1st- they are beautiful- but to me, it's a sterile beauty. Take a look at these two baseball cards:
The one on the left is the 2018 Mike Trout from Topps; the one of the right is the 2020 Mike Trout. The pictures are stunning- but the cards are too similar. Both borderless, both of the same in-game moment. Except for the helmet, you could have told me that they were from the same at-bat, and I'd have believed you.
Below is an example from almost 50 years ago; The 1971 Topps Johnny Bench and the 1973 Bench. They look different; not only is one a pose while the other is in-game, but just the feel of the cards are different. Each year had a different redesign. You can pick out a 1971 Topps from a 1972 from a 1973... it made collecting the cards more special.
Cards have also become a legalized lottery. Packs are expensive (my 3 packs were $2.99 apiece for 16 cards), but they all have special inserts that, in theory, could be sold for more money. I fear we are at a stage where no one collects and everyone invest, at which point the market will fall out. There's also so many sets that trying to be a completionist is impossible
I'm not an investor; I collect for fun. I'll pick a small group and work on them.
One set I do want to collect is the 2020 Topps Heritage Set. The Heritage sets have the layouts of years past, and this one is the 1971 Topps (the black bordered cards). I want to do this the old-fashioned way; opening up a few packs at a time, putting the set together manually. It's a bad investment- but it'll appeal to my inner 11 year old.
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