106 Comments

It was 1991 – the hot goalie of the future for the Toronto Maple Leafs was Peter Ing. The hottest set at the time was OPC Premier (first set and supposedly limited print run). It was up to $200 a box for a while. I hoarded 25 Peter Ing Rookie cards now usable for the bottom of bird cage.

Sean Watson, 145 total 2006 autographs (Bowman Draft/Sterling)

two words… Gregg Jefferies

he had an ok career, but he was supposed to be the next Mantle.

I remember carefully searching through every card in a bin of topps cello packs looking for that card in 1989.

Gregg Jefferies, close the book.

I had tons of his cards. I know I had at least 6 of his Score rookies alone. The fact I was a kid in middle school spending my hard earned paper route money made it all the worse.

Gregg Jefferies, close the book.

I had tons of his cards. I know I had at least 6 of his Score rookies alone. The fact I was a kid in middle school spending my hard earned paper route money made it all the worse.

Kevin
Waynesboro Virginia

It is hard to call a man that amassed 2,004 hits, 253 HR’s and 1,110 RBI’s in his career a failure, but Todd Zeile never acheived the kind of success his 1990 RC’s were hyped to foretell.

Back in 1990-91, I “invested” in large quantities of Karl Dykhuis rookie cards. Dykhuis was a prospect in the Chicago Blackhawks organization and I thought I would give it a shot. I amassed close to 1,000 1990-91 Score and Upper Deck rookie cards – purchased from card shows, AOL, the rec.collecting message boards, etc. Turned out to be a big bust!

Another memorable one was when I was “hoarding” 1992 Bowman Jason Bere RC’s. I was paying up to full book at the time, knowing for sure he would be a star! No such luck for me. I think I ended up with over 100 of them and they ended up being sold pretty much for scrap!

I made most of my “can’t miss” investments around 1991 after a friend convinced me that it was a great crop of rookies. Players such as Todd Van Poppel, Steve Decker, Tim Naehring, Eric Karros, Kenny Lofton, Royce Clayton, Pat Kelly and Jeff Conine. However my biggest loss came from Phil Plantier. I probably still have over 100 of his 1991 Stadium Club rookie. The sad part is even for the rookies that did turn out good (Bagwell, Pedro Martinez, Ivan Rodriguez, Mussina, Thome and for a while Luis Gonzalez) their prices have dropped so much that they have all become losses. The only player I wish I had gotten more of was Chipper Jones. The next year I decided to focus on just a couple “can’t miss” rookies that I thought had the best long term prospects, Juan Guzman, Aaron Sele, and Rick Helling. That definitely turned out to be a bad investing decision, so after that year I stopped most of my prospecting and decided to stick to set building and collecting the players I liked.

I’m still waiting for Cardinals prospect Paul Coleman to break through. I saw his 1990 Score rookie and thought, ‘This guy looks like a superstar.’ I’ve got dozens of his rookies banging around. I’m now willing to concede that Frank Thomas would have been a better choice.

Topps Brian Taylor RC.
Bought every single one I could find for a long time.
Not sure how many, but well over 100.

Even found a slight print variation on the back.
A whole bunch of my spare change flushed away, but still a lot less than I
see some people spend on a few modern day packs.

Later on I flushed away a fortune putting together such gems as the
Tetrad Autograph set as well as a few of the signature rookie autograph sets.

Brandon Wood. I did not “hoard” his cards, but I did pay around $200 for a BGS 9 2003 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor Auto. Thankfully, I used my senses and did not hit the Bid button for the Gold Refractor.

Bobby
Lillington, NC

Yankees great Kevin Maas. The guy was can’t miss in the power department, and, come on, he played for the Yankees! Why wouldn’t everyone have collected him?! So I did. I think I have about 150 1990 Leaf, and I even went as far as to collect an IP or on card auto of his on as many of his rookie cards as I could find.

Ya know… I think I’ll scour the internet for BGS or PSA high grade copies now! Ah… memories.

