Do the way parallels are done annoy you?

HPC · Sep 15, 2011

They do for me.

Parallels seem lazy almost.

Take for instance bowman chrome/draft. First off, theres too many versions. Next, theres nothing that differentiates one from another, except usually the border color.

Why cant companies use a different picture for each parallel? Something to give the card some uniqueness. Or if youre not going to change the picture, maybe die cut the card or do something else special to it.

I dont know, maybe im in the minority on this one, but it seems like there's a premium on certain cards when theres nothing special about it other than companies putting a serial number on it.

studioclint · Sep 15, 2011

I agree. Parallels are lazy. Make some cool new inserts. I hate when they use the same photo in multiple products to save money.

autocut · Sep 15, 2011

i think Parallels should have different photos (variations).

pujols5hof · Sep 15, 2011

autocut said:
i think Parallels should have different photos (variations).

then it would not be a parallel, it would be a short print variation

autocut · Sep 15, 2011

pujols5hof said:
autocut said:

i think Parallels should have different photos (variations).

Click to expand...

then it would not be a parallel, it would be a short print variation

Not if you change the look of the background

rymflaherty · Sep 15, 2011

Guess I'll take the easy way out and say it depends.......the Chrome parallels don't really bother me. There were quite a few UD products in the past that did irk me though......the kind of stuff where literally the only difference was the stamp and maybe foil color.

Personally, if something take a dive in the future I think it will be such parallels. Especially with non-rookies, FY type stuff. I can't help but think 20 years from now if someone is searching for something their thinking may be "an auto is an auto" and it was crazy to pay double because the background is red instead of green and it being "manufactured scarcity".

onionring9 · Sep 15, 2011

Makes sense why they do it to me. Not saying I like it, but it makes sense.

In a set of 200 different players and 6 variations for a total of 1200 cards:

a) Pay for 1 design, 5 color variations of that design, and 200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated
b) Pay for 6 designs and 1200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated

I would expect the investment (b) for high end products but not for basic sets.

MOFNY · Sep 15, 2011

Just bring back Gold Label circa 1999.

ThoseBackPages · Sep 15, 2011

No, not at all. All cards are good cards

Resident Bay Fan · Sep 15, 2011

onionring9 said:
Makes sense why they do it to me. Not saying I like it, but it makes sense.

In a set of 200 different players and 6 variations for a total of 1200 cards:

a) Pay for 1 design, 5 color variations of that design, and 200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated
b) Pay for 6 designs and 1200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated

I would expect the investment (b) for high end products but not for basic sets.

Can you see Topps Tek. :?

madbull34 · Sep 15, 2011

What really annoys me is the inconsistency of what each color is numbered to depending on the release. A red refractor can mean /25, /5 etc etc.

vwnut13 · Sep 15, 2011

madbull34 said:
What really annoys me is the inconsistency of what each color is numbered to depending on the release. A red refractor can mean /25, /5 etc etc.

How about the unnumbered orange refs in 2010 topps chrome.

Better yet, the superfractors /25 in WWE products.

uniquebaseballcards · Sep 15, 2011

Predictability in cards isn't often a good thing although it can sometimes be.

I'm not particularly fond of parallels that are only the slightest bit different than the base. But on the other hand a parallel isn't really a parallel if its tough to tell which base card it parallels. 1997 Ultra (I think) used different pictures in their parallels which was cool, but to me they weren't really parallels.

onionring9 · Sep 15, 2011

Resident Bay Fan said:
onionring9 said:

Makes sense why they do it to me. Not saying I like it, but it makes sense.

In a set of 200 different players and 6 variations for a total of 1200 cards:

a) Pay for 1 design, 5 color variations of that design, and 200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated
b) Pay for 6 designs and 1200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated

I would expect the investment (b) for high end products but not for basic sets.

Click to expand...

Can you see Topps Tek. :?

I still have no idea why I think this, but Tek is one of my all time favorite sets. I think it's because it has proven to be one of the most entertaining "hunts" I've been on.

