At SlabSlayer, we are going all out on Elly De La Cruz. You may call him overrated and/or that he has had a lucky start, but we seeing him as a legend in the making.
It's been a while since the Cincinnati REDS have been contenders on a world series run consistently, but they are in a great spot with their current rookie class and with prospects coming up.
Card #1:
Let's start with our first pick up. It was this Bowman Inception Silver Signings Gold Rainbow that we just fell in love with at first sight. This was two days before he was called up. The MLB was hyping up his debut for about a week before he got called up so we looked up his prospect cards and this was the first one we jumped on. We bought it graded and when it arrived, we almost didn't want to sell it because it just hits the eyes so well. We love these thick gold paint pen autos. And its only card 02 of 25. Super low print count. PSA 9 didn't hit as nice as a 10 would but we couldn't pass on this one.
Card #2
For the second card it fell into our lap when we make an offer to a seller on Ebay. It was an Orange Refractor in the Bowman Sterling numbered to /75. It was a very nice-looking Raw card and we had plans to send it to PSA, or possibly a quick SGC profit maker. As you can see below it landed a 10 on the Auto and 9.5 on the card through SGC. It was super clean to our eye, so we believe SGC got it right. If you can see this is the same image as the Bowman Inception in Card #1.
Card #3
This card goes outside our comfort zone. It is manufactured by Leaf and is not licensed by MLB, so we have had a bad track record on landing profits on their offerings. So as a rule, we just stay away, unless it is for our personal collection. The fact that this is a 1 of 1 pre-production proof made it easier to throw our funds at. Also, the fact that it is a pretty looking orange crystal helps in our purchase. This was a raw card that we sent in to SGC with the Sterling Card #2. It also landed a 10 on the Auto and 9.5 on the grade. This is a thin plastic feeling card that has no back and a certification number on back from Leaf to prove it is a pre-production 1/1.
Card #4
The next card was chosen as the hype was raising his values and just a day before his cycle. It is his 1st Bowman Chrome in Aqua Refractor with Auto. We feel that we got a great price on this /99 card. And when it showed up at our shop we were right! This card his flaming HOT! So awesome! PSA 9 will keep it lower end compared to the 10s, but it is just glowing in the hand when the light hits it differently.
Card #5
At this point, we decided to go big or go home. We risked it all and hoped for a big reward with buying it RAW. We immediately sent it to PSA, and it landed a 10!!!! Believe it or not we were not up charged on this card. We did Super Express at $3,500 estimated value and when it was returned to us the pop report showed that it was a $11,270 value per PSA Collector's Universe. Currently it is showing $11,500 as the PSA value and we have already sold it last week at $7,250 on eBay. Years from now when we come back to this, we could be kicking ourselves for not holding it.
Card #6
Here is our latest pickup. 2022 Bowman Chrome 1st Prospect Autos Orange Shimmer Refractor number 21 of 25. This card was sent to Beckett for grading and got a Gem Mint 10 on the Autograph and a MINT 9 on the card grade. Some people have told us to crack it out and sell it raw, or even send it to PSA. Honestly, we think the corners look phenomenal but that is inspecting them through the case.
