My DeLorean time machine is in the shop, so lets take a walk down memory lane instead. Back in the 1950s, if someone bought a pack of baseball cards, it was because they most likely wanted to own the product. Either they had a true passion for the sport, the players, or baseball cards in general. Virtually no one who bought a pack of baseball cards in 1952 was doing so as a potential investment. In fact, one of the reasons that early sports cards from this era are so coveted is because few people saved these relics. We all know someone who grew up in the 1950s and lamented that they wish their mom never threw out their collection of baseball cards they had as a kid. Financial speculation in trading cards only really became a thing in the 1980s when greedy manufacturers figured out how to cleverly market these mass-produced trinkets by pointing to the fact that the vintage cards of yesteryear were starting to sell for incredible sums at auction. This unfortunately led to what is now known as the junk wax era. The junk wax era is a period in sports card collecting that took place in the late 1980s and lasted through the early 1990s, where manufacturers overproduced mass quantities of sports cards. As collectors and speculators alike realized that the market could not possibly absorb all of this newly minted product, demand fell and so did prices. The market nearly collapsed overnight, and many predicted the death of modern era sports cards in general. But fate intervened. With the record prices continuing to be paid for popular vintage cards like the highly coveted 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card, manufacturers realized that if they could swing the pendulum in the opposite direction by creating limited-edition products, they might be able to convince the buying public that modern era trading cards were well worth collecting again. This led to the rise of mass-produced scarcity. Mass produced scarcity is when a manufacturer of a collectible product attempts to either purposely limit supply of the product or attempts to create a unique one-of-a-kind product that will be immediately sought after upon release. Since the item will be scarce, collector demand will ensure that it sells for a significant premium on the secondary market. This practice has taken over the trading card market for quite some time now. Look at the price of certain third-party graded modern era trading cards selling at auction. Some of these newly minted cards sell for tens of thousands of dollars simply because the manufacturer was able to create a one-of-a-kind specialty card that contained an autograph of a highly sought-after player. This is mass produced scarcity at its best. Unfortunately, the products that contain these cards are also being sold for a premium at the retail level. Back in the 1980s when I was introduced to baseball card collecting in my youth, you could purchase a booster box of trading cards for about $40. Today, there are boxes of modern era trading cards that sell for thousands of dollars at retail simply due to the cards they contain, and pulling one of these specialties is akin to winning the lottery. Fueling this newly found hype are two relatively new developments in the trading card market that both became the norm over the past 10 years. The first was the adoption of third-party grading. The most prominent third-party grading company in the world of trading cards is PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), but dont let the name fool you. PSA doesnt just grade sports cards. They grade any kind of trading card from obscure Star Wars trading cards from 1977 to all types of Pokmon and Magic: The Gathering trading cards as well. It is not uncommon to see current trading card collectors wearing gloves while carefully opening pack after pack of cards, hoping that if they find something good, they can immediately send it off to PSA for grading. The second development that hit the collectible trading card market was the advent of social media, and more specifically, YouTube. There is a growing number of YouTube channels that do nothing but box break. Box breaks are when someone buys up multiple boxes of trading cards and opens them on camera, not knowing what they will get. Viewers can even sometimes pay to be a part of the action by buying a designated slot and getting whatever cards are opened as a part of that slot, sent to them after the box break is over. These developments are causing collectors to adopt a gambling mindset, and unfortunately, some companies are all too eager to take their customers hard earned money. Embattled video game retailer GameStop made a decision to enter the trading card space and now offers what are known as Power Packs. Consumers log on to the companys website and choose how much money they want to risk (gamble) by trying their luck at opening a digital pack that contains one PSA-graded trading card. The consumer can choose between a Pokmon card or a sports card and spend a preset amount of anywhere from $25 all the way up to $5,000 without even knowing what they may get! In my humble opinion, anyone spending $5,000 on something without knowing exactly what they are getting needs to have their head examined. But sadly, this is where we are at right now in this crazy market. With prices for the most sought-after cards accelerating in value on an almost weekly basis, speculators are currently being rewarded more than long-term investors, and modern era product is in demand more than the coveted vintage cards are. Case in point: Back in 2025 famed Shark Tank investor Kevin OLeary purchased at that time what was the most expensive sports card ever sold at auction, costing him $12.9 million. Ironically it wasnt a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card or a T206 Honus Wagner card from the early 1900s. Instead, it was a one-of-a-kind card that was from the Upper Deck Exquisite Collection, produced in 2007/2008 that featured the autographs of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. This begs the question: If collectors are willing to pay more for the modern era cards than that of the vintage cards, how long can this market sustain itself? A similar element is playing out in the world of collectible trading card games where we now have modern era Pokmon cards produced in the year 2026 that are being graded and sold for thousands of dollars, which brings us to another problem in this market. If almost every single trading card being graded is coming back in either PSA 9 or 10 condition, what is the point in even grading these cards? Only time will tell how this will all play out, but in the interim I am sure I will get countless messages stating I just dont understand this market. Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself here. After all, I turn 50 at the end of this year, and even as one of those starry-eyed collectors who once looked at markets like this with child-like wonder, I would never spend $5,000 for something that I didnt know what I was getting. Unfortunately, I predict the insanity in this market has only just begun. Shawn Surmick has been an avid collector since the age of 12. He currently resides in his hometown of Boyertown, Pa., and is a passionate collector of antiques and collectibles. His articles focus on various topics affecting the marketplace.