Speaking about The Apprentice, Jeff Allender lists 2 DT autos plus the following:

"Donald Trump (autograph; in yellow tie; 5 cases; less than 50 signed)"

I don't think I have ever seen that one. Does anyone have a scan ?

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Speaking about The Apprentice, Jeff Allender lists 2 DT autos plus the following:

"Donald Trump (autograph; in yellow tie; 5 cases; less than 50 signed)"

I don't think I have ever seen that one. Does anyone have a scan ?

Never seen it, but it is described as a multi-case dealer incentive, which means most would have been kept in house and accessible to the favorite sons. "The Apprentice" cards came out in 2005 and they were pretty much garbage all the way. They started cheap, were overproduced for the demand and were discounted. The Trump autographs were the highlights, but were rarely pulled, so for many years thereafter boxes were in bargain bins. The Trump autographs themselves fell off under $90 once the show turned into a publicity joke.

And that should have been the end of that. How many of us passed it all up and are kicking ourselves now?

I think this was one of the last card sets that Comic Images did.

The autos of the following are pretty much worthless. I see them unsold on ebay for just a few dollars each:

GR George Ross - Executive Vice President
BR Bill Rancic - Season One Winner
KP Kelly Perdew - Season Two Winner
KT Kendra Todd - Season Three Winner
CL Carolyn Kepcher - Executive Vice President

Yeah, maybe the most famous would be Bill Rancic because a lot of people watched the first season and talked about it but then there was a drop-off in interest in Season 2 as people seemed to talk about that one a lot less. Also, Rancic is married to a TV host, Guiliana, who has been on a couple of shows and also survived cancer. She's probably more widely known of the two of them now as the memory of "The Apprentice" has faded.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
I think this was one of the last card sets that Comic Images did.

The autos of the following are pretty much worthless. I see them unsold on ebay for just a few dollars each:

GR George Ross - Executive Vice President
BR Bill Rancic - Season One Winner
KP Kelly Perdew - Season Two Winner
KT Kendra Todd - Season Three Winner
CL Carolyn Kepcher - Executive Vice President

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Speaking about The Apprentice, Jeff Allender lists 2 DT autos plus the following:

"Donald Trump (autograph; in yellow tie; 5 cases; less than 50 signed)"

I don't think I have ever seen that one. Does anyone have a scan ?

Never seen it, but it is described as a multi-case dealer incentive, which means most would have been kept in house and accessible to the favorite sons. "The Apprentice" cards came out in 2005 and they were pretty much garbage all the way. They started cheap, were overproduced for the demand and were discounted. The Trump autographs were the highlights, but were rarely pulled, so for many years thereafter boxes were in bargain bins. The Trump autographs themselves fell off under $90 once the show turned into a publicity joke.

And that should have been the end of that. How many of us passed it all up and are kicking ourselves now?

I sold a couple of the Eclipse "New York Rotten To The Core" box sets that had early cards of not only Trump but also Giuliani for a few hundred bucks apiece during his first term. I'd only paid a couple of dollars each for them at their lowest ebb in the 90's, so even though I collect those Eclipse sets and still have all of the others, I had no problem selling them for that amount, and am happy to report that I don't miss them at all.

Hooboy, have you seen the value of 2009 Topps "SpongeBob SquarePants" cards these days? There were two series, issued in retail and hobby packs, and maybe blasters back then, I'm not sure.

Anyway, there are single, raw base cards regularly selling for $100 or more. Complete base sets of either series are almost never sold, but appear to be worth $1,000 or more when they do pop up. Sealed packs are hundred of dollars, sealed boxes, thousands. The sketches and actual sponge chase cards have long been valuable, but now the regular base and chase have increased in value along with them.

There was a very popular Spongebob Topps Chrome 25th Anniversary series earlier this year, and I think it helped shine a spotlight on these cards from 17 years ago (just as the new Star Wars Galaxy Chrome sets have spurred interest in the older SW Galaxy sets, particularly Series 4-7). I've got some SpongeBob, but obviously, I wish I'd bought more back then. I do have a complete set of the nearly 100 comic books and those have already become pricey.

Anybody else have any of the cards? Flip 'em now and get yourself a new landau roof and power steering!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

Noticed Patrick Stewart's Trek cards have been going for a good bit more than years past. Ditto Shatner, Nimoy and Avery Brooks - but P-Stew seems to have shot up...card depending, of course.

quote:

Originally posted by Davy's flicks:
Noticed Patrick Stewart's Trek cards have been going for a good bit more than years past. Ditto Shatner, Nimoy and Avery Brooks - but P-Stew seems to have shot up...card depending, of course.

I assume you are specifically talking about his Star Trek autograph cards. I would think so, to quote Nimoy, "It is only logical".

Now don't anybody take this the wrong way, just that it is true. The stars of Star Trek are getting older, as are we all. Stewart is 86 and Shatner is 95. We know what the autograph card market does when significant people pass away and that is why prices are holding for all their signed material and rising for some of the best examples. People who intend to resell are stocking up in advance of the event.

I have said this before, I believe it and I follow it myself. If you do not need a person's autograph while they are living, you shouldn't want it when they pass away. Financially that is not what happens, just look at the price jump in the sales of Hayden Paneittiere signed certified cards as a recent example. That was not expected, which made it something that sellers were not preparing for. With older stars who have authenticated product, they are positioning themselves to get in before the jump. And that is the unfortunate truth.

That's as maybe - but Stewart especially seems to have jumped up.
Perhaps the speculators think his Marvel work will make him rise above Shatner and Nimoy in time.

quote:

Originally posted by Davy's flicks:
That's as maybe - but Stewart especially seems to have jumped up.
Perhaps the speculators think his Marvel work will make him rise above Shatner and Nimoy in time.

Yes, you can make a good case that he is already there. Stewart is more than "Star Trek". He will appear in "Avengers: Doomsday" and he has his long-standing history in X-Men as another franchise title. Not to dismiss his broader stage and screen career and his international standing before he became known as a Star Trek Captain. Currently most of his certified autograph cards are fairly available at their price, but they are also more limited as a group. Also, many of Stewart's cards have on-card autographs rather than all being stickers, which tend to keep showing up.

That's not the case with Shatner. His best autograph cards are on RA Star Trek and they are limited and on-card. However, he has signed for Leaf Pop Century and on card products from several other card manufacturers going back to 2010 easily. They may not be licensed Star Trek, but the totality of the number of certified autograph cards from Shatner is huge and massively overproduced compared to Stewart. There are who knows how many unreleased sticker signatures waiting for products. Still sellers will try to raise the asking price should anything happen to him.

For Nimoy the bell has tolled and any increases on his autograph cards will be based on normal re-set supply and demand, even though the supply may still not be finite. Somehow RA still keeps trotting out more never released autograph cards 11 years after his death. They just did it in February, so go figure that one out.

Yeah, maybe go ahead and check to see if you have any 2009 Topps Spongebob cards in those old dusty boxes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29860...tkp%3ABk9SR4jlvpqLaA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16864...tkp%3ABk9SR4jlvpqLaA

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Yeah, maybe go ahead and check to see if you have any 2009 Topps Spongebob cards in those old dusty boxes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29860...tkp%3ABk9SR4jlvpqLaA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16864...tkp%3ABk9SR4jlvpqLaA

Looking at those two links, I am unfamiliar with the cards, and it makes me ask a couple of questions that maybe someone can answer.

For the 12 card chase set that sold for $3,000, unless there was a best offer taken that I can't see, they aren't graded and it says they were pack pulled. So was the production run on these cards so low as to support such a price? Weren't all the chase sets made in equal numbers or is this one short printed?

For the #1 SpongeBob card from Series 1 that went for $1,995, also noting a best offer option that I can't tell if taken, it appears to be base card #1 of the set. Now card #1 of any set can be more susceptible to damage, but this card isn't graded either, so its condition doesn't make it more valuable. Unless its short printed, why would it cost any more than the average price for any base card in the set? I know it's of SpongeBob, but it stands to reason that many of the base cards would be including him, not just this one. I also noticed that the seller called it SpongeBob #1 Rookie. Right there I would have a problem with anyone who thought I would fall for the rookie angle on a non-sport card. Every character in the set, on every card they appeared, could be deemed a rookie if you wanted to apply a non-applicable term to it.

I'm very happy for any collector who is holding these cards and, if someone is really buying them at these prices, all I can say is SELL, SELL, SELL.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

For the #1 SpongeBob card from Series 1 that went for $1,995, also noting a best offer option that I can't tell if taken, it appears to be base card #1 of the set. Now card #1 of any set can be more susceptible to damage, but this card isn't graded either, so its condition doesn't make it more valuable. Unless its short printed, why would it cost any more than the average price for any base card in the set? I know it's of SpongeBob, but it stands to reason that many of the base cards would be including him, not just this one. I also noticed that the seller called it SpongeBob #1 Rookie. Right there I would have a problem with anyone who thought I would fall for the rookie angle on a non-sport card. Every character in the set, on every card they appeared, could be deemed a rookie if you wanted to apply a non-applicable term to it.

I'm very happy for any collector who is holding these cards and, if someone is really buying them at these prices, all I can say is SELL, SELL, SELL.

