I think Leon was going for a line similar to the vintage collectors are like a pimiple on an elephant's butt (and when I googled that line, there is actually a legit term for that expression) in terms of the overall part of the card market. If he had another line in mind; let's hear it --
And the psychology of buying cards like this is actually pretty simple. Everyone wants to be proven right, and when the new card market was actually like a mini stock market in the late 80's-early 90's everyone remembered when they hit on players like Cecil Fielder who went from 3 cent obscurity to $3 overnight in 1990 and forgot the Gregg Jeffries mess when his 1988 Donruss went from a market high of $10 early in 1988 to the quarter it books for today (and the real worth is less than that)
You always remember the hits; not the stiffs and the memory of the hits is what keeps you going in this "prospector" game.
We always talk here (at least some of us) about being just caretakers of these cards; well, the new card people in many cases move those cards even quicker. And that is still true today. About 2004; anything unopened 2001 was HOT because of two players: Prior and Pujols. Prior, well he never was the same after 2003. Pijols, assuming nothing ever comes out about HGH or anything else, is now eligible for the HOF and will make the HOF and on the 1st ballot when his time comes.
So, even in 2004; with players with SOME experience, you still had the 50/50 shot.
At a local store in 1984; just as the season began, I remember a person saying he was going for the Mets and wasn't really interested in Mattingly. By the end of the year; he realized he blew that opportunity. It happens, you hit on some and lose on some. But to got back, you ALWAYS remember the winners
Rich