These cards come to mind:

Ben McDonald 2000 Topps and Kevin Maas 1990 Leaf. haha.

This is such a great topic. There are so many that come to mind when it comes to rookies that just never panned out. I think one of the first that I can recall was Wes Chamberlain in the early ’90′s. He was suppose to be like Barry Bonds…now you can’t even find him on MLB.com.

There have been many over the years. But the first four that come to mind as soon as I read this were Kevin Maas, Greg Jeffries, Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith.

I hoarded just as many as the next guy but kept a lot of the Kevin Maas because I am still a Yankees fan today. I eventually put the others in a commons box and they got sold/traded. Neither one held up to what I traded and paid for some of them.

However I do remember the guy from this post’s picture being all hyped up as well.

1987 topps Bo Jackson and dozens of them!!!
Steve Santucci
New Jersey

I forgot to add my location…. Evansville, IN.

I missed in 1998 with Ryan Leaf. Through packs, trading and single card purchasing I still have about 150 rookies. It would of been better going with another QB that year I would suppose.
-Justin Barcomb Hudson Falls, New York

To many to count, but Mark Prior, Ron Gant for baseball and football Tim Couch and Tommy Maddox

I have a few hundred @ of Jeff Jackson, Jay Buhner, and Kevin Maas I can sell you for cheap! Those penny stocks likely don’t equal the cash lost on Gregg Jefferies though.

The 1992 Topps Brien Taylor was hot amongst me and my friends. We kept as many as we could get a hold of.

Jason Neece
Bonne Terre, MO

Spent all my money as a kid trying to acquire every Ricky Ervins rookie card. Monster bust. I guess I could use them as coasters now.

Kevin Campbell
Clifton Park, NY

Dwight Smith and Gregg Jefferies

Funny thing..for me it was Griffey Jr. Huh? Well if you invested in TONS of 1989 Donruss and Fleer wax, you spent far more than the card is worth today. So in conclusion, one can indeed invest in a “can’t miss” prospect that will end up in the hall, but whose cards have declined in value tremendously because of over production. I guess this applies for all junk wax era prospects, successful in the bigs or not. Jake- Minnesota

I piled up on 95 UD Karim Garcia. Thankfully, this was when the card was $.75. It hit as high as $3.

I busted on Corey Patterson. Perhaps is was my Cubs-fandom blinding me, but I really thought he was going to be The Man. I have five of his seven rookie cards and 100+ different cards to boot, most of them with multiple copies, RCs included.

I will still keep one or two of each, but I just traded a Bowman Chrome of his last week, so there is still some desire in the market.

JonathanI

P.S.
I also have more than enough of the Eric Anthony card pictured above for this discussion, if anybody wants one.

gregg jeffereries had well over a thousand and waited after every drillers game when jacksonville mets were in town. I had him sign balls hats texas league all star cards. even gave him a set real nice guy. but still just didnt live up to the hype.

Tyler Green. As a phillies fan I had over 200 of his 1992 topps draft pick rookies along with over a hundred of the classic draft pick cards. Needless to say he was a bust! For Football Trent Edwards has been a big disappointment for me. And finally for hockey 01/02 Jiri Dopita who the flyers got and was suppossed to be the best player outside the NHL, he wasnt. Also wasted alot of money on Pavel Brendl and Milan Kraft!

