My first payday

The art of prospecting isn't so much of an art. It's more of a crap shoot. There have been pleanty of minor league studs that eventually "bloom" into ugly dandelions. There's money to be made in our game, but more often than not (self admitedly), we tend to only barely come out ahead, if not, take some loses.

My first real payday came last year. His name; HUNTER PENCE. While I won't discuss openly how much money my Pence investments made me, I can say that my spring & summer recreation and relaxation of 2007 was basically paid for by my Pence investments.

The biggest mistake commonly made by "noob" prospectors, is dumping all of their hard earned money into over-rated/high drafted players. They rely solely on where players are drafted. Pence was drafted 64th overall in 2004. 63 other players went before him. At the time of this post, out of the top 10 players drafted in 2004, only THREE have made it to the show, and the only name currently worth remembering (at least from a collectible/investment standpoint), is Justin Verlander. A few will be out of professional baseball within a year or two, a few have been plagued by injuries, and a couple haven't even earned a cup of coffee yet. It's a pretty safe assumption that in 2004 and 2005, more money was probably dumped into the top 3 picks than was entirely spent/invested on Pence.

The bottom line IMO is this: DON'T BUY INTO THE "PRE-PRO" HYPE. What that means is, when a player(s) first release(s) come out, don't go buy that $1,200 orange refractor. Why would you?? Ok,...so he can handle high school kids. He can even handle college kids. Heck,...the guy might even be able to handle the MEN of professional baseball. BUT,...chances are, the $1,200 you invested in that orange refractor or red 1 of 1, will be wasted money.

Instead of dumping $1,200 into one card of a guy who might make it some day, why not spread that $1,200 into a bunch of guys who might make it some day? Sure the guy you spent $1,200 on for one card might make it, but odds are he won't. And in 2 or three years from now, no ones going to remember that guy, let alone, pay you $12.00 for the card you spent $1,200 on. That's my word and I'm stickin' to it.

Cardboard Prospector goes LIVE!!

Well,...sort of. Firstly, I'd like to thank my visitors (hello?...is anyone out there?) for your interest in the Cardboard Prospector blog. Secondly, I just want to bring to your attention, that getting Cardboard Prospector off the ground, is going to take a bit of time & work. This will be my first attempt at blogging, but I can assure you, I will do my best to make it a very worthwhile, popular, informative, and entertaining blog. This wont be possible without the contribution, input, and interaction from YOU, my visitors. So please,...by all means. Subscribe to Cardboard Prospector.

Now,...sit back, and prepare for some interesting journalism and reading!! The launch will be slow, but as the kinks get worked out, we'll be going full throttle. Thank you again for your interest, and be sure to spread the word about Cardboard Prospector.

The launch of Cardboard Prospector

Well folks. My newest idea has now become a reality. (Somewhat at least). The goal and intentions behind the creation of Cardboard Prospector, is to create a blog for baseball card collectors & investors to gain and share information on the "game" of prospecting. As with any investment, pleanty of time, effort, and research must be dedicated, in order to reap the potential benefits of your investments. Benefits in the prospecting game is obviously gauged in dollar $ign$.

It's easy to buy stock in Microsoft, and know that you're more than likely going to make a few bucks in the near future. But who really wants to invest $10,000 to make $10,500 in twelve months? Don't get me wrong. I'd gladly take $500 any day of the week. BUT,...I'd personally rather look to invest,...lets say,...$100 into the not so well-known new company, XYZ, that through extensive research and analysis, looks very promising, and might soon be the next Microsoft. In other words, we're looking for the best "unknowns" in baseball (cards), that can make us some nice money in a year or two (generally) down the road.