Sports Cards Mania
- Thread starter brandonchristensen
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@Bergs @Traut @Fishercat @KFP — thanks for your thoughts/advice.
I don’t know exactly what the buyer paid for this card from the eBay seller, but I suspect it was less than $30, for a card putatively graded somewhere between GVG.
I couldn’t make out the kind of dots described in the article on spotting fakes because the image just isn’t clear. And the card stock absolutely feels lighter than my other 1980 cards. I actually have two other 1980 Rickeys — one in a complete 1980 set, and the other that someone wrote a small ‘A’ in the white border (so by definition no better than Fair condition). I was hoping to upgrade that one… but I think the new one’s a fake. Even if it isn’t, the one with writing on it is actually a better looking card for my binder.
I’m returning it, and told the original buyer just to donate the refund he receives to charity. This card just gives me bad vibes.
I don’t know exactly what the buyer paid for this card from the eBay seller, but I suspect it was less than $30, for a card putatively graded somewhere between GVG.
I couldn’t make out the kind of dots described in the article on spotting fakes because the image just isn’t clear. And the card stock absolutely feels lighter than my other 1980 cards. I actually have two other 1980 Rickeys — one in a complete 1980 set, and the other that someone wrote a small ‘A’ in the white border (so by definition no better than Fair condition). I was hoping to upgrade that one… but I think the new one’s a fake. Even if it isn’t, the one with writing on it is actually a better looking card for my binder.
I’m returning it, and told the original buyer just to donate the refund he receives to charity. This card just gives me bad vibes.
eBay does authenticate on cards over $250. I have a Jackie Robinson Bowman that was graded by SGC that went through eBay authentication and was authenticated by PSA.
https://www.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee/tradingcards
Good to hear. I live in the town where U.S. currency paper is made, but unfortunately they do not give factory tours or offer free samples
We've been keeping an eye on you Mr. Staz. I just ordered a copy on eBay, but I won't be reading it at work.Good to hear. I live in the town where U.S. currency paper is made, but unfortunately they do not give factory tours or offer free samples
I just picked up this guy last night. It would be wild to travel back in time just to hang out with this absolute legend.
I need this job for a few more months.I mean, there are printing presses where I work. Big ones.
Think about it
ebay $320. Prices of cards seem to be more on the buying side atm. Prices are low.
The name in black in at the top being out of register is a red flag for me. The color separation for a rich black might be 60% cyan, 40% magenta, 40% yellow and 100% black. When these are all printed in good registration, you get a nice solid black. And when they don't, you get a 'blur' like on this card. But I'm almost certain Topps only used black ink alone to print text back then. So no black type should have registration issues.
Another check would be to look for a 'rosette' pattern of dots in the photograph using a loupe or magnifying glass (the "many small dots" mentioned in the article Bergs posted). Usually 150 lines of dots per inch is used when the image's total resolution is 300 dots per inch. When printed in good registration, the 4 line screens used to print the dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black will produce a strong, crisp pattern in the shape of a flower's petals - hence the 'rosette' term. For solid areas - like the green 'flag' behind "A's," Topps often chose colors that were very easy to print. In this case, the green might be 100% Cyan and 100% Yellow. So if you see a hint of magenta or black in this green area, that's another warning sign. Same goes for the white, unprinted areas - there should not be any dots of ink in the card's border.
In high end vintage news, there was a substantial (7 figure) theft of some premium vintage baseball cards at the Dallas Card Show. Details at this post
Keep an eye out…. : r/baseballcards (reddit.com)
It feels like a particularly dumb theft target given the cards are graded and any solution to that problem is going to bring eyes your way, but it seems like this was an organized operation they may have a pathway.
It's consistently surprising to me that cards and collections of this level find their way to these shows.
Keep an eye out…. : r/baseballcards (reddit.com)
It feels like a particularly dumb theft target given the cards are graded and any solution to that problem is going to bring eyes your way, but it seems like this was an organized operation they may have a pathway.