Eric Garafone
Jackson, NJ

Todd Van Poppel 1991 Score RC #389

FTW

Brien Taylor, Kevin Maas, Jerome Walton, Dwight Smith, Eric Anthony, Ray Lankford, Steve Karsay, Todd Van Poppel….you could level out a wobbly table with these cards now….we were young and thought these were can’t miss prospects….guess we were wrong

1998 Ryan Anderson, I still have 50+ of his rookies in a box. :(

After the 1996 NBA Draft, I sat and studied all the Rookies and came Up with 2 players I thought were can’t miss future HOF’s. So Off I went busting Packs and buying every Rookie Card of these 2 Future HOF’s I thought. ( KOBE , Iverson or Allen you say) NOOOOOO Way, I have all the Rookies cards of Antoine Walker & Shareef Abdur-Rahim. I have most every card, except 1/1 and some rare auto’s from their first 3 season. I thought i was so smart, cause the price on their Rookie Cards was so must cheaper then Iverson or even Kobe’s back then. I could get 4-5 cards sometimes for the asking Price of 1 Iverson. So even tho I know these guys are are the BUST Players like all those listed above, when you compare these 2 guys to the careers of Kobe or even Iverson, These 2 will FOREVER be MY BIGGEST BUST ROOKIES OF ALL TIME.

stocked up colby lewis bowman and chrome and dumped them about 6 months before his return to the us in a common dump

oh add it was about 300-400 lewis’

After the 1996 NBA Draft, I sat and studied all the Rookies and came Up with 2 players I thought were can’t miss future HOF’s. So Off I went busting Packs and buying every Rookie Card of these 2 Future HOF’s I thought. ( KOBE , Iverson or Allen you say) NOOOOOO Way, I have all the Rookies cards of Antoine Walker & Shareef Abdur-Rahim. I have most every card, except 1/1 and some rare auto’s from their first 3 season. I thought i was so smart, cause the price on their Rookie Cards was so must cheaper then Iverson or even Kobe’s back then. I could get 4-5 cards sometimes for the asking Price of 1 Iverson. So even tho I know these guys are NOT the BUST Players like all those listed above, when you compare these 2 guys to the careers of Kobe or even Iverson, These 2 will FOREVER be MY BIGGEST BUST ROOKIES OF ALL TIME.
Ron
Middle Village NY

Rookies And Stars JD Drew RC!! Had 8 of them.

Bobby thigpen. I thought his rookie saves record was untouchable and got about 30 of his rookies.

Add…that was back when people GLADLY paid $100 for them!

Felix Jose. Wow I thought that guy was gonna be around for a long time. Kevin Seitzer as well.

I hope it won’t be Jason Heyward. Have spent a lot of $$ for his cards.

Brad
El Segundo, CA

Akili Smith and Ki-Jana Carter

Baseball – Pat Listach, 1992 AL ROY, he was a machine. I piled up his Upper Deck cards. Add traded 1/2 my collection for the prime RC (Leaf Gold).

Football – Ron Dayne 1999 Heisman Trophy winner and 1st round NFL draft pick. I spent thousands on every rookie card he had. Spent money like crazy on those certified autograph cards.

I learned a valuable lesson. I now only invest in Yount and Molitor autographed cards. Also rookies and autos of HOFers.

I thought about grabbing Aaron Rodgers rookies while they were cheap when he was on the bench watching Favre. If I invested in those, he’d have turned out like DeMarcus Russell. If only I was all over Ryan Braun like I was Listach. A Ryan Braun 2005 Bowman Chrome Auto is booking at $200 a peice now, in 2005 oy could have gotten a dozen for $200.

Daisuke Matsuzaka trust me on this one

Ruben Rivera. “The Next Mickey Mantle” my ass.

I spent lots on McGwire. What a darned shame. Todd Van Popple, Mike Aldrete, some Canseco, Bill Van Landingham – Boy what a bunch of looooooooooosers!

But I was wise in investing in Griffey Jr.
Currently I have over 700 of his rookies – that’s my retirement for sure!!!

Has to be Andre Ware ! Huge bust for Lions fans , must have 200 of his cards .

I collected alot of Jeffrey Hammonds in baseball & Robert Edwards in football. Hammonds never did what he wasn’t supposed to do. Edwards, however, caught a bad break with a freak injury. Still, 2 rookie collections that never panned out.

Chris H
New Jersey

For me it was Archi Cianfranco of the expos… try to explain that one

But wait… how many rookie cards did Hensley Meulens have?

