#TheHobby Has Grown Up

*@SaidSimmons:  The following is an opinion piece written by a newbie baseball card collector (me) who was reintroduced to the hobby within the past year.  

You can still find a pack of baseball cards for $2.00.  But you’d be lucky if you can find a pack of 2012 Panini National Treasures Baseball for less than $400.

Holy crap!  Is that Ty Cobb AND 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson
on the same card -- with pieces of their bats from 1911?!

With that in mind, the baseball card industry seems to be robust and healthy after the collapse of the ‘90s -- as well as the economy in general.   And to gauge the baseball recovery, Panini National Treasures appear to be the measuring stick of the industry’s health.

To be fair, Panini National Treasures is significantly more than just a pack of baseball cards.  Each of the eight cards in a pack includes an autograph, piece of memorabilia or both, and mostly features players with historical significance.

From jersey pieces and bat knobs to folding book cards that feature signed balls from superstar duos, Panini National Treasures is a high-end memorabilia product for card-minded sports collectors.

Yet with demand driving the price per pack upwards of $425, the product is almost a sports memorabilia lottery more than a collector’s product.  If a fan collects a certain player or team, it surely makes more sense (and cents) to find your favorites in the secondary market.

But the product certainly does provide the opportunity to hit the sports lottery, as a father-son pair recently found out -- by pulling a 1/1 Honus Wagner cut autograph and bat relic nickname card.  The ‘Holy Grail’ was pulled from a local card shop here in Atlanta and was promptly listed on eBay for $20k (which has since been reduced to $10k).

I was able to find a pack of National Treasures before jumped through the roof -- and the shop where I bought the pack increased the price $75 the next day.*

I did well with my pack.  I pulled a 1/1 -- but not a ‘Holy Grail’.  It was an Austin Jackson logo autograph card.  I also pulled a 4/6 Will Middlebrooks button card of the rookie.

However, I was more interested in historical players and only managed one card of a player predating the ‘80s of Roy Campanella.  And with just eight cards, I didn’t grab one player with whom I had any emotional connection.

Fortunately, I’m hoping to recoup some of my ‘investment’ by selling the most notable cards and dropping the earnings on some Atlanta Braves or Pete Rose cards.^

And, yes, Rose is included because the product is not officially licensed by MLB.  Because of that, the set also features the appearance of other banned baseball baddies, including Joe Jackson, Heinie Groh and Lefty Williams.

The 2012 Panini National Treasures Baseball set is easily the coolest product I’ve come across since I was reintroduced to #TheHobby, but carries a hefty price tag.  The surrounding hype is well deserved, but I’m sure many collectors wish Panini’s set wasn’t so revered so the price tag would drop a bit.

*Because I’m a ‘journalist’ of sorts and I’m increasing my online profile by writing about my hobby, and something newsworthy, I wonder if I can convince my accountant this is tax deductible.

^Ah, crap.  I bet this means the pack isn't tax deductible after all -- and that was assuming my account wasn’t going to tell me I was a moron in the first place.

#TheHobby in the Headlines

The most famous baseball card in the world recently returned to the limelight in a Grantland 30 for 30 documentary short series film.

The short, entitled “Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner” by Prospect Productions, chronicles the history of the infamous copy of the American Tobacco Company baseball card featuring the likeness of Wagner that was once owned by Wayne Gretzky.

The 14-minute film moves quickly and demands your attention as it weaves between the history of the card and the state of the sports card trading industry.  Included in the film are interviews with industry heavyweights, collectors and journalists.

Grantland paired the short with an interesting print piece on quirks in card collecting, “The Value of Imperfection.”

As someone just getting back into #TheHobby, I had an added interest in the short -- however, I can likely assure you it’s worth watching by mentioning my fiancée enjoyed it, despite the overbearing nerdiness.

*Said Simmons: Unfortunately, ESPN/Grantland aren’t sharing the embedded code for the video (and I’m not smart enough to work around it), so following the link in the first graf or here to watch the short:  “Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner”