Several times Card Talk posters have said there should be a thread for undervalued non-sport cards. So here it is. If anyone wants to share any hunches, tips, thoughts or opinions about particular non-sport cards that they believe are currently undervalued or likely to go up in value in the future, try putting it in this thread. It can be common cards with minimal prices or already premium hits that you expect to go even higher or cards that you don't think are widely known. It may be mainly autograph cards, but any type of hit could apply and it doesn't have to be all about the money, but also just giving information to other non-sport card collectors.

So I'll kick it off with a common autograph card I pulled from Walking Dead's First Season, everybody's least favorite kid, Chandler Riggs. I had no use for that card, but now he's 20, dead on WD but alive on primetime's A Million Little Things. Could he be a child actor who actually stays in the business and does something? Don't know, but his autograph cards might be ones to watch.

Two Star Wars suggestions:

1. James Earl Jones on Star Wars card stock (hard-signed)
JEJ has signed a bit over the years but the majority have been sticker autos. If memory serves he signed on-card just 4 times: SW Evolution (2001); SW Heritage (2004); the first SW Masterworks and Chrome Perspectives (both in 2015).

He has always been a good signer for card companies, and TTM, but I suspect Topps took this for granted and JEJ left them high dry - he has not been in a set since the last two mentioned and no single sticker autos have been put out either. He has stopped signing TTM, and the guy is pushing 90.

Yes, Davie Prowse was in the suit but the voice is what made Vader one of the most iconic characters in cinema history. His hard-signed autos are getting harder to come by and prices have been creeping up for a couple of years now. His pool of total auto cards is smaller than many other Star Wars actors and there look to be no more to come. As important as the big three (Luke, Leia and Solo) and will always be popular with collectors, sadly probably even more so when he passes and people realise there really aren't that many hard-signed Vader cards out there.

2. Harrison Ford Star Wars Stellar autos
Bit of a unusual one this... Gone are the days when Ford's first SW (sticker) auto went for $10k - now he is sub $1k because Topps have dumped x300 on-card Ford autographs onto the market in the last 3 years across three Stellar sets. Who thought that would ever happen?
All the big breakers on Blowout bemoan the loss of value in his auto, but there has never been such a good time to get him. Maybe he will keep signing more and more and his price will bottom-out even further? But maybe he won't. He's signed plenty now.

What we have at last is a buyer's market and a reasonable availability of on-card autos with Stellar's thick stock and sharp-looking images/design, and all slabbed in very presentable hard-cases no less that prevent damage and handling wear.

He is expensive for sure, but Ford is a bonafide Hollywood star who has played two of the most iconic characters in film. One day the stock will dry up and these will creep up in price again I reckon. All on card, plenty of space for his large and varied signature, and with the release of Stellar 3 we finally have on-card examples for A New Hope, Empire and Jedi to please all fans.


A note on Stellar, like I said, breakers are complaining Topps are killing the high-end SW card market and I'd be inclined to agree. Lots of low end autos included in a set that should have more high end names, as originally touted, means dealers are more inclined to take a little less on the big cards to claw some money back, especially when Topps keeps pumping out the same names every year.

And like Ford, others big names are taking a big hit too: Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver are the cheapest they have ever been.
The cards present well, the colour variants add extra visual appeal for a wider group of fans and I do think the original hard cases will make the cards from these sets more desirable in the long-term from a security (forgery), and condition point of view.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

So I'll kick it off with a common autograph card I pulled from Walking Dead's First Season, everybody's least favorite kid, Chandler Riggs. I had no use for that card, but now he's 20, dead on WD but alive on primetime's A Million Little Things. Could he be a child actor who actually stays in the business and does something? Don't know, but his autograph cards might be ones to watch.

I have one of those early cards as well, already that first set seems to hold it's value pretty well. Also Chandler's signature has changed big time since then. Totally agree with this one.

Michael Emerson can still be had for under $20. Asking prices are higher but true auction prices are still good.

Interesting watching the Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane cards continue to climb.

I think it was as recently as a couple of years ago that I noticed that Kirsten Dunst had an autograph card by redemption for the Small Soldiers (Inkworks, 1998) set. A year after the release it was worth about $50. The 2019 Beckett has it at $120 on the high end and two have sold for almost exactly that in the past three months. I wonder what the ceiling is on that card. She's a good actress and fans know her from a variety of projects (Spider-Man, Virgin Suicides, and everyone seemed to like her recent role in the TV show, Fargo).

What if she connects with another franchise or high profile director? You can't call that autograph a sleeper since it's a known quantity among autograph card collectors but I do think it will bump up in value. Some collectors who don't have it now might want it just because it's one of the older certified autograph cards. It's certainly holding a good value.

Jess

For a good couple of years that Dunst Small Soldiers autograph card was like a Holy Grail to me. I would bid in every eBay auction I saw and would get outbid in the last two minutes each time. I wanted to catch it under $100 because back then $100 seemed like a lot for one card to me.

Finally I caught one and it was because I broke the barrier and did have to go slightly up from $100, but I waited for that card longer than any other. It has always maintained it's value as far as I know and I would agree that it has room to go up if she has a good run in something new.

