Is there a premium for "1st auto cards" ?And other non-sport questions

[bidds55]

Just starting to gain interest in non-sport, and I'm looking for some info on the "ground rules" of this aspect of the hobby?

My main questions are:

1)Is there a premium for the first auto card someone signs? Or is demand more by popularity of character? Or, is scarcity of the particular version the only real factor?

2)What is the price range for wax? I am mainly talking about tv, and movie wax. Are there any premium or super premium products? (ie. like the cup in hockey, or exquisite in other sports), or are most tv/movie packs around the same price.

3)Does anybodyknow if James Gandolfini has a certified auto in anything? My preference would obviously be as Tony Soprano, but I'd look at other stuff too.

4)Any other things I should know about the non-sports hobby?

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

[GarkoCollector]

I dont think he was in the Sopranos set as an auto, but he IS in the Fans of the Game as himself.

 

[bidds55]

I dont think he was in the Sopranos set as an auto, but he IS in the Fans of the Game as himself.

Thanks.

Is there a price guide for non-sports? If there's more than one, is there one that is considered the authority on the subject?

 

[meatmancgy]

Non-Sports Update is the main price guide, and in the case of non-sports, their values are actually most of the time correct. There's always some anomalies of course.

 

[weasel-king]

1) No, not really. Non-sport collectors are a little different than sports collectors. The "rookieness" doesn't really matter. There are some exceptions. I'm sure if Jolie started signing for other things her Tomb Raider autos would still sell well, only because they have always been tough pick ups.

It usually comes down to the desirability of the person, the attractiveness of the set or even card itself, and so on. Some of the "big names" are usually short printed anyway, so I would guess that some people gravitate toward those automatically. Also, with Inkworks moving toward stickergraphs, that will be a factor on down the road, as well.

2) Much like sports, you can easily find a box of $10 cards on clearance somewhere. The most expensive, I believe, is Razor Cuts autos. They average somewhere around $100 a pack, and each pack contains one BGS slabbed card. You'd be amazed how many cards go for far less than the pack price, though, on the open market. It is a very limited product, even by today's standards. Razor is also about to release a Presidential Cuts set where the price is supposedly going to be around $2000 a pack. I believe it, too, will have one card per pack.

Personally I hope these are exceptions.

3) Already answered.

4) Tons--just ask! When I started in on non-sports full-time after moving from hockey, it amazed me that there are people who collect nothing but promo cards. That's just one minor thing.

Also, Bruce mentioned the Non-Sports Update. I have a subscription myself. I don't pay a lot of attention to the price guide section, but I do read the articles. It is one of the only mags I read cover to cover, and there are some very knowledgeable people contributing to it. It is fun to flip trough and see the different types of sets companies are producing.

It is also worth noting that NSU is a bi-monthly publication. They are as up-to-date as possible but their schedule does, in my opinion, cripple them a little with some of the pricing for new releases. And their "news" sometimes isn't as new by the time they write it up.

 

[Ferrian1]

Looks like I got beat to the punch, but we'll see if I can add anything of value.

Gandolfini wasn't in the Soprano's set, so I think Fans of the Game is it.

Another tidbit on NSU is that due to it's bi-monthly nature and the size older sets are only listed every second printing, so if you want to get pricing information on older sets, you'll need to get consecutive issues (and from my experience you can find them at Chapters).

I find when it comes to the auto pricing, as Joe mentioned first doesn't generally matter overall from a RC type context, however if someone has a couple of certified autos along the same theme, the older one does generally get more attention price wise - ie multiple Milano auto's in various Charmed sets, Tricia Helfer in Battlestar sets, etc. Outside of that the key factors are obviously rarity, set design and the popularity of the character as well as collectibility of the overall set - you have to bear in mind that a tonne of NS collectors are master set builders, so if it's the type of set builders are doing the demand for the rare autos is going to peak.

As for pricing, with the exception of the few big sets that Joe mentioned, and Americana, most NS boxes are in the $50 -$75 range, generally Topps is at the lower end of the spectrum and doesn't provide as much guarantee on hits, and Rittenhouse and Inkworks are closer to the high end, but in my mind do provide the necessary extra value to justify the price increase.

 

[weasel-king]

The Gandolfini is also something I meant to mention earlier. Non-sport cards are finding their way with increasing popularity into sports sets. The Fan of the Game inserts are the most obvious, since they were already mentioned. But I recall people like Carmen Elektra and Jay-Z popping up in a Topps set last year or the year before, and there are several others as well. In fact, I bought a couple of Billy Dee Williams auto cards that appeared in a recent football release (because he played in a football movie, so at least there's some relation to football!).

Allen & Ginter is a good example of a cross over type of set. The base is all baseball (I think), but the SPs are other sports, non-sports, even non-people (I'm thinking of the ridiculous wooly mammoth hair!).

Sport Kings is an A&G type of multi-set, though pack/box prices are a lot higher.

In any event, tv and film cards were specifically asked about, here are some of the manufacturers you may want to check out, with some sample releases:
Breygent (movie poster set, Marilyn Monroe, 3 Stooges, Wizard of Oz)
Inkworks (Lost, Buffy, X-Files, the upcoming Twilight, and much more)
Artbox (Harry Potter, 24)
Rittenhouse (James Bond, Star Trek, Hulk, Iron Man, and much more)
Topps (anything Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Heroes)
Strictly Ink (Dr Who, CSI)

There are tons of sets I didn't list, and other manufacturers, but those can give you an idea of what is out there.