There have been a number of people who have come in to the entertainment card hobby over the years that have significant ability to spend, and they have joined in to the norms of the hobby, created large collections and have not really changed the market.

These new buyers could have done the same thing, but instead they seem interested in drumming up more interest, driving their followers to the hobby and effectively manipulating the market.

I've never seen the wild swings in the hobby that we've seen in recent history.

Organic growth is good, but this isn't organic.

As far as how to deal with very expensive card transactions -- that's a great question. . . probably something more suited to be addressed by sports card dealers. It is something that I have thought about and haven't come up with an answer for.

Unless I was dealing with someone I knew -- or someone who had been well known in entertainment cards for a very long time I would not be very comfortable.

A high end trade could be good if you could find a trading partner, but I'd be anxious about shipping an expensive card and I'd be anxious about collectors from the sports side being critical of condition.

I think the best option -- for me would be to meet up in person to make the transaction happen -- trade or sale -- perhaps at a convention.

That said transacting over eBay could be good, especially with the new validation service or whatever they offer -- plus they will take care of the sales tax.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
These new buyers could have done the same thing, but instead they seem interested in drumming up more interest, driving their followers to the hobby and effectively manipulating the market.

Also known as the "pump and dump" - buy low (or at current market) drum up interest, then sell high.

It's the same story, whether it's true or not:

"These cards are great! I'm going to buy all I can for my PC!"

* 2-3 months pass *

"I'm bored, selling my collection."


I often wonder how these collectors commit to anything? I just don't get that mentality, and how it changes so quickly. I've been collecting a specific baseball player's cards for 30+ years now, and even though the focus of my collecting has shifted almost completely away from sports, I don't see myself ever stopping what I started when I was 10 years old.

That reminds me of a guy who contacted the guy running a website devoted to fossil shark teeth. He ended up contacting me with some questions and he sent me a sample of what he had been finding. This guy was really into it for a while, finding several obscure references, including one that had eluded me for years. Then suddenly, he lost interest and sold his collection on Ebay. Maybe he hasn't found his thing yet or maybe he just likes to learn about a new thing and then move on to something else when he's figured he's learned enough.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
These new buyers could have done the same thing, but instead they seem interested in drumming up more interest, driving their followers to the hobby and effectively manipulating the market.

Also known as the "pump and dump" - buy low (or at current market) drum up interest, then sell high.

It's the same story, whether it's true or not:

"These cards are great! I'm going to buy all I can for my PC!"

* 2-3 months pass *

"I'm bored, selling my collection."


I often wonder how these collectors commit to anything? I just don't get that mentality, and how it changes so quickly. I've been collecting a specific baseball player's cards for 30+ years now, and even though the focus of my collecting has shifted almost completely away from sports, I don't see myself ever stopping what I started when I was 10 years old.

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Originally posted by webjon:

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Originally posted by X:

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Originally posted by webjon:

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Originally posted by bone:
Chris Pine's 2nd Star Trek autograph for $410. This is the first time I've seen this card sell for over $250.

Jason Isaac'sHarry Potter GOF card for $326.

There is a guy on Blowout who has been pumping up Harry Potter cards to his Instagram followers -- this person and many of his followers seem to have decided to 'invest' in Harry Potter cards, which may be driving a lot of the sales -- and asking prices.

The prices are spiking quickly on some cards. Hard to tell if this is going to be sustainable, but many of the Marvel cards that have been pumped up recently have dropped in price significantly already. I'm personally not buying anything at massively inflated prices.

I've been watching said collector's warpath to accumulate everything Potter. On the one hand I to admire and enjoy the clear enthusiasm and pleasure on display of someone new to non-sports. On the other, the money being thrown around willy-nilly is almost gut-wrenching to watch as the hobby is pushed in more ridiculous directions.

I find that thread maddening and do everything I can to avoid posting -- even recently when the guy expressed surprise that Emma Watson's first autograph wasn't her most valuable which was followed by the predictable rookie card discussion.

The Emma Watson rookie thing was driving me nuts also. Despite how many times non-sport collectors say it, sports guys can't seem to accpet 'rookie' cards is just not a thing in non-sport. Take Emma Watson's Azkaban auto vs. her Azkaban Update auto... they're near enough identical!

quote:

Originally posted by Hedgehog Witch:
I've read that thread on Blowout and I kind of felt like needing to dry my hands afterwards from all the slime, mostly with the Emma Watson/Hermione obsession.
The person really doesn't get why people won't sell some of the rarer cards, even with stupid money being offered. Nope, they aren't a true collector in the way I see it; I got the impression it was a major lot of willy-waving, to be honest.

Ha! "willy-waving", that about sums it up. I'm part of some card groups on facebook, where the members who despite claims to the contrary, are very cliquey and obesessed with showing off their new insanely priced cards to their internet 'friends'. You see lots of people get obsessed with chasing and showing off their 'PC focus' cards, then a little while down the line they sell up. I really don't understand chasing things so hard, and spending so much money if the interest was always without much depth to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:
Not to mention, for many Hermione was probably their first crush. Now she's all grown and the boys are feeling all twitterpated, and owning an autograph gets them closer to her. It's pretty creepy, but there's an indisputable market for the ladies. Aside from biggies like Spider-Man and Wolverine, Marvel collectors fawn over the female characters. It's pretty much the same story everywhere. I remember when the Pro Set music cards came out, every card was worth pennies, but the display cases all had Madonna and Belinda Carlisle cards for $2-$3.

I've always found what I call the 'boob' factor in the trading card market more than a bit cringe... what with the seeming widespread desire to spend crazy money on cliche 'desirable' auto cards of Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox and the like simply because of their looks (it can't be for their lack of acting ability!). Except Emma Watson was a child actress, so to have grown men be so obsessed is just a bit creepy like you say.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: X,

Haven't heard many people say Angelina Jolie is untalented...

I myself collect cards of only the handsomest James Bond.

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Originally posted by Hedgehog Witch:
With the new LOTR show out on Amazon Prime later in the year it will be interesting if the market will spike for the original LOTR autographs. As that is also 20 years since the first movies.
The new crypto set is sure to be popular, but to me the original Topps sets were best and pretty extensive. Personally speaking, I will always rate those original sets above whatever new stuff follows.

The original LOTR auto cards are already heading to crazy... the Ian McKellen FOTR is in the £1,500 region already. More exposure with the series won't help affordability.
I do agree Topps did really well with their auto card run for the trilogy. Only Brad Dourif was missing. Also, thinking about it, one of the very rare instances where Topps carried a great auto design across multiple sets/years.

quote:

Originally posted by Hedgehog Witch:
The new crypto set is sure to be popular, but to me the original Topps sets were best and pretty extensive. Personally speaking, I will always rate those original sets above whatever new stuff follows.

I was late to LotR and picked up only a handful from Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers much later, because they were already pretty pricey for the time. Looks dirt cheap now.

I have never seen any data on the production run of the autograph cards, just some general box ratios. There were 14 signers in each set, but not all were the same signers. Some were in hobby boxes, but others were in retail boxes or were UK exclusives.

Does anyone know the approximate number of autograph cards done be each signer in those two sets or know where that info can be found? Allender has them all listed, but not with separate ratios and I can't find the number of boxes made for each version, so it doesn't help me much.

I really am glad I picked up a lot of the LOTR autos when they came out. I thought I’d splurged on an Ian McKellen when I paid $122 20 years ago. My only regret is not getting John Rhys Davies or Dominic Monaghan.

About 10 years ago, I remember picking up the complete set of autos for all 3 movie sets in one job lot in a binder. Was a great price but I never did anything with them as sets, ended up trading them for bond cards which I subsequently sold.

I do regret trading the LOTR cards, I'm a huge LOTR fan, but my need for Bond cards over road my common sense, its one trade that I think about often.

I saw this completed auction and wondered why. It's a 4-card promo set (Fleer/Skybox Intl./Mirage Studios, 2003) that appears to promote a 2-part episode of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV cartoon at the time. The cards say "The Shredder Strikes" on the backs, that being the name of the episode The seller hyped it as "very rare" but the cards have been around. The cards were a general giveaway and going for about $3 each according to PCE2008 and that sounds right to me. But the set went for $175 that time. I don't remember if they were given out in cello-packs at stores or sent to dealers. It's true the cards aren't always for sale so they aren't common but you can find them if you search regularly. It's probably just one of those outliers in which a seller got a crazy price from someone with money to burn who had to have it at that moment for some reason.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36381...rksid=p2047675.l2557

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Originally posted by X:
I'm part of some card groups on facebook, where the members who despite claims to the contrary, are very cliquey and obesessed with showing off their new insanely priced cards to their internet 'friends'. You see lots of people get obsessed with chasing and showing off their 'PC focus' cards, then a little while down the line they sell up.

That really sums it all up. It's a social media-generational thing. Me Me Me, show off what you've got, but then realize you never really had a passion for it, so move onto the next thing that'll get you attention.

There could be an "Ozark" type money-laundering thing going on where non-sports cards are concerned, but I'm just going to keep riding the wave. Why, I just sold a near set of Topps 1983 Perlorian Cats (missing 2 stickers) for $650,000 and traded a 1982 Donruss Knight Rider set (VG+/EX-) for 3 million in stereo equipment.

This one is strange. . .

1966 Batman Black Bat Card #1 -- in terrible shape -- creased, rounded corners, surface wear. . . $43 with 2 days left: 304493936282

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Originally posted by webjon:
This one is strange. . .

1966 Batman Black Bat Card #1 -- in terrible shape -- creased, rounded corners, surface wear. . . $43 with 2 days left: 304493936282

Don't #1's and checklists from older sets always hold a decent premium? I haven't tracked this particular card, but I'm assuming this is higher than usual.

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Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:

Don't #1's and checklists from older sets always hold a decent premium?

Checklists and #1's in nice shape carry a premium. There's no reason to think that they are scarcer than any other card, but they take more wear than average cards.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
This one is strange. . .

1966 Batman Black Bat Card #1 -- in terrible shape -- creased, rounded corners, surface wear. . . $43 with 2 days left: 304493936282

Don't #1's and checklists from older sets always hold a decent premium? I haven't tracked this particular card, but I'm assuming this is higher than usual.

I'm not sure if this price is normal or not -- I really haven't followed '66 Batman cards for 5-6 years. . .

That said 5-6 years ago I would have this in my $1 bin on my table if I were selling.

That 1966 Black Bat Batman is a mess and according to the Non-Sport Almanac the #1 isn't even worth $10. However there is also the PSA population report and Auction Prices Realized, which I don't think I'm allowed to link here, but a PR 1 is down for a $76 sale and a GOOD 2 says $208. A 3 just went for $417 on May 4th, or so it says.

In those lower grades the cards are all noticeably damaged, yet someone is willing to spend the money, maybe.

Is the DC/Marvel market so hot buyers are desperate for vintage issues in any condition or don't they know any better? Ahh, who to believe?

I read through some of the Blowout posts. You can see the difference between the people who actually like their own non-sports and those who collect sports or comic books and are just trying to guess which non-sports cards to make a profit with. One guy talked about what he might "sock away." It was funny when another guy noted that Bruce Springsteen had a "Topps Rookie" in some very recent set as if that has any relevance to a non-sports collector. Springsteen has cards going back to the 80's. I'd say he took the "rookie" non-sports card to a new level but I've seen an Ebay seller use "Topps Rookie" too.


[/QUOTE] Originally posted by X:
The Emma Watson rookie thing was driving me nuts also. Despite how many times non-sport collectors say it, sports guys can't seem to accpet 'rookie' cards is just not a thing in non-sport. Take Emma Watson's Azkaban auto vs. her Azkaban Update auto... they're near enough identical!
[/QUOTE]

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
This one is strange. . .

1966 Batman Black Bat Card #1 -- in terrible shape -- creased, rounded corners, surface wear. . . $43 with 2 days left: 304493936282

This card ended at $43, which is significantly more expensive than this card was selling for a few years ago.

I did a few minutes of research and it seems that high grade versions of this card can be very expensive now, and it seems people are referring to this as Batman's 'Rookie' card.

They printed tons of 1966 Batman cards -- these are all very common, and this card can easily be found in much better condition for similar money or cheaper if you are patient.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

I was late to LotR and picked up only a handful from Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers much later, because they were already pretty pricey for the time. Looks dirt cheap now.

I have never seen any data on the production run of the autograph cards, just some general box ratios. There were 14 signers in each set, but not all were the same signers. Some were in hobby boxes, but others were in retail boxes or were UK exclusives.

Does anyone know the approximate number of autograph cards done be each signer in those two sets or know where that info can be found? Allender has them all listed, but not with separate ratios and I can't find the number of boxes made for each version, so it doesn't help me much.

This was one of those rare releases where buying boxes at $50 to $60 a pop was a game where the collector couldn't lose. Not a bad signature in the list and the insert ratio even left some boxes with two autograph cards. Given his connection to multiple franchises (including MCU) I am a little surprised that Hugo Weaving isn't going for more. Especially seeing that it is his only card.

Although there is no way to be sure I can't imagine any of the celebrities signing more than a 1000 to 1200 cards. That places about 1200 to 1300 8 box hobby cases produced.

Given that the hobby was shrinking at the time and this was the first release of a new title it is very possible that Topps went more conservative but it is difficult to imagine more.