Hidden value in rare parallels. Do these just get lost in the sea of too much?

[PeteD]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Heritage flip stocks get no respect.

Super rare but drowned in the sea of parallels.

How 'bout 2011 Topps Update Flip Stock / Old Logo...found a bunch while going through boxes. Apparently they were only found in Target blasters. Wonder what an Trout RC goes for.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

That's good news for me then. A lot of the cards I"m looking for have a total of 2 or 3 public sales ever, in spite of print runs of 25 to 50. By your logic only 10% of 1998 Metal Universe has been opened. I guess it's time to start opening all those plentiful boxes.

There's a reason I used the terms "generally" and "roughly"....

Every product is different, and different insert sets and players all have different levels of popularity. So if you're looking for popular players from a popular set, most copies may already be locked up in collections never to be sold again.

I'm still looking for roughly 5-10 different autos from that era, most of which only show up for sale every couple of years, if that. They're from products that were moderately popular at best (2001 Fleer Showcase Awards and 2001 Donruss Classics), so I'm guessing that a decent percentage of the cards I'm looking for are still sitting in unopened boxes somewhere.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by PeteD

How 'bout 2011 Topps Update Flip Stock / Old Logo...found a bunch while going through boxes. Apparently they were only found in Target blasters. Wonder what an Trout RC goes for.

I had forgotten those even existed!

[base set]

I don’t think the 2011 Target “Vintage Stock” parallels were issued in Update, only in S1+S2. They are not the same as Heritage Flip Stock.

[corockies]

Originally Posted by base set

I don’t think the 2011 Target “Vintage Stock” parallels were issued in Update, only in S1+S2. They are not the same as Heritage Flip Stock.

Chris Sale and Freddie Freeman both have RCs in series 1... I bet both of those Vintage Stock cards would sell well today.

[PeteD]

Originally Posted by corockies

Chris Sale and Freddie Freeman both have RCs in series 1... I bet both of those Vintage Stock cards would sell well today.

yeah i was mistaken...they were in series 1&2, not update. Was looking at the Cognac Diamonds info.

Different then the current flip stock...front is glossy while the backs are "Vintage stock" and the old style Topps logo.

[base set]

The 2011 Target vintage stock were not numbered. When the concept returned in … 2017? … they became # stamped at /99.

Vintage stock is just the older style cardboard.

Flip stock means deliberately printing the front of the card on the rougher side of the card stock, rather than on the glossy side. A low print run parallel in Heritage only.

[youseekyoda421]

Great thread and good discussion.

Originally Posted by theredmenace

Aesthetics is more important than scarcity imo.

I really hope most collectors recognize this for long-term value.

I don't think there's much hidden value in parallels of modern issues because there are simply too many and there are too many parallels that have no connection to baseball (looking at you eggs and rabbits). The most value is likely in holding Golden Mirror, True Photo, and Team Color cards of star players, but even there, there are too many cards produced of superstars.

Much of the value in '90s unnumbered parallels lies in that fact that supercollectors for star players have a much smaller pool of cards to chase relatively speaking. Just going off the Beckett checklist, Ohtani had around 3956 different cards produced in 2024 and Skenes had 4716 produced in 2024, while Griffey had only 812 produced in 1999.

Two of my favorite (and hardest to find!) '90s parallels are the '95 Electric Diamond Gold and '97 Fleer Tiffany. I just got this back from PSA (purchased more than 10 years ago).

[dfenno]

Originally Posted by base set

The 2011 Target vintage stock were not numbered. When the concept returned in … 2017? … they became # stamped at /99.

Vintage stock is just the older style cardboard.

Flip stock means deliberately printing the front of the card on the rougher side of the card stock, rather than on the glossy side. A low print run parallel in Heritage only.

Yeah, these are tough to find. In addition to Sale and Freeman in 2011, there's also a 2010 Posey. They were also in 2009 but I can't think of any big rookies in 2009 off the top of my head.

[corockies]

Originally Posted by youseekyoda421

Great thread and good discussion.

I really hope most collectors recognize this for long-term value.

I don't think there's much hidden value in parallels of modern issues because there are simply too many and there are too many parallels that have no connection to baseball (looking at you eggs and rabbits). The most value is likely in holding Golden Mirror, True Photo, and Team Color cards of star players, but even there, there are too many cards produced of superstars.

