Potential Worth of Soccer Cards as Market Grows

borizz941 · 09-12-2019, 03:20 PM

I have been questioning this for some time now. If you think of it, the first "big" soccer product to be released was 2014 World Cup Prizm which included autographs of legends and big name players. Since that point in time, we have seen high end sets like National Treasures, Eminence, and a couple of others. As we see more and more products come out, I wonder if there will be a day in which Ronaldo or Messi autos sell for Jordan or Brady amounts even though there are high end cards of Messi and Ronaldo that sell for over $1,000

I'm not strictly focusing on those two players only, I just give the example being that they're the prominent figures in world soccer. It would be interesting to see where the market is in five years.

Any thoughts?

Anish · 09-12-2019, 04:18 PM

Messi autos already sell for a comparable amount as Brady's. MJ is different because he doesn't have licensed autos any more.

There are way more soccer fans around the world than fans of any other sport, but card culture is different in the US. It seems that in South America and Europe collectors generally don't view cards as investments, which is what ultimately drives up prices in North America. Vintage cards (eg Pele rookies) sell for tens of thousands, typically to North American collectors.

I don't think soccer will ever be as highly collected in the US as the other sports, so it will depend on whether the rest of the world adopts the North American card culture (and whether disposable income rises in parallel). Either way, I think there will be more growth in important soccer issues than those of any other sport as prices are already so high elsewhere.

AsianBrizz · 09-12-2019, 04:28 PM

I've been collecting for years and I have an Excel spreadsheet with all my purchases, so I can see the exponential growth in just the last few years. My collection is already worth ten times what it was worth just a few years ago.

For example, back in 2012, I was buying Messi rookies in bunches for $5 apiece, including his Megacracks that some sellers on ebay are now listing for $500-1000.

Back in 2013, I bought two Alfredo di Stefano rookies (from 1953) for $3 and $4 each...today, those are going for $85-100, and sometimes much more. And now that Di Stefano has passed away, just imagine how much his autograph is worth on a 50-year old German card printed in limited supply.

I bought a bunch of old Spanish (chocolate) cards from the 1920s featuring Paulinho Alcantara (the all-time leading goal scorer at Barca until Messi broke his record a few years ago) on the cheap for less than $5 apiece, and I just saw one sell today for over $100.

The same goes for rookies of CR7, Beckenbauer, Maradona, (the other) Ronaldo, Garrincha, Beckham, and on and on...the market is exploding, but it's a mistake to think that the first big soccer product started in 2014. Soccer cards have been around since the 1800s, and if you're lucky enough to have a rookie card of Pele or Jose Andrade or Hans Gamper (the guy who started FC Barcelona), you can count yourself very lucky indeed.

The market is exploding, if you know what to buy. In five years time, as these old cards become more and more rare, they'll be worth ten times what they're worth today, and the potential market will be much larger than for American-based sports like basketball or American football. I am American, but I live in Thailand and there are tons of collectors here. Just imagine when citizens of other footie-loving countries get more disposable income.

It's going to get even better in the coming years...if the ice caps don't flood all our major cities and destroy human civilization as we know it.

SocalSteals · 09-12-2019, 10:56 PM

A very interesting take. Will be following this thread.

mwheeler27 · 09-12-2019, 11:08 PM

I too think soccer has the biggest potential for percentage growth right now compared to other major sports. Just look at all the kids that are playing it. Then look at all the colleges that are adopting it that didn’t have it until recently.

With fewer and fewer kids playing American football due to parental concerns over concussions, I think soccer has explosive growth potential.

I’ve been buying all the Topps NOW soccer cards since they are very short printed, sometimes having print runs in the 30s or less. If they never catch on, I’ll still be happy to pass something “rare” and licensed on to my kids.

Shinypsptitans · 09-13-2019, 01:05 AM

I'm wondering if 2014 prizm auto cards will be consider rookie autos..especially for guys like Neymar etc..as it was their first autograph cards.

Raj3sh · 09-13-2019, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinypsptitans

I'm wondering if 2014 prizm auto cards will be consider rookie autos..especially for guys like Neymar etc..as it was their first autograph cards.