It's consistently surprising to me that cards and collections of this level find their way to these shows.
Unless they crack the slabs, they all have PSA numbers. Even with such rare graded cards, people are going to keep their eyes open for them. You can just go on PSA's site and see how many PSA 10 graded 1951 willie mays cards they have graded. Its not going to be alot.
Theres risky crimes, and then theres one like these where you actually hold the evidence with not much options to offload.
Theres risky crimes, and then theres one like these where you actually hold the evidence with not much options to offload.
Not only that, the lesser graded cards are more visually identifiable. Like...look that those lower-grade 52 Mantles...the defects are like fingerprints. I'm guessing the thieves have a private buyer lined up. If not, they're gonna get caught.
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This is very "art heisty". I think there's some cards in there they could viably do a crack/group re-sub, especially to a different grader, and then move without getting caught. But those Mantles as well as some of the more pristine other copies might be impossible to safely move off of at any speed.
Like I think the SGC 10 1974 Topps Dave Winfield is a perfect example of how difficult this will be. That's a Pop Count 10 card as a PSA 10- immediately that will make the 1974 Topps PSA 10 registry collector or Dave Winfield supercollector immediately suspicious/aware of any copy that pops up - given their place in the market its hard to imagine more than a couple SGC10s exist, and this is out as a stolen card. Even a single point reduction on the grade to a 9 likely takes 95% of the card's value off the board - breaking and regrading is a huge value loss proposition. Raw? Take even more off the plate. To make the money off of that you need to sell it as a 10 and you then expose the slab.
Or something like the PSA 7 Willie Mays. That's a 30k card on PSA Pricing, there's 103 of them in the world so in itself that's not a unique card...but to get it re-graded you need to crack it, pay PSA $1500 to simply grade the card due to the price of it, and I think you can be sure as hell they'll be ensuring that's not the one that was stolen given the profile of this issue. All of this to possibly get the card back in a lesser grade or get caught as it switches hands around.
Now, can they slowly leak these out into the universe, choose their sale slots very carefully, or have a private buyer lined up? Probably, but a lot of these are liable to get them sent to jail and it just takes one mistake. Not that I have the money for this market but I didn't have the stomach to keep a $300 card that was errantly mailed to me, I can't imagine being a collector who knowingly buys a stolen card either - so this market is also depressed.
Like I think the SGC 10 1974 Topps Dave Winfield is a perfect example of how difficult this will be. That's a Pop Count 10 card as a PSA 10- immediately that will make the 1974 Topps PSA 10 registry collector or Dave Winfield supercollector immediately suspicious/aware of any copy that pops up - given their place in the market its hard to imagine more than a couple SGC10s exist, and this is out as a stolen card. Even a single point reduction on the grade to a 9 likely takes 95% of the card's value off the board - breaking and regrading is a huge value loss proposition. Raw? Take even more off the plate. To make the money off of that you need to sell it as a 10 and you then expose the slab.
Or something like the PSA 7 Willie Mays. That's a 30k card on PSA Pricing, there's 103 of them in the world so in itself that's not a unique card...but to get it re-graded you need to crack it, pay PSA $1500 to simply grade the card due to the price of it, and I think you can be sure as hell they'll be ensuring that's not the one that was stolen given the profile of this issue. All of this to possibly get the card back in a lesser grade or get caught as it switches hands around.
Now, can they slowly leak these out into the universe, choose their sale slots very carefully, or have a private buyer lined up? Probably, but a lot of these are liable to get them sent to jail and it just takes one mistake. Not that I have the money for this market but I didn't have the stomach to keep a $300 card that was errantly mailed to me, I can't imagine being a collector who knowingly buys a stolen card either - so this market is also depressed.
Best comment on that Reddit thread:
"The best art thieves are the ones that just want the fucking art."