Much of the value in '90s unnumbered parallels lies in that fact that supercollectors for star players have a much smaller pool of cards to chase relatively speaking. Just going off the Beckett checklist, Ohtani had around 3956 different cards produced in 2024 and Skenes had 4716 produced in 2024, while Griffey had only 812 produced in 1999.

Two of my favorite (and hardest to find!) '90s parallels are the '95 Electric Diamond Gold and '97 Fleer Tiffany. I just got this back from PSA (purchased more than 10 years ago).

It's hard to compare different eras as far as parallels go - the mid to late 90's was the wild west when it came to new ideas and there are still so many out there who don't know or understand how significant this time shaped the current hobby.

Over saturation definitely hurts with newer product, but those few needle in the haystack parallels / inserts may one day be the desired chase for those who missed out in the moment.

I put together the 1997 Fleer Tiffany Rockies team set years ago - it was tough to build. Common players rarely showed up for sale back then, I can't imagine trying to build it today.

[Archangel1775]

There has been a resurgence in parallels from the 90s. Anywhere from First Day Productions to Fleer Tiffany versions. The Gold Signatures are tough, at one per box and a 500-700 card set, its clear how difficult it is to find your player. Now there are factory sets that included 15 golds, for example, that balanced out that difficulty. I just saw someone post they sold a Cal Ripken Gold Team card for $600.

[cookmowe]

Originally Posted by mfw13

There is a LOT of unopened product out there....

For example, I collect the true Black #/10 parallels of the HOFers and current stars from 2023 TCPA....for most players only 1-2 copies have popped up so far....for some, no copy has popped up yet (Acuna, for example).

That means that even accounting for cards being sold off EBay, probably less than 50% of the product has been opened to date.

Just because you didnt see it doesn't mean its not opened. Ebay still gets a lot but you have to really dig on lots of apps now. 9/8/24 someone posted in the facebook group asking about a comp on the black Acuna she pulled...literally a year ago. Someone replied that one was listed for $225 on ebay. The day before someone said they needed an Acuna gold
prism and super to finish the rainbow, so they had a black one. So one year ago this week, at least 3 of 10 black Acuna were already pulled. I believe someone recently completed his rainbow, as well, but i dont know if it was one of these people.

For 2023 TCPA I have over 3% of the entire print run of city variation refractors, and ive bought and sold about another 3%. The city refractors come one in 10 cases, print run is estimated at 7. I have 4 Xander Bogaerts, and another guy has 1. We have had them since late 2024. Several people have 2/3 or more of a team's superfractors. There were roughly 7,000 hobby cases of this, I'd be shocked if there was 1,000 still out there for purchase. Its hard to even find boxes of it.

[bd3d86]

I'm not sure if the Meijer exclusive purple parallels (now tinsel parallels) were mentioned, but they are pretty rare all things considered.

This is just a rough estimate, but there are 240 Meijer superstores. They usually get 40 blister packs over a two week period (80 packs total).

There are 2 purple (tinsel) per blister and 350 cards in the set.

240 stores x 80 blisters x 2 cards per blister = 38,400
38,400 / 350 cards in the set = approx. 110 cards


Obviously that could be a bit higher or lower, but still a fairly low print run compared to others!

[ScooterD]

Originally Posted by bd3d86

I'm not sure if the Meijer exclusive purple parallels (now tinsel parallels) were mentioned, but they are pretty rare all things considered.

This is just a rough estimate, but there are 240 Meijer superstores. They usually get 40 blister packs over a two week period (80 packs total).

There are 2 purple (tinsel) per blister and 350 cards in the set.

240 stores x 80 blisters x 2 cards per blister = 38,400
38,400 / 350 cards in the set = approx. 110 cards


Obviously that could be a bit higher or lower, but still a fairly low print run compared to others!

Good breakdown - that include 2019 update?

[DustyDbacks]

Originally Posted by cookmowe

For 2023 TCPA I have over 3% of the entire print run of city variation refractors, and ive bought and sold about another 3%. The city refractors come one in 10 cases, print run is estimated at 7. I have 4 Xander Bogaerts, and another guy has 1. We have had them since late 2024. Several people have 2/3 or more of a team's superfractors. There were roughly 7,000 hobby cases of this, I'd be shocked if there was 1,000 still out there for purchase. Its hard to even find boxes of it.

