I can at least understand the Lemieux, but doubt he'll have the lasting value of Jackson, who doesn't even have to be a HOF'er to be an icon (he is one of 8 or so players who created 200% or greater of the number of runs a league average player of the same era would create--a Bill James stat that I personally favor as the best yardstick of comparing players across eras. I've always considered the demand for ultra high grade cards as something almost artificial in character.The collectors of such cards deceive themselves into thinking what they have is rare and significant, and therefore actually represents value. From my perspective, while there is a vast difference in price between a gem mint "10" and a very nice "8," the substantive difference between the two is really quite small, although not completely insignificant. What the "10" collector is really paying for is the plastic slab and the paper grading slip inside. It's not too different from buying smoke and hype, instead of substance. And while I understand the demand created by the PSA registry, I have seen many, many of these high-grade set collections first assembled and then shortly thereafter broken up, which leads one to question the lasting significance of both the individual high-graded commons that comprise the set, and the set itself. I would therefore question whether there is lasting value in such condition rarities, where there is an ample supply of the same card in only slightly lower condition.
Just my thoughts,
Larry
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