I don't know how you guys feel about e-bay. I have liked it, and I have hated it. I have bought and sold, been disappointed and pleasantly surprised. I've gotten cards in conditions I would have never sold, and I have gotten surprisingly gradable cards I am surprised people have sold. All in all, you never really know what you are going to get. Sometimes I feel things are just simply overpriced on there, and then moments later I will think that e-bay is killing card values and ruining the hobby. Don't get me wrong, I am not in this just for the money. I don't need a book to tell me what cards are valuable so I can like just them. However, with the prices that we are paying for these products there needs to be some tangible value in them to justify the cost. If packs were transparent, and we could select what we wanted to purchase at a set price, then we could say that cards simply have the value placed on them by their owners. In e-bay we have basically that. However, most people still enjoy the mystery of opening the pack. The chance there might be something special inside. The excitement of the unknown. Packs are our slot machines, and even slot machines are regulated to ensure there is some value coming out of them.
So that brings me to my 99 cent find on e-bay. To me this card holds much more value, but there is a balance there. The balance is what amount am I willing to part with to have it, versus what inherent value I place on the card. I have no problem saying that I would probably part
with no more then $5 for the card. Yet once in my collection it obtains a sentimental value of no less then $30. Why you ask? For one, I consider myself a Maybin fan. Second, I enjoy jersey cards. To me they add a personal touch that simply a piece of cardboard with a photo cannot achieve. Third, I Love jersey cards in which the jersey in question can be identified. Now there are lots of ways the companies get around this. Rather then the All-Star Jersey, its the event worn all-star jersey...etc. So in this case I don't know for sure that this jersey card is really the one worn in the photo, but when they are the same color, and they claim to be, I like to take the optimists approach and believe. I believe that this is the next logical step in g/u apparel. It will simply not be enough anymore to say something is game worn. We are going to need pieces of those jerseys when that shut-out, three HR, game 7's, actually occurred. For rookies, the debut game worn jerseys are going to be huge. Plus it can give people some real good reasons to go after second year stuff of the hot rookies, which is always good for the companies and the hobby.
So that brings me to my 99 cent find on e-bay. To me this card holds much more value, but there is a balance there. The balance is what amount am I willing to part with to have it, versus what inherent value I place on the card. I have no problem saying that I would probably part
with no more then $5 for the card. Yet once in my collection it obtains a sentimental value of no less then $30. Why you ask? For one, I consider myself a Maybin fan. Second, I enjoy jersey cards. To me they add a personal touch that simply a piece of cardboard with a photo cannot achieve. Third, I Love jersey cards in which the jersey in question can be identified. Now there are lots of ways the companies get around this. Rather then the All-Star Jersey, its the event worn all-star jersey...etc. So in this case I don't know for sure that this jersey card is really the one worn in the photo, but when they are the same color, and they claim to be, I like to take the optimists approach and believe. I believe that this is the next logical step in g/u apparel. It will simply not be enough anymore to say something is game worn. We are going to need pieces of those jerseys when that shut-out, three HR, game 7's, actually occurred. For rookies, the debut game worn jerseys are going to be huge. Plus it can give people some real good reasons to go after second year stuff of the hot rookies, which is always good for the companies and the hobby.
Another example of one of my identifiable game worn cards
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