A fascinating article was posted yesterday
Cardinals' Marvin Harrison was to earn $1.05M in Fanatics deal - ESPN
So these trading card / player deals have been deeply private things for ages, with Topps (now Fanatics) generally considered more generous than Panini. The...pay levels are really surprising in here and suggest to me how much of this stuff is pure profit. This was a term sheet signed in 2023 - so a year prior to MHJ being drafted - for 1.05 million dollars (cash and equity) in phase 1, and a per auto payment in phase 2. In exchange Harrison was expected to provide and/or forfeit rights to:
Of note, Marvin Harrison Jr Bowman U Autos are generally $200+ cards (likely spurred by his contract issues here to be fair) - a Hobby Box of Bowman Chrome U originally ran $120 - so it was a cheaper box which has exploded.
All of this to say that this is the Fanatics deal that was offered to a player who everyone believed was a Top 5 pick and a generational caliber skill player. They're making money hand over fist on sports cards - and I also think it explains why we see so many rookie, second year player autos and a ton of veterans either opt out of these deals or sign relatively little.
Cardinals' Marvin Harrison was to earn $1.05M in Fanatics deal - ESPN
So these trading card / player deals have been deeply private things for ages, with Topps (now Fanatics) generally considered more generous than Panini. The...pay levels are really surprising in here and suggest to me how much of this stuff is pure profit. This was a term sheet signed in 2023 - so a year prior to MHJ being drafted - for 1.05 million dollars (cash and equity) in phase 1, and a per auto payment in phase 2. In exchange Harrison was expected to provide and/or forfeit rights to:
- 35,000 autographs (base) with a 15,000 autograph option owned by Fanatics
- Exclusive, worldwide trading card and trading card autograph rights
- Provisioning of 30 game used jerseys (provided by Fanatics) from 24-26 seasons
- Social media posts, an follows, a "media capture day", two public appearances, a fan experience, a virtual appearance, and trading card swaps
- Attendance at private signings and fan meet and greets at each private signing
Of note, Marvin Harrison Jr Bowman U Autos are generally $200+ cards (likely spurred by his contract issues here to be fair) - a Hobby Box of Bowman Chrome U originally ran $120 - so it was a cheaper box which has exploded.
All of this to say that this is the Fanatics deal that was offered to a player who everyone believed was a Top 5 pick and a generational caliber skill player. They're making money hand over fist on sports cards - and I also think it explains why we see so many rookie, second year player autos and a ton of veterans either opt out of these deals or sign relatively little.
Non-sports cards post, but if anyone has done Marvel Flair or Ultra Wolverine and has some cards they want to sell let me know. Hunting a few of the inserts down and I know sometimes you guys dabble. Thanks
I did a handful of Marvel Flair packs, if you want to let me know what you're looking for I can look and see if I hit it?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/11/baseball-cards-stolen-texas-show/74365354007/
$2 million in cards stolen at Dallas card show
$2 million in cards stolen at Dallas card show
It wasn't on a table there were 4 men, 3 distracting employees while show was closing down and a 4th who had been stacking chairs for an hour to look like a venue employee reached under a table to take a case. They cased the dealer's table all weekend it was a orchestrated heist
I only watched a little bit of the clip, so I didn't realize it was such a big team effort. That's wild. Still, you'd think if you had that kind of value on a table or in a case, you'd have that shit locked down.
I hope someone will indulge a question from someone with very little knowledge of the market for cards. I avidly collected cards (late 70s to late 80s, mostly baseball), and my 10 year old son has now gotten into it. He wants to sell some of my old cards (which I am fine with) but I have no idea how to do this or whether it is even possible. I called a couple of baseball card stores and they said they weren't interested in cards from this era since so many were printed (which I fully understand). My son has also started collecting cards from later eras, and not just baseball. Any suggestions as to how to (perhaps?) find buyers for any of these cards would be most welcome--and, again, please forgive my ignorance!
eBay is the easiest/quickest way to move cards, but you'll lose about 15% in fees. If you don't care what they go for and just want to get your son into the selling side, that's probably the easiest way to do it. You can search eBay for sold listings to find out what cards are going for (for example, search "1978 Topps Nolan Ryan #400" and then select Sold from the filters). You can run an auction and sell it for what it sells for or put it up to buy at a set price. Auctions will move quicker, but you might not get top dollar, especially on an older card that not many people are on the hunt for. Condition is key on these older cards, obviously, so finding prices can be a little tricky when the card isn't graded. A raw card could sell for $2 or $20 just based on condition.
