What's it worth? Strasburg/Harper -vs- Pedroia Superfractors -vs- 1/1 -vs- RC

[NE12BC12]

Can someone please explain the worth of cards to me? Is it a rookie because Beckett says that it’s a rookie and not a prospect, what exactly clarifies this? Is a prospect card now worth more than a rookie card? Is the first 1/1 card worth more than the first autographed card because it was printed first? Why does Beckett list a card as a rookie card but that same card with a print run is not listed as a rookie?

I have been collecting for some time now and it seems to me the mass production years were a lot easier to figure out even though that part of my collection is worth a lot less. Any seasoned collectors out there agree with that statement?

I am going to use my Dustin Pedroia collection as a basses for my questions and I would really appreciate feedback. First let me list Pedroia’s first cards according to Beckett. I say according to Beckett because Pedroia has college cards that Beckett does not list.

Card 2002 SP Authentic USA Future Watch #USA17 Dustin Pedroia S# 1999
Card 2002 Upper Deck Rookie Update USA Future Watch Swatches #DP Dustin Pedroia Mem
Card 2002 USA Baseball National Team #17 Dustin Pedroia
Card 2002 USA Baseball National Team Jerseys #DP Dustin Pedroia Mem, S# 475
Card 2003 Upper Deck Finite Stars and Stripes #16 Dustin Pedroia S# 299
Card 2003 Upper Deck Finite Stars and Stripes Game Jersey #J16 Dustin Pedroia Mem
Card 2003 Upper Deck National Pride Memorabilia #DP Dustin Pedroia Mem
Card 2003 Upper Deck Star-Spangled Swatches #DP Dustin Pedroia R Mem
Card 2003 USA Baseball National Team #16 Dustin Pedroia
Card 2003 USA Baseball National Team Signatures Blue #16 Dustin Pedroia AU, S# 250
Card 2003 USA Baseball National Team Signatures Red #16 Dustin Pedroia AU, S# 750
Card 2003 USA Baseball National Team Signed Jersey Blue #16 Dustin Pedroia Mem, AU, S# 150
Card 2003 USA Baseball National Team Signed Jersey Red #16 Dustin Pedroia
Mem, AU, S# 350

Let me stop and point out the obvious, nothing listed as a rookie. So let me hit the link “Rookie Card” located under card attributes to the left of the price guide page and this is what Beckett lists.

Card 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition #262 Dust Pedroia AU/ 1114 RC RC, AU, S# 1114
Card 2004 Hot Prospects Draft #109 Dustin Pedroia AU RC RC, AU, S# 299
Card 2004 SP Prospects #340 Dustin Pedroia AU 400/ RC RC, AU, S# 400

Interesting, a card that says “prospect” is listed as a rookie card and the variants of that same card (smaller print run) are not considered a rookie? Wait a minute, Low and behold there is another link listed as “(rc)” Let’s see what hitting that gets me.

Card 2006 Topps 52 #40 Dustin Pedroia (RC)
Card 2006 Upper Deck #1027 Dustin Pedroia (RC)

OK, so what’s the difference between “rookie card” and “rc”? I also have been reading the recent articles on Bowman Chrome Superfractor sales so this makes me look up the first Bowman Chrome cards of Pedroia and this is what I got.

Card 2008 Bowman Chrome #172 Dustin Pedroia
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 150
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 50
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 25
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates Black #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 1
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates Cyan #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 1
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates Magenta #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 1
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates Yellow #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 1
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Red Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 5
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome SuperFractors #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 1
Card 2008 Bowman Chrome X-Fractors #172 Dustin Pedroia S# 250

OK, know let me get to my real questions that I would love to get some feedback on. In my collection I have at least one of every Pedroia card I listed from 2002-2003. I guess this part is easy enough for me to figure out the pricing because none of them have been graded yet. Now I get to his “rookie” cards and it becomes not so easy. In my collection I have the following…

