01.04
Over-saturation.
In 1997, when 1/1 cards were just being introduced, people were going crazy for them. I remember reading an article in Beckett that a collector had 2 of the 3 Ken Griffey, Jr. Flair Masterpieces and was trying to get the 3rd one from another collector, who just wouldn’t sell. I think that the highest price offered was around $20,000. That’s right, 20 thousand dollars for a 1/1.
I’ve been in touch with a few sellers that have Tony Clark in their inventory and they want $150 for their copies. Honestly, that’s not a bad price considering the product and the age.
Fast forward to this evening. I won a 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Glossy National Convention card, #’d 1/1. The price? Just $9.74, including shipping. That’s only a 6 year difference in age between the two products, but you can see what happens when the market is flooded with low serial-numbered cards.
And I thought over-production in the 90’s was bad.
the more things change, the more they stay the same.
I’ve never understood the appeal of serial numbered cards over the past 4 or 5 years, for the exact reasons you mention. Its hard to even get excited when you pull one! For example, I pulled a Matt Maloney magenta printing plate from 09 Topps Updates. Who??? Yeah, exactly. Well, there are actually four 1/1 printing plates of the guy, one for each color. And there are four 1/1 plates for EVERY SINGLE CARD IN THE SET!! So it’s not really even 1/1. Same with those patch autos. I’ve got a Phil Hughes “A” numbered to 25. Not bad, right? Except there are approximately 25 cards of each letter that spells out PHIL HUGHES NEW YORK YANKEES, which is hardly rare.
Grrrr….