Mike Harkey, Chicago Cubs pitcher. Bought 100 of his 1989 Topps rookie cards for $1 each figuring he was a can’t miss prospect. Oops.

You can never have enough Dontrelle Willis rookie cards. That is, unless you have at least one. I must have 50, many of which I had graded by BGS.

Ouch.

soon to be bryce harper

Being a Tigers fan, I got all psyched up for the #2 (in AL Rookie of the Year) voting in 1987, Matt Nokes. I had my mom, for my birthday in 1988, buy 500 of his Rookie Cards, and another 200 of the All-Star card in the 88 Topps set. I thought it cost her close to 100 bucks for all of those cards. Man, what could of been if he wasn’t the one year wonder… Well maybe not, since Topps flooded the market in the late 80′s with all those cards :(

The next Randy Johnson – Ryan Anderson. Probably have about 50 of his rookies. Chicago,IL

I must have spent a good amount of money on the LSU stars JaMarcus Russell, Joseph Addai, and Dwayne Bowe. I still cannot stand to watch any of them, even though oneis out of football, another is always injured, and the last one is decent playing in a bad division.
Annandale Virginia

Worst trade I ever made, as a kid or adult:

A bunch of Cardinals players came to my hometown in 1991, including Ray Lankford, Bernard Gilkey and a young star in the making named Todd Zeile. We were allowed one auto per player, and being a Cardinals fan I needed more. A friend of mine had gotten his 1989 Upper Deck Tood Zeile rookie card autographed, and I just had to have it. So I traded him this other 1989 UD Rookie card that I had doubles of….some kid named Ken Griffey Jr….

Needless to say, when the next Beckett came out after I made the trade, I knew it was a mistake…still have the Zeile card though!

Jason Heyward

Awesome Topic, I think this should be a polling question to vote on the all time best (I mean worst). More interesting is the interpretations that people have. For example Brien Taylor didn’t bust because he lacked ability or failed to reach expectations of talent. He failed because he got a career ending injury in a fight, so he failed to reach the longevity of his talent. Gregg Jefferies was supposed to have a .330 career average according to scouts, and ended up hitting .289 which was respectable from a playing perspective- but no investment. Don’t forget that in 1993 Jefferies hit .342 with 46 SBs and 83 Rbi, not too bad- unless you invested a couple hundred $$ on his cards. I think my failed endeavors were Eddie Zosky, Andres’ Thomas, Shane Andrews, Cory Snyder, and Monty Farriss. I didn’t get the memo to not invest in non-power hitting shortstops and all-or-nothing strikeout prone 3B until later in my life. Ben E Stockton, CA

To go along with my previous post…

As a die hard Mets fan (I know, I posted about Kevin Maas, but still…) I invested quite a bit in “Generation K,” Bill Pulsipher, Paul Wilson, and Jason Isringhausen. I even sprung for an auto’d photo of the three, something that will forever be in my Mets PC.

and I guess if I have posted twice, I should put my location…

Lawndale, CA.

Jerome Walton in 89 Topps Traded….was worth more than Griffey at release.

Easy choice for me….. Ray Lankford

Damn you!!

Vienna,wv

Cory Snyder. The kid was nicknamed The Natural for a reason. Still a great guy but never lived up to the hype.

Ryan Leaf. I really hope he can make a comeback. Lincoln, NE

alexander daigle

end of story

add brien taylor, leaf, balboni, and countless more i have forgotten in 40+ years

steve st louis mo

Where to start and where to end? Some of the ones that quickly come to mind… Cecil Fielder, Bobby Bonilla, Mike Greenwell, Greg Swindell, Kevin Seitzer, Gregg Jefferies, Matt Nokes, Steve Avery, Brien Taylor… I probably had 5-20 cards of each.

