Eye Appeal is an Underlooked Part of Card Prices
There is constant conversation about the factors that affect the price of a sports card. Prognosticating player performance is a favorite one. Print runs and wax prices and grading are all discussed ad nauseum. The timing of the card calendar and when to sell is another popular topic. Anything that affects a card's price gets tons of discussion with one big exception, card design. Andre Agassi once had the famous “image is everything” ad campaign but it seldom is in terms of conversations around sports cards. I think Andre was right and it is time to start talking about it more.
Design conversations are normally left to a subjective “I like it” or “I think that’s ugly” with little nuance or explanation. I think it is time to start paying more attention to it though as I think it is critical in determining a card’s value. In a hobby where players have thousands of rare cards produced a year (yes I know that sounds off but it’s the hobby), the ones that the public feels looks the best will stand out and be valued higher. It’s the reason why Kabooms are sought after and fly off the shelf at high prices while other case hits like Topps Mega Stars are tough sales at $10 even.
Ultraviolets: An Example
Let’s check out the importance of design with a recent example. Topps introduced the collecting world to a funky little new insert set last year with their Ultraviolet All-Stars set. The set is inspired by the trippy black light posters of the 70s and is one of the more unique design choices Topps made last year. While it would be wrong to say it got a negative reception, it did get soundly ignored. Luckily, rather than shelving it as a mistake, Topps tweaked the design and hit a home run in 2024.
2023 Ultraviolet’s sell for a good bit less than their more readily available 2024 versions. The explanation for this can only be that demand for the 2024 version is much higher. Take Bryce Harper’s cards for example. Last year’s version of his card was a passable attempt due to its creativity, but this year’s is a masterpiece. You can snag the 2023 version for $20 to $30 or you can pay $40 to $50 for the 2024 version even though it outnumbers the 2023 version 10 to 1 on eBay. The gap is really bigger as the 2023 prices have increased on the back of the popularity of the 2024 version. A good design can turn a $10 afterthought to a $50 heavily sought-after card.
Design and Case Hits
The popularity of the 2024 Ultraviolet All-Stars is not simply a matter of fans chasing the new hotness. Plenty of recent case hits and even rarer inserts have fallen flat. There was a time when case hits equaled high values without fail. In an effort to add value to products, both Topps and Panini have increasingly included them in more products. Now that case hits are pretty much in every product with some products having several, collectors have become more discerning. Case hits now have to have a desirable design or they are doomed to the bargain bin.
Juan Soto is having quite the year and is one of the most talented and celebrated players in the hobby. His less popular case hits can be had for $10 to $20. Case hits such as Crushed, Diamond Dominance, and Platinum Performers are tough sells and will continue to be so. Popular case hits though like this year’s Topps Chrome Helix see Soto’s cards sell for over $200. The main difference between the two groups that accounts for that massive difference in value is the thing we keep not talking about, design.
With case hits becoming increasingly more prevalent and increasingly more responsible for the value in wax, figuring out what designs are going to be popular is an important task that can yield information that can help you decide if a card will be a $20 ugly case hit or a $200 awesome looking one. Most of us rely on our own tastes to do this and that’s a good starting point if you’ve got fairly mainstream tastes like I do. That said, I know my tastes aren’t always the prevailing ones as there are a few case hit sets I just can’t stand the look of (I’m looking at you Kaboom you 90’s era Pacific reject). This is where it helps to see what others think of the designs.
Wrap Up
When a product is released, collectors discuss odds, the checklist, and wax prices. I contend that appearance needs to be included in the conversation more (it’s not completely ignored to be fair) and really should be the starting point when figuring out a card’s hobby potential. Eye appeal is a common term in the grading market. This is something in the hobby I want to see more of and can do so. So, from now on, expect to see some polls about card appearance for new releases in the Sports Cards Nonsense Facebook group in an effort to figure out what designs collectors really like.