Question about Illusions and other boxes like it

[milehighjp]

Hey guys,

As a new collector, I'm sort of interested by what comes out and when and how things happen on Panini's side. I've wondered if there are better times to buy boxes, referring to what's inside, not the price. However, I am also interested in how things are priced.

I see Illusions is way less money right than when it came out. Why is that? Is it a low demand? Has the good stuff already been pulled? I really like the Illusions set and want to keep buying boxes but is there a catch that I'm missing and that's why the price has gone down so much? Or are price drops like that just pretty normal as the age of the set gets older?

What confuses me is the Contenders stuff. Clearly, those prices have stayed solid, if not maybe even increased, is that right? Everyone seems to love that set so I'm guessing that's why prices have been solid.

Any conversation about it is appreciated. Just trying to learn.

[pwaldo]

Contenders is one of the most collected football products around every year so unless they do something horrid with it or the draft class is awful it should always have good value. Never heard of Illusions so I guess it is a new product from Panini that has bombed which is why the price is tanking. It isn't a real good rookie class in terms of guys performing so unless you have Tom Brady autographs in the product the boxes are probably going to be selling for less unless it is a great brand.