When I got back into collecting in 2004, I started to focus on four guys that I thought were going to be huge:

Mark Prior – I thought he might have Nolan Ryan type stuff and longevity…245 Ks in ’03, 3rd in tn the Cy Young voting (that was the year that Dontelle Willis was voted ROY…I have a few of his cards, as well).

Scott Kazmir – A young guy with great stuff, and a lefty…can’t miss…

Khalil Greene – the next Jeter? OK, maybe not, but he was 2nd in the 04 NL ROY voting, drafted 13th overall. I like Bobby Crosby, too, but not near as much as Greene.

So, granted, not exactly prospecting, and I never dumped a ton of dough into any of them, but these are guys I thought were going to be big…

I thought for sure that I had the end all be all of future sports superstars in Bryant “Big Country” Reeves. Breaking backboards, played like a stud in college, so as soon as his cards began to hit the market I bought them by the droves. I just knew that when he moved to Memphis that I was going to be a rich man, and then he disappeared into injury pergatory and never came back. I still have the cards as a reminder as to why I never invest in basketball by prospecting.

Dave Wicker
Memphis, TN

For basketball my bust was Eddy “pass me another piece of that cake” Curry. I probably topped out around 60-70 cards.

For baseball, Dallas McPherson. He was playing for the Cedar Rapids Kernals (Single A) when I was in college nearby and he would hit the cover off the ball. 10 years later I believe he is with his 4th or 5th team and still in the minors. I have way too many autos and relic cards.

For football, two words. Joey. Harrington. Again, too many rookies and relics. I paid some decent money back when I didnt really have the money to spend on cards and now I can barely give them away.

Kevin Maas – still have numerous cello and rack packs with him on the front. Thought they were going to be the next Mantle cards. Unfortunately they sit right along side all of my autographed Brien Taylor and Ruben Rivera cards/letters/photos.

First of all, GREAT question!

Let me see, …
1986, I stocked up on Vince Coleman (BIG time); I thought he was going to have 1,000 SB’s by the end of his career, easy! (I was easily wrong)
1988, naturally, was the year of Gregg Jefferies; at least he hit near .300 for his career (but still, he was technically a bust.)

I remember a yankees prospect that was supposed to be the next big thing, brien taylor, I must of had100 of his cards hoping they would blossom but it never happened. Also ben mcdonald for the orioles back in the early 90′s.

Love the topic.

The names listed bring back so many bad memories! For me I have a ton of 87 Fleer RCs, Bobby Bonilla Fleer etc. At the time I felt bad because I would go to the corner store, by some cards and some candy. Then think a few years later, why did I waste my money on all that candy. I think now most of those cards I would trade for a couple Mars bars.

My list is
All baseball RCs from 1990 and 1991
Lindros Score (although he was great his cards aren’t worth diddle)
Drake Berehowsky (Stupid leaf fan)
Scott Scissons (6th overall by the Islander… no wonder they still stink)
And last, Brett Hull Second year OPC
I know that card isn’t a rookie but I used to think we was the next superstar. If Gretzky second year was worth hundreds, and the Hull RC was worth 80-100 already then the second year will be worth at least a 100 so buying 20 of them at $5 each made tons of sense. I guess that is the logic of a 14 year old.

Greg Jeffries
88-89 my favorite was his 88 score rc.
I still find myself pulling his cards. Old habits are hard to break.

Art
Tupelo, MS

I would also like to add Corey Koskie. I have the market cornered on his 1998 Bowman Rookie or George ‘Toe’ Nash as well

STEPHEN LEICHT, He is a local driver that made it to nationwide series. I still need his cards because I collect all of the area drivers but i went overboard with hiM.

I over paid and his cards were going high for who he was. HE had an autographed tire card /25 which was really high.

WeLL he won one race and was doing great till yates let him go due to no sponsor. Then childress let him go to concentrate on his grandkids. Now hes fighting for a ride wherever he can get

Craig Nettles by far. Stocked up on RC.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Alex Gordon…

Mel Hall … 83TT … OUCH!!
Winchester, KY

Barry Foster and Rodney Hampton… I remember buying all of these R.C.s I could. They both had a few good years, but their cards never achieved elite hobby status. I do remember hitting on a Southern Miss QB though;)

Felix Pie…before him, Corey Patterson, and before him Kerry Wood. Notice the pattern?

