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chrisoldsFiled under: Sports Cards | Tags: Beckett Hockey, Penguins, rookie card, Sidney Crosby
You don’t have to win the lottery to get free money. Sometimes, you just gotta be at the right place at the right time — with the right product.
A guy calls me today from Pittsburgh and asks about this Sidney Crosby Rookie Review card. Says it’s Crosby’s “first card.” I tell him, and Beckett Hockey pricing editor Al Muir confirms, that this card is an unauthorized card that came bundled in an obscure hobby publication.
Obviously, the guy had found a cheap stockpile of these for probably about 25 cents a card. Said he took 200 of them to a Penguins game the other night, stood outside the arena with the cards dangling from the inside of a trench coat and in 15 minutes had $2,000 in cash in his hand. Said he could have sold more if he’d had them with him.
In the end, they guy has sold nearly 5,000 of the Crosby cards and the companion Ben Rothliesberger cards that came in the same magazine. Do the math.
Listen, if for $10 a guy feels like he got a good deal on a card he wants, then so be it. Just don’t try to grade it or look it up in a Beckett price guide. You can’t do either, because neither are licensed. By definition, they really aren’t cards at all, much less “first cards.”
Maybe Dave Byer should explain this one.
– Pepper Hastings
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Who’s Sidney Cosby? Did he play Theo Huxtable?
Comment by The Holy Ghost December 21, 2007 @ 4:25 amOn one hand you can’t blame the guy–clearly these weren’t people who collect hockey cards, or sports cards in general. On the other hand, if you see some guy wondering around teh parking lot with a stack of these cards, aren’t you gonna be a little suspicious?
I wonder how many of those 5,000 or so will be ending up on eBay and passed off as pre-rookie cards anyway.
Comment by weasel-king January 11, 2008 @ 7:44 pmI think these cards are a great collectable regardless if they are licensed or not. These cards came out of the Rookie Review magazine that was the Offical Program of the 24th National Sports Collector’s Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey during July 21-27, 2003. This is way before Sidney ever played a game in the NHL and is only 15 years old on the card. I have a copy of the card and magazine and I think they are a great addition to my Crosby collection.
Comment by James Matthews January 31, 2008 @ 11:35 amsidney crosby is promissing but i personally would not pay him a long contract cause he is a bum?
Comment by bob October 28, 2008 @ 8:38 pmi have this card autographed by sidney…. i think it is cool, may not be worth anything but he personally signed it at the 2005 kickoff luncheon in pittsburgh.
Comment by Tony June 19, 2009 @ 2:15 pm