Speculation on the "next big card" is driving it. As you said, they're considering this his "Rookie". As awful as that term is in the world of non-sports, that's all the sports guys know.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Yeah, maybe go ahead and check to see if you have any 2009 Topps Spongebob cards in those old dusty boxes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29860...tkp%3ABk9SR4jlvpqLaA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16864...tkp%3ABk9SR4jlvpqLaA

Looking at those two links, I am unfamiliar with the cards, and it makes me ask a couple of questions that maybe someone can answer.

For the 12 card chase set that sold for $3,000, unless there was a best offer taken that I can't see, they aren't graded and it says they were pack pulled. So was the production run on these cards so low as to support such a price? Weren't all the chase sets made in equal numbers or is this one short printed?

For the #1 SpongeBob card from Series 1 that went for $1,995, also noting a best offer option that I can't tell if taken, it appears to be base card #1 of the set. Now card #1 of any set can be more susceptible to damage, but this card isn't graded either, so its condition doesn't make it more valuable. Unless its short printed, why would it cost any more than the average price for any base card in the set? I know it's of SpongeBob, but it stands to reason that many of the base cards would be including him, not just this one. I also noticed that the seller called it SpongeBob #1 Rookie. Right there I would have a problem with anyone who thought I would fall for the rookie angle on a non-sport card. Every character in the set, on every card they appeared, could be deemed a rookie if you wanted to apply a non-applicable term to it.

I'm very happy for any collector who is holding these cards and, if someone is really buying them at these prices, all I can say is SELL, SELL, SELL.

Not even a chase set were the 12 cards that sold for 3 grand. Those were regular base cards from Series 2. The subset theme was Sponge Bob as depicted by the old art masters. Singles of certain ones can sell for $300+, so this was an unusual chance to get all 12 at once and someone took it. Conventional wisdom, of course, would be to just buy a full base set to get the 12 art cards along with the rest or else to purchase a full box of packs and assemble a set yourself.

Nope, the ship has sailed on that.

Also not offered are complete sets of series 1, and those few remaining sealed boxes of it are likewise prohibitively expensive.

There were two sets from Topps in 2009, sold in hobby and retail boxes. The big hits had been sketch cards and the actual sponge chase cards. Those have had great value for awhile, but now the base and regular chase is joining them.

As for the so-called Spongebob rookie in Series 1, even if one applies that appellation to non-sports issues, it's very likely Spongebob appeared on cards released before that one.

The second series followed the first quickly, but then it took Topps another 15+ years to make another set, the very popular Topps Chrome 25th Anniversary set from last year. I suspect another is on the way, and as people finally get submissions back from PSA, I'm thinking there will be a lot of these cards in graded slabs listed on Ebay.

Sold some Simpsons cards recently - some of that first set in the 90s, two graded Bartmans, and Dan Castellanta and Harry Shearer autos.

Those were higher sales than I thought.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:
they're considering this his "Rookie". As awful as that term is in the world of non-sports, that's all the sports guys know.

Wouldnt this one be his rookie?

There is no such thing as a "Rookie Card" in non-sport cards. There I have said it, period, stop.

The rookie year is the first year a player gets into the major leagues of whatever pro sport is involved. The "Rookie Card" is his first pro licensed card wearing the league team uniform and is issued usually, but not always, in the first season he appeared in pro games. I'm not going to go into all the rules, over the years specific "rookie card" timing changes have altered the designations. Because a "rookie card" can be very close to a good player's best card, more money became attached to it and every manufacturer wanted multiple hot rookie cards in their products. In the end they were just making them up for gullible buyers who fell hook line and sinker. In later years, the qualifications were actually narrowed to restrict the number of "rookie cards" manufacturers could claim to apply the RC label.

When sports minded card sellers and high-end gamblers started to see more value in the non-sport card market, they switched the same methods of promotion and hype to non-sport cards. It's been going on for many years now. The resistance to grading non-sport cards eroded. The call to turn old overproduced 90's product and Marvel cards sets into something valuable went viral with influencers and online experts calling them investments. The pandemic hit and new buyers with lots of money and little experience found another hobby.

And some smart guys started saying that old non-sport cards had rookie cards of specific celebrities or just characters in live action or animation. I think the Justin Bieber set may have been the one that really sealed the deal. Base cards in discarded overproduced sets that were gathering dust became hot and even worthy of grading. The market sets the standards and the market is dumb, and maybe insane, but definitely dumb. It became a game of hot potato. As long as the influencers got rid of it, the last person holding has to worry about the investment.

Anyway, call it first appearance on a licensed card if you must. That doesn't have the same ring to it, but at least it makes sense. And yes, a 2001 licensed card of SpongeBob should beat any 2009 as a first appearance. Only then you'd have to get into method of distribution, and availability, and production numbers, and there are a dozen ways to twist the narrative to support some invented pre-determined conclusion to get more money from somebody.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
There is no such thing as a "Rookie Card" in non-sport cards. There I have said it, period, stop.

I think most of us agree.