The Right Card for the Right Price

Ever have a card that you needed to add to your collection, but never found one at a price you were comfortable with paying?  It’s extremely rewarding when your patience pays off and you can finally add that card to your collection at a price you’re comfortable paying.  For me, that card was the 1992 Fleer Update Mike Piazza RC.

I was lucky when it came to 1992 Bowman.  I was a fan of ‘91 Bowman and was looking forward to the release of 'the ‘92 set.  I grabbed a box the first weekend it was out and pulled a Piazza out of my box.  I was also able to find one dealer who was willing to sell a Piazza for the $3 that it was listed for in the first Beckett that had Bowman pricing.  Every other dealer informed me that they were holding the card until the next book came out.  Remember, Beckett is only the bible for dealers when they like what is says.

I wasn’t as lucky when it came to the Fleer Update Piazza.  By the time that set came out, Piazza was well on his way to winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award and his Bowman rookie was the hottest rookie card in the hobby.  Many dealers took a bath on 1991 Fleer Update sets and orders were lower for the 1992 sets.  This happened a lot with update and traded sets in the 90s.  One year would be overproduced and the next would be scarce.  I remember back when 1999 Fleer Tradition Updates were the hot set due to rookie cards of Rick Ankiel and Josh Beckett.  You can get those sets for a few dollars these days.

I don’t remember seeing a lot of the 1992 Fleer Update sets when they were released and the ones that I did see were overpriced from day 1.  Both the Piazza card and the set continued to climb as there was a perceived scarcity in regards to this set.  So, it was a set that never got added to my collection.

These days, many of the sets that were formerly considered scarce in the 90s are now thought of to be overproduced.  You can find plenty of unopened 1992 Fleer Update sets online.  The same goes for the once red hot 1992 Topps Update that contained Nomar Garciaparra’s rookie.  I’m still waiting for the day that they discover cases of the 1992 Stadium Club Dome set in somebody's basement.

The 1992 Fleer Update set has been on my eBay watch list for a while now.  Some good auctions ended while I wasn’t paying attention and others ended higher than I was willing to pay.  A week ago, I finally won an auction at a great price.  The winning bid for the 1992 Fleer Update Set: $25 with free shipping.  It looked like the seller had a case that they were trying to get rid of.  They originally had the sets listed with a Buy It Now price of $29 which was already good, but they had offers on so I figured why not take a shot.  I offered the $25 and it was accepted.  I got the set Monday and now this card is finally in my collection where it belongs.  The card is pretty ugly compared to the classy ‘92 Bowman, but as one of only two Piazza rookies out there, I had to pick one up.

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