You can also take him to card shows in your area to get him comfortable selling in person. Again, I don't know what you have and if they'd be interested, but there's usually a few tables that will specialize in the older stuff that can help you out. You could take some of your better cards and ask them what they think the value is, if they'd be interested in buying/trading, etc.
Yea a ton of them were printed in the 80's and early 90's. Not sure on the 70's. Spend a few nights going through looking for big names, set those aside and look on ebay for prices. If you come across some high value ones, I would recommend getting them graded at PSA https://www.psacard.com/cert/
Over the winter i sent time going through many totes to see if I had anything.
IMO, right now prices for cards are down, so you can get some good buys out there.
Over the winter i sent time going through many totes to see if I had anything.
IMO, right now prices for cards are down, so you can get some good buys out there.
You or your son might get into owning a certain type of cards. Personally I focus only on autographed rookies. Its spendly so its not like I have hundreds, but its what I'm into, aside from a few exceptions. I know theres a ton of money in pokemon cards. I dont know shit about pokemon, so i dont care. But your son likely will get interested in something specific like that instead of baseball cards.
The 1980s were when card production really went freaking insane culminating in the junk wax era of 1986/7 to 1991/2 or so. However, a few things are true
- There are still valuable cards in this era - but they are almost all rookie cards, short printed subsets, or weird errors
- The "vibes" of the era do permeate to earlier and later years but are less true as you get further
- What you'll be able to get out of it will directly correlate to the amount of work you put into it.
So first, if you have any cards from that 87-92 period - all I'd really bother doing is to pull out any notable rookies. That's gonna represent most of what matters in those sets and even what matters is minimal. Only a handful of those are anything more than dollar bin fodder. The further back you go from there the wider net you can cast. Like, take 1984 Topps...the most valuable card by far in that set is the Don Mattingly RC. But there's also Darryl, second year (?) Gwynn, and other players worth pulling and holding. You get back to like 1981 has Fernando and Kirk Gibson - not HoF types but still can carry some value in good condition. Additionally, once you get out of junk era, you have collectors who really begin to value high conditioned cards - and the condition will matter a ton to buyers.
I think if you told a card shop that you had cards from the "late 70s to the late 80s" and they outright declined to even look they're fools or assumed you meant a tow truck full of 1988 Topps.
So like others have said, if he is willing to take some time, he should pull out Hall of Famers, Hall of Very Gooders, Rookies of Notable Names, and then start evaluating for condition and price. It'll be like panning for gold but there is some gold that exists. Personally, I'd look through this blog - which has card photos, descriptions, etc. of the most prominent cards from a ton of major sets to get an idea what to pull - ignore the prices because that's PSA10 and pack pulled cards don't usually get 10s - but it should help you identify what matters - I'll link to '85 Topps but there's a lot in this blog
25 Most Valuable 1985 Topps Baseball Cards - Old Sports Cards
Other than that though, it's all bulk. I wouldn't bother trying to move most of it - I've been at estate auctions where there are literally massive totes of these cards in sorter boxes where 30k+ cards go for $15 if anyone is willing to haul them out. Put them out at a yard sale with a $5 price tag if you like.
