2010 Topps Chrome Baseball has been on the streets for about two full weeks now. Without a doubt, the biggest buzz around this product has been the Stephen Strasburg Chrome Autographs that were inserted in the product. Even after Strasburg’s season was cut short due to his injury, his secondary market prices have not bottomed out, completely.

I have compiled some data from eBay on the sales of all of the 2010 Topps Chrome Stephen Strasburg Autographs to date. Check out the table to see some very interesting data:

There has been 12 more sales of the Refractor version of the Chrome Autograph, for a card that is numbered to 499 verse a card that is unnumbered and has better odds of pulling, this is a bit of a head scratcher why there hasn’t been more base chrome auto pop-up for sale.

To date, there has been 78 successful sales on eBay regarding any variation of a 2010 Topps Chrome Strasburg Auto, collectively selling for a grand total of $14,958.16, or an average of $191.77 per card.

On the heels of announcing that Topps had signed an exclusive agreement with 2010 Number 1 Draft Pick, Bryce Harper, Topps announced today their plans for including Harper in some of their upcoming products.

2011 Bowman

Harper will make his first appearance as a Washington National in 2011 Bowman. In addition, Harper will sign autographs for this release.

2010 Bowman Chrome

Harper will be added to the recently-announced Autographed 2010 Bowman Chrome USA BUYBACK program. Cards will be sequentially numbered with foil stamping to 100 and will also include James Taillon, Yasmani Grandal, Drew Pomeranz, Michael Choice, Christian Colon, Manny Machado and Bryce Brentz. These on-card autographs will be available via redemption.

2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects

Harper’s 2009 AFLAC Autographed cards will be inserted into packs of 2010 Bowman DP&P. Each of Harper’s on-card autographs from the 2009 AFLAC All-American Game will be sequentially numbered with foil stamping.

Famed multi-case breaker Brent Williams, or better known as brentandbecca is hosting an unprecedented group-break over at the Freedom Card Board Forums. He has put together a 35-case group-break of 2010 Bowman Chrome Baseball that he is going be streaming live via uStream. There will be 225 slots available in this break with a single slot pricing of $130 and pricing breaks available for multiple slot purchases.

For more information about the group-break, or to join, be sure to visit Freedom Card Board.

Topps has been keeping Stephen Strasburg busy.

Topps recently sent out a bunch of redemption only Strasburg autographed cards, and they are slowly finding their way to the secondary market. Most notably are the 2010 Topps Tribute cards, which feature Strasburg’s auto along with relic’s from his first MLB game. These seem to come in single and dual relive forms. With variations of numbered to both 99 and 75.

Along with the Tribute autos, Strasburg was the cornerstone of the Topps Million Card Giveaway promotion. Collectors who were lucky enough to redeem a Strasburg were given the opportunity to have their cards autographed prior to receiving them. It was reported that there are only 299 of these autographs issued.

After just one game. Well, two if you count tonight’s pinch hit appearance. Dom Brown’s 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospect has surged in the last 24 hours, with single cards closing at $20.50 and even $18.40, his prices have seemingly quadrupled over night. Earlier in the week, the same card was selling for $3.75 and even $1.80.

Not a bad return on investment.

Without a doubt, the only person to receive more hype in their young career than Stephen Strasburg is Bryce Harper. Fresh off consensus 2010 Golden Spikes award, given out to the years best amateur player, and his Number 1 overall selection by the Washington Nationals in this year’s MLB Draft, this 17-year-old phenom has caught the eyes of the media and made believers out of many baseball fans.

When Topps announced the addition of the USA set in their 2010 Bowman release, collectors began to speculate about the possibilities of Haper being included in the set – and the possibilities of the Harper Superfractor.

Harper has had previously released USA themed cards released by Upper Deck in 2008 and 2009, along with a promotional 2009 Bowman AFLAC card handed out at the 2008 AFLAC All-American game. Not until now, has anyone released a real “chase” card like the Superfractor.

The 2010 Bowman Chrome USA Bryce Harper Superfractor is currently (back) on eBay. Much like it’s much publicized Strasburg counterpart, it’s original listings were all ended due to improper and false bidding. The current auction, at $4,600 with the reserve not met, is just a fraction of what the Strasburg superfractor sold for. Red refractor version of Harper, which are numbered to 5, have been selling anywhere from $2,200 (ungraded) to $13,000 (BGS Pristine).

This card certainly has the potential of reaching near-Strasburgian heights in regards to price, however, I am not sure how well the price will maintain once Harper is included in a Draft version of Bowman, presumably at the end of this year. Hopefully, as an autographed version.

What does it take to vault 16 spots to our number one spot? Most would say a Herculean effort, but for Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants, it’s just another day at the office. The number five overall pick by San Fransisco in the 2008 Draft is paying off much earlier dividends than originally expected. Through the first 20 days of July, Buster is hitting .481 (25/52) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs and 17 RBIs. Buster has emerged as a favorite from this loaded NL rookie class that features titans like Strasburg, Heyward, Leake, Stanton, and many others who have previously graced our #1 spot.

