When was the end of Junk era?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Rookiemonster

Your right Steve the first game used cards came out in 1996.( got it twisted )

I feel it never stopped for this reason.
Let's say a topps chrome card of Bryce Harper for example.
The regular chrome who knows how many they make of that. Then there are
The different color variations. Who really knows of the final number of topps chrome Bryce Harper.

As in the 80s and 90s I'm sure some real gems will shine through in years to come. But if you think a base topps 2015 Mike trout will be like owning a mantle in 50 years, well I highly doubt it will be anywhere near. It will more likely be like owing a 1994 topps ken Griffey Jr.

That's pretty much correct for most stuff. If the culture ever moves past the current one where it's chasing inserts in whatever the "hot" new product is and very limited collecting - Player collecting, rookie collecting, then it might change.

One thing that's interesting is that with numbered cards and stated odds it's possible to get a reasonable idea of the press run of the base sets, and sometimes the non- numbered inserts too. It's tough on some of them, because of the different products - Retail, hobby, blaster, bonus packs, etc with different odds. plus there's however many additional in factory sets.

Some of the better retail sets don't have shockingly large print runs for the base cards.

The stuff I think could have a chance is mostly the retail exclusives, like the Gypsy Queen special SP minis that are in Blasters, maybe exclusive to Target. (My local Wal-Mart either doesn't do cards or hides them well. And I haven't checked Toys R Us yet)

Even if they're just in blasters in general, that's a 50 card set that essentially comes in a $20 pack.

Steve B