Blake Griffin Rookie Cards: Prices Soften in Year 2

A day after Blake Griffin made his NBA debut, I told you to collect his rookie cards as soon as possible.  The obligatory Clipper Curse injury prevented his ascent to superstardom by a year, but it took one game to make me realize that he was on track to become one of the league’s signature stars, not to mention a hobby sensation.  He embodies just about everything you could want out of a basketball card superstar: young, firmly entrenched as the team’s alpha dog, highlight reel plays on a nightly basis and marketable to the masses because of his location (Los Angeles) and easy going personality off the court (see: absurd KIA commercials).  A historical first season that included a Slam Dunk title, an NBA All-Star nod and a Rookie of the Year award, Griffin was the toast of the league and a hobby that needed somebody like him to bring some life and excitement back into the mix.

As is the case with dynamic rookie seasons, it doesn’t matter that a player gets better in their second year or third year; the “newness” has worn off.  An athletic freak like Griffin is capable of still bringing people off their seats with an amazing dunk, but the fans and collectors not only want to see dunks, but wins as well.  The leash is still there, but its way smaller than you might expect.  Then Chris Paul showed up…

The arrival of Chris Paul to the Clippers meant one thing to Griffin: the grace period was over with a bang.  Whereas other hobby superstars of recent memory had at least a season or two after their rookie year to grow into their role and lead their team to the playoffs and beyond, Griffin will not have the same luxury.  Nobody expected Yao Ming or LeBron James, the last two overly-hyped rookies and “sure things” to come into the NBA, to win championships right away.  Griffin is the first true sports star of the Youtube and Twitter era, and in a world where social media and immediacy has also affected how cards are collected, people want results right away.  It was why Blake’s cards shot up so high as they did last season and why they can drop just as quickly if the Clippers don’t show signs of living up to the hype.

Here are some Blake Griffin rookie card sales numbers to look at.  In the 90 days before Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers (which included the prolonged NBA lockout), Blake’s rookie cards were selling for an average of $162.79 (601 cards sold) on eBay, including an amazing $32,000.32 for his 1/1 National Treasures Logoman Autograph card.  This was a huge drop from the $243.34 (1,949 cards sold) average that Blake cards enjoyed during the stretch in the regular season (from February to April) when Griffin was racking up awards and accolades.  Since the trade for Paul, the average actually has dropped to $149.13 (569 cards sold), and that even included the sale of the 1/1 National Treasures card again for $38,032. The Clippers have gotten off to a solid start to the season, but it was not the world-beating “Lob City” that people were expecting.

Crazy as this might sound and real world statistical evidence proves otherwise, Blake Griffin has been a hobby disappointment in his second year so far.  And it shows in the softening of his card values.

Now should you expect this slide to continue if the Clippers continue to just be a “solid” team and not a championship contender?  Unfortunately for Griffin collectors who bought way too high last year, the answer is a definite “yes.”  Last year was a lightning in a bottle moment where the demand for Griffin’s cards was bringing in money from both the hardcore collectors and the casual fans who wanted a piece of the action because they caught a Blake highlight on Sportscenter.  Now that collectors are moving on to other players like Ricky Rubio and eagerly anticipating the first official cards of the 2011-12 season, the money is not there in the Griffin market.

Now, this is great news if you’re more of a Griffin collector and not a Griffin investor.   If you’re not willing to break the bank with a National Treasures or Upper Deck Exquisite rookie of Blake, several key rookie cards right now can be had for significantly less than what they were during the madness of last season.

The 2009-10 Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket Autograph comes with a great pedigree from football and was one of Griffin's most desirable rookie cards overall, averaging $243.73 for ungraded copies during the first few months of 2011, but now can be had in the $150-$170 range.

Another card with a history is the Crown Royale die cuts and it averaged a staggering $307.39 per ungraded card.  Now it can be had for as low as $185 on eBay, although it still easily cracks the $200 barrier regularly.

A vastly underrated on-card autograph featuring Blake is from 2009-10 Classics.  With a focus more on the legends in the game for that product, Blake’s rookie that is numbered to 499 can now be had for anywhere between $190-$225, which amazingly was not that far from its average during Blakeamania ($210.16).

If you have no interest in autographs, Blake’s best non-autograph rookies comes from Topps final hurrah in basketball before they lost their NBA license.  While you can pick up a Chrome rookie numbered to 999 for less than $100 and even for as low as $50 last year, the Chrome refractors rival many of Blake’s autograph rookie cards.  Last year the refractors that were numbered to 500 averages to around $208 and now can be had for practically half at $104.76.

Because of the fickle nature of collectors, unless Blake somehow manages to win an NBA MVP in the next two seasons (possible) or win an NBA championship (longshot, but not totally out of the question), you will never see those numbers reach the astronomical heights that they achieved last season.  The somewhat sobering reality is that by then, we will have all moved on to the proverbial “next one.”  You can check out what Blake Griffin rookie cards are available on eBay now by clicking here. here.

Related posts:

1. Upper Deck Exquisite Basketball Cards