Visit our storeHow long does it take for buzz to fade? A week? A Month? How about a year? A lot can happen in that amount of time i.e., a player’s performance could be less than expected, they could get hurt, the press could expose personal life blemishes, etc. The list does have an end, but the point I’m trying to make here is that there are many reasons why buzz around a player often ends at some point. That said, sale values around the beginning of a career, which proved to be cut short by injury, or less than expected, aren’t likely to be reproduced and we shouldn’t expect them to anyway.
Okay, so how about 15 years later for a player who, while had an excellent career, was sidelined by injuries and has no chance of a Hall of Fame induction? This is what happened with one of my favorite pitchers, Stephen Strasburg. His 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Superfractor sold for north of $20,000 when it surfaced a month before his MLB debut, which was the perfect time. However, the hype didn’t last.
Stephen Strasburg won the 2019 World Series MVP, which was well deserved as he helped the Nationals achieve their first WS victory in franchise history.1 This would’ve been the right time to list any high end Stephen Strasburg cards.
Today, the value for the 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Superfractor wouldn’t be anywhere near the 2010 price and for a couple of reasons. 2019 was Stephen Strasburg’s last productive year as injuries derailed the rest of his three remaining career years and led to his early retirement.2 His career spanned just 13 years, shorter than many consider required to achieve Hall of Fame status, and that’s for consistently productive and healthy players. While he was productive for 9 of those 13 years, what was accomplished during that span of time wasn’t enough.3
So the question now becomes, can that $20,000 sale value from 2010 be reproduced today? The answer is no. I’ve purchased many 1 of 1 Stephen Strasburg cards from 2010 with most acquisitions made prior to his retirement and, outside of the 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Superfractor, none of them have sold for anywhere near even $1000. That said, there’s exactly no reason to believe the Stephen Strasburg 2010 Topps Chrome Superfractor has any chance, and I mean any chance, at ever achieving the same level of market participation that existed in May of 2010. It’s not even close. History makes this impossible. And yet, the seller believes otherwise. Take a look.
Listed: July 1, 2025
Asking Price: $23,710
In addition to it being completely outside of the scope of reality, the asking price seems almost random. Why $23,710? It may as well be a million. If I were to guess a realistic estimate of actual market value of this card if it were listed auction style, I’d say it’d land somewhere between $800-1200, but probably closer to $800. Reality doesn’t care about perceived market value.
References:
- Strasburg 1st No. 1 overall pick named WS MVP. www.mlb.com ↩︎
- Nationals star pitcher Stephen Strasburg officially retires at 35. www.espn.com ↩︎
- Stephen Strasburg. www.baseball-reference.com ↩︎
