What happened to the Marvel card market?

[fabiani12333]

YouTuber, The Card Boss -- kind of a douchey name, if I'm being honest -- posted a video three months ago explaining why he quit posting Marvel card videos. He provides a good narrative for what has happened to the Marvel card market in recent years.

He explained that after the sports card boom of 2020, in which large amounts of capital was injected into the sports card market and caused prices to dramatically increase, numbered and rare Marvel cards became the next target by card flippers, as they were viewed as "undervalued" compared to sports cards. Graded 90s Marvel base cards had already had their run up in 2020, but the market collapsed due to being flooded with supply, with PSA pop reports skyrocketing.

There was a 15-month run up in high-end Marvel card prices during 2021 and 2022, in which resellers like The Card Boss would buy up raw-conditioned Marvel cards and submit them to PSA for grading so they could resell them for a profit. Limited-numbered Marvel cards like PMGs exploded in price practically overnight.

Card collectors were left with a choice -- either pay way higher prices for cards they wanted, or sell part or all of their collections off. I personally sold some graded cards in 2020, but mostly held onto my core collection. Paying what I thought were obscene and inflated prices for cards was never an option, though.

The Marvel trading card bubble all came crashing down in mid 2022, though, as prices of Marvel PMGs tanked just as hard as they had risen. Why the sudden collapse in prices? Well, maybe it had something to do with the Federal Reserve raising interests in mid 2022 to combat out of control inflation. The Fed's efforts caused excess credit and cash to dry up -- no more cheap and easy money for people and businesses, I guess.

The Card Boss said the current Marvel card market is now basically dead for flippers -- prices are either stable or going down, so there's no opportunity to resell cards for a profit. He says this is essentially why he has stopped making Marvel card videos. It's okay, though, because he enjoyed making money and making new friends -- isn't that nice?

If you are like me and were buying Marvel cards prior to the pandemic, you'd know that prices are still way higher than they used to be. So, I don't see this as a good thing for the market going forward, as collectors are still being priced out of cards.

One thing not discussed in the video are new releases by Upper Deck. Anyone who has been following the Marvel card market the last year has noticed a sharp increase in the number of Marvel comic and MCU card products released. Upper Deck has been trying to play catch-up with card products that were delayed due to supply chain disruptions during the pandemic. This increase in supply has contributed to a dilutution in the Marvel card market, causing more downward pressure on an already declining market.