The rookie cards of these players ( messi,ronaldo,neymar etc) are going up all the time. however the prizm autos are coming down since panini is flooding the market with tons of autos.

bloomie6 · 09-13-2019, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AsianBrizz

I've been collecting for years and I have an Excel spreadsheet with all my purchases, so I can see the exponential growth in just the last few years. My collection is already worth ten times what it was worth just a few years ago.

For example, back in 2012, I was buying Messi rookies in bunches for $5 apiece, including his Megacracks that some sellers on ebay are now listing for $500-1000.

Back in 2013, I bought two Alfredo di Stefano rookies (from 1953) for $3 and $4 each...today, those are going for $85-100, and sometimes much more. And now that Di Stefano has passed away, just imagine how much his autograph is worth on a 50-year old German card printed in limited supply.

I bought a bunch of old Spanish (chocolate) cards from the 1920s featuring Paulinho Alcantara (the all-time leading goal scorer at Barca until Messi broke his record a few years ago) on the cheap for less than $5 apiece, and I just saw one sell today for over $100.

The same goes for rookies of CR7, Beckenbauer, Maradona, (the other) Ronaldo, Garrincha, Beckham, and on and on...the market is exploding, but it's a mistake to think that the first big soccer product started in 2014. Soccer cards have been around since the 1800s, and if you're lucky enough to have a rookie card of Pele or Jose Andrade or Hans Gamper (the guy who started FC Barcelona), you can count yourself very lucky indeed.

The market is exploding, if you know what to buy. In five years time, as these old cards become more and more rare, they'll be worth ten times what they're worth today, and the potential market will be much larger than for American-based sports like basketball or American football. I am American, but I live in Thailand and there are tons of collectors here. Just imagine when citizens of other footie-loving countries get more disposable income.

It's going to get even better in the coming years...if the ice caps don't flood all our major cities and destroy human civilization as we know it.

Where is the best place to find and purchase pre 2014wc soccer cards?
Thanks

AsianBrizz · 09-13-2019, 07:46 AM

eBay.com is the biggest and best location for finding old soccer cards. If you are on Facebook, there are tons of groups for soccer cards and stickers.

bloomie6 · 09-13-2019, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AsianBrizz

eBay.com is the biggest and best location for finding old soccer cards. If you are on Facebook, there are tons of groups for soccer cards and stickers.

Thanks

Poncho74 · 09-13-2019, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anish

Messi autos already sell for a comparable amount as Brady's. MJ is different because he doesn't have licensed autos any more.

There are way more soccer fans around the world than fans of any other sport, but card culture is different in the US. It seems that in South America and Europe collectors generally don't view cards as investments, which is what ultimately drives up prices in North America. Vintage cards (eg Pele rookies) sell for tens of thousands, typically to North American collectors.

I don't think soccer will ever be as highly collected in the US as the other sports, so it will depend on whether the rest of the world adopts the North American card culture (and whether disposable income rises in parallel). Either way, I think there will be more growth in important soccer issues than those of any other sport as prices are already so high elsewhere.

This 100%. Most of the world see card collecting as fun, but would never pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for a piece of cardboard. I was born in and lived in Portugal for many years. If you showed a card to any European and told them, this card is worth even a low high end number of say....$1000, they would laugh in your face and think you were 'Special' lol.

Prospectorsadvantage · 09-21-2019, 07:55 PM

What do folks consider Ronaldo’s rc? Messi?

Raj3sh · 09-22-2019, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prospectorsadvantage

What do folks consider Ronaldo’s rc? Messi?

Ronaldos is 2003 panini megacraques in sporting lisbon colors ( card number 137)and messis is 2004 panini megacracks in barca color ( card number 71).

mfw13 · 09-24-2019, 07:10 PM

The problem for the soccer card market is the high levels of player movement....people love a player while he's playing for their club, but as soon as he moves to a different club, their interest level wanes. So it's hard for players to build a long-term collector base.

All-time greats are able to maintain/increase their value, but most other players have very small markets.

AsianBrizz · 09-25-2019, 11:08 AM

This is a good point, but NT players seem to be an exception. I know that many Americans collect American players, regardless of their club teams. This may be particularly American, but I suspect many other countries (England, Portugal, Germany, etc) can be quite nationalistic and may also collect their own NT players.

