Do you think 1st Ed printing would curb the "fear" of reprints?

[pfm]

@pfm

Yes a special/limited/1st ed print run would be slurped up by the hypebeast scalper/flipper types. It would magnify that component of the market. On the flip side that would make unlimited prints much less interesting to resellers and would dampen the demand for that product.

The result is a two-component marketplace where the stonkers can drive up the price of the “special” supply while the bonkers who complain about msrp pricing will have access to a more consistently available supply of retail product.

So who in this segmented market is upset? The financially driven people and collectors who want an additional layer of challenge are happier. The kids and people that just want to rip packs are happier, what’s the problem?

Here’s what I said in 2021. I disagree with my conclusion today. It made sense in 2021 to cool off demand for a subset of sealed product because it was basically unobtainable and no amount of reprinting seemed to correct it.

I think today when boxes are available again, this segregated market would emerge but people have the luxury of being picky. 1st edition boxes would be ridiculously priced and instantly optimized (which actually hurts speculators) and unlimited would be undesirable.

Imagine 151 with $300 1st edition boxes and $30 unlimited boxes. It would only benefit a handful of buyers who get 1st edition boxes directly from distributors. Collectors wanting the more desirable 1st edition will have to pay way more, business owners trying to sell unlimited get brutalized. The basic logistics of buying/selling/pricing singles becomes more complicated for everyone.

I dislike the logic of “protecting” investors/speculators. You see this type of rhetoric a lot with real estate too. If you’re engaging in speculative behavior and end up losing money, that’s the reality of the game. If you’re buying 151 on release at 3x the retail price and stashing that supply away, then don’t be suprised when the lack of supply leads to a reprint and the price tanks. You made a risky gamble and lost. I’m not interested at all in protecting the short term flippers when a set is relatively new.