[stadium sports cards]

Every product is a gamble. The bigger the bet, the bigger chance at return. The RNH out of 99 will make everyone forget the $468 price tag....

Or the shield

One great thing we have here is that one of customer buys a case and after opening the first tin, he lets the other customers open the rest. Everyone loves the opportunity to open the high end products like The Cup.

Prime is not replacing Dominion JJ. It is a OPC Premier type product.

And now a days, there is ultra high end products in all sports. Well bb, bk, fb and hk. Even UFC is coming out with high end.

But at the end of the day, more products like OPC or UD1&2 are sold than the ultra high end. What makes you happy is what matters.

[madmack29]

I remember buying a "pack" or two of The Ultimate Collection somewhere around the second or third year it was out. $125 each got me a slabbed card that sold for around $10 and an autograph card sealed in a top loader that didn't sell and I can't trade today, along with a couple of random worthless cards. I decided then that these weren't for me, really no value in losing that much money and not even having anything to show for it. If I buy a box of a mid-range product for about the same price I might have close to a full set and several inserts / rookie / parallel cards to show for it.

Non sports cards have seen this trend and are starting to follow with $100 premium packs. I haven't seen any yet, but there is a lot of talk about them.

I agree that basically all card packs are like gambling - especially if you are not buying the packs to put a set together and collect all of the cards you get. Many buy hoping to pull the super rookie card, or a high value game used or auto card, with the thought of selling or trading these cards. That is a lot of the appeal for these packs / boxes - high risk, but the potential for high reward. Do you see odds posted on anything else you buy?

I personally will trade for these cards or buy them in online auctions for far less than what I would spend on a pack / box of them.

Just my 2 cents.

Nathan

[irbecards32]

I actually think that the more expensive boxes amount to pure gambling. Some may not like that statement, but I think it's a pretty easy claim to make if you look at "the odds." The funny think about it is that there are folks out there who actually see it as an "investment" - apparently you can feel cheated if you don't make your money back. I would be curious to find out what the card companies pay for the jerseys, and what they pay players for the autos. It wouldn't surprise me if many players get paid more for their autos than what they sell for on Ebay. I know absolutely nothing about the business workings of this, but a boatload of cash has to be paid out somewhere to justify an eventual $400 price tag on a box. I could never buy a box of The Cup - my guts would be in knots the whole time. I'm just not a risk-taker by nature, so it isn't for me. I'll stick to the odd pack of SPx or Artifacts. That's enough "living on the edge" for me. I know that drawing a parallel to gambling may seem a bit harsh, but I think an understandable argument can be made for it. J.

Not a harsh comparison at all, thats why I love buying boxes so much, I love gambling. When I make extra money to blow it goes to 2 places, either the casino or on cards. Sometimes I goto the casino to win money for more expensive boxes, sometimes I sell expensive cards to goto the casino... The thrill of getting a good hit to me is just as good as hitting a number streight up on roulette and winning back 35x what you bet... Its a pretty good comparison to me

[bonnev659]

Prime is not replacing Dominion JJ. It is a OPC Premier type product.

thanks Scott I know I saw a few pictures of Dominion but forgot when I type it up.