Overall, though, you make a good point about the differences between collecting soccer and something like baseball or basketball.

Pigo · 09-26-2019, 02:17 AM

Also I think that the toughness of discerning a true rookie card makes it harder to capture that appealing element of marketing the hobby. In most major leagues guys don't have a clearly defined starting season - they might play a couple of games in their first year, but not have a card, then end up getting one thr following year. Then, as a previous poster said, they will likely move leagues... a lot of big players seem to have 'true' rookies that are from oddball sets rather than the more popular mainstream ones. The lure of the 'rookie' is something that I think would have some appeal in the UK for example, because certain US traditions are quite familiar to us, but it's a tougher sell in the football card realm.

borizz941 · 10-13-2019, 10:58 PM

Great point by everyone. The issues with "rookie cards" is the fact that the trajectory of players isn't as structured as the MLB, NFL, or NBA for example. The market for soccer (futbol) is definitely much higher globally than other sports but, as someone mentioned the disposal income component is important regarding being able to spend on cards.

Jbutton11 · 10-14-2019, 08:43 AM

The "Rookie Card" is an American thing. Most international collectors could care less. I don't think "rookie cards" will ever be as popular in Soccer as they are in baseball and other American sports. But, Panini is doing it's best to try to promote them. They even have a RC logo on cards in their Immaculate product.

As far as growth, it's been steady for the past five years or so and should continue for the next five plus. Will soccer overtake baseball and football in the USA? Not a chance. Just look at Topps living set. 200 print runs for a star soccer player and 2500 for a baseball common. This includes the international markets. But, prices for autographs and other soccer cards have risen consistently. Investing in sports cards is rarely a good idea. It's a poor investment. But collecting is becoming more popular. Plus it's a world wide market which makes it more fun. Buy what you like and collect for fun and you wont be disappointed.

fadster · 10-14-2019, 04:25 PM

There is certainly a big market for vintage rookie collecting, perhaps moreso outside the US. When key rookies come up there is quite some competition. For me there is a gulf between vintage and modern collectors and how the hobby progresses depends if / how the two meet.

Will the guys that track down rare Pele, Dixie Dean, Meazza and Cruyff rookies care about modern cards with all the parallels? In the future that is where rookies will be found, but will it give the same thrill of the hunt? Likewise will modern collectors ever get the bug to pick up older cards as they complete modern collections; will the Messi collector start going after Maradona or Di Stefano, will the Neymar collector get the Pele bug or will the stickers / cards be too boring and from an era with no personal connection?

I'd like to think they two can co-exist and help each other. The modern collectors will start to appreciate the history and giants of the game and start to pick up key cards from the past while the vintage collectors find a new rush hunting down key modern cards made in limited numbers.

GrangerCollectr · 10-29-2019, 09:47 AM

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Seems like there are more and more investors jumping into the sports card collecting world. Everyone is looking for the next big thing to buy cheap and then pump it up to flip.

What if all the folks buying up Prizm Silvers and Optic Holos in Basketball/Football decide to jump over to Soccer as it's so cheap compared to Basketball and Football. We could potentially see a big jump in Messi/Ronaldo Refractors, Silvers and Holos. Could lead into the younger players too (Mbappe, Felix, Sancho). Especially as we get closer to the next World Cup.
Feels like there are more and more new soccer collectors popping up in the USA and as you all know....it only takes a small "buyers group" to change pricing quickly.

Just a few of my thoughts....

jrg1128 · 10-29-2019, 10:12 AM

Pulisic prices on the up & up after his hat trick. Nice to see a soccer player getting a little bump.

k13 · 10-29-2019, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrangerCollectr

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Seems like there are more and more investors jumping into the sports card collecting world. Everyone is looking for the next big thing to buy cheap and then pump it up to flip.

What if all the folks buying up Prizm Silvers and Optic Holos in Basketball/Football decide to jump over to Soccer as it's so cheap compared to Basketball and Football. We could potentially see a big jump in Messi/Ronaldo Refractors, Silvers and Holos. Could lead into the younger players too (Mbappe, Felix, Sancho). Especially as we get closer to the next World Cup.
Feels like there are more and more new soccer collectors popping up in the USA and as you all know....it only takes a small "buyers group" to change pricing quickly.

