If there is one thing that I never can wrap my head around, it’s the purchase of rare insert cards from the 1990s, especially in basketball and baseball. Over the recent explosion of serially numbered cards, the inserts from rare sets in the 1990s have dramatically risen in value because of how few cards were actually numbered back then. One player in particular, Michael Jordan, is at the forefront of this phenomenon, which is understandable considering that he is the Mickey Mantle of Basketball value.
Recently, Jordan’s late 1990s inserts have jumped so sharply in price, that it almost prompted an internet war on Blowout cards. As I was reading the breakdown from collectors who know the usual prices for Jordan cards of this ilk, it seems as though there are differing opinions of why the auctions are as they are.
Check out some of the recent ones:
1998 Michael Jordan Die Cut Finest Gold Embossed Refractor
1997 Michael Jordan Die Cut EX2000 Cut Above Insert
1997 Michael Jordan Die Cut Flair Hot Shots Insert
The first opinion is that there is a very rich collector who has no problem dropping this kind of coin on these cards. Although he is overpaying per the standards that most collectors have, it is not unheard of for well off fans to buy because they can.
The second opinion is that there are a handful of sellers who shill bid the prices up on these cards with no intention of buying just to make their own stash that much more valuable. Obviously this is not only a complete scam, but against the rules of eBay, so lets hope this is not the case. In the end, with any commodity that is valuable, there will be people to try to take advantage of it. Because no one has taken this principle seriously among the manufacturers and mainstream sources of hobby media, it falls on us. This is where uneducated buyers get swindled like never before.
Don’t get me wrong, Jordan is and always will be the man in basketball. However, as an autograph collector rather than a card collector, its tough for me to understand how someone could pay this much for a card when a session to meet and train with MJ would cost about the same amount!
I personally LOVE these 90’s inserts, but don’t have NEAR this type of cash to spend on them. I have put together a prett impressive (in my opinion anyway, lol) of Ken Griffey Jr. 90s inserts and have followed many auctions of some of his more rare inserts. Just recently an EX2001 Essential Credentials Griffey sold for $500+ and a Leaf Limited Precious Medals did $580+. Those prices would have been outrageous, even in the 90’s . It seems as though there has been a resurgance in people chasing these cards, myself included. I think it is because companies actually had to get creative and some of the designs of these inserts absolute CRUSH anything that has been put out in the last 5 years with a GU or auto slapped on it knowing the appearance other than the memorabilia didn’t matter. It ashame that publications such as Beckett (which is worthless anyway) don’t call attention to this. It could bring people who own some of these rare inserts that have left the hobby back in. I have been paying OVER book value for many of my Griffey inserts (96 Pinnacle Skylines, 96 Summit Big Bang Mirage, 92 Donruss Elite, etc.) and it seems guides like Beckett just don’t seem to care that these 90s inserts are attracting more money and attention. Oh well, I collect them because I love them. I couldn’t afford them back in high school and now, I like admiring them more then my high end stuff. Sorry for the long read, but thought I would throw in my 2 cents.
I would lean towards No 2 – to get the cards noticed. There were so many sets in the 1990s how can anyone know to chase a 1997 Flair hot shots die cut. This is one way to do it.
I like that 90’s inserts are the greatest collectibles around but these prices are nuts. From what I’ve seen with these auctions there are no way these are real final bids. And why slab an embossed card? How can you ever feel it? Isn’t that the point?
Re: shill bidding – It looks as if 2 of these cares were purchased Buy It Now as opposed to auction. Does anyone have any memory on if these were offers or were these the the actual asking prices of these cards? Seems awfully foolish for a seller to risk their Top Seller discount and pay fees for something like this. But then again, I guess nothing surprises me.
And here I thought that the Parallels of the late 1990s and early 2000s completely killed player collecting!