Collecting baseball cards has sure changed over time. Collectors have been competing with investors who may be seeking a simple profit more than they are looking for pride or bragging rights about owning a certain card or asset. And as collectibles are now undeniably an alternative asset class, there are certain aspects within collectibles that mimic stock market behavior around news and events.

Baseball sensation Mike Trout suffered a grade-2 calf strain on Tuesday evening and the initial prognosis is that he will miss 6 weeks to 8 weeks. It was just as recently as May 8, 2021 that Trout was being considered as a candidate to have a “near .400 year” as his batting average was up at .388 at the time. As of his injury, Trout’s average had fallen down to a still quite respectable .333 for the year. But since that May 8 date, Trout had just 1 hit in 19 registered at-bats and his Angels were looking less than angelic in the division standings.

There is an old rule about being “out of sight, out of mind” and collectibles are generally not immune to that maxim. Mike Trout had played in 36 games so far in 2021, less than the COVID-19 pandemic short season of 2020 with just 53 games played. Trout has also not had a 150-game season since 2016, and had not finished a full season above .300 since 2018. And to add all this in further context, the Los Angeles Angels are not exactly high on teams that come to mind as dominating the post-season playoffs.

It is hard to know what will happen to Mike Trout rookie card prices in the near-term, but some of the highest card prices have already come down from the peak of the card mania seen in the first 60 days to 90 days of 2021. The Collectors Dashboard wanted to take a look at recent pricing trends in some of Mike Trout’s more popular rookie cards without getting into the price stratosphere.

A Mike Trout card broke a major milestone in 2020 and this may not have any impact at all on that particular card due to the story around it. The fourth highest card sale price of all sports cards was seen in 2020 after a Goldin Auctions final price for the unique 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Mike Trout (Auto) Superfractors Rookie BGS MINT 9 commanded a whopping $3.94 million at auction. This made the news as the highest baseball card price ever at the time, having since been vaulted, unseating the great T206 Honus Wagner record sales. Still, there should be some credence given in this warning from Dave Oancea about the card market.

One thing which may weigh on Mike Trout’s card prices on top of him being out of the news for weeks is that the Angels 18 win and 23 loss record is in 5th place in the division and 7 games back. That is of course only about one-fourth of the way through the regular 2021 MLB season, but the Angels are just not currently expected to be a hot team this year.

PSACard.com shows that prices had backed off of the Jan/Feb 2021 highs of about $17,100 to $20,100 the last card sales were still handily above $10,000 in March and April 2021 for the 2011 Bowman Chrome #175 Mike Trout in PSA 10 Gem Mint grades. The prices even at the lower end were also 200% higher than same card sale prices in May of 2020 if you are looking back a year.

According to SportsCardResearch.com, the Mike Trout 2011 Bowman Chrome #175 is one of the most popular Mike Trout rookie cards in the hobby as the third most actively traded Trout card of 2020 with more than 300 transactions.

The buy and sell app Otis recently had a Mike Trout card (2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects Refractor #BDPP89 /500) graded as BGS 9.5. With a $10.00 IPO price, the market cap was listed as $45,800. Their description said:

Now seen as a generational talent, Mike Trout is the #1 ranked player in the MLB. With no ceiling on his exceptional talent, the “Millville Meteor” is primed to be one of the greatest of all-time. Rookie cards like this that pay homage to his humble beginnings in the league have become highly coveted among collectors.

A 2009 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Mike Trout ROOKIE RC AUTO /150 BGS 9.5 GEM MINT was seen at $60,000 in a eBay auction through PWCCwith 25 bids and 13 hours and 50 minutes left. A signed 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout ROOKIE RC PSA/DNA 10 AUTO #US175 graded as PSA 10 GEM MINT was still up at $15,600.00 after 90 bids with 13 hours and 58 minutes to go on a PWCC auction on eBay. Another Mike Trout auction of a 2009 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Rookie Card (Auto) /150 graded BGS 9.5 GEM MINT was last seen at $42,500 bid in a PWCC Premier Auction with 1 day and 13 hours to go.

Elsewhere on eBay, the seller “lukebujold” was auctioning a 2011 Mike Trout Rookie Card Topps Update Walmart Blue Border #US175 that was not even graded or slabbed was at $6,100.00 with 24 bids in and time left was 4 days and 3 hours. A 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout Rookie Card RC #US175 PSA 10 GEM MINT (Angels L380) was last seen with a bid of $4,800.00 with 5 days and 12 hours left and 42 bids from the “dcsports87” seller handle on eBay.

Another Mike Trout auction for a 2011 Topps Update #US175 Rookie PSA 10 sold on an eBay auction (Probstein) on May 10, 2021 for $4,375.00 after 48 bids.

A 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout Diamond Anniversary graded BGS 9.5 sold on eBay (via CoachMcCoy09) on May 06, 2021 for the sum of $14,100.00 after 33 bids. Comparing grading companies can come with mixed results, but from mid-February through early April the PSACard.com site tracked 5 sales of PSA 10 samples with prices above $20,000 and that was still up about 200% from May of 2020.

A 2011 Topps Update #US175 Mike Trout Angels RC Rookie listed as dead centered PSA 10sold on eBay (Probstein) on May 03, 2021 for the sum of $4,250.00 after 25 bids.

Prices before the official ending time of any auction, and with the extended bidding options for some, may rise exponentially higher closer to the end. And as a reminder with some auctions, realized prices at some auction houses take into consideration premiums, taxes and shipping and some sales may not reflect those items.

It is always a shame to see star players suffer injuries. With Mike Trout not even being 30 years old yet this is not an injury that will bring career altering questions up. What is up for debate is that Trout’s hitting stats were suffering in the week ahead of this injury. Trout’s own explanation of the injury was that it felt as though he had been “hit by a line drive.” It seems that Mike Trout fans and Angels fans alike now only have Jared Walsh and Shohei Ohtani to talk about as the team is lags behind in 2021.

There are never any guarantees that stocks and bonds will hold their value at any given time. The same is also true in collectibles. That is why Collectors Dashboard has the ongoing reminder to never bank on the last sale price before you make a purchase or a sale of any card or collectible.