Just a few of my thoughts....

There's too many silvers in soccer prizm and most care about low numbered ones since those are still relatively cheap.

Markets don't translate to other sports all the time.

Since the RC thing is a mess in soccer it will never go over well with as other sports. Maybe original sets and 1st prizms but who really knows.

GrangerCollectr · 10-29-2019, 11:56 AM

k13 - I agree with everything you just said. Again, I don't think it would be soccer collectors that would drive prices up....I think it would be folks that are looking for the next thing to buy cheap and then pump it up to flip.

I've never collected Soccer in my life until the past year (done baseball, football and basketball for over 25 years). I can see that it is a whole different world when it comes to collecting in soccer but I also think if more of us navigate over from basketball/football/baseball looking for the next "Prizm Silver" or "Optic Holo" it could easily be with Soccer with it being so cheap. I don't think we will see a Messi Prizm Silver sell for $100 bucks but it could easily go from $5 to $20 if more people start looking for the next big thing.

Maybe I'm just rambling but something that I am going to experiment with. So, if anyone reading this is selling Messi, Ronaldo or Mbappe Prizm parallels or Topps Chrome refractors then feel free to hit me up haha!

AsianBrizz · 10-30-2019, 02:15 PM

As a middle-aged American living in Southeast Asia, I see this a little differently.

The soccer collector market is not exploding because of American collectors moving over from other sports, but rather from rich Asian collectors who (more and more) have the passion and the money to spend big. I regularly see big prices for new cards on Facebook, much higher than on ebay. Many Asian collectors don't use ebay, for example, or don't know how to see all the items available to the North American market, so things get skewed. You can still get vintage soccer cards for decent prices, but a new 1/1 or 1/10 of a current player like Messi, Ronaldo, or Mo Salah can go for hundreds of dollars or more on Facebook! I'm in about a dozen collector groups on Facebook and I regularly see insane prices on that site. It seems to me that many new Asian collectors, in particular, buy into this idea of high-end and low-end cards, and they're willing to pay top dollar.

Sure, a new Panini Prizm card looks quite slick compared to a Match Attax card or a Bundesliga sticker, but I wonder how much these cards will hold their value over time. I get the feeling that buying some of these cards will be like buying a brand new car that loses a lot of value as soon as you drive it off the lot.

Personally, I might spend $200 on a 60-year old Pele card, but I'm not putting down that kind of money for a 3-month old Rhian Brewster card, even if it is a rookie autograph numbered 1/10 on nice card stock with shiny colors.

Given the expanding wealth in Asia and other parts of the world, I don't think it's possible to accurately predict what these collectors will do with these cards or how they will react over time. The Internet has opened everything up, and I don't believe that everyone collects the same way Americans collected baseball (and then other sports) in the 20th century. We're in for a ride...

GrangerCollectr · 10-30-2019, 06:53 PM

Awesome take and information! Maybe I need to join some soccer Facebook groups because it's the same old stuff on Ebay and nobody sells soccer on here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AsianBrizz

As a middle-aged American living in Southeast Asia, I see this a little differently.

The soccer collector market is not exploding because of American collectors moving over from other sports, but rather from rich Asian collectors who (more and more) have the passion and the money to spend big. I regularly see big prices for new cards on Facebook, much higher than on ebay. Many Asian collectors don't use ebay, for example, or don't know how to see all the items available to the North American market, so things get skewed. You can still get vintage soccer cards for decent prices, but a new 1/1 or 1/10 of a current player like Messi, Ronaldo, or Mo Salah can go for hundreds of dollars or more on Facebook! I'm in about a dozen collector groups on Facebook and I regularly see insane prices on that site. It seems to me that many new Asian collectors, in particular, buy into this idea of high-end and low-end cards, and they're willing to pay top dollar.

Sure, a new Panini Prizm card looks quite slick compared to a Match Attax card or a Bundesliga sticker, but I wonder how much these cards will hold their value over time. I get the feeling that buying some of these cards will be like buying a brand new car that loses a lot of value as soon as you drive it off the lot.

Personally, I might spend $200 on a 60-year old Pele card, but I'm not putting down that kind of money for a 3-month old Rhian Brewster card, even if it is a rookie autograph numbered 1/10 on nice card stock with shiny colors.