Card 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Signature Turn of the Century #262 Dustin Pedroia ROO/ 100 AU, S# 100 w/ Beckett grade of 9
Card 2004 SP Prospects #340 Dustin Pedroia AU 400/ RC RC, AU, S# 400 w/ beckett grade of 9
Card 2004 SP Prospects Draft Duos Dual Autographs #PD D.Pedroia/ A.Dobies AU, S# 175 w/ Beckett grade of 9
Card 2004 SP Prospects Draft Generations Triple Autographs #AGP Aparicio/ Garciaparra/ Pedroia AU, S# 25 w/ Beckett grade of 9.5
Card 2004 SP Prospects Gold #340 Dustin Pedroia AU AU, S# 10 w/ Beckett grade of 9
Card 2004 SP Prospects Platinum #340 Dustin Pedroia AU AU, S# 1 w/ Beckett grade of 9

I skip 2006 and go to the first Pedroia Bowman Chrome cards released in 2008, this is what I have (close to a master rainbow, missing two plates)….

2008 Bowman Chrome #172 Dustin Pedroia
2008 Bowman Chrome Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia
2008 Bowman Chrome X-Fractors #172 Dustin Pedroia /250
2008 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia /150
2008 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia /50
2008 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia /25
2008 Bowman Chrome Red Refractors #172 Dustin Pedroia /5
2008 Bowman Chrome SuperFractors #172 Dustin Pedroia 1/1
2008 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates Cyan #172 Dustin Pedroia 1/1
2008 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates Yellow #172 Dustin Pedroia 1/1

OK, if you have made it to this part of the post, first let me thank you for taking the time to read it. I would really appreciate some feedback on this collection. What makes me ask this question is the current Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper Superfractor sales for $21,403 and $12,500. These guys may be super talented but no one can argue the fact that as of yet they are unproven in the Big League. Let’s compare experience

Bryce Harper – Major League Experience = NONE

Stephen Strasburg – Major League Experience = Career statistics
(through August 19, 2010)
Win–loss record 5–3
Earned run average 2.97
Strikeouts 92
Walks 17
WHIP 1.12

Career highlights and awards
On June 8, 2010, struck out fourteen Pittsburgh Pirates batters (Washington Nationals record)

Dustin Pedroia - Major League Experience = Career statistics
(through August 18, 2010)
Batting average .305
Home runs 54
Runs batted in 253
On Base Percentage .369
Runs 376

Career highlights and awards
3x All-Star selection (2008, 2009, 2010)
2007 AL Rookie of the Year
World Series Champion (2007)
2008 American League MVP
Gold Glove Award Winner (2008)
Silver Slugger Award Winner (2008)

OK, so give me some feedback. What is this Pedroia collection worth? The 1/1’s?

I would also like opinions on my Pedroia collection and would love to hear from other Pedroia fans and what they have collected on “The Laser Show”.

 

[Hama]

The MLBPA tried to implement a new rule on rookie cards on the hobby in 2006 - during a licensing renewal - mainly to appease Upper Deck, which was at a disadvantage to Topps in terms of signing players.

Topps is allowed to sign anyone - in terms of players - to individual contracts, as a grandfathering of what they were able to do in the 40s and 50s. All other companies had to get a group license from the MLBPA - and at that point only permitted to include anyone on a 40 man roster. In 2004, the rules were loosened up somewhat, when Fleer and DLP were permitted to include draft picks and non-MLB players in their sets, with one exception - they were not allowed to be wearing any MLB uniforms on the card.

When the licensing was renewed for 2006 - DLP was dropped as a licensee, with UD and Topps left standing. At that point - the PA made a rule that no one could appear in a MLB set other than players that had played at least one game. But because of Topps advantage of being able to sign anyone, they could be included, but they had to be inserts. That's why in any Bowman product, the only rookie cards are those of players who made their debut recently, and not just anyone with their first card.

But since Bowman, since its resurrection back in 1989 was known for including just about any kind of prospect - starting in 1992 - the majority of the marketplace has decided that any player's first cards issued in a particular year to be their rookie card, PA rules or not. Really - any first card issued before 2005 as part of the main set is still considered to be a Rookie card. There will be some cases where there are Rookie Cards for some players before then, but will have a new PA-recognized Rookie Card - which was issued after they played their first game.

There are guys like Evan Longoria - who had an auto card in 2006 Bowman Draft - as a prospect - that is treated as his best card and an RC by a lot of people - even though he got a PA-licensed Rookie Card in 2007 Bowman Draft. I could go on, but seriously trying to explain this all could take hours