First I did not say any of thhe artist's were charging $2500 to sign their cards. I said they were charging between $200 and $1,000.00. There was an artist today that sold his signed Tony Gwynns for between $175 and $1900.00 for a limited numbeted to 2. So yes prices are moving up but most of the cards sold for $300 and less. Second these are all Artists not handbag designers. I dont know where you got that from. Some of the work they have done so far is great. And if one of these guys takes off his signed limited work will do VERY WELL. Certainly not for everybody but what is. People collect what they collect. I hope they all enjoy what they collect I know I do.
Jonathan

Apologies if I erred re: the handbag designer. Know it's an eclectic group of talented folks from different artistic endeavors.

Cool project.

It was shocking to see the bottom fall out so fast on these after the disaster of the Shore Griffey. eBay history shows hundreds of the highest produced selling well under 10 bucks already not even a third through the set release.

I admit I still have ordered a few since that I liked the design of. My question if you are still collecting or just grabbing onesie-twosies of what you like are you paying the 20 or waiting till they ship and saving 5-10 bucks on eBay?

That Shore Griffey is a joke, honestly. Hard to take it serious...

I dismissed them at first...got intrigued honestly because of this post...ended up buying two (an Ichiro and a Nolan Ryan) that I thought looked pretty cool, and were both under 7k printed. Got them both off Ebay for under $40...watched each of them creep up to $200-$250 (for sale for twice that, but I doubt people were buying them) and was like, hey cool...even though I had no intention of turning them. Just wanted a couple. I just pulled up "Sold" listings and see both are selling now for $30 to $35, just like that...so back to square one. Interesting to see what will happen. Happy to have the two, and think I will go back to my 50's and 60s....lol.

Like I said, the credit cards were due from the scheduled who jumped into this thinking it was easy money. So much market manipulation, and now so many ebay returns to those who sold at the peak on ebay.

As part of the original discussion thought I'd weigh in as it's been a few weeks. I am still very much obsessed with this project solely from a collecting standpoint. I enjoy everyday seeing the new releases and buying about 2-3 cards per week I like the most either from Topps directly or sellers on EBay for $17-18 a piece (only drawback to that is a little more wait time and miss out on the "what if" of the 1/1 lottery ticket).

Although admittedly it was fun to see cards I owned soar in value (and who doesn't get caught up in that) to a large degree I am glad the prices returned back to pre-Memorial Day weekend levels and we can get back to just focusing on the cards and the artists. I highly recommend listening to the Sports Card Nation podcasts where every Friday there is a different P2020 artist on talking about their process and inspirations - adds a real human element to it all and has made collecting certain artists for me like JK5 and Andrew Thiele even more enjoyable.

I am a little turned off by the new emphasis on autographed cards and companion cards being peddling now. To each their own but not for me. Just seems like people have to keep forcing the issue with this project being a money maker instead of just appreciating it for what it is. But again, the beauty to me is at this point you don't need too deep a wallet anymore to participate.

For anyone still on the fence, I encourage you to buy a few to see for yourself in-hand. The pictures online for the most part do not do these cards justice! I am predominantly a vintage post-war collector but have never spent so much time just staring at cards with a smile like I do with many of these. I am very happy with my collection regardless of card values and look forward to displaying them on a wall for years to come as a reminder not only of this phenomenon but especially during a time when many people needed this distraction and something that provided a little bit of joy!

Happy Collecting!

Great post Matt...loving them for what they are, not trying to treat them like a stock. One of the two I bought was the Theile Nolan Ryan, and man, it is so cool in hand, I do love it. The 1969 Topps Ryan is one of my favorite all time cards, and he really did it justice...

I enjoy checking in and seeing the resent issues. Some of them have been really cool. Some of them have just left me scratching my head. Bought 7 cards so far.

My collection so far...

I'm pretty confident this is mostly market manipulation. I'm in a few groups of younger collectors online (these guys mostly use Discord), and it's being driven by the 'sneakerhead/funko pop reselling Gary Vee fanboys' that are open and straightforward about simply trying to profit. They even have had projected timelines estimating the peak for everyone to sell the cards off at. These same guys and types are spiking a lot of the demand for other hot modern stuff, Jordan inserts, Trouts, and other things they have little interest in or actual knowledge of even.

Think these are going to be cheap and widely available in a few months after they are done from the guys who bought in too late and will be left holding the bag from the hypers.

Talked about it a little bit on the main board post:
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=284730

In terms of the market manipulation, it already came and went and now most of the cards outside of the first 10 or so are very affordable. Now it has settled back into a collect what you like (artist sets, player sets, or in my case any card I just like the look of) and enjoy it for the original I intent which I think at it’s core is so unique. Can’t discredit the whole project due to the schemes of a few for a few week time period. I will gladly keep paying $20 a card as to me in hand they are more than worth that!

As I mentioned in an earlier post I buy 1 of each Trout that vomes up so I will own 20 cards when this is done. I did sell my Trout by Ermsy (the first Trout card) and although it is currently a little above what I sold it for I am a patient man and think I will get ine down the road for $50 or less. Topps also announced that ll the Mike Trout cards going forward will have 100 Autographed cards by Trout mixed in. So now I purchase my 1 card directly from Topps. I also saw that folks that buy 100's of cards are getting them delivered without the black box that they used to come in.
I had purchased 1 non Trout card a Frank Thomas by Don C. Card was all gold and aI liked it. I saw price rise quickly above the $17 I paid to close to $200. So I sold mine for $135 and watched it plummet back to $20. I thought for sure buyer would cancel. But he was a guy I had done business with before and he took card and left positive feedback. I hope I can help him out down the road because I saw tons of canceled orders and returns for these. (Or stories about them Twitter FB etc. ) so many of the stories of project 2020 big returns ended up with BIG RETURNS.... So few of The new Topps issues hold up unless you collect a specific player or team most of this will just not hold up down the road. I think simething to do with a card in a pack being the preferred way to distribute cards vs online. That said Topps released Bowman Saphire today and I bought 2 boxes to flip. Just hoping they dont get returned..

Looking good so far. I have only one in hand But another 13 on order. ugh. Only collecting the ones I like.

Same here. I sold a Ben Baller Ichiro (sort of regret it) and now picking up what I like. So far I have about ten others and will likely get most of Ben Baller’s cards. I know the prices are tanking but basically just buying them with my profits from the other card. And, apart from the Don C Thomas they’ve all looked great in person so far.

Card 400 arrived today
 

Today I got a Box of 15 Topps Project 2020 cards. 5 each of the last 3 cards offered 398 Ricky Henderson. 399 Mike Trout and 400 Mike Trout. Starting at card 352 Topps started including Foilboard (rainbow) cards, with one foil card for every 20 produced. This was along with 100 Autographed cards issued with each Mike Trout and Derek Jeter.
So my Box had a very nice Foil card of 398. A nice addition.
I have not even seen an autographed Trout or Jeter Project 2020. But I am sure they will turn up soon.

I’ve been a professional artist for over 35 years and I can honestly say I don’t get these cards. Guess I am just too old school to appreciate them.