Back then there was also a bigger fluctuation between retirement and HOF election. As the player approached retirement there was a bit of a surge as people gathered rookies and other cards thought to be particularly difficult. Then a drop off after retirement, usually about 3 years of decline. Then 2 years of sizeable increase anticipating election. The more likely someone was to be a first year electee, the bigger the runup. Especially if they were well liked. Then a predictable dropoff about a year after election once the publicity died down.
There were similar price bumps around landmark events, 400HR, 3000 hits.
I was never organized enough, but a HS friend made some decent money buying particular cards in bulk during the lulls,and selling during the upswing.
Todays publicity makes stuff like that much harder, the landmarks are expected and anticipated for years, and HOF election doesn't carry quite the impact it once did.
For bigger fun, try to track regional pricing, another aspect of the pricing that's greatly diminished.
Steve B
|