Numbers

I open a lot of hockey cards..

I break them myself on my stream, or I get involved in breaks in other streamer’s rooms.

Nonetheless, it’s pretty much what I do now, most every night at some point.

I enjoy it (especially the breaking part of it) and I’ve met some amazing folks as a result. 

However, one thing I’m noticing, and I’m assuming this is the same in other sports, is the crazy number of numbered cards coming out of packs.

Everything, aside from the flagship products, seems to contain a slew of numbered cards.

Out of 1299.

Out of 999

Out of 499

Out of 99… and so on.

Initially, this was cool, but nowadays, there are so many numbered cards that they almost lose their impact, their cache, their value.

“I hardly pay much attention to it anymore,” collector Steve Soullier said. “Unless it’s a 1-of-1, it’s just another card to me, really.”

Soullier collects mainly hockey cards, but sprinkles in a few baseball cards along the way, he says.

“I think it may be a little worse in hockey, he said. “But it’s not great in baseball, either. Too many numbered inserts for my liking. But I’m old, and I’m old school. Just give me a rookie card and I’m happy. I don’t need shiny cards, different colored one, nothing like that. Just a rookie card, please.”

Soulllier might be on one extreme, but the amount of numbered inserts in stets like Upper Deck Artifacts and Stature, for example, do give him a strong argument.

“When you try too hard to create scarcity in a product, that’s not always a great thing,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like these companies are trying too hard in order to justify higher box prices and higher demand.”

What are your thoughts? 

Are you growing weary from all the numbered cards in some products?