Mouschi---
To be sure, in the era that Canseco played, so much evolved in the hobby. I really like your point of "When cards serial #'ed /100 might as well be #'ed /1", as that truly reflects so much of the serial numbered craze that swept the world of card collecting.
I saw a particular 2004-05 In The Game Ultimate Memorabilia hockey card, numbered /25. I didn't jump on it when I saw the beauty on eBay back in about 2005-06. I lost the chance! Oh was I enraged with myself! While I didn't look for the card every day to appear again, henceforth, I kept it in mind and must have looked for it hundreds of times. Finally, earlier this year, it came up again! I won it, and was so relieved. I figure nine long years have passed since I first saw the gorgeous card.
While I am very gratified to have finally landed this white whale, and know that these haven't really held their value per se, I love some of those cards. They were designed well and with the right colorized photograph to anchor it, I am genuinely thrilled to have it. With only 25 examples made, it's really just as your line of when 1 of a hundred might as well be a 1 of 1. Guess it comes down to how badly you want it, and what you're willint to pay for it in time and money. It's obviously not about the future value of the card, but what the card fulfills in my enjoyment of collecting a particular player(s).
Good topic, bro, and one I'm certain many of us can relate to on a very personal level.
----Brian Powell
PS---Among the problems collecting serial #ed cards from the 90s is that when everyone saw the overabundance of cards everywhere they looked, and people were getting out of the hobby by the tens of thousands, so much of the leftover product was just stored away, or even thrown away as worthless. Nestled in amongst those millions of worthless were some of these serial numbered gems that are now extremely hard to find!
Happy hunting, bro.