Has the Junk card era ended? If so, when?

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by KJA

Yes on junk parallel, I don't mind gold cards or parallels where I know what kind it is when I see it. Now I pull them and I have to look up what kind it is and most seem to be parallel's for the sake of parallel's. I think there are junk auto's also, sucks when the box hit is an auto of a guy I've never heard. But hey at least I pulled an auto I guess. I remember chasing the auto inserts of the early 90's and never pulled any but at least they were legendary players you had the chance to pull. Also cool inserts, like the Pro Vision insert set, not worth anything now but at least the cards looked cool.

Agreed. It was amazing what happened with autos. In the early 90s, it was massively innovative, and we had rare chases that you had virtually no shot to pull one.



Then, in just a few short years, you had some legends on a short checklist that were much more easily pulled at 1:72 packs in 1995 Upper Deck.



Then in 1996, Donruss/Leaf changed the game by releasing Signature Series where there was one auto per pack. (this one is 1997, since Larkin wasn't in the 1996 set)



Now here we are where every prospect signs literally tens of thousands of cards in their career.

My prediction is that the focus will shift back to the rare inserts with innovative and cool designs like it was in the 90s. Long term, autos will become less desirable, and inserts will be sought after. It has already begun with sets like Home Field Advantage and Hidden Gems, etc... from Topps, and Kaboom and Downtown, etc... from Panini.