Tuesday, September 6, 2011

$pending like it's 1999!

I was recently perusing the countdown of the top 100 cards in Chris' collection over at Sports Cards and Memories (redonkulous cards by the way) and on one post, he mentions that he sold a Michael Jordan insert for over book value on E-bay.  He went on to say that there is a group of late 90's basketball inserts that often sell for over book value or at least closer than usual.

I myself have noticed this phenomenon with a couple of the sets I would like to get into, Big Men on Court and Jambalaya.  What I was wondering is why exactly certain insert sets from this era go for so much?  Chris opined that insane player collectors and people unsatisfied with the current product offerings may be driving up prices.  That makes a lot of sense to me, but the prices that some of that stuff is going for are nuts!  Can that really be all it is?  I mean there are a million different insert sets and the new product isn't bad enough for me to think about spending Richie Rich kinds of money on decade old inserts!

So I was hoping to get some feedback on a couple of questions:

1. Why do you think 'rare' late 90's inserts (mostly in basketball for some reason) sell for premium dollars?
2. What are some super cool inserts that make your favorites list?

2 comments:

  1. I was a huge basketball card collector in the mid-90s, more so than I was for baseball. I mean, I was just a kid so by huge I mean I spent all of my allowance/birthday money on basketball cards. Hence, the Rodman cards I sent you.

    1. I think a lot of collectors miss the players from the 90s...MJ, Malone, Stockton, Shaq, Pippen...and collecting those guys remind them of the good old days, so they've been turning back to them. I'm not sure, but seems like a decent theory.

    2. A few really fun inserts I remember are the Hoops Number Cruncher/Block Party cards, the 94-95 Fleer Career Achievement (I had Malone and Wilkins), '95-'96 Ultra Gold Medallions, Fleer Provisions (I remember John Stockton with like a headset/walkie talkie on, and the various Collector's Choice You Crash the Game cards. I'm sure there are way more, I just really remember these ones.

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  2. Cool, thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look at those sets!

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