Topps Looks To Salvage Barry Bonds

The controversial “Trade Barry” billboard that first appeared near AT&T Ballpark in San Francisco at the beginning of the season was not the work of a disgruntled baseball fan. To the surprise of many baseball fans in the San Francisco area, the billboard was created by Topps. Three days later, a new billboard reading “TRADE BARRY’s CARDS WITH TOPPS – The Exclusive Home of Barry’s Home Run Chase” replaced the original. The Giants were aware of the ad campaign from the beginning.

Topps was attempting to salvage a two-year exclusive rights contract with Barry Bonds signed in December 2004, just weeks before excerpts of Bond’s grand jury testimony in the BALCO investigation were revealed by the San Francisco Examiner. The deal is believed to be worth more than $2 million. The manufacturer is hoping to create interest in the 15-card “Barry Bonds Chase to 715 Set” available through topps.com and barrybonds.com for $49.95.

Possible links to steroid use combined with Bonds’s physical ailments and general surliness have taken a toll on the value of his baseball cards. Because baseball card sets chronicle history, Bonds cards are being bought and sold, but for significantly reduced prices.

The value of Bonds’s rookie cards have fallen steadily as he chases Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. According to a report on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”, high-end Bonds items have fallen 50% or more over the last two years. The Bonds 1986 Topps Traded rookie, which sold for over $100 two years ago, are readily available on eBay for less than $20 with graded versions going for $30. The value of his game-used memorabilia cards pale in comparison to popular sluggers like Albert Pujols and David Ortiz.

The Rise of Albert Pujols and His Baseball Cards

As Barry Bonds passes Babe Ruth and takes aim at Hank Aaron, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols has emerged as baseball’s most popular and collectible slugger.

The hobby’s most pursued card is the limited Pujols ‘01 Bowman Chrome “Autograph” rookie (#340), currently selling for $2,500. Because of the black borders, graded versions of this card are extremely rare. Of the 207 different Pujols Chrome “Autograph” rookies that have been submitted to Beckett Grading Services, only one has received a 10 rating (the highest possible grade). This one-and-only pristine card recently sold for $15,400, while a 9.5 version sold for $10,200.

Just 26 years old, Pujols is already considered baseball’s best right-handed hitter. The reigning MVP is the only player in history to begin his career with five 30-homer seasons and he began the 2006 season by setting the major league record for homers in April (14). Pujols has been a model of consistency, averaging 40 home runs and 124 RBI per season and batting .332 over his career.

The Pujols legend began in 1999 at a Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City, a school known more for business management and engineering than baseball. While teammates were focused on their studies and other collegiate activities, Pujols, then a shortstop, set his sights on the major leagues. In his one season of college ball, Pujols hit .461. Just Minors captures Pujols’s brief college baseball career with ‘04 “Featured Insert” (#AP1), a good buy for $5.

Although scouts marveled at Pujols’s natural hitting ability, power, and work ethic, they were concerned about his weight and ability to play defense in the majors. He dropped all the way to the 13th round, where the Cardinals made him the 402nd player chosen. Just before the start of the next college season, Pujols signed with the Cardinals for $60,000. He spent the 2000 season climbing the organizational chart, earning an invitation to spring training the following season.

Still a bit raw and without a position, the Cardinals figured Pujols would begin the season in the minors, until Bobby Bonilla pulled a hamstring before the team headed north. Pujols quickly overcame the Cardinals concerns, setting an NL rookie mark for RBI (13) and total bases (360) while hitting .329 with 37 homers. The Pujols ‘02 Topps card (#719, selling for $4), recounts Pujols’s Rookie of the Year season.

Pujols game-used cards are extremely active, ranging from $10-$500.

Keith Olbermann Sparks Alex Gordon Cards

Alex Gordon is at least several months away from the majors, but news/sports pundit and avid baseball card collector Keith Olbermann recently paid $7,500 for a fully-intact gem-mint version of Gordon’s 2006 Topps card. It’s not the player, but the actual baseball card that intrigues deep-pocketed collectors like Olbermann.

Last summer, in an effort to reduce confusion in the baseball collectibles marketplace, the Major League Player’s Association ruled that no player can be issued in standard issued 2006 sets before appearing in a major league game. Gordon, drafted No. 2 overall after leading Nebraska to the 2005 College World Series, did not qualify to have a 2006 rookie card, but somehow a handful of the third baseman’s cards survived the production process and reached the open market.

During the printing process, Topps cut the centers out of many Gordon cards, leaving only the borders. Hobbyists estimate 200-500 cut-out versions are in circulation, each selling for $30-$50 before Olbermann’s purchase, but are now selling for as much as $100.

When Olbermann buys a rare baseball card, collectors take notice. The former ESPN Sports Center host is a collectibles historian who published Collectors Quarterly magazine in the ‘70s. Olbermann’s baseball card collection covers every year from 1863 to the present.

Non-graded, fully-intact versions of the Gordon card were selling for $800-$900 before the Olbermann purchase. The same cards are now selling for $1,300. Hobby insiders estimate 10-12 of these cards exist.

A day after the Olbermann purchase, the number of Alex Gordon listings on eBay jumped from under 100 to over 1,000.

Interested buyers should be ware of a few unscrupulous dealers posting a picture of a full Gordon card, but actually selling a Topps box – be sure to read the fine print before placing a bid.

A third version of the mysterious Gordon Topps card appeared recently in the secondary market. Unlike the “cut-out” versions, this “blank front” is a full card. The gold-foil “Royals” inlay and banner consistent with 2006 Topps cards clearly appears, but without Gordon’s image. This first known “blank front” copy initially failed to sell on eBay with a starting bid of $999.99.