Manteno, IL

Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden were two of my biggest busts. I remember trading away all types of cards trying to get that mint 1983 Topps Traded Darryl Strawberry RC at a show when I was in grade school. Autographed balls, starting lineup men, etc. I had it all and still do.
These two had a lot of success early on with their world series win with the Mets. I know that both of these guys had their moments and I truly think that they could both be in the Hall of Fame if it werent for the demons that claimed both of their careers. Fortunately for the Strawman, he has turned it around and is still involved with baseball and his community. Doc/Dr K. hasnt been as determined. Both were inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2010, but it hasnt done anything to increase their demand in the hobby. I still like the new items that Topps puts out with Darryl though. (Triple Threads, etc.)

I bought in on Reds prospect Justin Reed in 2007. Still have 30 Chromes autos base to orange with one Gold being BGS 9.5. Boy was I wrong! Oh well atleast he was cheaper than most.

Playing next to Wade Boggs he had to pick up something. I now have 700-800 JODY REED rookies sitting in a box in the attic. Lucky he wasn’t that expensive. *whew*

Gary Redus was going to be the next Ted Williams, I bet I had 200 of his rookies. I guess there is a difference between hitting .400 in Montana and doing the same in Riverfront Stadium

i got a 2-for-1… eric karros in 1991 ultra! a busted rookie in product that later busted itself. ultra and ultra update were the hottest things going in 1991…until OPC premier came along. Las Vegas, NV

I had to go back to 1989 Upper Deck. I Stocked up on Card # 177 of Kevin Torve ( FC )
I still own them and would like to trade for some Beach Front at The Democrat Convention in Charlotte,North Carolina in 2012

1987 Topps was going to make me a millionaire, so anyone in that set with a cup or future star was golden.

#1 player all time Gregg Jefferies – Beckett fed the craze. He was a Beckett coverboy w/ Sheffield.

Mike Greenwell & Ellis Burks are two all-time faves, Greenwell being my favorite player growing up, 2nd in MVP to Mr.40/40 Canseco (Donruss!)

Tom Gordon, Ramon Martinez, Bonilla, Zeile, Jim Abbott, Naehring, Plantier, Ben McDonald, Eric Young, Gerald

Even Strawberry, Mattingly, Grace, Ventura & Gooden could be called “busts” for the hype and $$$

Yet, even the “hits” of my youth are worth so little… :(

look out: Heyward, Hellickson, Trumbo, Nava, Lars Anderson, Montero, Iglesias, Yankees Killer Bees… you are on watch!

Andre Ware, Neal Anderson in football. Anyone who spells Neil, Neal should be suspect.

Cullen in Hockey

I didn’t hoard him, but in 2002 I pulled a Leaf Kazuhisa Ishii RC that at the time booked for $120…..can’t say what it books for now, but I’ll tell you it certainly isn’t $120

Also, I am beginning to fear mine will be Jason Heyward…..I hope he can turn it around, but if not, I’ve got some high end cards that are going to become low end.

Biggest busts for me are all the players we hoarded who destroyed their reputations with ‘roids or other drugs despite having HOF careers. Thanks a lot!

To the poster above, I’ll buy all your ’83 Strawberry and ’84 Doc cards.

Without a doubt Jose Canseco, I’ve got hundreds of early Minor League and MLB cards Donruss, Topps, Burgur King ect. Not to mention the off the wall promotional items, figures and even a box of macaroni and cheese with Jose on it. Thought he was a can’t miss HOF and we know how that story ended. Close second was

Gregg Jefferies was a perfect storm for card collecting – high profile player, high profile team, snazzy Ty Cobb style pose on a minor league card, an exploding (or is it imploding) market and he was a local kid from the bay area to top it all off. Likely a hundred or so cards between my brother and I. They still sit there in a binder at my parent’s home just as they did in the early 90s.

