Maybe other collectors have a journey similar to mine.
When I became an adult collector, I began by trying to recapture and collect the Topps cards that I had collected as a child. I didn't have any interest in "minis", O-Pee-Chee, Topps variations, Venezuelans and more obscure sets like Post and Jell-o. As time passed and I completed my collections, and I looked for new things to collect. It was at this point, years later, that I went back and sought the less traditional variations. I suddenly wanted the 75 mini's but also variations of my favorite players. With a 1968 Rod Carew as one of my favorite players, I gradually realized there were similar but uniquely different cards from O-Pee-Chee, Milton Bradley, Venezuelan and even blank backs and uncut panels.
I too have noticed a trend that the big movement in prices is with the main stream (traditional Topps) cards of the Superstars with names even novice collectors recognize. The Aaron's, Rose, Mays cards have moved disproportionately quicker than cards of lesser known names like McCovey, Killebrew and Brooks and Frank Robinson.
I also think the new collectors in the hobby are not looking for sets as much as simply stars. That means that things like high numbers from 1952, 1966 and 1967 haven't seen as much of a rise in value as the superstars.
I put the 75 Minis in the same category with the, O=Pee-Chee, "high numbers", variations etc that don't get the eye of the new collector that wants "the real thing". Maybe in 10 years as these collectors watch their collections they too will branch out and look for things like the mini's. It might be a slow process. I suspect that unless the numbers of collectors grows and their collections expand that the more rare alternative sets will lag in value, despite their relative scarcity.
That is my 2 cents on the topic and I recognize it is probably overvalued at 2 cents.
Rick Johnson
Duluth, Minnesota
|