Now, for modern, it's a very different ballgame - though bulk still verges on worthless it's less print run and more that set building is a dying/dead art with eBay and breakers out there. A quick rundown of your most popular sales methods
Card Shows: Yep, these still exist. A bunch of folding tables in an Elks Lodge with a mix of (mostly) men with tables of overpriced cardboard and uncomfortably small aisles. However, I think they are a great learning/entrepreneurial experience. Basically you (as a vendor) rent table space for a day, set up your cards, and work out a deal or a ton. I'd generally recommend you have a good amount of cards to sell - I'd say at least 50-100 "displayable" cards and ideally a nice sorting box or two of cheap singles, make sure you have the ability to take at least cash and Venmo/Paypal - it's a great quick lesson in deal making, preparedness, and nice way to convert cards into money or other cards without a ton of packaging/shipping. I'd recommend it as a parent-child thjng for sure as it's definitely easier with two people to start. I can get into details on this if you want - never sold but I've seen good and bad tables and I know what I like. High physical effort/work component but a good way to keep most of your cash with volume and trade. The toughest part of this minus the physical mechanics is really just doing the prep to know your card prices to avoid getting ripped off or scaring away buyers, and having the backbone/knowledge on when to say no, yes, or maybe.
Edit: I've noticed a lot of tables generally have a specialty or area they focus in - you'll often see single-sport tables, non-sports/wrestling tables, vintage tables, ultra-modern tables. You don't need to specialize that much but it may help if he has a lot to move to do so just to let customers self-select and dig.
Card Shops / Trade Nights : A lot of local card shops (LCS) will buy cards and/or host trade nights. LCSes will buy "liquid" cards (easy to move) at a discount - but can be an easy way to dump cards. Trade Nights can be great for converting cards you don't want to ones you want and working on negotiation skills, meeting collectors, etc. I am sure each will have its own rules around including cash or not
Consignment : Some card shops and antique/flea settings will let you consign cards - so basically you give them to the store who will price (or you price) and if they sell it, you each get a share. More commonly today, there's also online Consigners where you send incards, they take their fees, and you use their platform to list and ship cards. I consign the bulk of my cheaper singles I don't want to bother prepping for individual shipping with COMC but there's a ton out there - especially if you decide to consign more expensive cards. If he does want to go this way let me know and I can give a lot more on this - even as someone who doesn't sell a ton I've probably consigned and sold about $1k in cards on COMC and got a shipment of 900 or so going out this week to them.
Online Auctions (Ebay) - Ebay is the undisputed king of sports card sales. Just a complete stranglehold on all but the super high end market. Basically, you use their platform to post your card for auction/sale - it sells, you get payment to your account, you ship the card to the address they give. Ebay deserves its own book but if he's really gonna get into selling a lot of volume it's worth getting used to eBay
Online Forums (Reddit, Blowout Forums, etc.): The "bridge" between card shows and online auctions - you can sell on Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other forums. Same overall structural elements, with some more manual work, but it's a good training ground. I did my first real person-to-person sales via Reddit and got some legitimately great advice and guidance from people who understood this was newer for me.
Online Marketplaces (Whatnot): The newest entrant with notable cache is Whatnot. Honestly at this point it feels really scummy, like modern day self-run Shop-At-Home - but you can list and sell singles on there by running a video or even just in a marketplace setting. I consider this a more advanced sales tool designed for breaks more than card sales but it's not the craziest way to do this either.
My personal recommendation if he's looking to sell would be to do some small test runs. It gets easier every time you do it but there's a LOT of nuance to selling cards well online in terms of material, packing, timing, etc. and card collectors are often kinda dickish. I like the card show idea if he has a reasonable quantity he wants to sell - I usually see a few parent-child tables any time I go and everyone gets into it - and people will probably be less forward if a younger seller is working it. Finally, it's worth noting that card sales like anything else is rooted in an "it takes money to make money" angle. Any of these methods will require an upfront investment in material and time to earn your money back and will reward the hard work - and it'll be difficult to start. The boom of sports cards with all the scammers, hype men, etc. it brought in made it look way easier than it is and the people really good at this are INSANELY good at what they do from product/card selection, timing on selling, knowing when to negotiate/let go, etc.
