May 19, 2026 · 15 min · 12 segments
Here's why it's a bad investment every time. Only on Slabnomics. Weekly Newsletter Signup: Slabnomics.com 🎥Youtube 📸Instagram
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Pick any flagship product, Panini Prizm Football, Topps Chrome, Bowman Draft, and the cycle goes like this almost every time.
A few weeks before release, hype starts building.
Influencers are previewing cards on Instagram.
Dealers tease their case purchases.
Speculation starts about which rookies are going to be hot and which ones you should chase.
Pre-sale prices on hobby boxes come out at one price, and then immediately you'll see them on eBay for double that price.
When release day hits, all you see on Instagram is boxes being broken open.
You see the aftermath the next day of all those cases thrown into the trash.
The first big pulls are going up on social media within mere hours.
Marquee rookie cards get listed on eBay at sky-high prices.
Auctions start closing every day, and they close hot.
These early sold listings should set the anchor for everyone watching, right? That's how comps work.
But for the next thirty to sixty days, those prices hold and then actually go down.
Supply is technically limited because every case hasn't been opened yet.
But with each case that's opened, less and less supply is out on the market, and more and more is rushing into a void that's already been there.
And I think most people are trying to flip cards.
They're not trying to grab them and hold onto them.
They're trying to grab them, make a profit on them.
That's where we are in today's world.
Pick any flagship product, Panini Prizm Football, Topps Chrome, Bowman Draft, and the cycle goes like this almost every time.
A few weeks before release, hype starts building.
Influencers are previewing cards on Instagram.
Dealers tease their case purchases.
Speculation starts about which rookies are going to be hot and which ones you should chase.
Pre-sale prices on hobby boxes come out at one price, and then immediately you'll see them on eBay for double that price.
When release day hits, all you see on Instagram is boxes being broken open.
You see the aftermath the next day of all those cases thrown into the trash.
The first big pulls are going up on social media within mere hours.
Marquee rookie cards get listed on eBay at sky-high prices.
Auctions start closing every day, and they close hot.
These early sold listings should set the anchor for everyone watching, right? That's how comps work.
But for the next thirty to sixty days, those prices hold and then actually go down.
Supply is technically limited because every case hasn't been opened yet.
But with each case that's opened, less and less supply is out on the market, and more and more is rushing into a void that's already been there.
And I think most people are trying to flip cards.
They're not trying to grab them and hold onto them.
They're trying to grab them, make a profit on them.
That's where we are in today's world.
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