A few months ago when I heard that Donruss/Playoff was planning to produce more relic cards of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson I wasn't sure what would happen to the price of his first relic card from 2001 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts.  Simple economics dictate that when quantity increases, cost diminishes.  But in the case of Joe Jackson relic cards this doesn't seem to be occurring.  When his new relic cards hit the market, the prices went through the roof.  Now that the dust has settled and all the wrappers have been thrown away, the prices of the newer cards seem to be coming back down.

Three of last year's biggest baseball card releases were 2008 Donruss Threads, 2008 Americana Sports Legends, and 2008 Playoff Prime Cuts IV.  All of these trading card products sport game used material cards of Jackson.  What I find interesting is that the 2001 UD SP Legendary Cuts bat card continues to hold its value more than the newer relics.  Taking a look at two recently closed auctions, you can see that the eight year old relic holds more value than the ones that are only a few months old.  Playoff Prime Cuts IV is a much higher-end product than SP Legendary Cuts, but when looking at the auctions, the 2001 card (which is not serial numbered) keeps selling for more.  A 2008 Playoff Prime Cuts IV Game Used bat card serial numbered to only thirteen copies of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson recently sold for $176.00, compared to a 2001 SP Legendary Cuts bat card that recently sold on ebay for over $300.00.  Even cards featuring dual relic pieces of Joe Jackson and Jim Thorpe failed to exceed the price of the older card.

Probably one of the main reasons why the card from 2001 sells for more is because of the bat piece's size.  As for now, it seems like many people are in more favor of the original.

Andrew Chrisman runs Sports Card Info, http://sportscardinfo.wordpress.com/
A blog that provides hobby news, stories, thoughts, and fake card information.

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