1970s – Bill Singer

2000 – Hmm. Does Joe go with Adam Dunn or Austin Kearns? Both have that HR power. But Kearns is the better fielder. Think. Think. Study. Study. Kearns can’t miss!

Joe
Salt Lake City

Jerome Walton — as a kid I bought a multi card lot of his 1990 Topps card. I couldn’t give those cards away, so I donated them to the local recycling center. I’m pretty sure those pieces of cardboard had a more useful second life as a cereal box or toilet paper roll.

Mike Fleagle
Martinsburg, WV

Thankfully I haven’t hoarded too many of these misses, but the one that still hurts to this day is the UD High number Jerome Walton rookie card that I paid $25 for and now can get for less than a buck!

Other great misses – Ben McDonald, Todd Van Poppel, Chris Sabo, Matt Nokes, and more recently Travis Lee.

I really think an appendum should come to this article, reading “which current rookies do you think will flop?” Although I am a huge fan, and subsequently a J-hey fan, I think Heyward will faulter, not completely plummet, but will be a B player. Furthermore, Bryce Harper will be a five-year from now failure, I can almost guarantee it. Not that I dont like the kid, in fact one of my students is friends with him, I just dont think he will ever surpass or match true star quality.

BRIEN TAYLOR….100 mph fastball…his Mom outsmarted George Steinbrenner . I bought up everything I could find on this kid. When the Yankees wanted him to go to the winter instructional league to learn a first base pickoff move ,Mom said no .That winter Brien got into a bar fight and messed up that multi-million dollar arm. I can’t wait to have grandchildren so I can put BRIEN TAYLOR rookies in their bike spokes to make motor noises !

oops….I’m in Rochester,NY

I agree with Nathan Crandall about Bryce Harper. What is Harper truly capable of as a ball player? Miguel Cabrera is a career .317 hitter, has over 30 2B’s, 30 HR’s, and 100+ RBI for 8 consecutive years, which is every full-season he has played. You can pick up his 2000 Topps Traded for under $10.00 and Chrome Traded for around $15.00. Unless you have autographed RC’s or low serial #d parallels, I don’t see the Superman/Hercules ability in Harper that will return on investment for those buying up all the Harper RC’s expecting a gold mine. Even if he develops tremendous power like Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder- you are still in the same boat with the rookie card investment. You can pick up 2001 XRC Howard’s or 2003 RCs for $5.00. Will Harper hit 40 or 50 HRs a year? I think Harper will be a VERY GOOD player, maybe even GREAT, but unless he hits above Pujols like production, I don’t believe his cards will return on investment.
Ben
Stockton, CA

Jeff Francouer….

loaded up on him probably have 35 cards bowman chrome paid like $40-50.. now worth $10 ouch…but i do have a bunch of the xfactor and refractors those are still worlth decent $$$ but not what I hear it was going to be…darn you Jeff…

I thought Greg Oden was going to be the next Bill Rusell on defense and the next good bigman in the NBA. He was limited offensively but was a great rebounder and shot blocker. I thought he would be presence in the paint probably average 15 pts, 12 rebs, and about 4 blks a game. I stocked up on a lot of his rookie and several autos. The lesson I learned after Oden is to not invest in highly touted rookies or big name 1st round picks in their first season.

Walt P from Atlanta, GA

Chris Sabo (200 cards hoarded), Al Leiter (250), Walt Weiss (100), Gary Sheffield (500), Ricky Jordan (300) too many too list.

I hoarded about 200 juan gonzalez rookies in the early 90′s. Thought he was going to be great and he was…. the steroid thing killed his reputation and card value.. luckily I bought most of my collection early on and havent lost much. Bo Jackson was another that I lost out on due to shortened career.

Scott Erickson!