Upper Deck President on the speculative market of sports cards

The trading card market remains stable, but Upper Deck President Jason Masherah warns that a significant segment is buying cards for speculative profit rather than hobby enjoyment. In a Oct 28 LinkedIn post, Masherah questions the sustainability of this trend.

“Everything speculative is up right now: The stock market. Bitcoin. Trading cards…and it’s pricing some collectors out.”

While “investment” has long been part of trading cards, Masherah notes that today’s price increases are excluding typical collectors and hobbyists, not just driven by passion for collecting.

“When boxes cost $1,000 or more, you’re not buying for fun anymore. You’re speculating. You’re betting that what you buy today will be worth significantly more tomorrow.

Sports cards have always had speculation built in. You collect a rookie hoping they become a Hall of Famer. But what’s happening now is different in scale. And when markets become this speculative, they become fragile” posted Masherah.

While it’s not time to panic, Masherah’s comments from one of the largest card companies should prompt serious reflection about the future direction of the hobby, as scarcity and speculation alter who can participate.

National Sports Collectors Convention floor 2022 Courtesy NSCC — National Sports Collectors Convention floor 2022
Courtesy NSCC

“I’m not saying the sky is falling. I’m saying we need to be honest about what’s happening. This isn’t sustainable growth driven by collectors who love the hobby. This is wealth concentration driving prices that most people can’t participate in.”

Commenters on the LinkedIn post highlighted that companies like Upper Deck, Topps, and Panini contribute to these speculative conditions by producing short print runs, serial numbers, and numerous parallels, thus creating artificial scarcity.

Even now, the only way to buy a Topps Now Los Angeles Dodgers 2025 Champions card is in a group of 15 cards. There is a guaranteed card per pack but I don’t need 15 cards of the same card. Collectors usually buy multiple packs in the hope of getting a rare card, so that it could be 30+ copies of the same card. These are scratch-off ticket numbers. That’s excessive and an odd business practice, regardless of how big an event the World Series was.

This also feels like the ongoing blind-bag trend we are seeing in comic books. Most publishers are joining this trend, leading people to buy multiple copies of a book in the hope of a specific cover. Publishers might see short-term returns, but is this a sustainable way to continue? Are comic books and sports cards the new recession indicator? Will I get a shiny card signed by Ohtani?

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