Given the expanding wealth in Asia and other parts of the world, I don't think it's possible to accurately predict what these collectors will do with these cards or how they will react over time. The Internet has opened everything up, and I don't believe that everyone collects the same way Americans collected baseball (and then other sports) in the 20th century. We're in for a ride...

09-12-2019, 03:20 PM	#1
borizz941 Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New York Posts: 1,143 tiva1 borizz94	Potential Worth of Soccer Cards as Market Grows I have been questioning this for some time now. If you think of it, the first "big" soccer product to be released was 2014 World Cup Prizm which included autographs of legends and big name players. Since that point in time, we have seen high end sets like National Treasures, Eminence, and a couple of others. As we see more and more products come out, I wonder if there will be a day in which Ronaldo or Messi autos sell for Jordan or Brady amounts even though there are high end cards of Messi and Ronaldo that sell for over $1,000 I'm not strictly focusing on those two players only, I just give the example being that they're the prominent figures in world soccer. It would be interesting to see where the market is in five years. Any thoughts? __________________ Arturo Vidal/Chile Collector -Contact Me If You Have Anything Chile Prizm Instagram: vidalcollector8

09-12-2019, 04:18 PM	#2
Anish Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 917	Messi autos already sell for a comparable amount as Brady's. MJ is different because he doesn't have licensed autos any more. There are way more soccer fans around the world than fans of any other sport, but card culture is different in the US. It seems that in South America and Europe collectors generally don't view cards as investments, which is what ultimately drives up prices in North America. Vintage cards (eg Pele rookies) sell for tens of thousands, typically to North American collectors. I don't think soccer will ever be as highly collected in the US as the other sports, so it will depend on whether the rest of the world adopts the North American card culture (and whether disposable income rises in parallel). Either way, I think there will be more growth in important soccer issues than those of any other sport as prices are already so high elsewhere. __________________ https://www.flickr.com/photos/140288876@N04/albums IG: anishfutbol

09-12-2019, 04:28 PM	#3
AsianBrizz Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 300	I've been collecting for years and I have an Excel spreadsheet with all my purchases, so I can see the exponential growth in just the last few years. My collection is already worth ten times what it was worth just a few years ago. For example, back in 2012, I was buying Messi rookies in bunches for $5 apiece, including his Megacracks that some sellers on ebay are now listing for $500-1000. Back in 2013, I bought two Alfredo di Stefano rookies (from 1953) for $3 and $4 each...today, those are going for $85-100, and sometimes much more. And now that Di Stefano has passed away, just imagine how much his autograph is worth on a 50-year old German card printed in limited supply. I bought a bunch of old Spanish (chocolate) cards from the 1920s featuring Paulinho Alcantara (the all-time leading goal scorer at Barca until Messi broke his record a few years ago) on the cheap for less than $5 apiece, and I just saw one sell today for over $100. The same goes for rookies of CR7, Beckenbauer, Maradona, (the other) Ronaldo, Garrincha, Beckham, and on and on...the market is exploding, but it's a mistake to think that the first big soccer product started in 2014. Soccer cards have been around since the 1800s, and if you're lucky enough to have a rookie card of Pele or Jose Andrade or Hans Gamper (the guy who started FC Barcelona), you can count yourself very lucky indeed. The market is exploding, if you know what to buy. In five years time, as these old cards become more and more rare, they'll be worth ten times what they're worth today, and the potential market will be much larger than for American-based sports like basketball or American football. I am American, but I live in Thailand and there are tons of collectors here. Just imagine when citizens of other footie-loving countries get more disposable income. It's going to get even better in the coming years...if the ice caps don't flood all our major cities and destroy human civilization as we know it. Last edited by AsianBrizz; 09-12-2019 at 04:31 PM.

