OT: When a Card is so Unpopular, it Becomes Popular

[z28jd]

This is off-topic, but it's something that old card collectors can relate to with rarity. Certain pre-war issues weren't popular when they were made, but became popular over time due to their rarity. The Topps Living Set being printed right now has a case of that happening overnight.

If you don't know what the Living Set is, the basic/quick answer is that Topps makes three new cards each week using the 1953 Topps design and new artwork for the set. For one week, those three cards are for sale and however many are ordered during that time, that's the full print run.

It's been going on for over a year with no set end date, but it didn't catch on right away. The Nick Markakis card printed during week two suddenly became a chase card because they only printed 2,678 copies. Some cards have over 20,000 copies printed. No card has challenged that low mark until yesterday when the print run for Howie Kendrick was just announced at 2,633 cards, making it the lowest print run out of 183 cards printed.

Now that Kendrick card that wasn't selling for $7.99 (or less if you bought bulk) is now the most sought after card in the set. Quite literally meaning that it went from the least popular to most popular card overnight.

Anyone who was collecting the set since week one also just got a little boost in value because it makes putting together a set that much more difficult.