OT: When a Card is so Unpopular, it Becomes Popular

[Throttlesteer]

So E Topps might be the next big thing?

[wondo]

This was my dating strategy in high school!

[philliesphan]

Or, mayhap, the Living Set has lost some of its luster, and people aren't collecting it in the same way they did last year. In which case Howie Kendrick may be the lowest printed card du jour, but print runs in future weeks/months may depress even more, as spending $25 a week (is that right?) for this set on a forevermore basis is less interesting to the bulk majority of collectors

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by philliesphan

Or, mayhap, the Living Set has lost some of its luster, and people aren't collecting it in the same way they did last year. In which case Howie Kendrick may be the lowest printed card du jour, but print runs in future weeks/months may depress even more, as spending $25 a week (is that right?) for this set on a forevermore basis is less interesting to the bulk majority of collectors

It's $14.99 for all three cards at once. The popular players are still selling. Vlad Guerrero just sold 27,000+ cards during his week.

The suddenly popular part was based on the price jump once the print run was announced. A card that was selling for $5.00 from people who bought in bulk on Ebay, was now between $59 and $154 on Ebay. One for auction is now up to $55 with four days left. Anyone who invested in them is now making a huge % return on their investment.

[packs]

Are they, though? There's currently 183 cards sold 3 at a time for $14.99. If you bought all them in sets of 3, you've spent $914 before shipping. If you sold 181 of those cards for $5 per card, and then sold the Kendrick and Markakis for a hundred or so apiece, you've only made $200 on a $900 plus investment.

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by packs

Are they, though? There's currently 183 cards sold 3 at a time for $14.99. If you bought all them in sets of 3, you've spent $914 before shipping. If you sold 181 of those cards for $5 per card, and then sold the Kendrick and Markakis for a hundred or so apiece, you've only made $200 on a $900 plus investment.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but if it's in reference to my post, I was talking specifically about the Kendrick card. They sold for $5 on Wednesday morning and $55+ after the print run was announced. So yes, it became popular suddenly and strictly because it was unpopular. That did not happen with other cards that had low print runs. Once it was announced that it was the hardest card to find in the set, then it became sought after. If someone bought them at the bulk rate ($3.75 each for 20 cards) then you get quite a return on that investment.

[packs]

Ah, my mistake. I thought you meant major profits on buying the entire set.