that bought a bunch of boxes, as they are finding it incredibly difficult to pull the people they want. It does go without saying, that it isnt a good idea to buy cases looking to pull a specific card – just go buy it on eBay.
Either way, Chrome has been a wildly popular set for the last decade, and I dont think it has changed one bit this year. However, when you have two of the biggest prospects to come out of college in the modern era, its frustrating when they are not more readily available.
Buying the singles you want is always the best option anymore. Boxes are so ridiculously overpriced for the crap in them it should be illegal. Leaf puts out an absolutely loaded product with those football jerseys for $120 each, and you’d be lucky if your ‘hit’ is a $5 auto in a $120 box of cards. Granted, Leaf didn’t have to mess with licensing but, if it’s that costly for the companies, somebody’s getting ripped off. Hint: the consumer.
Chris just pulled a Trent Richardson base auto from one of our boxes!
From what I’ve noticed, autos of the non-top tier players in Chrome seem to be going for fairly similar prices to other sets. As a Giants fan, I’ve been following David Wilson and Rueben Randle and their Chrome autos seem to be going for very close to what their Topps Prime similarly numbered autos went for upon initial release. The big mark up seems to be coming from the top guys like Luck, RGIII, and Tannehill. Similar numbered cards for those guys seem to be pricing MUCH higher than other sets.
Having said that, how much impact do you think the timing of Chrome has on A) it’s overall success year in and year out and B) the prices of Luck, RGIII, and any other high performing rookies this year?
You should never buy boxes to try to pull the guys you want. There is no value in it. I have made the Chrome auto sets every year by buying the singles and it has never cost me more than the price of 1 case of hobby. I made 2010 for $648 and 2011 for $717. I waited on the Newton until last week as I dont believe in his abilities or the team around him. It was only a matter of time before he came back to reality.
It doesnt look like the SSP version of Richardson has had impact on his price. Both ending for less than $75 makes me say meh…
What these SSPs should drive and has me thinking is what color ref auto or insert auto set am I going to make this year? There are a lot of options that still have somewhat lower but buildable print runs which would make avg cost for me the set maker more sense.
there are still a lot of the big names in an on card version.. 84 and 57 reprints etc…
Topps has super short printed Luck and Griffin in other products this year as well. The only one they haven’t done this in is Prime. I knew they would super short print them in Chrome, that’s why I didn’t drop $700-$800+ on a case when you only get 12 autos per case and not all of the autos are the basic rookie autos. So it would be very unlikely that you would pull a Luck or Griffin auto. I am taking that $700-$800 I saved and buying the singles I actually want.
For the price of a case, you could always buy three or four autos that you wanted and still have money left over. That has always been the situation, but the joy of ripping packs is lost in that option. Its the main reason why people stay caught up in busting. To make money on a consistent basis, you have to build a reputation like Brentandbecca, take multiple losses on products to do so, pay your dues over several years, and eventually spend more time than possible to get into mass case breaking. Not a sacrifice people are usually willing to make. Some will, and are very happy to do so. Other than that, there is no money to be made unless lady luck is on your side. That is the gambling in all of us. Besides that, just buy for the fun of it.
I picked up 2 Rueben Randle autos–base & refractor–today for a reasonable price and, I don’t know why, but this dawned on me: It took around $200 for someone to end up with those 2 cards. When I thought of it that way, it just hit home.
I love busting wax but I think that Chrome is not the ideal box for wax busting on a single box basis. 1 hit in 24 packs just leaves too many ‘bleh’ packs to open. I had more fun with Topps Prime since there are 4 hits/box. I think there are a lot of chase elements to Chrome that seem cool in the moment but don’t add long term value. I mean, does the color of a border really make a card all that special? Even the concept of the variation autos seems like an idea that isn’t going to hold up well over time.
Bought 5 boxs and two of the boxs where missing hits! Not a fan of CFB this year!
Check out the three Rueben Randle parallel autos I just pulled from one case (not to mention 2 Dwayne Allen auto rcs)…all on the bay
I bought a blaster box of 2012 topps chrome football cards i was excited to open it up an see what the exclusive rookie relic card inside was, but when i opened the first pack it was press pass se cards inside, i do not collect that set because it is full of junk cards, i am pissed off i want my money back or the 29 cards i was suppose to get in the blaster box plus the relic card the box garantees you get