I Heart Old Upper Deck Part 2

So continuing the trend of actual game-worn jerseys and on card autographs of Hall of Famers, I tended to like a lot of the old Upper Deck Exquisite stuff.  This set, in particular, was appealing to me because of the coloration and clean lines of the card.  Although the checklist was a bit odd numbered and had different serial number quantities of different players, and although the checklist had quite a few rookies who never amounted to anything, I thought the cards were just gorgeous.  I have been working on this set for 9 years, and just finished it.  I had been waiting on the Eli Manning /20 for the last 18 months.  I originally saw one on Ebay a few years ago for somewhere around $100-120, and I thought it was a bit high at $120, if I remember.  I passed.  I regret that all the time and haven't seen one since, until last week when I finally finished the set.

Just goes to show that you really need to know when to hold and when to fold.  When negotiating over a couple of bucks isn't worth the time and expense.  It's an interesting conundrum in collecting because some cards are worth far more than their saleable value, and that intrinsic value cannot really be accurately quantified.  Sure, I can put a number on what I would pay, but I cannot tell you what 6 years of futile eBay searches is worth to me.  Surely, I would pay more now than I would have back then.  This is in stark contrast to other investments where everything is monetized and can be calculated and measured.  Quantities in sportscards are often far more limited, and you are often in competition with other collectors and investors.  It's an interesting dynamic that obeys something similar to, but not classic supply and demand phenomenon.