Prior to 2019, Tino Martinez autographed cards weren't easy to find, nor were they cheap.
He was a part of some cultural autograph sets, like 1997 Donruss Signature Series and 1998 Stadium Club Co-Signers. These cards still hold a premium price.
The more affordable signatures came from Panini USA baseball, but even those ran towards $20. Simply put, he just didn't have a lot of autographs on the market.
Then came 2019, when Tino signed a new deal with Topps. Product after product came out, and autograph after autograph. On one side, it was cool to see. On the other, there were a lot of cards to chase.
I now have seven autographed Tino cards from 2019, but whats interesting now is that with the market flooded, they are more affordable than ever. Many of the base autographs will run under $10 shipped. Many sit unsold on eBay, as sellers still think Tino might command a more premium price.
Will I collect them all? No chance. Too many low parallels. But when both of these come to me for less than $10 shipped, it's pretty telling.
It'll be interesting to see what 2020 holds. Will Tino continue to be featured, or was 2019 just a one-time blip?
I collected baseball cards from the late '80s through 2002. Then I went to college and when I came out, I was lost. There were too many brands, sets, choices, relics, autos, parallels, variations. It was a turn off. However, I slowly made my way back. So here is my attempt to venture back into the hobby. I'll buy a few packs of cards here and there, comment on some cards I have, send out some TTMs, and follow the progress of my Topps Yankees Project.
You know Topps.......
ReplyDeleteJohnny beat me to it.
DeleteAs a Tino collector... do you want Topps to continue to flood the market, so you're able to grab more cheap autographs... or would you prefer them to be just a one-time blip?
ReplyDelete