So far the asking price for Angela Bassett from Black Panther is $70 and up but the selling price has been between $25 and $35.....would recommend watching the auctions for this one. Just picked one up for $29

quote:

Originally posted by X:
Two Star Wars suggestions:

1. James Earl Jones on Star Wars card stock (hard-signed)
JEJ has signed a bit over the years but the majority have been sticker autos. If memory serves he signed on-card just 4 times: SW Evolution (2001); SW Heritage (2004); the first SW Masterworks and Chrome Perspectives (both in 2015).

Although you are talking Star Wars, Conan JEJ was also on card. Which still mostly flies under the radar. Only 333 exist. Not to mention the incredibly cool Mako autograph!

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
So far the asking price for Angela Bassett from Black Panther is $70 and up but the selling price has been between $25 and $35.....would recommend watching the auctions for this one. Just picked one up for $29

Wow, I didn't realize Bassett autos were that inexpensive. I'm surprised.

Sterling K. Brown feels like the kind of guy who might find himself in some Oscar-season stuff at some point. His autographs (only stickers, sadly) are very cheap.

David Harbour autos from James Bond can be had for less than $10, which honestly shocks me given the popularity of Stranger Things. I think I got mine for $3 within the past year.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenheart:
Sterling K. Brown feels like the kind of guy who might find himself in some Oscar-season stuff at some point. His autographs (only stickers, sadly) are very cheap.

Think you may be correct on that. Pretty impressive IMDB profile. Not only does the sticker suck, the fact that it seems to condense his autograph looks bad too. But for under $20 I will probably jump on it.

Some of the Americana stuff has really dropped as well. Joan Collins for $17 shipped.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Some of the Americana stuff has really dropped as well. Joan Collins for $17 shipped.

Just did a search and saw several recent sales for under $10, that said I personally don't see this moving much.

Been keeping a watch on a couple of actors.

HERMIONE CORFIELD You can pick up her star wars cards for £10-15 at the moment. She has been picking up quite a few films roles recently, mostly minor but her latest The misfits due out next year has a strong cast. Wouldnt be surprised if she becomes a star and with the low prices it was worth a gamble for me.

Second one was Charlotte Hope you can pick up her Game of Thrones cards pretty cheap. Was hoping her career would take off after landing the lead in The Spanish princess, a 2nd season has been confirmed but she hasnt picked up much else so far.

Francis Conroy still super cheap, even after that great performance as the Joker's mother.

AHS and The Seeker

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Neilsy:
Been keeping a watch on a couple of actors.

HERMIONE CORFIELD You can pick up her star wars cards for £10-15 at the moment. She has been picking up quite a few films roles recently, mostly minor but her latest The misfits due out next year has a strong cast. Wouldnt be surprised if she becomes a star and with the low prices it was worth a gamble for me.

Not really sure about Charlotte yet but definitely worth keeping an eye on Hermione. The Misfits looks interesting, unfortunately Pierce Brosnan isn't a big hit guarantee anymore.

Also it would appear she has already begun to shorten her signature between the 2018 and 2019 cards.


Also been noticing the Americana Kevin Hart autograph cards seem to be on the move upward.

Olga Kurylenko is very busy these days, she currently has 7 films either completed, in post production or pre production.

Her Vampire Academy card is still in a decent range and it is a nice full signature. Looks much better than her James Bond autograph.

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

There are a few good autos in Vampire Academy. I keep waiting for the Sarah Hyland autograph to jump, but it hasn't. . .

At one point I really thought Jadagrace from Terminator Salvation had a lot of potential. . . still has potential and you can find the autos under $10, but I'm just not sure on that one anymore. A couple of years ago she had a song on the radio. . .

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
There are a few good autos in Vampire Academy. I keep waiting for the Sarah Hyland autograph to jump, but it hasn't. . .

Plus it was a short print. 199 12 box cases. I picked up a case for like $200 and ended up with multiple sigs of everyone. Including two Olga's which were redemption cards that they honored.

I thought I read somewhere that Sarah was really sick. Possibly career ending.

Speaking of Terminator Salvation, you can get the autograph card of one of the greatest theatre and film actresses of her time for a few bucks. Jane Alexander.

If you want a very nice card set with autographs and auto/relics from Lilly Collins, Lena Headey and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers among others, try Mortal Instruments City of Bones. They aren't terribly cheap, but I think undervalued.

What these titles, Vampire Academy, Terminator Salvation, Mortal Instruments, The Seeker, all have in common is that they were major flops that few people saw when they came out. Some people still haven't heard of them and the cards really didn't do well because of it. Terminator Salvation was a poor product, but Mortal Instruments and The Seeker had complete auto checklists with all the stars signing.

I'm not familiar with Vampire Academy enough to know about that one, but sometimes the card sets are much better than the movie and are worth picking up on their own merit.

I thought TERMINATOR SALVATION was a great movie and eagerly collected all the cards, autographs included. But that's just because I have impeccable taste, harumph, harumph.