Game 6: Drew Jones Superfractor, Hank Aaron Base Auto, Bowman U & Megabox, Jonatan Clase

Weekly Roundup 5/21/23-5/28/23

The Roundup

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! This week’s update is going to be a little bit lighter due to the holiday, but still plenty of exciting news to share.

The top story this week is… the Druw Jones 1/1 1st Bowman Chrome Superfractor Auto has been pulled! The owner of “Best of Ohio Sports Cards” is the lucky winner of this golden ticket – pulling it on his way to a Cincinnati Reds game. And his timing is great. As you may remember, Dave and Adam’s put a $250,000 bounty on this card (or $1,000,000 if the lucky f… duck wants to keep it and Druw Jones makes the Hall of Fame). HOWEVER, the card must be pulled no more than one month after the 2023 Bowman Baseball set was released. Well he pulled the card a mere three days before the offer expired. 

On Wednesday, he posted another picture of the card, writing that there are “more details to come with our plans for the card.” In response, none other than Druw Jones himself responded, saying “let me get it.” I have a feeling that unless Druw’s offering $250,000, he’ll be turned down. But you never know; it would make for a great story!

In basketball news, Karl Malone auctioned off memorabilia from the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, including jerseys, shorts and shoes worn by, among others, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley. The haul brought in about $5 million, with Jordan’s jersey selling for $3,003,000. On how Malone obtained the memorabilia, “after the game, players were throwing their jerseys on the floor and [Malone’s wife] picked them up like a groupie.” Well played Mrs. Malone… Well played. 

Sales: Hank Aaron Base PSA 9 

A 1962 Topps Hank Aaron Base #320 PSA 9 set an all-time high for the card, selling for $58,800.00 at Heritage Auctions. The card is up 180% ($37,800) from its last sale of $21,000.00 2 years ago (Dec 10, 2020).

New Releases

Bowman University 2023 release goes out June 6th, which, as we mentioned last week, will include the 1st Bowman of the near-certain first pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Victor Wembanyama. Bowman University boxes have not historically been great buy-and-hold investments – the 2021-22 box was released at $250 and is reselling for less than $100 now. That said, Wemby is being talked about as a generational talent. But will he be Greg Oden or LeBron? If he realizes his lofty potential, buying the box and holding might be a great strategy. If not, it might be worth ripping the packs and hoping for a nice Wemby pull so that you can offload it in the current *very* hot market for his cards.

The Bowman Chrome Megabox release is tomorrow, May 29th. The Megabox will feature prints on the exclusive Mega Chrome pattern with parallels in aqua, navy, purple, green, yellow, and more. The Megabox will include four base chrome packs as well as two exclusive Mega Chrome packs.

Prospect of the Week: Jonatan Clase

Seattle Mariners CF, Double A.

Clase is a 20 year-old switch-hitting center fielder with plus-plus running ability. This year (through High A and Double A), Clase has 27 steals (in 31 attempts), eight home runs, 12 doubles and 25 RBI. In his minor league career, he’s slashing .278/.393/.480. At the start of the year, Baseball America ranked Clase as the Mariners’ #12 prospect.

Clase has legitimate speed. In 221 games in the minors, he has swiped 130 bags – stealing a base every 1.7 games. And he is accelerating (sorry, I had to) on that pace with 31 steals through 41 games this year – stealing a base every 1.3 games. 

The Mariner’s signed Clase for $35,000 in 2018. It’s looking like a good investment thus far. Clase got his 1st Bowman in 2022, with a PSA 10 Base Auto selling for a little more than $100. 

Clase’s scouting grades are as follows:

Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 70 | Arm: 40 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45

---

We will be back with a full update next week!