From what I gather, these are 4-5 card packs that run 200+? These weren't around Im guessing until after 04, so I am not sure what the allure is, landing a card like the Price 1/1 that was posted?
Did card companies start making these and using the nicest patch pieces for these products? I just can't fathom the idea of paying 100 for 5 cards unless I know for sure that one of them is going to be an auto 9 color patch w/ blood stain.
I think they started doing it as a way to keep the flow coming making the product appeal as a very very rare find (which they kind of are) and basically keeping it into the richer folks. When I first saw a pack of cards were that much I was like wow I wish I had money to spend like that but its for the big buck spenders imo
Yeah I looked them up, I thought they were like 100-200, but I guess it's more like 250 to 600. Wow.
Exquisite in Basketball was the start. They brought it out for LeBron's rookie year and the big guys went for massive cash. Since it was such a hit and supply was low box prices went through the roof fairly quickly UD decided to take a stab at the hockey market as well (it helped that hockey collectors were drooling for it) with the awesome collection of rookies that would debut in 05/06 after the year lockout. Since they had 2 draft years and lots of big potential players(90/91 anyone??) they decided to pump out as many products as possible and end it with a huge bang!!! Collectors went nuts for it and supplies dried up really fast and the top tier high end products were born!
Man, I always thought 15 for a pack of Private Stock was too high. Geeeeez!
I remember when packs had 10 to 15 cards for a $1.50, they really are getting out of control with the prices. A few years back I bought a box of spx hockey and my biggest pull was a flashback fabric autograph of Bill Ranford and I could'nt give this card away.
I always look for the blood stained cards.
It still boggles my mind that these sets are still selling. The economy is bad, people are losing houses but yet packs of cards are selling for hundreds of dollars. This wouldn't be so bad except the market is so flooded with GU and auto's that a swatch or autograph can be bought for a mere fraction of what these sell for. Collectors are there own worse enemies. They complain about prices but they will still go out and buy these products with 90% of them taking a huge lose on them. Something soon will change I can't see how it can continue at this pace. To me an autograph is still an autograph no matter what product it comes out of. I can buy an old hardsigned autograph on ebay of most anyone for 90% less than people will pay for the same players autograph except its from the cup. These companies are obviously very smart at marketing.
I guess its the old school collector in me. I am all about people collecting what they like so more power to these collectors but I just don't get it. However I do like that these people do open these expensive products because I buy the single cards on ebay and other collecting sites for pennies on the dollar of what the packs and cases cost.
is Dominion getting replaced by Prime?
and I am still shock folks line up for some of these products that are hit or miss
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.