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Posted By: barrysloate

While I feel John S. has analyzed this phenomenon perfectly, there is in fact a chance that the people who pay these prices will recoup and in fact make a profit on their purchases; and that is by selling them to new set registry people who will eventually enter the hobby and want to put together their own best set. They can only sell these hyperinflated cards to each other, because typical collectors who pay $50-100 per common will not raise the ante to 6K-8K. But I think there will always be "collectors", and I use the term loosely, who will pay up for the best. Much of it is of course ego and owning the card is only part of the fun. Keeping it away from a fellow set registry collector is equally satisfying, and I'm sure the competition is stiff and at times even mean spirited. They collect differently than most, but paying 8K for a condition rarity makes perfect sense to them.