09-21-2019, 07:55 PM	#12
Prospectorsadvantage Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: LA / DC Posts: 2,369	What do folks consider Ronaldo’s rc? Messi? __________________ Rams / Lakers / Dodgers / LAFC / Real Madrid

09-26-2019, 02:17 AM	#16
Pigo Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 315 demonheadmonster demonheadmonster	Also I think that the toughness of discerning a true rookie card makes it harder to capture that appealing element of marketing the hobby. In most major leagues guys don't have a clearly defined starting season - they might play a couple of games in their first year, but not have a card, then end up getting one thr following year. Then, as a previous poster said, they will likely move leagues... a lot of big players seem to have 'true' rookies that are from oddball sets rather than the more popular mainstream ones. The lure of the 'rookie' is something that I think would have some appeal in the UK for example, because certain US traditions are quite familiar to us, but it's a tougher sell in the football card realm. __________________ Always looking for 2021 EPL Prizm Pink Mosaics

09-12-2019, 10:56 PM	#4
SocalSteals Member Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Long Beach Posts: 175 socalsteals	A very interesting take. Will be following this thread.

09-12-2019, 11:08 PM	#5
mwheeler27 Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NorthEast Kansas Posts: 18,419 mwheeler27 mwheeler27	I too think soccer has the biggest potential for percentage growth right now compared to other major sports. Just look at all the kids that are playing it. Then look at all the colleges that are adopting it that didn’t have it until recently. With fewer and fewer kids playing American football due to parental concerns over concussions, I think soccer has explosive growth potential. I’ve been buying all the Topps NOW soccer cards since they are very short printed, sometimes having print runs in the 30s or less. If they never catch on, I’ll still be happy to pass something “rare” and licensed on to my kids.

09-13-2019, 01:05 AM	#6
Shinypsptitans Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3,821	I'm wondering if 2014 prizm auto cards will be consider rookie autos..especially for guys like Neymar etc..as it was their first autograph cards.

09-13-2019, 07:46 AM	#9
AsianBrizz Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 300	eBay.com is the biggest and best location for finding old soccer cards. If you are on Facebook, there are tons of groups for soccer cards and stickers.

09-24-2019, 07:10 PM	#14
mfw13 Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 16,914	The problem for the soccer card market is the high levels of player movement....people love a player while he's playing for their club, but as soon as he moves to a different club, their interest level wanes. So it's hard for players to build a long-term collector base. All-time greats are able to maintain/increase their value, but most other players have very small markets.

09-25-2019, 11:08 AM	#15
AsianBrizz Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 300	This is a good point, but NT players seem to be an exception. I know that many Americans collect American players, regardless of their club teams. This may be particularly American, but I suspect many other countries (England, Portugal, Germany, etc) can be quite nationalistic and may also collect their own NT players. Overall, though, you make a good point about the differences between collecting soccer and something like baseball or basketball.

10-13-2019, 10:58 PM	#17
borizz941 Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New York Posts: 1,143 tiva1 borizz94	Great point by everyone. The issues with "rookie cards" is the fact that the trajectory of players isn't as structured as the MLB, NFL, or NBA for example. The market for soccer (futbol) is definitely much higher globally than other sports but, as someone mentioned the disposal income component is important regarding being able to spend on cards. __________________ Arturo Vidal/Chile Collector -Contact Me If You Have Anything Chile Prizm Instagram: vidalcollector8

10-14-2019, 08:43 AM	#18
Jbutton11 Member Join Date: May 2019 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 100	The "Rookie Card" is an American thing. Most international collectors could care less. I don't think "rookie cards" will ever be as popular in Soccer as they are in baseball and other American sports. But, Panini is doing it's best to try to promote them. They even have a RC logo on cards in their Immaculate product. As far as growth, it's been steady for the past five years or so and should continue for the next five plus. Will soccer overtake baseball and football in the USA? Not a chance. Just look at Topps living set. 200 print runs for a star soccer player and 2500 for a baseball common. This includes the international markets. But, prices for autographs and other soccer cards have risen consistently. Investing in sports cards is rarely a good idea. It's a poor investment. But collecting is becoming more popular. Plus it's a world wide market which makes it more fun. Buy what you like and collect for fun and you wont be disappointed.

