LaDainian Tomlinson 2001 Autographed Rookies

ndleo

I've stayed away from the modern rookies (except for my pathetic Lions), but I thinking about buying a 2001 LaDainian Tomlinson (I refuse to call him LT, but that is another story) Autograph Rookie Card. The SP Authentic is out of my budget, so that leaves me with the Contenders (600 printed) and UD Graded (500). The Contenders books for $200 and the UD Graded is $80, which is the better value buy?

envoy98

Contenders, no question. I don't think his SP Authentic is signed though...his SPx isn't either.

UD Graded is an afterthought.

wallst32

The SP is not auto'ed just GU patch. The Contenders may book for $200, sells for much more than that.

ndleo

You guys are right the SP Authentic is not signed. For $400 book, I assumed it had to have a certified auto. The Contender is selling for more than book, that is why I am looking at the UD Graded. I can get this auto for $60-$70 locally, plus it is rarer.

Tomlinson is the best RB, but his cards don't get much respect in Detroit. People talk about him, but I don't see his stuff selling for decent bucks.

fsjeter

<<The SP Authentic is out of my budget, so that leaves me with the Contenders (600 printed) and UD Graded (500)>>

He also has the following AU's:

2001 Absolute Memorabilia RPM AU's #158
2001 Bowman's Best #BBLT
2001 Crown Royale #151 (#/250)
2001 Crown Royale Rookie Signatures #30 (#/100)
2001 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Red #128
2001 Pacific #459 (#/1500)
2001 Pacific Dynagon #108
2001 UD Game Gear #LTGS
2001 UD Ovation Rookie AU's #146 (#/250)

All of which are reasonably priced compared to the Contenders. Except the Absolute, they book for about the same as the UD graded.

Scott

joestalin

Ill speak as a modern card collector. In football contenders and SPA rule the market. Everything else is just pretend. Occasionally there will
be other issues that impress, but none have the lasting power of those.

Beckett summed it up easliy by noting that the 2000 SPA Tom Brady #ed to 1250 can sell for 800 bucks! 1250 is by no means rare, and
wasn't even his rarest card that year..but the brand is what people want.

Graded cards were hip back in 2001, but these mass graded cards aren't in vouge now. You will disappointed down the road. I might also
mention the lack of non-sticker auto cards in todays market place. We are going to get to the point where collectors are going to want
a card that was held and signed by the player. The contenders and UD Graded are cut sigs.

I once owned that LT Ovation...thats a NICE card signed on the card. Pacific also has some nice sigs. If you want look go with them, if you
want value go with the UD Graded, but if you are serious abuot owning a nice card, you have to go with the contenders!

Good Luck
Kevin

envoy98

I forgot to mention his Bowman Chrome auto. To me, that's his nicest card. And it only books $250, but sells better than that. I've owned the Pacific and it's kinda lame. The Crown Royale ones are just ugly IMO and I've owned the UD Graded as well, nice card, but it is a cut auto sandwiched like Legendary Cuts. you don't have to have it in a graded holder though, there are plenty of the raw ones.

His SPx and SP Authentic are still very popular, but I'd rather have the auto so I'd take the Contenders and the Bowman Chrome. If you've never seen the bowman chrome, it's very, very nice...and very, very hard to find. A current and completed items search on ebay yielded nothing.

The Vick, which I've seen pop up only a handful of times, books 400 and usually sells for 5-6. I would guess the Tomlinson would close in the low to mid $300 range.

CopperJJ

My favorite is the Elite Turn of the Century...refractor type card with auto on the card.

Fabfrank

If you are just looking for a nice autographed, undervalued LT card, go to 2002 SPA. SPA included four cards in the regular set that were autographed:
#91 P. Manning
#92 A. Thomas
#93 L. Tomlinson
#94 J. Garcia

You don't usually see these cards for sale. They are hand signed (I hate stickers ), and unlike insert autographs are part of the regular set.