The Junk Wax era ran from 1987 - 1994 but many collectors on social media and forums are saying we could be in a Junk Slab Era.
But is it true?
As many, including Goldin auctions, have noted the Zion and Luka Prizm base rookie cards have been awarded the most PSA 10s ever with about 18k and 17k 10s respectively. Values for these 2 cards have dropped in recent months - the Zion PSA 10 is down 22% since May and Luka is down 13%.
At the height of last year's hobby craziness these 2 cards must have been among some of the most submitted as lots of new people came in to sports cards during the pandemic.
Fast forward 9 months and we have both PSA and BGS pausing their grading services to catch up on their backlog.
The supply of newly graded cards has been reduced. For now.
For many "casual" collectors or flipper/collectors coming from other subcultures like the sneaker game 18,000 is the kind of inventory needed to keep the market moving.
If there are potentially millions of people who want those 2 cards in their collection then 18k will be easily snapped up.
So it'll depend on supply and demand.
Will the hobby continue to grow in the coming years or will people move on to other things?
Either way, if you're a Zion or Luka believer, NOW is the time to snap them up.
Watch the full clip below from the Cherry Podcast and read other card culture blogs like Why are Sports Card prices dropping? and Select VS Prizm.
