2001 Bowman Chrome 5/500

There are certain members of the hobby that will do anything to make an extra buck on a card. In the old days, dealers could use Sharpies to touch up the borders on their black-bordered cards. Today, trimming is one of the worst problems with the hobby. There are certain cards that no educated consumer should ever buy raw (Pujols SPx, ARod SP, etc). Some sneakier dealers have taken to rubbing off signatures or serial numbers and redoing them to their liking (There are rumors that many Pujols SPx autographs have been subject to this). Serial numbers are another issue. Luckily most are machine stamped, but hand numbered cards present a problem. Unfortunately, Pujols's 2001 BC autograph has hand serial numbering. On the old Beckett boards, Colorado Rockies Fan (first name: John) had an extensive listing of all Pujols BC copies he had seen on eBay. He listed the certification number, grade, and serial number. It was very complete. No one knows where he is today and I unfortunately deleted the file at some point over the years. Someone on the PSA boards saved the portion dealing with the 5/500 copies:

5/500 Topps sticker #3040260 PSA 9 PSA serial #40002731
5/500 Topps sticker #3040227 BGS 8
005/500 Topps sticker #3040244 BGS 9.5
005/500 Topps sticker #3040359 PSA 9 O/C serial #30119083

As you can see there are multiple copies. There is no way to tell which is real. This one is currently listed on eBay.

2001 Donruss Elite Status

Like the 2001 Fleer Legacy cards, a large amount of these were backdoored. The backdoored versions DO NOT have serial numbering. The authentic versions have serial numbering to 68 on the face of the card. These rarely show up for sale, so it is hard to pinpoint a value. Over the summer, a Red Aspirations from the same set was sold. The Aspirations has a print run of 32. The 6/32 copy was sold in BGS 9 form on August 5th, 2009 for $721.43. Based on this, I think anywhere from $400-450 would be market value for an authentic status.


This auction is currently listed on eBay. Not only is this an authentic status card, it is also Albert's jersey number (5/68), and autographed. This is a beautiful and unique card. What is it worth though?

The best indicator would be the Turn of the Century autograph from the same set. The most recent copy of these sold for $750 in October 2009. However, there are 100 of the TOC autographs. I think $1,000 would be reasonable for this card. Most of that premium comes from the 5/ serial numbering. While it's nice that Albert has signed the card, I like the look of the TOC much more.

Albert Wins Third MVP Award

Albert won his third career MVP award today. He took 32/32 first place votes. Bernie Miklasz has a nice write up of what this does for Albert's legacy.

Albert Pujols Clinches HOF Today

I will start posting more regularly. I realize I have posted mostly pickups the past couple months. I will try to post more about general Pujols collectibles.