 |  |  |
#BDP71 Curtis Granderson | #BDP71 Curtis Granderson Refractor (#/300) | #BDP71 Curtis Granderson Xfractor (#/150) |
 | ||
#BDP71 Curtis Granderson Gold Refractor (#/50) |
Oooh. Shiny. I'd like to note how neat the "Gold Refractor" is. When I saw it in isolation, it didn't look all that impressive, but side by side it is apparent that the whole think has been tinted gold--look at the seats compared to the others.
Original Post:
2009 releases are coming fast and furious now, my cards are still sitting in boxes as we make a final push to finish the move/organize the house and new trades and sitting in a pile, waiting to be sorted. Amidst all of that, let's harken back to the olden days to see if we can't get over this Ultimate Checklist hump.
2002 Bowman Chrome Draft is widely regarded as the release that contains Curtis Granderson's most desirable rookie cards, all of which are #BDP71 in the set. The chrominess and refractory all play a part in this decision, I'd imagine, and I'd be hard pressed to disagree. A few weeks ago, I got my first Granderson Rookie Card from this set. It turns out, it was the 300th card in my collection. Here it is again, for all to see:
 |
| 2002 Bowman Chrome Draft #BDP71 Curtis Granderson |
Of course, the reason this release is such hot stuff isn't because of that card, it is because of the hard to pull parallels that accompany it. In this case, three of them.
Refractor: #/300
Xfractor: #/150
Gold Refractor: #/50
The Gold Refractor is the Holy Grail of Granderson cards. I've seen it listed as high as a couple hundred dollars in the past, making it easily the most expensive Granderson card out there.
About 6-8 months ago, in that dead period of collecting between the end of the new releases and the new year, I found an eBay lot that included the regular card, refractor and xfractor with a starting bid of $49.99. I watch it go, with no bids, down to the final 10 minutes. I decided, "I don't really have the money for this right now, so let it go without any bids and haggle with the seller after the fact." Oops. It sold at the end for the asking price and I missed my Golden Opportunity to add 3 major rookie cards to the collection. Now, I didn't really have the money for it at the time, so it wasn't a total disaster, but to put things into perspective, the Xfractor just sold for nearly $40 on its own a few weeks ago and the refractor went in the mid-upper 20s. Shortsightedness 1, Long-term collecting philosophy 0.
As for the card itself, that picture looks pretty familiar, no? Of course, it is the same picture as was used in 2002 Bowman Draft. No surprise there, as repeating images is standard operating procedure for regular and chrome releases, and is no big deal. I will warn that this is not the last time that this picture rears its head, however. The chrome, even just the regular chrome, adds a very nice effect to the card that changes depending on the angle of light. To me, it is a far superior card to the regular Bowman Draft offering for this reason alone. The added texture and dimension is a major positive--I can only imagine that the refractors, as they tend to, look about a thousand times better.
Sadly, all I have to show is the one card from this release. As Granderson's rookie cards go, I see why it is such a hot commodity. However, I will go out on a limb right now and say that it is not my favorite Granderson rookie card. That will be revealed in an Ultimate Checklist post to come.
