Thursday, September 8, 2011

Felix Hernandez and Nick Markakis Hit Additions. How Much?

My local shop is awesomely awesome. I'm just going to come right out and say that. Granted, I've said that time and time again, as I've been fortunate enough to score great cards of all kinds at ridiculously fantastic prices. Cards to keep, cards to trade away, and cards that I may or may not end up keeping.

I truly wish everyone had an LCS as wonderful as mine. I've seen countless posts from many of you about poor experiences at a shop near you, and it's never a good feeling to read one of those, so I can only imagine how it must feel for someone who tries to buy cards there or is forced to return because it's the only shop anywhere near their abode.

I bring this up because I recently picked up a pair of cards from my LCS for a really swell price. A bargain. A steal. They were scanned about a week ago, so I thought I should actually get around to posting them. And away we go.


First up, a sweet Nick Markakis auto from 2007 Topps Co-Signers. I really like the design of these Solo Sigs cards. Simple, and even the sticker isn't so gaudy as to detract from the card itself. I've been a Markakis fan for quite some time, and there was a 3-4 year period where I drafted him every year in my main fantasy league. He had a great stretch from 2007-2008 where he put up consecutive seasons of 4.3 and 6.3 WAR, contributing with his bat, glove, and legs.

He was fairly underrated during that time, but as his profile rose, his play unfortunately did not follow suit. He has been in decline the last three years, and has not produced a season even close to either of those two, clocking in under 2.6 WAR in each subsequent 162-game period. While WAR does have its drawbacks, and there are kinks to work out, it is undeniable that Nick has not lived up to the potential he displayed in those two fantastic seasons.

All that being said written, I have had my eye on this Markakis auto for months and months and months, but never pulled the trigger. I finally did, and I'm glad to have it. It falls into the aforementioned category of "cards that I may or may not end up keeping". I would certainly move it for the right offer (think Kemp, Kershaw, Russ Martin auto or [rare] relic or rookie card). But I don't mind keeping it if no offer jumps out at me.


Finally, this nice King Felix relic from 2007 UD Ultimate Collection. I had not seen it in the shop before, and King Felix is, well, King Felix. He's a beast, has a Cy Young Award on his mantle, and dominates for a team that is terrible at giving him run support. Always happy to pick up hits of great young players who improve year to year and are only getting better, particularly when they don't make my wallet scream bloody murder at me. Felix is a definite keeper.

A Hernandez auto would be just fine by me. Those, however, won't come nearly as cheap as this relic did.

Anyways, take a guess as to how much I paid for these two cards. Total price and price for each por favor.

8 comments:

  1. I'll say $3 for Markakis, $5 for Felix, total of $8. But then, I'm stingy when it comes to paying for cards.

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  2. I'm going with $5 total - $3 for Markakis and $2 for Felix.

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  3. I would say Markakis is worth $5 because its an auto. King Felix is probably worth $5 as well because he won the cy young last year.

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  4. $3.50 for Markakis & $1.50 for King Felix.

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  5. Some close guesses! I paid two bucks for each. A great deal, all things considered.

    Of all the close guesses, only Ryan G. had one correct guess with his Felix stab in the dark! Good work!

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  6. Dang, now that's some good dealing. The LCS here has a best deal at about $4 per "cheap" auto/relic when you buy five or more.

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  7. Ryan G.- Yeah, I'm a lucky dude in this respect.

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