10-14-2019, 04:25 PM	#19
fadster Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,275 fadster	There is certainly a big market for vintage rookie collecting, perhaps moreso outside the US. When key rookies come up there is quite some competition. For me there is a gulf between vintage and modern collectors and how the hobby progresses depends if / how the two meet. Will the guys that track down rare Pele, Dixie Dean, Meazza and Cruyff rookies care about modern cards with all the parallels? In the future that is where rookies will be found, but will it give the same thrill of the hunt? Likewise will modern collectors ever get the bug to pick up older cards as they complete modern collections; will the Messi collector start going after Maradona or Di Stefano, will the Neymar collector get the Pele bug or will the stickers / cards be too boring and from an era with no personal connection? I'd like to think they two can co-exist and help each other. The modern collectors will start to appreciate the history and giants of the game and start to pick up key cards from the past while the vintage collectors find a new rush hunting down key modern cards made in limited numbers.

10-29-2019, 09:47 AM	#20
GrangerCollectr Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,374 millercrows millercrows31	I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Seems like there are more and more investors jumping into the sports card collecting world. Everyone is looking for the next big thing to buy cheap and then pump it up to flip. What if all the folks buying up Prizm Silvers and Optic Holos in Basketball/Football decide to jump over to Soccer as it's so cheap compared to Basketball and Football. We could potentially see a big jump in Messi/Ronaldo Refractors, Silvers and Holos. Could lead into the younger players too (Mbappe, Felix, Sancho). Especially as we get closer to the next World Cup. Feels like there are more and more new soccer collectors popping up in the USA and as you all know....it only takes a small "buyers group" to change pricing quickly. Just a few of my thoughts.... __________________ *"If you're not having fun, you're probably doing it wrong"* Instagram - indy_card_collector

10-29-2019, 10:12 AM	#21
jrg1128 Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Alabama Posts: 5,290 jrgbball	Pulisic prices on the up & up after his hat trick. Nice to see a soccer player getting a little bump.

10-29-2019, 11:56 AM	#23
GrangerCollectr Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 2,374 millercrows millercrows31	k13 - I agree with everything you just said. Again, I don't think it would be soccer collectors that would drive prices up....I think it would be folks that are looking for the next thing to buy cheap and then pump it up to flip. I've never collected Soccer in my life until the past year (done baseball, football and basketball for over 25 years). I can see that it is a whole different world when it comes to collecting in soccer but I also think if more of us navigate over from basketball/football/baseball looking for the next "Prizm Silver" or "Optic Holo" it could easily be with Soccer with it being so cheap. I don't think we will see a Messi Prizm Silver sell for $100 bucks but it could easily go from $5 to $20 if more people start looking for the next big thing. Maybe I'm just rambling but something that I am going to experiment with. So, if anyone reading this is selling Messi, Ronaldo or Mbappe Prizm parallels or Topps Chrome refractors then feel free to hit me up haha! __________________ *"If you're not having fun, you're probably doing it wrong"* Instagram - indy_card_collector

10-30-2019, 02:15 PM	#24
AsianBrizz Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 300	As a middle-aged American living in Southeast Asia, I see this a little differently. The soccer collector market is not exploding because of American collectors moving over from other sports, but rather from rich Asian collectors who (more and more) have the passion and the money to spend big. I regularly see big prices for new cards on Facebook, much higher than on ebay. Many Asian collectors don't use ebay, for example, or don't know how to see all the items available to the North American market, so things get skewed. You can still get vintage soccer cards for decent prices, but a new 1/1 or 1/10 of a current player like Messi, Ronaldo, or Mo Salah can go for hundreds of dollars or more on Facebook! I'm in about a dozen collector groups on Facebook and I regularly see insane prices on that site. It seems to me that many new Asian collectors, in particular, buy into this idea of high-end and low-end cards, and they're willing to pay top dollar. Sure, a new Panini Prizm card looks quite slick compared to a Match Attax card or a Bundesliga sticker, but I wonder how much these cards will hold their value over time. I get the feeling that buying some of these cards will be like buying a brand new car that loses a lot of value as soon as you drive it off the lot. Personally, I might spend $200 on a 60-year old Pele card, but I'm not putting down that kind of money for a 3-month old Rhian Brewster card, even if it is a rookie autograph numbered 1/10 on nice card stock with shiny colors. Given the expanding wealth in Asia and other parts of the world, I don't think it's possible to accurately predict what these collectors will do with these cards or how they will react over time. The Internet has opened everything up, and I don't believe that everyone collects the same way Americans collected baseball (and then other sports) in the 20th century. We're in for a ride...