[mouschi3]

There are cards out there that can be so hard to find, it is almost like they don't exist. As mentioned in my last article, I just picked up this:



It is supposed to be numbered to 200, yet I only know of one other copy out there.

The last I checked, I think I had around 700 different Canseco cards numbered to 100 or below.

Where the heck are they, and what are some tough cards you are looking for that shouldn't be tough at all?

Here are mine (all numbered to 99 and higher!)

1997 Leaf Signature Platinum Press Proof /150


1997 Flair Legacy Row 0 /100


1998 Pacific Revolution Shadow Series /99


2000 Topps MVP Promotion /100


2002 Donruss Fan Club CREDITS #282 /100


2003 Topps Retired Signature Black /99


And others. What are yours?

[oneofakindcards]

Lower numbered cards 20 years ago were often hoarded. For instance, there were 2-3 Ultra guys hoarding all the platinum medallions!

Although the Topps MVP cards were tough anyway simply because, I believe, these were inserted into retail. Anything low-numbered with a retail component is normally tough, especially in flagship. Casual buyers of flagship sometimes don't know what they've pulled.

This was a time when cards #/100 were thought to be rare. The fact that we'd consider a card #d to 100 *easy* to find today only shows how diminished the hobby has become... think how hard it would be to find 100 people interested in most cards #/100 today...but Topps still churns out more.

Edit: Those '97 Legacy cards are gorgeous! Even their backs are great - the row 0 example you have looks much better in person.

[djohn]

Lower numbered cards 20 years ago were often hoarded. For instance, there were 2-3 Ultra guys hoarding all the platinum medallions!

Although the Topps MVP cards were tough anyway simply because, I believe, these were inserted into retail. Anything low-numbered with a retail component is normally tough, especially in flagship. Casual buyers of flagship sometimes don't know what they've pulled.

This was a time when cards #/100 were thought to be rare. The fact that we'd consider a card #d to 100 *easy* to find today only shows how diminished the hobby has become... think how hard it would be to find 100 people interested in most cards #/100 today...but Topps still churns out more.

I agree, but it wasn't just Platinum Medallions, I remember some collectors back in the early 2000s that were buying up anything serial numbered to 100 or less. In fact, I bought quite a few myself of various stars and semistars, simply because I figured at the time that there were more than 100 people who would want the card. Now low serial numbered cards are over produced, but mostly because the card companies make 20 different low numbered parallels of the same card each with a different color or variance. This has brought down the inherent value in a low numbered card. However for people now trying to find those older cards for sale it's tough, as they are either in PCs, or simply forgotten about (either in collections or still in packs). I know I have a monster box full of late 90s to early 2000s low serial numbered cards, that I haven't looked at in close to a decade. Though I do know that I don't have any Canseco cards in there.

[mouschi3]

I know I have a monster box full of late 90s to early 2000s low serial numbered cards, that I haven't looked at in close to a decade.

Though I do know that I don't have any Canseco cards in there.

[zeprock]

I remember pulling a Gold StarQuest Kerry Wood card numbered to 100 out of 1999 UD Choice way back in the day and thought I'd hit some sort of motherlode. I took it in to the LCS and the guy in the shop blew it off as no big deal. He told me card companies were putting serial numbers on everything. I traded it to a Cubs fan for a Nomar Garciaparra jersey card a few years later. I've never seen another Gold StarQuest card from that set since I put that one in an envelope.

[djohn]

Trust me if I even thought I had a Canseco in there I would've already checked and if you needed it you would already have it in your collection. Some day I will find one that you need.

[scottzoe]

Here's a tough card that should not be tough. 2003 Topps gold Tim Wakefield. I search for that one on a regular basis. Ebay, Marketplace, other forums.
and then a tough one that should be semi tough 2005 Zenith Epix Ted Williams Black Moment #'d to 25. Low print run, but I have never seen one.

Scott