Seriously, A $300 Tim Beckham Autograph.

At some point earlier this year I added a wanted list to the side of my blog.  Look over there to the right hand side of the blog and you will see it sitting there with some holes in it.  I have been able to add some of the cards on my list to my collection over the past year, but recently I have not kept up with the list.  Honestly, I am a little bit frustrated with a particular card on the list.  

The top card on my most wanted list is a Bowman Platinum Tim Beckham autograph.  It's a rather tough find, but then again it's Tim Beckham.  I like Tim Beckham.  He has spent a consider amount of time playing for the Durham Bulls and I have enjoyed watching him play.  His cards are fairly inexpensive and not too difficult to find.  

I understood that putting the Beckham card on the top of my list was a challenge, but it has turned out to be the exact opposite problem that I was expecting.  Beckham has a low print run of autographs in the Bowman Platinum set, so I figured finding the card would be the difficult part.  How much can it possibly cost?  It's Tim Beckham...

Well, the card has been on Ebay for awhile.  I have made offers, sent messages, and received nothing in return.  No: 

"Hey, this is my bottom line" 

or

"I could sell you the card for this much"

Nothing.  The problem with buying it as it is currently listed?   

You have to squint your eyes a bit, but that listing does say $299.99 for a Tim Beckham autograph.  I made my first offer on the card a few weeks back, then made a second, and a third today after hearing nothing from the seller after multiple attempts to contact them.  My third offer was the most insane price I have offered on a card in a long time, but sadly I knew that the seller would turn the offer down.  Sad, but someone would not take $50 for a Tim Beckham card.....

Crazy offer, crazier seller.  So, let's talk about unique cards for a minute.

I understand that a lot of collectors have cool, unique, low print run cards in their collection.  I have had some print plates and autographs of some really cool players during my time collecting baseball cards I have no problem cashing in on those cards.  I have a Mike Trout Finest autograph and would not hesitate to asking for a lot cash back for a card like this.....

Many of us also have cards that look really cool, and could be valuable, if they only had a different player on the front.  For example, I own this awesome Brett Wallace patch card from Topps Pro Debut.  It's an incredible patch piece......

No matter how cool the patch piece, or low serial number (it's print run is 5), it's still just a Brett Wallace card.  If a ever ran into a huge Brett Wallace fan, or someone who wanted the card, I can honestly say that I would guess the card is worth $30.  I wish it were something I could turn around for $300, but it is not.  

The moral of the story is this: If you have a low print run card that's autographed, or has a cool patch piece, be proud of your card.  However, if you are going to sell or trade the card keep in mind who is on the front and be realistic about what you are asking for your item.  We all want the most for the cards we are selling, or trading, but there comes a point where you are just being completely unrealistic.  

2011 Topps Finest Brett Wallace Green Autograph

I took my time picking up a Brett Wallace autograph, but after a year and a half of waiting...it's here.  I really needed one for my Cardinals autograph collection, but was unwilling to meet the demand up until now.

2011 Topps Finest Green Brett Wallace

For those who are indifferent about Brett Wallace, he is one of those perfect cautionary tale about sinking too much into a player before the succeeded in the majors.  Seems like the kind of thing to talk about right now with everyone running around going crazy about their new Bowman cards.

Brett Wallace was one of the top bats in college baseball during his senior season at Arizona State.  The Cardinals drafted him with the 13th pick in the 2008 draft.  Cardinals fans were excited about Wallace quickly advancing to the majors and holding down third base long term for the team.  Sure there were some whispers about him not transitioning well away from metal bats and his lack of conditioning, but there were plenty of Cardinals fans and card collectors who loved the Cardinals minor leaguer.

The first Wallace cards to appear on the market were his appearances in the Upper Deck USA Baseball set and the Razor Rookies set.  Both sets featured autographs of Wallace and were fairly steady movers for most of the 2008 and 2009 season in the range of $20-$30.  Wallace even appeared in the Futures Game in Busch Stadium during the summer of 2009.

The Futures Game appearance would be his only home game ever played for the Cardinals who would trade Wallace to the A's for Matt Holliday later in the summer.  Then he was traded to the Blue Jays and later to the Astros.  Collectors still were pretty sold on Wallace and his card fell slightly, but were still desirable commodities.

Wallace was called up to the bigs during the 2010 season and has been unable to hit for power, average, or get on base.  This season he has posted a line of .042/.115/.042.  Obviously the market for Wallace cards cannot get any lower at this point, hence the trade for the Finest card pictured above.

Big thanks to my brother in-law, Matt Seguin, for the chance to trade for this card.