Finally, if you are looking for any personalized advice or thoughts, please feel free to reach out. I find a lot of people in this hobby are genuinely supreme humans...and a lot aren't.
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Indeed... great post as usual @Fishercat - I always learn something!
Since getting back into this 2 years ago, the best piece of advice I've heard is 'buy what you know.' Start narrow but really deep.
Conversely, for card shows, I've had great luck finding/buying entire 'dollar boxes' of random vintage baseball for pennies on the combined asking price from dealers whose tables are obviously 99% focused on selling other stuff (football, hockey, Pokemon, etc.) Great way to obtain and learn about different sets/players/pricing, figure out what you want to collect, and then just resell everything else at a 5x or 10x profit.
Since getting back into this 2 years ago, the best piece of advice I've heard is 'buy what you know.' Start narrow but really deep.
Conversely, for card shows, I've had great luck finding/buying entire 'dollar boxes' of random vintage baseball for pennies on the combined asking price from dealers whose tables are obviously 99% focused on selling other stuff (football, hockey, Pokemon, etc.) Great way to obtain and learn about different sets/players/pricing, figure out what you want to collect, and then just resell everything else at a 5x or 10x profit.
The dollar boxes can have some really great buys if you're willing to dig through the crap. And yes, always try to get a deal (sticker says $2 each, you got 5 of em, offer $6 and see what they say). Most of these guys are just looking to clear out that inventory and make a quick buck.
I'd also add that knowing comps is absolutely crucial if you're buying/selling at a card show. Sticker prices can be completely out of whack. Know what a card is worth. Even if it's listed around comps, you can often get that price reduced just by striking up a conversation and building a rapport with the seller.
And understanding liquidity. I can get a much better deal on a Dustin Pedroia RPA than I can a Gunnar Henderson. Conversely, if I'm selling a Pedroia, I know I'm probably not going to find a lot of interested buyers and the offers might not be great. It's easy to move a Gunnar right now. Pedroia has a much more limited audience.
Honestly, for the most part the only deals you'll get from a card show will be from the boxes. Tables will range from "reasonable market price" to "this person is here to get away from his spouse for six hours". I think I've seen a few tables in my time that offered legitimate deals but for the most part in card shows you're going to be paying more than you would pay for a comparable card on eBay or COMC or what have you. The boxes, to Elcab's point are where they are mostly trying to clear out bulk and will probably not look too deep into them. I just went through one of my general "keep cards here that I don't think about much" today and in a slew of base cards I found a few $5-$15 cards and one $50+ card that I knew was something when I pulled it but didn't know what. I assume most dealers don't prune through these boxes for players who got hot or prospects that turned into anything. I also agree that other dealer stickers largely mean nothing. Dealers hate it but there is no shame in pulling out your phone and comping a card you like. Sometimes you'll see the dealer has it at a fair price or a negotiable price and sometimes a dealer can be 2-10x+ off of the real price of the card.
On the inverse, as a seller, buyers will ABSOLUTELY try to drive you down and play hardball even over fractional percents. Know your threshholds. One table I really liked had a bunch of 90s inserts. Cards were stickered with prices and were either red meaning non negotiable or green negotiable - and he would only talk offers on green stickered cards. I also saw a hardball stare off over $5 on a three digit card. Ultimately, if you're selling: know your bottom dollar and your tolerance for negotiation. I think generally you do want to price yourself with some wiggle room downward as some buyers will pay your price and others love to haggle, but at some point spending 10 minutes with a dude negotiating $130 or $135 ain't worth it.
