A Cool Experiment

Imagine buying up as many copies of a single card in hopes that it would artificially inflate its value.  That's what this one guy did with the 1992 Game Boy version of Rampart and it totally worked.  See for yourself:

While watching this video, it brought back memories of the 1995-96 Finest Gold Refractor of Jaromir Jagr.  A gentleman named Patrick Englert attempted to purchase all 150 copies that Topps claimed to produce.  He ended with 159 and eventually sued Topps for $177,000 back in 2003.  But that's another story.

I always wondered how much Englert's project drove up prices for the rare Jagr refractor.  There had to be at least a handful of collectors who were trying to build that set (including myself).  Plus what about all of the Jagr and/or Pittsburgh Penguins fans out there who wanted a copy for their collection.

I thought that was a pretty cool experiment by the "Rampart" guy and it looks like it has paid off for him.

Maybe I'll try it by cornering the market on this 2010 SPx Tyson Alualu:

I mean... there are only 139 other copies out there.  That's definitely doable.  It just might prove a little challenging, because I'd have to compete with his fans from his home state (Hawaii), plus UC Berkeley followers, and of course the plethora of Jacksonville Jaguar fans out there.

Maybe I'll hunt down the remaining 474 copies of this 2013 SPx autographed rookie card of former Green Bay Packer... Jonathan Franklin:

They're fairly affordable and can usually be purchased for under $5 on eBay.  Unfortunately... even if I could track down all of the other cards in the run, the project would cost me a fortune due to sheer bulk.

My best bet would probably be to go after the 2013 SPx Winning Big Materials patch card of former UC Berkeley wide receiver... Keenan Allen:

Right now I officially have 10% of the population.  How hard could it possibly be to obtain the remaining 90%?  The biggest problem is that Allen has actually had a pretty productive career down in San Diego.

Oh well.  I'm beginning to think that this experiment isn't for me, because it's bringing back memories of when I was busting packs of 1987 Topps baseball.

Back then I was just making the transition from collector to investor and I literally spent all of my money on boxes of this stuff.  I must of had ten to twenty-five copies of this Mark McGwire and in my own deranged way of thinking... I probably thought I had the market cornered on all of the hot cards from this set.

In reality... there are probably hundreds of thousands of these McGwires floating around the world.  But how many are showing on the top of sealed cello packs?

Well since these weren't serial numbered... we'll never know.  But thanks to Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders... I now own one.  In fact Dennis was kind enough to send me all of the cards in this post.

The final card in his care package is this 2003 Sweet Spot Patch of Barry Zito:

It sure is a cool looking card.  But it's so thick that if I decided to corner the market with this card... I'd literally have to find a new place to live.  I just don't have the room for two copies... let alone hundreds.

What about you...

Have you ever experimented with cornering the market on a single card in hopes of driving up its value?

Thanks again Dennis for this awesome care package!  Sorry it took me so long to crack it open.  Now that my summer has officially started... I should have a package in the mail for you within the next week or so.

Happy Friday and sayonara!