Junk Era Shiny Crap: Doing the Math

[Exhibitman]

The fun part is piecing together these sorts of insert sets now and seeing how cheaply it can be done. It is somewhat of a slog. The first 50% of the set usually can be knocked off with a big lot or two for cheap. The next 25% is a bit more costly. The next 20% is pricey because you will have to buy singles and pay shipping on them. The last few big cards will cost. I spent more for my Jeter card from the 1997 Topps Gallery Peter Max insert set than I did for the other 9 cards in the set. Still, you are probably looking at a financial commitment of about 10%-20% of what the cards would have cost from box breaks. Speaking of which, I will occasionally break a box of late 1990s product but strictly for the fun of it because I know it is a losing proposition. Last boxes I broke down were 2 boxes of 1997 Topps Stadium Club and they yielded only two Matrix cards, a few Pure Golds and one Millennium. And with my luck I end up with Juan Gonzalez or Ryan Klesko. Way cheaper to buy them directly from a retail seller.