Liquidity at these shows, to ElCab's point, is a huge thing too. You'll see a lot of people - many younger - walking around with Zion cases or other cases with cards to trade and asking for hugely liquid players (Elly, Gunnar, Wemby, Storud, Bedard, etc.). There is a very strong argument to price those guys a lot more aggressively than your less liquid ones and value that in trade. Additionally if you do trades with dealers, liquid cards will command a higher percentage than niche ones. Not all $100 cards are equal in the card show world, and you should be hesitant on moving liquid cards for non-liquid ones even if the value of the cards is similar. The $22 CJ Stroud Prizm Base card is a lot less cool than the 2019 Topps Heritage Real One Auto of Rico Petricelli that sold for the same price...but the Stroud is WAY easier to move to anyone who isn't a 50+ y/o from New England
On the inverse, as a seller, buyers will ABSOLUTELY try to drive you down and play hardball even over fractional percents. Know your threshholds. One table I really liked had a bunch of 90s inserts. Cards were stickered with prices and were either red meaning non negotiable or green negotiable - and he would only talk offers on green stickered cards. I also saw a hardball stare off over $5 on a three digit card. Ultimately, if you're selling: know your bottom dollar and your tolerance for negotiation. I think generally you do want to price yourself with some wiggle room downward as some buyers will pay your price and others love to haggle, but at some point spending 10 minutes with a dude negotiating $130 or $135 ain't worth it.
Liquidity at these shows, to ElCab's point, is a huge thing too. You'll see a lot of people - many younger - walking around with Zion cases or other cases with cards to trade and asking for hugely liquid players (Elly, Gunnar, Wemby, Storud, Bedard, etc.). There is a very strong argument to price those guys a lot more aggressively than your less liquid ones and value that in trade. Additionally if you do trades with dealers, liquid cards will command a higher percentage than niche ones. Not all $100 cards are equal in the card show world, and you should be hesitant on moving liquid cards for non-liquid ones even if the value of the cards is similar. The $22 CJ Stroud Prizm Base card is a lot less cool than the 2019 Topps Heritage Real One Auto of Rico Petricelli that sold for the same price...but the Stroud is WAY easier to move to anyone who isn't a 50+ y/o from New England
So, Topps Chrome first day was really interesting. It's the first time in recent memory I can think of a baseball set that got simultaneous reviews of
A. The set looks really great and is constructed well and is fun to open
and
B. This shouldn't be as pricy as it is
Even from people who are really sanguine about sports cards, usually they are thoughts in alignment - it's a fun set so it's worth it, it's a bad set so it's not worth it. I think I've seen 4-5 influencers, most commenters, and even breakers outright saying things like "I love how this set looks, the inserts are fun, the autos look great, you can get some huge card, but you're never getting close to making your money back". I did my token Red Sox break - hit a David Hamilton auto, a Ceddanne refractor, and not much else, and that felt about like the median result in a team break. I saw some nice CRs (blue auto, orange youthquake) pulled but I also saw some skunks or reliever autos. They also inflated the checklist to include more (less desirable) players, increased the price, and generally made it harder to "win". With that said the breaker I used pretty easily sold like 8 cases of product and could've done more if he were inclined. Local hobby stores are having cards fly around. So it's hot, but man, at the price they're doing baseball is trending up a ton and I don't know how worth it it is. I think we only saw one Elly auto in the cases they did.
Sports cards in general are in a weird spot. I've talked Topps a ton, but Panini NBA and NFL is a disaster zone. With Fanatics sniping signings of the top players in both spots, the NBA/NFL sets are really depressing but haven't seen the drop in cost you might expect as Wemby and Stroud non-autos are still selling for dumb values and Panini is cashing out as much as they can on the way out. Hockey is its own thing, though I think UD has begun to lose the value proposition with Bedardmania too. The only sport I've really enjoyed collecting recently is WWE of all things. High end WWE costs about as much as mid level for other sports and unlike the other sports, nearly every major professional wrestler does sign (The Rock is the only S-tier legend who doesn't sign, though some are redemptions and who tf knows if Panini will ever get those and, if so, how long it'll be) and the cards are really nice, generally sell well. Obviously if you're not a wrestling person this isn't for you, but to me as someone who enjoys professional wrestling it feels like one of the last bastions of sports card collecting I enjoyed - good looking, distinctive cards with great relics/images, a wide autograph roster with a lot of names people actually do care about, and a fairly passionate group of collectors. It could absolutely be better but it's been fun.
