Minor league cards and Jose Altuve... a conundrum.

[AustinMike]

Originally Posted by AstroJake09

Hi all,

I'm a big time 'Stros fan, have been since '04 (no I do not claim the 2017 title, the whole deal breaks my heart.) I was looking into some cards of Altuve and remembered that in 2008 he had a scarce and very limited team issued card when he was playing for the Greenville Astros. This is the first record of any card I can find for him at any level and also would have been his first year in the United States.

The card is rarely seen for sale and I actually passed on a graded copy for about $125 a few years back, I feel like I should have pulled the trigger at the time, especially with the way the market is now but hindsight is always 20/20. Plus with the stain that the cheating scandal leaves on a career regardless of the level of involvement, it makes collecting certain high value Astro cards tricky. With that said however, I've recently discovered another copy in raw, NM condition and am interested in pursuing it, I'm just unsure if I should place a hefty value on a minor league card of any player, regardless if it is the first printed card as is the case for Altuve. With everyone collecting flagship and chrome etc. do minor league cards like these still carry value for a guy like Altuve? If we were talking Trout I'm sure that answer is yes, but here I'm unsure. I'm a fan first but it is always nice to have a backup plan for whatever reason when purchasing something like this should I need to sell. So I'm curious as to the opinions on here and if anyone could help me come up with a valuation. Also, if anyone on here has a copy of Altuve's 2008 card, send me a PM!

Thanks and Go 'Stros!

Jake

Jake, I was a big collector of minor league cards primarily in the '90s. 2001 was the last year I bought minor league cards. So ... my perception is somewhat dated. I've always felt that minor league cards were under valued. Production figures of minor league cards are well below production figures for the majors. However, it's all about supply and demand. The demand for minor league cards is even "more well below" the demand for major league cards. Hence, a first year minor league card will hardly ever be as "valuable" as a first year major league card.

But with that said, it's really up to you. How badly do you want that Altuve card? Do you know how many were made? Some of the low minor team sets were produced in the 500 to 1,000 range. Is that the case here? If so, you need to factor that in. You won't have many opportunities to get it.

One other thing to consider - when I was buying minor league cards, I only bought complete team sets. I never bought singles that supposedly came from a team set. I felt that helped minimize the chances of getting a fake on big name players. Plus, typically, the cost of the team set isn't much more than the cost of the individual star player.

Lastly, being a 'Stros fan, you might enjoy seeing these. The card on the left is from the 1988 Tucson Toros Jones Photo team set (unfortunately, my picture is a little blurry). The one on the right is a proof.

[vthobby]

is this the card?

s-l1600.jpg

[AstroJake09]

Originally Posted by vtgmsc

is this the card?

Attachment 463312

That's his second card from '09.

The one from '08 is this one:

[vthobby]

Originally Posted by AstroJake09

That's his second card from '09.

The one from '08 is this one:

Never seen it! It does not even look like him! So cool of a card though!

Good luck!

Mike

[buymycards]

I don't see any on COMC and there is only 1 listed on eBay. A Beckett 9.5 with an asking price of $4500.

I'm guessing that only a 1000 or less sets were made. As far as value, who knows? In the next few years will he have a drug scandal? A domestic abuse scandal? If you really want the card, don't worry about what it will be worth down the road. Just enjoy the fact that you will have a very scarce card of a great player.

I have sold 600 minor league sets in the past 18 months. It is amazing that cards of some great players have very little value, but some of the team issued sets, with no players that ever made the majors, have a lot of value.

If I run across one of these sets I will let you know.

Rick

[Mike D.]

Looks to be fairly rare based on the fact that tcdb.com doesn't have a scan, and it's a PSA pop 2 (one 8, one 9).

[mrmopar]

I have always enjoyed minor league cards. Especially older ones that had character. although I see a lot of newer cards with some really cool designs that remind me of a time when card sets had character and didn't all just look the same year after year. I would also agree that many of the small sponsor and team sponsored sets will be in very small quantities relative to say a first Topps card..probably a small fraction of the copies in fact.

Plenty of folks collect them for sure, but maybe more of a niche category? Kind of like oddball cards. Now though, it seems someone is always looking for that "rookie" card in whatever form they can find it. Foreign League stamps and stickers, Sportcasters, Panini Stickers, Candy issues, etc. Not to mention Hostess and Kelloggs cards of the 70s that were popular, but seemingly overlooked by most for rookie cards of guys like Murray, Ozzie Smith, Eck, Yount and Brett to name a few of the key biggies.