Newbie questions

[Nick Fletcher]

Hi got a few questions,
2014 traders are cheaper than elites, why?
What numbers of 2014 Traders sub series were produced?
Are signed cards worth more than unsigned (not talking about signature series)?
Is a box worth the money?

 

[nznrl]

Hi Nick, welcome to OZCT

I'll have a go at these, but some members may add to, or correct me

Elites usually have more premium cards in the release of big name, current players. The odds for getting these are much better than in the early release of the year. The elite (or second major release of the year) has in the past been printed on better card stock.

Traders are mass produced. 2014 Traders got the ratios and numbers of inserts right, but in the past the inserts are released in massive numbers. There were 27,000ish boxes of 2014 Traders released. That is a LOT of product. By keeping the amount of inserts in each subset high, they remain somewhat scarce, but there are still a very large number of each. Even the difficult to obtain Indigenous cards have roughly 750 of each card (according to Leaguehub or Muzzdog on here's site)

Signed cards are entirely subjective. Some feel it adds to the card, some feel they deface and devalue the card (especially on inserts). I get all my cards signed as I get a buzz from it, but I don't really consider them when valuing my collection, which I probably should since I have 1000s. On here a signed common may fetch $3-5, but selling is frowned upon if you are doing it to make money rather than to further your collection. On Ebay they may go higher, but many players are reluctant to sign because of people profiting from them by doing this.

In my opinion a box is worth the money for the experience of opening it. In terms of monetary value, a box will nearly always return a loss. In some releases this loss can be huge, in some it is marginal. It also depends on when you open it (at release ---- years later etc). The 2014 Elite release was good, because there was a 'hit' in every box. I hedge my bets by opening cases because I know the value of what I'm going to get more or less, which makes me feel at ease. The new company however, does not have a case hit, which dampens the value in a case.

Hope this helps

 

[pharoh]

Hi got a few questions,
2014 traders are cheaper than elites, why?
What numbers of 2014 Traders sub series were produced?
Are signed cards worth more than unsigned (not talking about signature series)?
Is a box worth the money?

Hi Nick,
Welcome to OZCT - a great site for trading/selling and some wonderful people on here as members.

1. Traders are a much wider release than Elite, unsure of the difference, but it is fairly significant, with all the subsets being limited in release. For example the Pride and Passion in the Elite release was limited to 400 of each, I believe and the World Cup Hero Parallel cards were limited to 80 each.

2. I can't tell you that although someone here may have that information

3 Depends on your outlook and collecting aspirations. Personally, I would only look to get base cards signed for a couple of reasons, but I have seen some subset insert sets that members here have completed signed and they look fantastic. I also thought that I remembered seeing a post on here somewhere that indicated a card that has been signed IP (In Person) lost grading (and hence maybe value) compared to one that was unsigned, if they were both otherwise identical in condition. That is when sent into professional grading services. Happy to be corrected, though, if someone has information to the contrary, or my memory is faulty. There is also obviously the issue of faked sigs on cards, and there are a few people on places like Ebay and Facebook, who are selling/trading IP sigs that experienced members on this site have questioned the veracity of the sigs in question. However, saying that, there are very experienced and trustworthy traders here that can assist you to acquire any IP's you may be after and indeed assist you to begin to identify potential fakes to stay away from.

4. Depends on where you buy the box from. Places like Ebay will have boxes at very cheap prices, but the chance is that the seller has opened a fair number of boxes in a given case (usually 12 boxes) 'searching' for the 'case hit' (i.e. the rarer card/s that are 1/12 or 1/6 boxes), which means there is minimal (if any) chance of you getting that 'case hit'. The best way to get a box is to become involved with a case share on here when they are run. These are unopened cases and very well run and there is no question of the honesty of the traders running the share. I have done that with a few sellers on here when I have had the money and never been disappointed. There is also the option of buying retail at sellers like newsagents and the like, when they are released. I did that myself a few times with the recent 2014 Elite release and was very happy each time, although I paid top dollar, obviously. Having said that, when the release contains subsets that are 2,3,4,5,6 in a box of either 24 (Elite) or 36 (Traders) packets, it is the only way to ensure that you get the box hits. If you were buying individual packets (5 or 6 at a time say), the potential is that you would pull minimal (or perhaps nil) insert cards.

Anyway someone else might have more to add.
Welcome and Happy Trading

 

[Nick Fletcher]

Thanks for your insight.