A. The set looks really great and is constructed well and is fun to open
and
B. This shouldn't be as pricy as it is
Even from people who are really sanguine about sports cards, usually they are thoughts in alignment - it's a fun set so it's worth it, it's a bad set so it's not worth it. I think I've seen 4-5 influencers, most commenters, and even breakers outright saying things like "I love how this set looks, the inserts are fun, the autos look great, you can get some huge card, but you're never getting close to making your money back". I did my token Red Sox break - hit a David Hamilton auto, a Ceddanne refractor, and not much else, and that felt about like the median result in a team break. I saw some nice CRs (blue auto, orange youthquake) pulled but I also saw some skunks or reliever autos. They also inflated the checklist to include more (less desirable) players, increased the price, and generally made it harder to "win". With that said the breaker I used pretty easily sold like 8 cases of product and could've done more if he were inclined. Local hobby stores are having cards fly around. So it's hot, but man, at the price they're doing baseball is trending up a ton and I don't know how worth it it is. I think we only saw one Elly auto in the cases they did.
Sports cards in general are in a weird spot. I've talked Topps a ton, but Panini NBA and NFL is a disaster zone. With Fanatics sniping signings of the top players in both spots, the NBA/NFL sets are really depressing but haven't seen the drop in cost you might expect as Wemby and Stroud non-autos are still selling for dumb values and Panini is cashing out as much as they can on the way out. Hockey is its own thing, though I think UD has begun to lose the value proposition with Bedardmania too. The only sport I've really enjoyed collecting recently is WWE of all things. High end WWE costs about as much as mid level for other sports and unlike the other sports, nearly every major professional wrestler does sign (The Rock is the only S-tier legend who doesn't sign, though some are redemptions and who tf knows if Panini will ever get those and, if so, how long it'll be) and the cards are really nice, generally sell well. Obviously if you're not a wrestling person this isn't for you, but to me as someone who enjoys professional wrestling it feels like one of the last bastions of sports card collecting I enjoyed - good looking, distinctive cards with great relics/images, a wide autograph roster with a lot of names people actually do care about, and a fairly passionate group of collectors. It could absolutely be better but it's been fun.
From another thread, I am hopeful for a dark horse HoF inductee:
Cla Meredith Pedroia RCs, but what color to target?
#262 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Auto? (/1114)
Looks like there's also a die-cut version of the above (No Auto /88 Comp: $20 raw) (Blue /25 Comp: $150 raw) (Gold /10 Comp: $103.50!?! BGS 9)
That Gold /10 Auto for $100 would be really sweet
And I've been thinking about scooping up some
#262 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Auto? (/1114)
Looks like there's also a die-cut version of the above (No Auto /88 Comp: $20 raw) (Blue /25 Comp: $150 raw) (Gold /10 Comp: $103.50!?! BGS 9)
That Gold /10 Auto for $100 would be really sweet
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I did a case of hobby with similar results. My auto was #/99 Chris Murphy, and I hit 4 or 5 of the Sox inserts. I look forward to getting the cards, I imagine this year's design looks nice in Chrome.
very much appreciate this very thoughtful response--I will talk to my kid and maybe get back to you--extremely generous of you
Me too. Got numbered Cedanne and Abreaus. It was about as good as I could have expected it to go, and I still didn't come close to breaking even.
With that said, they are super fun. My 12 year old loves them. We were on the coach for 4 hours (1:30a was his latest bedtime ever) watching a full case break then bidding on a few other things. I cast Whatnot from my phone to the TV and it beats almost any TV show in entertainment value.
I'm not a huge fan of the card design, but I have to admit the neon border teamed up with that jersey and blue autograph is pretty awesome.
