Most overrated card

[mm1sub]

I was wondering what people here think is the most overrated card of all time. I may make a bunch of people here pretty mad but I am going with the 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie. It is a fairly common card to find in comparison to his 1969 or 1970 Topps cards. This card sold for around 1800.00 at one point in the past. I have always thought that he was not as good as everyone always thinks. And I am tired of hearing about playing on bad teams. Johnny Bench's rookie card is in the same set and is priced nowhere near the Ryan card. Bench is probably the greatest catcher of all time. Does anybody seriously think Nolan Ryan is the greatest pitcher of all time? Ask anybody who watched Seaver, Carlton and Ryan pitch and ask them who they would want on the mound to win game seven of the World Series. Ryan would be third in that argument.

Please let me know what card you think is the most overrated and not just bash me for my choice.

 

[Beachbum]

I think it is the '89 UD Griffey, and I love this card but it is just as plentiful as the Fleer and Donruss and those are $8 cards. I would agree with you on the card of your choice, I don't know about Ryan's greatness, I think he is pretty darn close to being the best all time but I won't dig in on it. You're right about the '68 compared to the '70....I have a '68 and the '70 eludes me.

 

[Tony Kozelichki]

I'd like to say any 1/1 cards out there (or any short print for that matter), as this makes being a player collector not only difficult, but impossible, to attain "every" card of your favorite player, including the scrubs.

Actually, my most over-rated card is the T-206 Wagner. I can remember back in the 70's when it was said there were fewer than a dozen of them known. Now, more than 60 are in circulation (60 times a 1/1 card of Joe Schmo, for example). Shouldn't the Joe Schmo be worth more than the several million the Wagner commands?

 

[valediction]

Define overrated. The price on the Ryan is simply demand, nothing to do with how hard it is to find. There are many more collectors of Nolan Ryan than there are Johnny Bench. Rule #1 in baseball cards is: Power sells. But it is power pitchers and power hitters that most people consider, not specific positions. Ryan was one of if not the greatest pure power pitchers of all time, Bench was a very good power hitter, but position excluded, he's not in the greatest of all time discussion when power hitters come up. Power is what catches the attention of the masses more times than anything else. A .250 hitter with 47 HR gets more press than a .320 hitter with 15 HR. As great as Ichiro's run past Sisler's record was, in this country, it didn't get the media that Sosa/McGwire or Bonds did. As you mentioned, the card itself is not tough to find, but when people look at baseball's past, they see 'most No hitters, Nolan Ryan, most strikeouts lifetime, Nolan Ryan, most strikeouts season, Nolan Ryan, most seasons 300+ K's, Nolan Ryan, Most K's after age 40, Nolan Ryan... they don't see that kind of dominance with Bench as a hitter unless you qualify it with 'among catchers'.

 

[valediction]

Tony, depends on demand. Do you know more people who collect HOF'ers and vintage cards, or more Neil Walker collectors? There is a LOT more demand for a T-206 Wagner than there is for a printing plate of Walker.

 

[mm1sub]

Define overrated. The price on the Ryan is simply demand, nothing to do with how hard it is to find. There are many more collectors of Nolan Ryan than there are Johnny Bench. Rule #1 in baseball cards is: Power sells. But it is power pitchers and power hitters that most people consider, not specific positions. Ryan was one of if not the greatest pure power pitchers of all time, Bench was a very good power hitter, but position excluded, he's not in the greatest of all time discussion when power hitters come up. Power is what catches the attention of the masses more times than anything else. A .250 hitter with 47 HR gets more press than a .320 hitter with 15 HR. As great as Ichiro's run past Sisler's record was, in this country, it didn't get the media that Sosa/McGwire or Bonds did. As you mentioned, the card itself is not tough to find, but when people look at baseball's past, they see 'most No hitters, Nolan Ryan, most strikeouts lifetime, Nolan Ryan, most strikeouts season, Nolan Ryan, most seasons 300+ K's, Nolan Ryan, Most K's after age 40, Nolan Ryan... they don't see that kind of dominance with Bench as a hitter unless you qualify it with 'among catchers'.

So what card do you think is overrated? I think it is overrated and overpriced based on hype. That was my point. I know the demand is there but I just think it was over hyped.

