Non-Sport Update's Card Talk
They slipped through our fingers..

This topic can be found at:
https://nonsportupdate.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/274605453/m/1387056976

December 05, 2015, 01:35 PM
promoking
They slipped through our fingers..
quote:
Originally posted by promoking:

Remember,despite the millions and millions of trading cards being sold on Ebay every year,there are still some promo cards that have NEVER appeared for sale while some others have made a cameo appearance every few years. But hey, if you're astute and knowledgeable enough to find a diamond in the rough there are plenty of unearthed little treasures to still be found out there for a pittance.
Although the world of promo card collecting has burgeoned over last few years, many dealers and collectors have still not caught on to or appreciated the true rarity of some of these cards, especially those made in the early 1990's thru early 2000's.
"


I was recently perusing the "promo card" sold listings on the bay when I came upon dozens of sold auctions which went for a fraction of what these cards should have sold for.
There were 3 auctions in particular which astounded me.
I was neither the buyer nor the seller of these cards and am mentioning these in particular because I feel they are of general interest to the collective and illustrate the point I made a few years ago on another thread about the seeming continuing lack of knowledge concerning value of promo cards by too many people.
I have included the item number and the seller's description:

1)eBay item number:
252181636582

(5) Spider-Man embossed promotional cards

"Up for auction are five (5) Spider-Man embossed promotional cards by Legendary Foils. Each card measures approximately 3 1/2" x 2 1/2."
The cards are blue, red and silver. They are all numbered "000001," so these were never issued to the public. Could be demo cards? I'm not sure. I believe these were produced around 1993."

These 5 cards sold for a whopping $19.99! I do not have even 1 of these in my collection despite looking for 20+years, let alone all 5 variations and all numbered 000001. These prototype cards were printed under legal license but were never produced. Whoever the buyer was,he or she acquired a unique item at a fraction of its true worth in my opinion.

2)eBay item number:
151872432442

"For sale is a promo card for Topps Star Wars Chrome card. It's been in a protector ever since I received it back in 1996."

This item sold for $10.00! It is the ultra rare standard size split level Star Wars Finest promo card. This card, when properly advertised, easily sells for no less than $800.00

3)eBay item number:
371484745491

2003 VINTAGE HULK MOVIE PC1 PROMO CARD

"Marvel Hulk Movie promo card, PC1"

This card was a Wizard World exclusive and is extremely hard to find. It sold for $3.99. I have only come across 2 of these in the last 10 years! It easily fetches when found, at least $50.00.

There were too many more to list in this thread. Suffice it to say that bargains still abound on Ebay if you know what to look for.

____________________
December 05, 2015, 02:13 PM
wolfie
It never ceases to amaze me what things sell for on ebay and this works both ways. Things that should sell for loads of money go for nothing whilst cards that should be worth nothing sell for loads of money. Ebay is a crazy place.

If anyone is intrested i have the Hulk movie PC1 for trade.

____________________
Come, it is time for you to keep your appointment with The Wicker Man.
December 05, 2015, 07:34 PM
Raven
[QUOTE]Originally posted by promoking:
I was recently perusing the "promo card" sold listings on the bay when I came upon dozens of sold auctions which went for a fraction of what these cards should have sold for.
There were 3 auctions in particular which astounded me.
I was neither the buyer nor the seller of these cards and am mentioning these in particular because I feel they are of general interest to the collective and illustrate the point I made a few years ago on another thread about the seeming continuing lack of knowledge concerning value of promo cards by too many people.
I have included the item number and the seller's description:

1)eBay item number:
252181636582

(5) Spider-Man embossed promotional cards

"Up for auction are five (5) Spider-Man embossed promotional cards by Legendary Foils. Each card measures approximately 3 1/2" x 2 1/2."
The cards are blue, red and silver. They are all numbered "000001," so these were never issued to the public. Could be demo cards? I'm not sure. I believe these were produced around 1993."

These 5 cards sold for a whopping $19.99! I do not have even 1 of these in my collection despite looking for 20+years, let alone all 5 variations and all numbered 000001. These prototype cards were printed under legal license but were never produced. Whoever the buyer was,he or she acquired a unique item at a fraction of its true worth in my opinion. /QUOTE]

Weren't these particular items mentioned in a thread here at the time? The poster wanted to know if anyone knew what they were and it was kind of suggested that they might be unlicensed product. If my memory serves, no one mentioned unreleased promos.

I just located the thread entitled Legendary Foils, posted June 4, 2015 in the General Card Discussion section. It didn't seem to generate much interest back then.

Which brings up another issue, not limited to promos. The cards were posted and sold for $19.99, possibly to one person because no one seemed to know what they were, including the seller. Now that's a lot of people looking at them. Whether you think it right or wrong, $19.99 is all they were worth because that's all anyone was willing to pay.

To say that it is only a fraction of their real worth, is kind of beside the point in MHO. It is their worth at that time. It will probably stay their worth unless someone can make a great case as to why they should be worth more and then the market has to believe in terms of creating demand. If there is no demand the supply doesn't matter. It could be a 1/1 autograph, it could be a never again reproduced sketch, it could be a variant relic. If no one is looking for it and no one has heard of it and no one really knows what it is, it's not worth more than the minimum bid, if some one wants to make it.

That is way there is no true worth in collectibles in MHO and I don't think in terms of selling or investment prices for any cards, only the buying prices interest me. Do I think the price meets my idea of the item's value to me. I don't worry about what is slipping through my fingers because that is someone else's opinion and it can be ridiculously overblown or underestimated without my being in control of any swing one way or the other.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,
December 06, 2015, 10:50 PM
DanoElMano
I agree that eBay prices can be wildly different. I was the lucky "winner" of the hulk PC1 promo. I had a search set up on eBay for it for many years and was surprised to see an email in my inbox listing it for 3.99 as a Buy It Now. I was more surprised to see it still available.

I also recently found a Farscape A31 John Bach as Einstien for BIN 99 cents.

It does pay to wait and be vigilant sometimes. Smile

Dan.

____________________
What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything? 42 ...no it's not. It's OCD card collecting.
December 07, 2015, 10:08 AM
David R
Yes, those Legendary Foils were discussed a few months ago. There were also ones seen on ebay of Batman, Elvis, Babe Ruth. No one is sure what they are

I recall that Hulk SC1 was exclusive to the Wizard Philly show whenever the film came out. When it first came out, it wasn't that hard to find, but perhaps they all vanished soon afterwards ?
December 07, 2015, 10:12 AM
David R
You rarely see the 1991 Blue Angels promos for sale. There are 20 in the set, and I am still missing one, # 17

Once every 2-3 years you will see 1 or 2 on ebay and they either go unsold, or sell for less than $ 5.00 I missed the # 17 about 10 years ago when I did not see it, and it sold for $3.00
December 08, 2015, 02:12 PM
RedFive
quote:
Originally posted by promoking:
2)eBay item number:
151872432442

"For sale is a promo card for Topps Star Wars Chrome card. It's been in a protector ever since I received it back in 1996."

This item sold for $10.00! It is the ultra rare standard size split level Star Wars Finest promo card. This card, when properly advertised, easily sells for no less than $800.00


I think this card is the oversize (7" x 10.75") chrome card. Note the photo shows a pen next to the card. The Finest Split Level promo is card sized.
December 08, 2015, 10:28 PM
promoking
quote:
Originally posted by RedFive:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by promoking:
2)eBay item number:
151872432442


I think this card is the oversize (7" x 10.75") chrome card. Note the photo shows a pen next to the card. The Finest Split Level promo is card sized.


You are 100% correct. My bad! Truth be told, I'm glad it isn't the split level one because I paid a small fortune for mine, years ago.

____________________
December 17, 2015, 05:06 PM
catskilleagle
quote:
Originally posted by Raven:

Weren't these particular items mentioned in a thread here at the time? The poster wanted to know if anyone knew what they were and it was kind of suggested that they might be unlicensed product. If my memory serves, no one mentioned unreleased promos.

I just located the thread entitled Legendary Foils, posted June 4, 2015 in the General Card Discussion section. It didn't seem to generate much interest back then.

Which brings up another issue, not limited to promos. The cards were posted and sold for $19.99, possibly to one person because no one seemed to know what they were, including the seller. Now that's a lot of people looking at them. Whether you think it right or wrong, $19.99 is all they were worth because that's all anyone was willing to pay.

To say that it is only a fraction of their real worth, is kind of beside the point in MHO. It is their worth at that time. It will probably stay their worth unless someone can make a great case as to why they should be worth more and then the market has to believe in terms of creating demand. If there is no demand the supply doesn't matter. It could be a 1/1 autograph, it could be a never again reproduced sketch, it could be a variant relic. If no one is looking for it and no one has heard of it and no one really knows what it is, it's not worth more than the minimum bid, if some one wants to make it.

That is way there is no true worth in collectibles in MHO and I don't think in terms of selling or investment prices for any cards, only the buying prices interest me. Do I think the price meets my idea of the item's value to me. I don't worry about what is slipping through my fingers because that is someone else's opinion and it can be ridiculously overblown or underestimated without my being in control of any swing one way or the other.


I understand what you're saying but there is a "going-rate" for any given collectible. Anyone who collects promos knows there's a bunch of stuff that is worth about a dollar or two and a bunch of other stuff that you wouldn't give a buck for. A lot of cards that used to go for $20 can be found for $5 or less but some things that weren't that hard to find for a while have increased in perceived value which tends to be whatever remains on several collectors' want lists.

If someone had offered the Hulk PC1 on this forum (if it were an auction site), it would have most likely gotten a lot more interest and a few more bids. What still happens a lot on Ebay is that sellers don't always use the right keywords to reach the widest audience for a given item. They enter some very basic keywords and almost nothing in the description so potential buyers have to both be lucky and know what they are looking at. Sometimes, a card is keyworded pretty well but it goes unnoticed in the background of hundreds of others. I have seen some promos not listed as "promo cards," (or "promo" or "promotional" or another keyword was misspelled) including some oddball ones.

Even in the late 90's and early 2000's rare and desirable items often had wild price ranges. Two or three bidders sometimes dueled an item into the stratosphere but when the same thing went up a week later, it got only one or two bids.
December 17, 2015, 10:27 PM
Raven
quote:
Originally posted by Raven:

That is way there is no true worth in collectibles in MHO and I don't think in terms of selling or investment prices for any cards, only the buying prices interest me. Do I think the price meets my idea of the item's value to me. I don't worry about what is slipping through my fingers because that is someone else's opinion and it can be ridiculously overblown or underestimated without my being in control of any swing one way or the other.


Originally posted by Catskilleagle:
I understand what you're saying but there is a "going-rate" for any given collectible. Anyone who collects promos knows there's a bunch of stuff that is worth about a dollar or two and a bunch of other stuff that you wouldn't give a buck for. A lot of cards that used to go for $20 can be found for $5 or less but some things that weren't that hard to find for a while have increased in perceived value which tends to be whatever remains on several collectors' want lists.

If someone had offered the Hulk PC1 on this forum (if it were an auction site), it would have most likely gotten a lot more interest and a few more bids. What still happens a lot on Ebay is that sellers don't always use the right keywords to reach the widest audience for a given item. They enter some very basic keywords and almost nothing in the description so potential buyers have to both be lucky and know what they are looking at. Sometimes, a card is keyworded pretty well but it goes unnoticed in the background of hundreds of others. I have seen some promos not listed as "promo cards," (or "promo" or "promotional" or another keyword was misspelled) including some oddball ones.

Even in the late 90's and early 2000's rare and desirable items often had wild price ranges. Two or three bidders sometimes dueled an item into the stratosphere but when the same thing went up a week later, it got only one or two bids.[/QUOTE]


Of course you're right that there is always a "going rate" for everything. If we are talking about the hobby, the "book" price is ideally based on the average price of documented sales and it may change a lot for items that are heavily traded and become almost stagnant for older items that don't move much. I did not mean to imply that collectors who follow certain cards don't have a great idea of what they should be worth. I just had a little issue with the use of "true worth" as a term because that to me means something different than what something may be selling for. It's like for example if I said, the card sold for $10 after a five day auction, but I know based on rarity that it's true worth should be $100. Well it's not, if it sold for $10 that's what it was worth. If it should be $100, then someone would have paid $100. Big Grin

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I over think sometimes. Wink

Anyway your point about poor listings or bad wording is totally valid. You can get lucky on eBay when you know your area and stuff gets buried because of bad info. Only that's not really getting lucky is it? That is knowing the products and being able to recognize what you are looking at because you are good at it. Smile
December 22, 2015, 06:47 PM
catskilleagle
Well. it's lucky when you stumble onto something unexpected/unusual and it's cheap while you're looking for something else.


quote:
Originally posted by Raven:

Anyway your point about poor listings or bad wording is totally valid. You can get lucky on eBay when you know your area and stuff gets buried because of bad info. Only that's not really getting lucky is it? That is knowing the products and being able to recognize what you are looking at because you are good at it. Smile

February 01, 2016, 04:03 PM
jeff
Albert
e-mail me at jptsams@comcast.net have some questions for you
Jeff
August 31, 2016, 05:11 PM
catskilleagle
Promoking,

Another one of these just sold last weekend. It went for just over $400. It was properly described but it still sold for less than I thought it would (and I am well-aware of the drop in values for many rare, in-demand promos since the last issue of PCE.

Jess



[QUOTE]Originally posted by promoking:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by promoking:

"For sale is a promo card for Topps Star Wars Chrome card. It's been in a protector ever since I received it back in 1996."

This item sold for $10.00! It is the ultra rare standard size split level Star Wars Finest promo card. This card, when properly advertised, easily sells for no less than $800.00
September 02, 2016, 11:37 AM
David R
Not that I was looking for these (I have them) but 2 sample foils on the 1993 Marvel Universe set recently sold for $ 100 plus each !

I have 8 of the 9 different ones. Still looking for the Punisher 2099 sample

The last one I found was the Spider Man 2099 one, for about $ 80-90, 3 or 4 years ago

The villains usually sell for $ 20 or less, so I am surprised that the two sold for more than a hundred
April 23, 2018, 05:29 PM
catskilleagle
Hi David,

A Doom 2009 sample recently sold for $144.

A Buffy Sky TV 7 card set went for 79 cents.

A P1 and P3 Interplanetary Lizards promo for 99 cents and $1.25 respectively. There was a guy trying to get $50 for those. They are actually hard to find with the P2 the most elusive for some reason.

A Bone The Hooded One promo sold at $175.

There are a few other rare ones that sold at a Best Offer price. I still need to look those up.

Jess

quote:
Originally posted by David R:
Not that I was looking for these (I have them) but 2 sample foils on the 1993 Marvel Universe set recently sold for $ 100 plus each !

I have 8 of the 9 different ones. Still looking for the Punisher 2099 sample

The last one I found was the Spider Man 2099 one, for about $ 80-90, 3 or 4 years ago

The villains usually sell for $ 20 or less, so I am surprised that the two sold for more than a hundred

April 24, 2018, 02:39 PM
Tommy C
David R,

There was a Spider-Man 2099 sample foil available a few weeks ago "you know where" with an asking price of $ 289. It went unsold.

I, also, have never seen the Punisher 2099
April 14, 2019, 05:48 PM
catskilleagle
A few days ago, I saw a set of Empire Strikes Back Widevision (1995) promos go for only $16.50 and that included the rare P5. That is a card that sold for as little as $15 a few years ago. Another went for $25 in 2017. Last year, I saw one sell for $50 which is what it was going for 12-15 years ago.

I saw the auction a few seconds before it ended and just missed getting in a last-second bid.

That same day, the two Sci-Fi Expo Celebrity Card promos from 1999 (P1, P2) and an unscratched trivia card went for only $2.25 as a lot price.
April 14, 2019, 06:08 PM
Bill Mullins
quote:
Originally posted by David R:
You rarely see the 1991 Blue Angels promos for sale. There are 20 in the set, and I am still missing one, # 17

Once every 2-3 years you will see 1 or 2 on ebay and they either go unsold, or sell for less than $ 5.00 I missed the # 17 about 10 years ago when I did not see it, and it sold for $3.00


What is a fair retail price for these?
April 14, 2019, 06:48 PM
catskilleagle
The 2008 Promo Card Enccyclopedia has them for $5 each and I would say that's still about right. I bought one for that on Ebay two years ago and at least one more sold for that to someone else around that time. There are collectors seriously working on the set who might give more in trade for a number they don't have, however, these cards fall into that category of rather uncommon but not particularly valuable.


quote:
Originally posted by Bill Mullins:
quote:
Originally posted by David R:
You rarely see the 1991 Blue Angels promos for sale. There are 20 in the set, and I am still missing one, # 17

Once every 2-3 years you will see 1 or 2 on ebay and they either go unsold, or sell for less than $ 5.00 I missed the # 17 about 10 years ago when I did not see it, and it sold for $3.00


What is a fair retail price for these?

April 15, 2019, 03:21 PM
Bill Mullins
Thanks