Resident Bay Fan · Sep 15, 2011

onionring9 said:
Resident Bay Fan said:

onionring9 said:

Makes sense why they do it to me. Not saying I like it, but it makes sense.

In a set of 200 different players and 6 variations for a total of 1200 cards:

a) Pay for 1 design, 5 color variations of that design, and 200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated
b) Pay for 6 designs and 1200 photos to be taken, chosen, airbrushed, cropped and plated

I would expect the investment (b) for high end products but not for basic sets.

Click to expand...

Can you see Topps Tek. :?

Click to expand...

I still have no idea why I think this, but Tek is one of my all time favorite sets. I think it's because it has proven to be one of the most entertaining "hunts" I've been on.

I wasn't paticularly found of those sets, bu they did have different pics and designs to them, and they were distinguised by card # and variation on the back. I really hate the Ultra "hobby" and "retail" variations because they are soooooooooooo hard to tell apart.

bouwob · Sep 15, 2011

Its really simple.

Back in the 90's card companies got in trouble for producing 10 million of every card. Since pickups were regional, they still seemed scarce (ebay is likely the cause of the decline of the hobby). a mcgwire rookie may have sold for $50 pre ebay and after you get $5. That drove many people out of the hobby after they realized what a worthless commodity they had.

So today rarity is a must. Instead of producing a million of every card, they produce 100 sets with 200 cards per player, per set to make up the sales volume. Having 2,4,10,20 parallels of the base card is super cheap to produce and adds rarity to the product.

It may be cool to pull a 1/1 today but it means very little. Out of the 203 ryan cards produced so far in 2011, 73 are 1/1. With the cards listed in beckett for 2011, 36% of the total different cards he has had issued are 1/1s.

How many set collectors were driven out of the hobby because they could no longer collect 1 of every topps cards that came out? How many player collectors were driven out of the hobby for the same thing.

I will most definitely be able to close my 1973 ryan collection with all cards before I could do 2011. 1973 has a card in that year that will cost my $10,000+ and another that will cost me $2,000+. Every card in 2011 is likely not worth $5,000 20 years from now but because a card says 1/1 sellers want $400 per card. Thats $29,200 just for the 1/1s. The $10,000 1973 card will still be worth $10,000 20 years from now.

uniquebaseballcards · Sep 15, 2011

We know supply isn't the only factor in determining monetary worth or interest, demand is also a big factor. However I'd strongly agree there is a huge supply of different Ryan cards, any of which impact the demand of any other Ryan card - even ones from different years. Personally I appreciate the cards from his playing days most but obviously not everyone feels this way.

As suggested, parallels are a little different in that the interest/value of them is related to their base card and all associated parallels. But people frequently seem to forget that they can't really appreciate the parallel if they don't appreciate the related base.

bouwob said:
Its really simple.

Back in the 90's card companies got in trouble for producing 10 million of every card. Since pickups were regional, they still seemed scarce (ebay is likely the cause of the decline of the hobby). a mcgwire rookie may have sold for $50 pre ebay and after you get $5. That drove many people out of the hobby after they realized what a worthless commodity they had.

So today rarity is a must. Instead of producing a million of every card, they produce 100 sets with 200 cards per player, per set to make up the sales volume. Having 2,4,10,20 parallels of the base card is super cheap to produce and adds rarity to the product.

It may be cool to pull a 1/1 today but it means very little. Out of the 203 ryan cards produced so far in 2011, 73 are 1/1. With the cards listed in beckett for 2011, 36% of the total different cards he has had issued are 1/1s.

How many set collectors were driven out of the hobby because they could no longer collect 1 of every topps cards that came out? How many player collectors were driven out of the hobby for the same thing.

I will most definitely be able to close my 1973 ryan collection with all cards before I could do 2011. 1973 has a card in that year that will cost my $10,000+ and another that will cost me $2,000+. Every card in 2011 is likely not worth $5,000 20 years from now but because a card says 1/1 sellers want $400 per card. Thats $29,200 just for the 1/1s. The $10,000 1973 card will still be worth $10,000 20 years from now.

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