 

[valediction]

Again, I'm not sure how to define overrated. If all you are looking for is overpriced for how easy it is to find, pick any HOF rookie since about the beginning of sports cards, pick any current rookie who hasn't put up numbers at the major league level to justify the price tag, pick almost any star/HOF'er card at all really once they stopped issuing in series or in the same series. For the most part they are all issued in the same quantities aside from a few Short prints or variations that got switched. A 1993 SP Jeter is no harder to find than a Jeremy Burnitz, in fact it may well be easier because many people would either toss the Burnitz or tuck it in a monster box and forget about it. Same with 1986/87 Fleer basketball, Jordan rookies were made in the same quantities as a common. A 1952 Mantle and Mays were printed equally. Demand is the only difference. Was Mantle really 5X the player Mays was? 1967 Topps high #'s are tough, but is Brooks Robinson 10X tougher than a common player?

 

[mm1sub]

Again, I'm not sure how to define overrated. If all you are looking for is overpriced for how easy it is to find, pick any HOF rookie since about the beginning of sports cards, pick any current rookie who hasn't put up numbers at the major league level to justify the price tag, pick almost any star/HOF'er card at all really once they stopped issuing in series or in the same series. For the most part they are all issued in the same quantities aside from a few Short prints or variations that got switched. A 1993 SP Jeter is no harder to find than a Jeremy Burnitz, in fact it may well be easier because many people would either toss the Burnitz or tuck it in a monster box and forget about it. Same with 1986/87 Fleer basketball, Jordan rookies were made in the same quantities as a common. A 1952 Mantle and Mays were printed equally. Demand is the only difference. Was Mantle really 5X the player Mays was? 1967 Topps high #'s are tough, but is Brooks Robinson 10X tougher than a common player?

OK. Thanks for your input.

 

[t.rooster]

Overrated is a tough definition..... maybe ANY rookie card as it tends to be the card with the highest bv, yet a player will have better years than his rc but that doesn't seem to reflect in that particular year's card.....

 

[bonzomoretti]

It's all about demand that sets that Ryan RC so high. Just like Maddux said, "Chicks Dig the Home Run"! Well, when it comes to pitching, Chicks dig the Strikeouts!!!

 

[valediction]

OK. Thanks for your input.

I'm honestly asking, what kind of criteria are you looking at in terms of a card being overrated? From your original post and the follow up all I can see is 'I think Nolan Ryan is overrated and his rookie card is the most expensive but it isn't as tough as some others, so it is overrated' You are not going to convince Ryan fans he is overrated ay more than they will convince you he is underrated. Rookie cards are far more often than not the most expensive mainstream cards of that player. It doesn't make sense, but it is. They are rarely the toughest to find. I'm sure most dealers would love to get 1968 Ryan prices for a 1982 Topps blackless, but that's simply not going to happen unless demand shifts away from rookie cards. I'm not bagging on your choice, I agree it's overvalued in my opinion. It's not a tough card to find, even in higher grades, Mr. Mint made the same point in the early 1990's. Most collector/investors feel that is the card to have, and until that mindset changes, it's nothing more than a case of demand outstripping supply, even if the supply is plentiful. You could make an argument any card in a BGS/PSA 10 holder is overrated, the differences between a 10 and a 9 and an 8 are often seen only under magnification, but the price difference can be 10's, 100's, 1000's of dollars or more. That to me is an example of overrated, but just like your Ryan example, unless the hobby stops paying for the 9's and 10's, I'm in the minority, and it's hard to argue it's overrated when it consistently gets those prices and buyers are fighting for them.

 

[mm1sub]

I'm honestly asking, what kind of criteria are you looking at in terms of a card being overrated? From your original post and the follow up all I can see is 'I think Nolan Ryan is overrated and his rookie card is the most expensive but it isn't as tough as some others, so it is overrated' You are not going to convince Ryan fans he is overrated ay more than they will convince you he is underrated. Rookie cards are far more often than not the most expensive mainstream cards of that player. It doesn't make sense, but it is. They are rarely the toughest to find. I'm sure most dealers would love to get 1968 Ryan prices for a 1982 Topps blackless, but that's simply not going to happen unless demand shifts away from rookie cards. I'm not bagging on your choice, I agree it's overvalued in my opinion. It's not a tough card to find, even in higher grades, Mr. Mint made the same point in the early 1990's. Most collector/investors feel that is the card to have, and until that mindset changes, it's nothing more than a case of demand outstripping supply, even if the supply is plentiful. You could make an argument any card in a BGS/PSA 10 holder is overrated, the differences between a 10 and a 9 and an 8 are often seen only under magnification, but the price difference can be 10's, 100's, 1000's of dollars or more. That to me is an example of overrated, but just like your Ryan example, unless the hobby stops paying for the 9's and 10's, I'm in the minority, and it's hard to argue it's overrated when it consistently gets those prices and buyers are fighting for them.

