The Holy Grail of sports card has turned up in Gem Mint fashion on eBay. A [ebay-item: 270366061067,BGS 9.5/10 2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols Auto] is currently up for auction on the site. I have seen a number of BGS 9 for sale, but this 9.5 is a rarity. The seller claims a previous PSA 10 went for $15,100, and this seller has a slighltly lower BIN on the card.

Our monthly hot-list is back, and there is no doubt that the hottest card on the list belongs to one of the hottest and brightest young stars in the game. Evan Longoria has been on an absolute terror this year, posting Herculean-esque numbers (.333/11/49). There is about as much upside to his 2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Evan Longoria RC AU as there is with his potential for a great career. This card is great investment and with under 150 of them being graded Gem-Mint or better to date, finding one that is great condition could be a collectors dream.

1. 2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Evan Longoria RC AU
2. 2008 Bowman Sterling Evan Longoria RC Auto
3. 2006 Bowman Chrome Justin Upton RC AU
4. 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres Zack Greinke Auto XRC
5. 2002 Bowman Chrome Zack Greinke RC
6. 2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols RC Auto
7. 2009 SPx Mystery Rookie Redemption Exchange
8. 2005 Bowman Chrome Roy Halladay RC
9. 2008 Sweet Spot USA Signatures Black Stitch Red Auto Stephen Strasburg
10. 2009 Team USA Stephen Strasburg
11. 2008 Donruss EEE Rick Porcello Auto
12. 2008 SP Authentic Evan Longoria RC Auto
13. 2007 Bowman Chrome Tim Lincecum RC Auto
14. 2007 Donruss EEE Matt Weiters Auto
15. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects David Price Auto
16. 2005 Bowman Chrome Ian Kinsler RC
17. 2006 SPx Ian Kinsler Auto
18. 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Buster Posey RC Auto
19. 2009 Bowman Chrome Yu Davrish WBC
20. 2003 Upper Deck Prospects Premiere Jake Fox RC Auto
21. 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Rick Porcello RC
22. 2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects Tommy Hanson RC
23. 2008 Razor Tim Beckham RC Auto
24. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects Jordan Schafer RC Auto
25. 2009 Bowman Chrome Prospects Neftali Feliz RC

Happy collecting!

The 2008 Playoff Prime Cuts IV is sure to be one of 2009’s most talked about products. Each box contains 6 cards, one of which is encased from Playoff. There is a lot of autographed, cut autos, and relic memorabilia scattered across this product.

Satchel Paige Cut Auto 1/1

Kenesaw Landis Cut Auto 1/1

1. 2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Evan Longoria RC AU
2. 2001 Bowman Draft Picks Chase Utley RC
3. 2007 Bowman Chrome Tim Lincecum RC AU
4. 1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamilton RC AU
5. 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects David Price AU
6. 2007 Bowman Sterling Tim Lincecum RC AU
7. 1999 Bowman Chrome Josh Hamilton RC
8. 2008 Topps Chrome Evan Longoria RC
9. 2003 Bowman Chrome Hanley Ramirez RC AU
10. 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft Jay Bruce RC
11. 2006 Bowman Sterling Evan Longoria AU
12. 2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Matt Wieters AU
13. 2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition David Price RC
14. 2007 Bowman’s Best Tim Lincecum RC AU
15. 2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premiers Autographs Carlos Quentin

After a lost 2007 season due to injury, Julio Borbon has been back to full stride in 2008. After a mid-summer call up to the Firsco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League, Borbons numbers have been scorching hot. Prior to the hop to Double-A, he played 66 games for Cal League’s Bakers field, Borbon batting .306 with 36 SB and 20 2B. 52 games at Frisco, Borbon has batted .326 with 14 SB and 10 2B, including going 17 for his last 44, while helping Frisco push to the Texas South Conference title.

In the 2007 draft, he was taken in the supplemental round by the Texas Rangers as the 35th overall pick. Borbon has all of the amenities of big-league lead-off hitter. Amazing speed, minimal strikeouts, and great fielding make him an ideal threat next year for the Rangers. He may never poses the power that some of today’s great lead-off guys have, however, his great plate discipline will win him far more battles than the long ball can.

It’s been a mere 20 game since Kila Ka’aihue has been called up to AAA Omaha Royals, but he has made every game and at bat worth it. He is hitting .357 with 8 HR, 14 RBI, and a 1.179 OPS since his call-up.

His recent power surge has also affected the sale price of his cards. His 2005 Bowman Chrome RC has been on fire lately. If you are in the market for a new prospect to watch, Kaaihue is a great one to bank on.

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It’s that time of year again. No, not the pennant races, but, the release of Bowman Chrome’s baseball product. Each year this product becomes more and more anticipated, and pack busters are constantly looking for their next pot-of-gold prospect.

This year product follows on the footsteps of the 2008 Bowman releases that was packed with an all-star line-up of future talent. The Chrome release features the rookie card of Kosuke Fukudome, as well as autographs of some great prospects. Engel Beltre, Austin Jackson, Andrew Lambo, Lars Anderson, Angel Villalona, and Ryan Kalish (just to mention a few) each are featured on Prospect Autograph cards that come in base, refractor, xfractor, blue refractor, gold refractor, orange refractor, red refractor, superfractor, and printing plat variations. Each of the refractor versions are number stamped on the rear of the card. I have seen some preliminary pricing for the autographs on eBay, and the Beltre and Jackson are selling for around $50 each.

A disappointing find from the autographs is that Angel Villalona is a redemption card. From what I hear, he is nearly impossible to obtain an autograph from, and has been called the Barry Bond of the minor leagues, because of his stingy habits. On the bright side, if you do get one, you can be on of the first to try out Topps’ new online redemption program.

The base set carries some of the same characteristics as the prospect set, offering a variety of refractors, but without the autographs. Each hobby pack contains 4 cards, 2 of which are prospect cards.

As always, Bowman Chrome does not disappoint this year. Plenty of people will stock piling up on the prospect autographs hoping to land their needle-in-the-haystack.

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Checklist coming soon.
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Topps confirms that there are several short printed autographed cards, relic cards and base cards in the recently-released 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball.  In addition there are RED INK autograph variations limited to just 10 copies each.  The subjects and quantities are as follows.

SHORT PRINTED AUTOGRAPHS

AUTOGRAPHED RELICS

Marcus Henderson 100

SHORT PRINTED RELICS

SHORT PRINTED BASE CARDS  (1: 2 packs)