Gambling on Seahawks with Trading Cards

A short while back I planned to collect hockey cards and to try and understand the hockey card market well enough to chase my “$5K in value in a year” goal but I kept coming back to a YouTube video I saw recently that pointed out how cheap Russell Wilson cards are compared to other elite quarterbacks and how he was a great card to buy because he’s way undervalued. Suddenly I wondered if I shouldn’t just consider picking up a Russell Wilson Rookie card in hopes that he wins another Superbowl or two in his career and I can cash in down the road. For some reason the Seahawks in general just don’t get the respect they seem to deserve on a national level. It use to be WAY worse than it is today mind you, but even today they don’t quite get taken seriously such as Russell Wilson never having received a single MVP vote in his entire career despite being a perennial elite quaterback. Anyway, just last week I decide to take a risk on two Seahawks football cards and hope I didn’t make a mistake.

First up, Russell Wilson’s “rookie” card. For starters, there are more than one “rookie” card for any given player. Often many different companies make cards and put out their version of a rookie card. Some brands have more value than others and I’m not sure I’m educated enough to know for sure what brands are best. I think Panini is better than Topps (the card I bought) but who knows. What I did find was a Russell Wilson card I could afford and was willing to take a “gamble” on, his Topps Rookie card #165.

There are shinier versions of this same card such a refractor varients, etc but this one I could afford at a cost of $40 plus taxes and shipping which brought my total investment to $48.30. According to the trading card database I use, the median value for this card is $52.00 so basically I bought it at current median price and I’m hoping it will pay off if the hawks can get to the Superbowl this year.

While I was looking for Russell Wilson cards I also took a look at DK Metcalf because I think he’s going to have an amazing career. I found this “rookie” card that looked pretty cool and I think Mecalf is going to be a beast so only after about 30 minutes of research I decided that for under $20 it was a gamble worth taking. I bought the card for $17.99 and 1.87 taxes but no shipping for a total investment of $19.86. If the Seahawks happen to go deep into the playoffs or go to the Superbowl and if DK Metcalf factors into any of those big wins, I imagine his value is going to go way up. He’s already getting recognized more and more every game. However, there are a million options for this card in my database and I can’t even tell which one I have. I may have made a mistake on this one, especially if I can’t even figure out which version I have. Having said that there is a card that looks identical to mine in every way selling on ebay right now for $40 plus $4 shipping so maybe….just maybe I already have a deal.