Friday & February Marketwatch - February 29

As of today, February 29 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 402
Sell-Through: 57.21%
Average starting price: $5.43
Average final price: $10.42

Highest Single Card Sale: 2007 Bill Clinton Allen and Ginter $44.99
Highest Mult-Card Sale: Mickey Mantle Collection (set of 18): $449.95
Highest Graded Sale: 2003 LeBron James RC (PSA 10) at $46.99
Highest Autograph Sale: 2007 Adrian Peterson $310.00

Other best sellers:
2006 Allen & Ginter Presidents Set
2007 Ryan Braun Autographed Card
2007 WWE Torrie Wilson Autographed Card
2007 Brandon Roy
1958 Mickey Mantle reprint

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well:
Alex Rodriguez 6-card Lot: 20

The following are stats covering the last 30 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 1,205
Sell-Through: 52.78%
Average starting price: $3.37
Average final price: $10.88

Highest Sale: (tie) 2007 Tim Lincecum, Allen & Ginter Ronald Reagan: $49.99
Highest Graded Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols RC (BGS 9.5) at $130.00
Highest Autograph Sale: 2007 Adrian Peterson $310.00

Other best sellers:
Mickey Mantle Set
2006 Allen & Ginter President Set
2007 Adrian Peterson
2003 Tom Brady

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well:
Alex Rodriguez 6-card Lot: 20

This was the month of Allen & Ginter for etopps. Usually February is an off-month, being between football and baseball. We had the A&G Super Bowl Champions set, Super Tuesday, voting for the 2008 Baseball design, Adrian Peterson's autograph (the best offering in football since LaDainian Tomlinson), discounted in-hand shipping and reward points allocation. Kudos to etopps for making this anything but an off-month.

I will be surprised if etopps can out-do themselves in March. The 2007 Football Playoff teams are supposed to become available for shipping and we may see the first 2008 Baseball IPOs at the end of the month since the season officially starts prior to April.

One word of caution for etopps: slow down with Allen & Ginter. We now have four sets, three of the last four have been issued since last Fall. I think it should be left alone and let the secondary market absorb it. We're seeing very good sales for the first A&G set sold as singles and hopefully the same will happen for the SB Champs and the Presidential candidates (that is, the ones who are left in the race).

The Moments & Milestones Set is steadily selling around $100 this past month. It's not outperforming the Presidents set but may do better as the baseball season nears.

Thanks for voting on this blog for where to have the econ this summer. It was almost a tie between Las Vegas and another city. These two choices combined (59% of the vote) would have trumped Chicago (37%).

Have a good weekend and Happy Leap Year Day (my wife's birthday).

In-Hand Set Review: 2007 Allen & Ginter Baseball "Milestones and Moments"

I finally got the set I ordered months ago for the 2007 Allen and Ginter etopps Moments and Milestones baseball set. It's quite a long name for a set and just about as long in its size compared to the past Allen and Ginter Presidents' baseball set.

Delivery cost was discounted for a limited time after these cards were allocated at $9.99 for all 12 cards. With 20/20 hindsight, had I known of the delays in shipping I would have gladly paid the full shipping cost to get these sooner.

Whenever an etopps card is allocated online to etoppers, an estimated delivery date is posted on the website for the card in one's account on the "Take Delivery" link. Sometimes this estimate is dead-on. Other times it's not. The main reason it's not is quality control which is what happened with this set. I know it's beyond the hands of etopps to get these puppies printed in a timely fashion but it is in their hands to choose a printing vendor to be more reliable in their work.

What irks me more is the lag time between the date they said the cards were available (January 14) and the day I received them (January 28). Why two weeks after stating on their website it is available? I could have had the set shipped to me quicker if I had purchased each card individually and ordered them delivered on the 14th but I wanted those same serial number for all of the cards. I don't recall the lag time between availability and receiving the set being so long for either the Allen and Ginter Presidents or the Mickey Mantle sets.

What this set lacks in Delivery they make up for in packaging. Like with the Presidents' set, etopps gave more respect for the quality of the cards by shipping them in a secure shipping box rather than a large jiffy bag full of bubble mailers holding one or two in-hands.

When I opened the box it was tightly packed with paper around a smaller box that had the cards. Right on top of the packing paper was the promised bonus pack of 2007 Allen and Ginter baseball cards. Another nice touch was the etopps hologram sticker that sealed the smaller box that contained the cards.

Inside the cards are packed in tightly and took a bit of work to pull one out to peek at the serial number (#s212, 201 and 213). Another nice touch was the index card sized paper between each card to prevent scratching. This is a first (and hopefully not a last).

The cards themselves are the mini version of the Allen and Ginter style so they're kinda small, almost cute. I'm not nuts about them like a lot of A&G collectors are. Their mini size turns me off. They look like what would happen if you mistakenly place a regular-sized etopps in-hand in your dryer with your laundry and out comes this mini card in the holder. Since the Joe Montana Super Bowl Champions Allen and Ginter card is the same picture of Montana from the Classic set, it's tempting to make this dryer scenario on video some day.

Unlike the Topps A&G design, these have the etopps trademark, a reflective finish (read refractor) that make them look awesome but a bitch to capture in a photo. I placed the provided index cards behind each card when I photographed them as a group to give them some kind of contrast. Since

If you have this set and plan to list it, you may have better success at photographing each one like here than just taking a group shot of the set. Just use auctiva to list it and you won't have to pay any extra fees for multiple photos in the listing. What I also like about auctiva is you can schedule the listing for free too.

Here's the line-up for the set:

1. Craig Biggio (3K hits)
2. Mark Buehrle (No-Hitter)
3. Prince Fielder (Home Run 50)
4. Tom Glavine (300 Wins)
5. Curtis Granderson (20/20/20)
6. Pedro Martinez (3000 Strikeouts)
7. Alex Rodriguez (youngest to 500 Home Runs)
8. Sammy Sosa (600 Home Runs)
9. Frank Thomas (500 Home Runs)
10. Jim Thome (500 Home Runs)
11. Justin Verlander (No-Hitter)
12. Barry Bonds (756 Home Runs)

Bottom line:
Delivery: D
Packaging: A
Card Design: B+