What I was getting at is maybe not overrated but over priced. I have just never thought that the Ryan card should command that high of a price or that much attention. I have been at this long enough to know that cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay. I was trying to start a debate to see what card people think of as beig over hyped and over priced.

PS: This has been a great debate and even though it is only a couple of us it is nice to see some debate going on.

 

[valediction]

Overpriced? I'd be tempted to go with 2000 Topps Cabrera autograph, Ryan rookie type $ for a card you had a 1:80 chance of pulling each time you open a set, and there are still plenty of sets to open.

 

[bblair_2002]

Won't point out a single card but most so-called "high end" prospects in any Bowman product I consider overrated. How some cards of these kids fetch more money than nice HOFer RCs just blows my mind.

I can't agree with the Ryan RC. Jerry Koosman was no slouch on the pitcher's mound either.

 

[Jeffo65]

To me all cards are overrated. We as collectors put a value on each card. All cards are are a piece of cardboard with a picture on them. Using your 68 Nolan Ryan as an example, when it was $1800, the economy was good and many collectors had disposable income for their hobbies. Once the economy tanked, many collectors looked at the hobby and decided exactly what they wanted to collect rather than collecting everything. The value of Ryan's 1968 piece of cardboard has settled at a non overrated value to most Ryan collectors. Many collectors look at value as a way to rate these cards. Thus putting many high priced cards on the overrated list.

If I had to come up with an overrated card, I would say any RC of a player who has not had MLB playing time.

Remember the Brien Taylor, Joey Meyer, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg cards when the first hit the market. These cards in my eye were/are overrated. Compare the card prices now to what they were when the initial hype was going on.

Just my thoughts.

 

[bluewatertrader]

But you know whats funny we still collect them trade sometimes buy them and often sell no matter if there "overrated"
my entire card collection is overrated so I will trade you my overrated cards for your overrated cards sounds good to
me go ahead and post the trade and I'll confirm

 

[Beachbum]

But you know whats funny we still collect them trade sometimes buy them and often sell no matter if there "overrated"
my entire card collection is overrated so I will trade you my overrated cards for your overrated cards sounds good to
me go ahead and post the trade and I'll confirm

Very true..

I know an old timer that still wants 75% of book value for his VG condition vintage, he refuses to wake up and smell the coffee, he has rooms of this stuff and says he is going to wait out the market.

 

[Jeffo65]

But you know whats funny we still collect them trade sometimes buy them and often sell no matter if there "overrated"
my entire card collection is overrated so I will trade you my overrated cards for your overrated cards sounds good to
me go ahead and post the trade and I'll confirm

Definition of a hobby

 

[mrmopar]

Maybe not all time candidates, but a few overrated items that come to my mind that I still do not own but would like to, mainly because the demand is high enough to drive the prices far beyond what I think they should be compared to similar items. Neither item could really be considered rare by any means, yet the prices remain high enough to warrant a 2nd thought as to why in my mind.

Pete Rose RC
Roger Maris autograph

Here is one that I hope will eventually settle out, as most newer player autographs do:

Yasiel Puig Autographs

Most newer issues and star prospects experience an overrated period of time and then settle back down. I'm sure anyone who has ever jumped on the next hot thing bandwagon has sob stories to tell about the crashing book/real value of something they paid top dollar for!!

 

[TideFanDan]

I always thought that the 1989 Topps Gregg Jefferies was the most overrated card of all time.

1) He had a Donruss, Fleer, and Score from 1988, so it wasn't really even a rookie card.

2) He never really panned out as a superstar

3) Even if he had, there was never much a a market for shortstops unless
- Ozzie Smith, the best glove man of all time
- Cal Ripken, lots of pop, plus the Iron Man streak
- Derek Jeter, a true Yankee
- Gregg was none of these