I will always want to bust packs open, takes me back to the days in the early nineties where pulling out a Shaq rookie card or a Michael Jordan common thrilled me to bits. However as i get older i want value for what i buy as well. When your young you don't fully appreciate the all mighty dollar. I learned early on in my collecting days that it can be hard to cater for both needs. So i look to buy what i consider quality product. Truth is with AFL it comes down to quality as well. More often than not inserts look far more impressive than base sets, plus they are harder to acquire full sets of so this has something to do with it. The chase becomes half the reward. But design also has alot to do with it. SPX2002 and Hall of Fame 1996 are two sets that to this day sell extremely well. Now both were limited in number which has helped hold their value high but in my opinion both are incredibly beautiful to look at and are among the best designed we have seen from Select. So it comes down to multiple factors.
Availability (supply & demand)
Quality (overall design)
Value ($$$$$$$$$$)
There is nothing wrong with collecting full sets, one must understand when someone such as myself buys a case (12 boxes) and opens them all, i'm left with 13 to 14 odd sets that hold little value compared to the room it requires to store them. This is where factor number 1 comes into play. However the one thing to keep in mind is this. Just because the market might be saturated now due to the many collectors and dealers flooding the market it does not mean it will be in 5 or 10 years. The amount produced is the same. So while they may be cheap now, it does not mean they will be in the future. At the end of the day the prices we sell them for are a bargain and anyone smart enough to take advantage while the iron is hot is only investing in something bound to go up, not down. Collect what brings the child out in you first and foremost. You can't go wrong following your passion.
