In Part 1 of this series, we noted seven good reasons how the investment profile of modern baseball cards has improved dramatically over the past 20 years or so:

1. Graded cards and multiple expansion.
2. Smaller print runs yielding upside leverage.
3. Short-printed rookie cards, limited-print serialized parallels, and autographed prospect and rookie cards.
4. An enhanced baseball prospecting game.
5. Enhanced liquidity because of the presence of eBay and graded cards, as well as the presence of new online trading sites such as COMC.com.
6. A half-generation of current untapped potential demand.
7. Fantasy sports, sports betting, and untapped redemand.

We discussed the first three points in Part 1. Let’s go on to point  No. 4.

An enhanced baseball prospecting game
In 1992, Topps changed the rookie-card game forever by including cards of prospects who had yet to play a game in the big leagues — and were often pictured in street clothes — in its landmark 1992 Bowman set. As this practice continued, the prospect cards included in Bowman sets were considered to be a player’s rookie card until 2006, when only players who had been placed on a team’s 25-man roster could have an “official” rookie card featuring the official MLBPA Rookie Card logo.

However, Topps was grandfathered into the practice of including minor-league prospects in its major-league sets, and it continues to include prospect cards as “inserts” in its Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft, Bowman Platinum, and Bowman Sterling sets. (The term “insert” is used loosely here, as draft picks make up 165 of the 220 base cards found in packs of 2012 Bowman Draft, for example, while “official” rookie cards make up the other 55.) And official designations aside, collectors still recognize a player’s first Bowman card — labeled “1st Bowman Card” and “1st Bowman Chrome Card” for the chrome versions — as a player’s true effective rookie card, whether it’s included in the Bowman, Bowman Chrome, or Bowman Draft packs.

Whether this is good for the hobby is a source of debate. On one hand, there’s no question that the “official” RC vs. 1st Bowman Card problem — along with the fact that Topps includes the 1st Bowman cards in three different sets each year — can be quite confusing to new collectors, or anybody who hasn’t bought a baseball card in the past decade or two. Moreover, most of the 1st Bowman Cards are of players who are several years away from playing in the majors, if at all, and with an extremely high wash-out rate. Contrast this with a sport like hockey, where at least a player must actually play in the NHL before having a rookie card, or football, where every player who plays in the NFL and has a rookie card has generally played three or four years of college before turning pro.

As a consequence, baseball cards are generally far more speculative upon initial release than are their football, hockey, and basketball counterparts.

On the other hand, we know where to find the key cards every …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance