I talked recently about how much serial numbered cards have been downgraded by the fact that just about every card has one. As I said,even the base cards can now be numbered
, and in most cases, perceived rarity no longer dictates value for cards. Don’t get me wrong, having a low serial number on a card cant HURT value, but it no longer gives the ridiculous bump in value that it used to. This value disease is something I have come to call Triple Threadsitis Syndrome.
Although there are exceptions to the rule, the overuse of contrived scarcity has made every rare card seem like it isn’t that rare anymore. Cards out of 50 and 25 litter the landscape of our collecting habits to the point that its expected that your box hit be a low numbered card in every case. The result of this overabundance is a situation that has made itself very well known around the hobby in the last few years. Basically, if a card is just a regular card or a regular autograph, having a serial number OTHER than 1/1 isnt really going to make it that much more valuable. It may add 10% or 20% if lucky, but other than some very unique situations, serial numbers don’t matter anymore. Rookie year cards tend to play by a different set of rules, but even in that case, its not like it used to be.
That doesn’t stop people from still trying to sell you their low numbered cards like the ridiuclous premium of the past still exists, and what these people don’t understand is that there needs to be something else for a card to be valuable. Lets use the recent release of this year’s Triple Threads as an example. Cards in this set are often numbered very low, but unless there is some amazing swatch on the card, the serial number rarely means anything for the value of the item. In fact, Triple Threads cards out of 99 often sell for similar amounts as the ones with half the print run. The reason is that collectors rarely put the number on a card above anything. If the serially numbered cards werent used as often, this may not be the case, but we all know that every innovation in this hobby gets exploited like a Central American child laborer.
So, next time you pull your super-dee-duper rare normal autograph card out of a pack, most of the time you wont have something to scream about unless you are just generally happy with your pull. That’s the point we have gotten to, so do not let manufacturer contrived scarcity blind you from paying a unnecessary premium on a card that shouldn’t have a premium. As always, the goal of the eBay sellers is to make as much money possible, so its not a surprise that they will do anything in their power to make their item more valuable. The fact remains that most of them don’t have something any more special than a regular auto would sell for, unless there is something else that makes the card desirable. In other words, a 2010 Peyton Manning auto /50 is probably going to sell the same as a 2010 Peyton Manning auto /10 with few exceptions.
