Has it occurred to anyone here

[13stepper]

I place significant value on the opportunity to sit down, break the seal on a case of The Cup and proceed to crack 6 tins of the highest end product you can find. It is a risk and reward thing for myself. The excitement, anticipation and all the other emotions I experience during that time is worth the money I spent. I thoroughly enjoy the prestige of it, all the comments I receive from other hobbyists and I especially enjoy the selling and negotiating aspect after the fact.

No I did not make money on my case, I also did not purchase the case with the expectation to make money or break even, I anticipated hoping to make 50% of my cost back. However what I did get for my money was the experience I just explained. My case costed $2800, I will make 50% back, the $1400 I just lost today was worth every penny to do what I just did. There are so many people who complain about their "return on investment" and forget about the value that needs to be placed on actually ripping the wax. To rip the wax costs money! To have the opportunity to hit a ridiculous card costs money! We can't forget the value in the experience of opening product, it's not all about the return for me, yes it's nice to break even or make some money (which rarely happens). I just love tearing the plastic wrap off the box, cutting the seal and ripping those packs! NOTHING BETTER (well I can think of one thing better).

And other then my wife, it's no ones business how I spend my cake.

Value is given by the individuals purchasing it. Regardless of what object, what device... everything in the world is absolutely "worthless" until someone purchases it or puts a "value" on it.

Cards are no different. You are paying for either a piece of cardboard, scribbles, cloth, or all of the above. Essentially worthless.

You just have to understand your own risk and rewards as well as your own personal satisfaction of opening the product.

Some people enjoy opening the Cup for the "big" hit. That alone maybe worth the $500 to them.

[michaelpatko]

You guys crack me up.

[centrehice]

just seems like a troll thread, anyone with any sense of supply/demand or any concept of spending disposable income on luxuries wouldn't post something like this. I don;t whine about the cost of a brake job on a Ferrari because I can't afford to buy one so why would I care what Ferrari owners are spending on one.

The Cup= a bunch of cardboard with scribbles and pieces of clothing and pictures of sweaty men
Pinnacle= a bunch of cardboard with some scribbles and pieces of clothing and pictures of sweaty men

Ferrari= a car to get from point a to point b (really fast and really cool)
Toyota= a car to get form point a to point b (not as cool but way cheaper and practical)

Fact: the cup looks way better and is the ferrari of hockey cards pinnacle is more the Yugo of hockey cards ( I was being generous using Toyota as a comparison)

Are you the self-appointed Fact King? The Cup is the Ferrari of nothing.

[iidaemmi]

I can't buy the cup because I don't have that money. I do not need to be, however, all the time wondering at how some people are able to do that.

500$ Wow that's sick.. way too much.. etc..etc.. that's trolling, we already realized, thanks.

[87sluggo]

Are you the self-appointed Fact King? The Cup is the Ferrari of nothing.

That, however, is not Fact either. Believe me, I'm on your side almost 100% of the time, but in this case, to each their own, no?. I own a couple of really nice Cup cards, Ryan Kesler and Cory Schneider, which I wouldn't own if some lunatic hadn't cracked it open to begin with. But that's it, I couldn't fathom the idea of gambling $500 on a "box" myself..........

Getting back to the original post tho, while "ponzi scheme" might have been a poor choice of words, is it not possible that the intent was not to ask how collectors justify paying that kind of money, but rather how Upper Deck can justify charging it? That THAT is the reason the "scheme" cannot end well? That the market for it cannot last because of the "arbitrarily created perceived rarity"..........or some such gabba-gabba.

I don't think the OP was trying to harrass collectors as much as he was trying to point out the bigger picture, the artificial "value" of The Cup. A Harry Zolnierczyk RC is worth as much whether it's from a pack of $3.99 UD2 or $500 The Cup, if he's in the set.

Of course, I've been up for 18 hours, I could just be talking outta my bum.

[Yipper]

I place significant value on the opportunity to sit down, break the seal on a case of The Cup and proceed to crack 6 tins of the highest end product you can find. It is a risk and reward thing for myself. The excitement, anticipation and all the other emotions I experience during that time is worth the money I spent. I thoroughly enjoy the prestige of it, all the comments I receive from other hobbyists and I especially enjoy the selling and negotiating aspect after the fact.

No I did not make money on my case, I also did not purchase the case with the expectation to make money or break even, I anticipated hoping to make 50% of my cost back. However what I did get for my money was the experience I just explained. My case costed $2800, I will make 50% back, the $1400 I just lost today was worth every penny to do what I just did. There are so many people who complain about their "return on investment" and forget about the value that needs to be placed on actually ripping the wax. To rip the wax costs money! To have the opportunity to hit a ridiculous card costs money! We can't forget the value in the experience of opening product, it's not all about the return for me, yes it's nice to break even or make some money (which rarely happens). I just love tearing the plastic wrap off the box, cutting the seal and ripping those packs! NOTHING BETTER (well I can think of one thing better).

And other then my wife, it's no ones business how I spend my cake.

Exactly!

Break it, and have fun.

It's always happy, happy, joy, joy when you hit something amazing. If you don't no biggie. You were able to break it.

Breaking your own box regardless of the return is way better than the experience of breaking someone else's box (no cost to you) and pulling something big.

It is the thrill that only money can buy lol! =)

[mooneyes]

^LMAOF...and on point! Sluggo's comment I mean...although I suppose it would be a thrill to bust a Yip.....Yippee!!! lol....

[Ray33]

I'm thankful for all the Cup busters. Keep Busting hard, its a beautiful product.

[jlai624]

To each their own. Can't afford to break such a high end product but when I do in the future, I'm sure I'll enjoy every second of it.

[alibas]

That, however, is not Fact either. Believe me, I'm on your side almost 100% of the time, but in this case, to each their own, no?. I own a couple of really nice Cup cards, Ryan Kesler and Cory Schneider, which I wouldn't own if some lunatic hadn't cracked it open to begin with. But that's it, I couldn't fathom the idea of gambling $500 on a "box" myself..........

Getting back to the original post tho, while "ponzi scheme" might have been a poor choice of words, is it not possible that the intent was not to ask how collectors justify paying that kind of money, but rather how Upper Deck can justify charging it? That THAT is the reason the "scheme" cannot end well? That the market for it cannot last because of the "arbitrarily created perceived rarity"..........or some such gabba-gabba.

I don't think the OP was trying to harrass collectors as much as he was trying to point out the bigger picture, the artificial "value" of The Cup. A Harry Zolnierczyk RC is worth as much whether it's from a pack of $3.99 UD2 or $500 The Cup, if he's in the set.

Of course, I've been up for 18 hours, I could just be talking outta my bum.

Firstly I think that collectors that are into spending $500 on a pack of cards is great for sports and hockey and collecting.

My thinking (which I may not have expressed well) is that UD is not providing adequate value in the cup to justify the price difference between this product and SPA for example.
Is there really a 5x better quality difference in the patch auto cards in SPA vs cup aside from a slightly thicker card, slightly bigger patch and more foil printing? I think the SPA patch autos are out of 100 and most of the cup are out of 249 if im not mistaken.
My beef is that UD increases the price of the cup ever year to see how much they can charge and people still buy without really increasing the value of the product.
How about having a "Lord Stanley" 1 of 1 auto or James Patrick or even Bettman (LOL).
I think if they are going to put out a super luxury product they should invest in the product outside of what they do for their $100 a box stuff and I really do not see enough of a difference.