1. 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Buster Posey Auto (16)
2. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects David Price Auto (5)
3. 2010 Bowman Prospects Stephen Strasburg Auto (1)
4. 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Stephen Strasburg (2)
5. 1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamiliton RC Auto (21)
6. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects Michael Moustakas Auto (19)
7. 2009 Donruss Elite Brandon Belt Auto (NR)
8. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects Brennan Boesch Auto (8)
9. 2010 Bowman Chrome USA Bryce Harper (4)
10. 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Mike Stanton Auto (9)
11. 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Mike Minor Auto (NR)
12. 2005 Donruss EEE Ubaldo Jimenez RC Auto (5)
13. 2005 Upper Deck SPx Ubaldo Jimenez RC Auto (8)
14. 2004 Bowman Chrome Prospects Phil Hughes Auto (NR)
15. 1997 Bowman Roy Halladay Auto (NR)
16. 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Mike Trout Auto (22)
17. 1999 Topps Traded Carl Crawford RC Auto (NR)
18. 1993 Upper Deck SP Derek Jeter RC (13)
19. 2003 Upper Deck Prospects Andre Ethier RC Auto (14)
20. 1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamilton Auto (NR)
21. 2009 Bowman Chrome Prospects Carlos Santana Auto (NR)
22. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospect Jason Heyward Auto(11)
23. 2003 Bowman Heritage Robinson Cano Auto (10)
24. 2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Evan Longoria Auto (21)
25. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospect JP Arencibia Auto (NR)

Happy collecting!

This our first look at the 2010 Bowman Chrome Baseball product. A much anticipated release from Topps after the resurgence of the Bowman line from the first 2010 release. The 2010 Bowman product, fueled by First Prospect cards of Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper the release has surged towards Upper Deck Exquisite-esque prices nearing $400 per box.

With Strasburg slated to have another autograph in the set, the newly crowned hobby hero, should help fuel the release of this product. Topps has also announced that Strasburg will be available in the rest of their 2010 products.

Quite a few other coveted prospected have been rumored to appear on their First Bowman Prospect Auto card as well:

• BCP197 TBD
• BCP198 Adeinis Hechavarria
• BCP199 Aroldis Chapman
• BCP200 Dee Gordon
• BCP201 Brett Wallace
• BCP202 Kyle Gibson
• BCP203 Max Kepler
• BCP204 Shelby Miller
• BCP205 Miguel Sano
• BCP206 Brett Oberholtzer
• BCP207 Gary Sanchez
• BCP208 Jacob Turner
• BCP209 Josh Satin
• BCP210 Matt Davidson
• BCP211 Arodys Vizcaino
• BCP212 TBD
• BCP213 Robinson Chirinos
• BCP214 Trayce Thompson
• BCP215 TBD
• BCP216 Corban Joseph
• BCP217 Noel Arguelles
• BCP218 Tim Beckham
• BCP219 Yonder Alonzo
• BCP220 Juan Urbina

While this may only be a preliminary checklist that Topps has issued for the set, it is leaving most prospector salivating at the idea that once Razor exclusives could possible be featured in the product. Other top prospects include Cuban defector and Reds Top Prospect Aroldis Champan and the Minnesota Twins 2009 First Round pick Kyle Gibson, who has a consensus top 10 pick going into the draft, but was injured prior to the draft, causing him to slide to the 22nd spot.

Be sure to check back for updates, as we will be updating information as we receive it.

The product is scheduled to hit shelves on Wednesday, October 13, 2010.

After just about every major media outlet picked up the story of the coveted Stephen Strasburg 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospect Superfractor hitting eBay last month, there has been much anticipation to when the Red Auto parallel would surface.

While the $50,000 price tag slapped on the Red Auto edition of the card, may deter many novice collectors, as of 6/15 there had 16 offers submitted on the card. For a card of this caliber, I feel a straight auction is the best approach, and I am unsure if this version of the card can command the same premium as the Superfractor version, which sold for $16,000 and some change.

The recent national exposure of Strasburg has sent a resurgence of enthusiasm into a hobby that had been clinging to life support for the past few years. Beckett recently published an article on the gentlemen who won the Superfractor, who admitted he hadn’t collected cards since the mid-1990’s. This is also evident across numerous web forums, like FreedomCardBoard, where new collectors and other sport collectors have been religious seeking out any and all Strasburg cards in hopes of cashing in on some of the hype.

Now that every major “chase” card of Strasburg has surfaced, aside from the 1/1 Printing Plates, prices of the 2010 Bowman products have reached all time highs, and continue to climb. The market is flooded with Stephen Strasburg cards, yet prices have kept a steady price. Beckett reported that last month the average sell price of all Strasburg cards was $67.77.

And there is plenty more room for growth and profit.