You motivated me to pick one up just now of Corbin Carroll!

I also was able to buy five hobby boxes in July at one of the local shops. They’re still around.

[cookmowe]

Originally Posted by DustyDbacks

You motivated me to pick one up just now of Corbin Carroll!

I also was able to buy five hobby boxes in July at one of the local shops. They’re still around.

That's awesome, its a great looking card. I know the guy who has a Xander also has one of the Carrolls, and he's not planning on parting with it.

I'm jealous you found some 😁 my local Walmart had 8 blasters, one time, when the set released. I got 3, and that was the start of the addiction, when i opened up a Chipper Jones auto /75 and a Kirby Puckett /50. Before that I only PCd one player, didnt buy packs, nothing...I went back and got the other 5 blasters and have been lurking on ebay ever since...still just for TCPA though, for the most part. Stupid Walmart never got any more lol.

[base set]

Meijers blisters haven’t had 2 parallels in them for several years now. Only Series One ever had a pair of the parallels until a guess of 2020? S2 & Update (when produced) have always had a single purple.

[ThoseBackPages]

what shape ar ethe Tinsils in?
as a Purple lover i cant bring myself to buy any

[base set]

Seems samesies to me but haven’t ripped quite as many blisters this year. Probably will later in Fall when I have more time for cards. Is a nice format, the classic single pack of Baseball Cards with one automatic Stars of MLB insert, one other insert or parallel, and the one Meijer parallel for 5 bucks. I rarely leave the store without one, cuz, Baseball Cards.

Lucked into a Volpe on my first blister of 25 S1; COMC didn’t ding it into lower bucket at least. I only look closely at them if a key RC, Rookie Cup, or MVP. But not enough pulls to get lucky after the Volpe, which was two bucks, Chuck.

[corockies]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

what shape ar ethe Tinsils in?
as a Purple lover i cant bring myself to buy any

I bought an Amador and a Romo tinsel for my Rockies PC (mostly because I got them both cheap) - I don't like them. I have a huge bias towards purple for obvious reasons.

Both the tinsels I own are in great shape, which is a significant improvement over past purples.

[bd3d86]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

Good breakdown - that include 2019 update?

Haha...2019 would be tough to determine. They were only is those repack cubes and I have to imagine the print run is WAY less.

Originally Posted by base set

Meijers blisters haven’t had 2 parallels in them for several years now. Only Series One ever had a pair of the parallels until a guess of 2020? S2 & Update (when produced) have always had a single purple.

Very true. I guess I was basing the numbers off the old days of 2 per pack. So, it should be even less now. I miss the days of $3.50 blisters and 2 purple per. Now we get $4.99 blisters and 1 tinsel.

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

what shape ar ethe Tinsils in?
as a Purple lover i cant bring myself to buy any

The tinsel are is great shape compared to the purples, but I still prefer the purple myself.

[BoSoxFan1999]

I have a '23 Gunnar purple sitting in my drawer somewhere. Not exactly the most eyecatching card, but pretty obscure with likely a very low PR, so it's still cool in my book.

[DustyDbacks]

Originally Posted by cookmowe

That's awesome, its a great looking card. I know the guy who has a Xander also has one of the Carrolls, and he's not planning on parting with it.

I'm jealous you found some my local Walmart had 8 blasters, one time, when the set released. I got 3, and that was the start of the addiction, when i opened up a Chipper Jones auto /75 and a Kirby Puckett /50. Before that I only PCd one player, didnt buy packs, nothing...I went back and got the other 5 blasters and have been lurking on ebay ever since...still just for TCPA though, for the most part. Stupid Walmart never got any more lol.

This one is staying with me! I guess that leaves five potentially in the wild. Thanks again for the motivation!

[Dukefett]

I don't know why they can't just put something on the back for all parallels, just to let someone know they've got whatever in hand. Most aren't going to look up the serial numbers.

[Archangel1775]

Gold Refractors will be the bread and butter of future buyers. Enough to go around and change hands