[lshields]

Haze, you make some good points. One thing that stands out to me is his hustle. You can't deny that. Stealing third when the picture is not looking. He has a high baseball I.Q. We shall see how it translates..

[wendelclark]

I'm in agreement with the several traders that think the hype surrounding Bryce Harper is legit. I was very impressed with his play last season. I think he can easily be at least a 30 home run 95 RBI player on a consistent basis. Of course, the potential is there for him to exceed that.

I've spent a small fortune on Harper cards in the last year. I have a Harper auto, and even though my wife can't stand my card collecting, she hopes that Harper goes on a tear this coming season and helps the value of the auto (and all his cards in general) go waaaaaay up!!!

[lshields]

Wendel, I think all wives hate baseball collectin. Mine included

[joba the clark]

I know Harper signed in 5 sets in 2011..Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Sterling, Bowman Platinum and Topps Heritage Minors. I think Pujols was close that, off the top of my head he has Bowman Chrome, SPX, Finest, Donruss, Donruss Class of 2001, Donruss Classics, Donruss Signature, Leaf Certified, SP Authentic, Studio and Topps Reserve...there may be more...but Pujols has tons more rookie autos than Harper does...if you want to count Harpers 2012 stuff then you can add about 9 or 10 more, but either way its close in the amount of certified autographs they have out by a licensed MLB card company.

As far as Cabrera goes...I understand that he signs in a ton of sets but even a signed baseball from Cabrera does not sell for too much. I think he is the best bargain in the game. He has a chance to go down as one of the greatest players in MLB history if he just win a World Series or 2. The only guys whos stuff I think really reflects the dominant player they are is Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, and Ichiro. I dont think the book is closed on Mike Trout yet. I think he will hit a rough patch and his stuff will come down some in value. And there was not nearly as much hype around Mike Trout as there was Bryce Harper and even Stephen Strasburg. I remember a couple box breaks posted here back in 09 and people were bummed that they pulled a Mike Trout autograph. He was hyped to be a solid player but not a superstar like he was last season.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Pujols had quite as many autos back in the day as Harper has currently. Pujols kind of came out of nowhere, which definitely creates a special aspect to his early card prices. Harper on the other hand, has been hyped since 2009. At the same time, if Harper turns out to be baseball's version of Lebron, I think you'll see prices enter that 2001 Chrome Pujols atmosphere. At least for a while.

The thing with Cabrera (who I collect like crazy) is that he's been in the league for 10 full years and has signed tens of thousands of certified autos. Hurting (helping?) matters is the fact that he's played for two mid-market teams rather than a single big market, marquee franchise like the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, etc. (Believe me, I hate saying this).

[Blury1]

I'm hopping for trout to turn out good since I've actually pulled a auto and a bunch of rookies this is hard to say for me being a rangers fan but it is what it is

[lshields]

I agree Blurry. I hope he does well especially with how much everyone is spending on him. I pulled an auto from 2011 chrome and sold it that day. I think he is great for the hobby and baseball, just not sure is he will pan out.

[Blury1]

I agree Blurry. I hope he does well especially with how much everyone is spending on him. I pulled an auto from 2011 chrome and sold it that day. I think he is great for the hobby and baseball, just not sure is he will pan out.

Yeah I thought about selling it but I figure I pulled it out of a 2010 platinum blaster for 12 bucks at Walmart so atleast I'm only in twelve if he don't pan out

[MarinoRookiesRMine13]

I've been going to card shows since I was a kid. Before the days of stock-market-like prices and before card collecting became the industry/business that it is today. Words of advice from the old-school card dealers then were to invest in vintage. Any new cards were considered high risk junk and were purely flippable for profit. The same thought process still stands today. While I believe Bryce Harper could have a HOF career, I'd much rather spend the same amount on a nice Clemente or Mantle card.

[nyyankeesfan28]

Yeah could be this amazing player, but right now, I'd rather play it same with established players.