auto racing cards

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

Peter, when I saw you had a new post in this thread, I thought it was going to be about picking up the 1965 Lampo Jim Clark that ended last night. LOL. I have bought from that seller before, and he does have some neat oddball racing cards, since he is based in Italy. The final price of $1,027 was very strong. I remember a Lampo Clark from the same seller a few months ago that ended in the $400 range.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175358716539

With regard to speculating on prices down the road, I think Max Verstappen is worth loading up on. I know there is a huge danger in buying cards of current athletes, but he is already eighth in career F1 wins at age 24. With the season seemingly going to stay at 21-22 races for the foreseeable future, he has so many more chances to win races than drivers from even one generation ago.

IMO, Hamilton's seven titles and 103 wins are already fully priced into his cards.

I missed that one. Not sure I would have gone that high but yeah, quite a card. What do you like for Verstappen? Anything earlier than 2020?

[Bored5000]

I think the card to have for Verstappen is far and away the 2020 Topps Chrome Card No. 6, either the standard portrait or the short-printed image variation. Cards 1-20 of the 20 drivers from the 2020 Chrome set have already become iconic. The Verstappen stuff from before 2020 are game cards, which I don't think will ever be too in demand.

Don't worry about the other million or so Verstappen cards Topps has produced since 2020. Card No. 6 is the one you want. Of course, there are all kinds of parallels with different print runs. But even the basic refractor from 2020 Chrome has a print run of about 1,100, which isn't outrageous for a worldwide sport.

If you are looking to prospect on F1, another guy to keep in mind is Oscar Piastri. His cards aren't dirt cheap, but he is probably the biggest coming star. He was F3 champion and F2 champion in back to back years. It is crazy that he was merely a reserve driver this year with that resume, but he will almost certainly be in F1 next year (probably with Alpine).

[Peter_Spaeth]

Thanks I'll probably grab a base card of Max just for the hell of it.

[D. Bergin]

Not sure why the 2016 Top Trumps Verstappen doesn't rate. I'm obviously a fan of the game cards, but F1 cards didn't magically appear on the scene when Topps decided to start printing them.

I guess I'd compare them to all the STAR cards that came out in Basketball before the 1986 Fleers, except there's no counterfeit for reprint issues to worry about.

Not saying it because I have a stack of them either. I've got exactly one from a set I picked up awhile back, and the Verstappen ended up being the worst conditioned card in the deck.

Still haven't picked up a 2009 Hamilton Top Trumps either, though I do like that card also.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Not sure why the 2016 Top Trumps Verstappen doesn't rate. I'm obviously a fan of the game cards, but F1 cards didn't magically appear on the scene when Topps decided to start printing them.

I guess I'd compare them to all the STAR cards that came out in Basketball before the 1986 Fleers, except there's no counterfeit for reprint issues to worry about.

Not saying it because I have a stack of them either. I've got exactly one from a set I picked up awhile back, and the Verstappen ended up being the worst conditioned card in the deck.

Still haven't picked up a 2009 Hamilton Top Trumps either, though I do like that card also.

Not sure that's a fair comparison. The Star are clearly conventional basketball cards, just issued differently. The game cards seem more like novelty items to me.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Not sure that's a fair comparison. The Star are clearly conventional basketball cards, just issued differently. The game cards seem more like novelty items to me.

Difference of opinion I guess. I'm surprised you have this stance, considering all of the oddball and foreign issues you specialize in and collect.

All cards are novelty items IMO. They are produced and distributed in many different ways.

Neither were issued in traditional random packs. Both were issued in complete set or team set form in the case of the Star Cards.

I'd argue the Game cards are a more conventional issue, especially the way they were distributed.

Most of the Formula 1 game sets were available to the general public in one country or another in various hobby shops, toy stores, department stores, etc...

They were/are much more accessible then the Star Co. stuff, which consisted of a dealer network of about a 1/2 dozen guys in the hobby, who then sold them through SCD, at random card shows, etc...

I was involved in the show circuit at the time when those were out or coming out...and not sure anybody considered any of the Star product line, including all those Jose Canseco, Will Clark, Don Mattingly, Daryl Strawberry, etc....sets, very conventional at all.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Difference of opinion I guess. I'm surprised you have this stance, considering all of the oddball and foreign issues you specialize in and collect.

All cards are novelty items IMO. They are produced and distributed in many different ways.

Neither were issued in traditional random packs. Both were issued in complete set or team set form in the case of the Star Cards.

I'd argue the Game cards are a more conventional issue, especially the way they were distributed.

Most of the Formula 1 game sets were available to the general public in one country or another in various hobby shops, toy stores, department stores, etc...

They were/are much more accessible then the Star Co. stuff, which consisted of a dealer network of about a 1/2 dozen guys in the hobby, who then sold them through SCD, at random card shows, etc...

I was involved in the show circuit at the time when those were out or coming out...and not sure anybody considered any of the Star product line, including all those Jose Canseco, Will Clark, Don Mattingly, Daryl Strawberry, etc....sets, very conventional at all.

Dave, to be clear I was not critical at all of the game cards and I love oddball, I was just quibbling with the analogy to Star basketball.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Not sure why the 2016 Top Trumps Verstappen doesn't rate. I'm obviously a fan of the game cards, but F1 cards didn't magically appear on the scene when Topps decided to start printing them.

I guess I'd compare them to all the STAR cards that came out in Basketball before the 1986 Fleers, except there's no counterfeit for reprint issues to worry about.

Not saying it because I have a stack of them either. I've got exactly one from a set I picked up awhile back, and the Verstappen ended up being the worst conditioned card in the deck.

Still haven't picked up a 2009 Hamilton Top Trumps either, though I do like that card also.

I don't think the STAR card analogy works; the comparison that does work is the Fan Craze/National Game/Tom Barker game cards for baseball. There will always be some interest in those cards, just as there is for game cards in F1. But there is a reason people suggest cards like National Game and Tom Barker for cheap playing days cards of Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe Jackson. The interest just isn't there to drive prices higher for the game cards.