I probably should have started this segment in February and March when sports card prices were at their recent apex and almost every card had increased in value.

I didn’t. But you know what THEY say…, “don’t look back. Move forward… unless your segment is all about looking back.”

I’m pretty sure that’s verbatim.

Either way my ego will end up paying the price. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got plenty of ego, and I’m obviously going to feed it to begin this series. I’ve got to start with a big win… for me and my 22 situationally loyal followers.

The date was April 13th, 2020. Violent storms crashed the southern USA. The MLB and NBA seasons were shut down by COVID. Uncertainty gripped the nation and sports card universe… and I finally shared a detailed account for my love of the 2016-17 Upper Deck Euroleague Patterned Rainbow Luka Doncic .

BGS 9.5 gem mint sales of this card were in the $250-$400 range for a card with combined BGS and PSA gem pop reports ~100. This combined pop report was with NO wax left to pull new rainbows and patterned rainbows!

A month prior, I had given a sneak peak of my affinity for another parallel version of this card on my instagram.

$284.99! For a card that just a mere 20 months later sold for $3,335.00! Why didn’t I buy another one for myself!? Who said 8 is enough?

I’m not an investment banker or a quant, but ~1,000% ROI in 20 months seems pretty solid.

Thankfully my research didn’t go unnoticed by 1 loyal follower, @teekaycards, who took advantage of my obsession with rare XRC parallels of a Slovenian wizard pulled and redeemed from e-packs.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I reset the all-time high when I sold a BGS 9.5 Gem Mint Patterned Rainbow last month and currently have another one listed for sale.

With the only raw Patterned Rainbow on eBay currently listed at ~$4,000, and gem Patterned Rainbow copies listed north of 15K, this Luka XRC has officially passed from intriguing undervalued curiosity to investment grade grail.

Time will tell, but hopefully I’m not a one hit wonder. Nobody wants to be the Milli Vanilli of sports cards….(quickly checking wikipedia)… oh man they actually had 5 BillBoard Top 5 singles and three #1’s. Nevermind. I TOTALLY want to be the Milli Vanilli of sports cards… minus the fraud.

As always, I’m Freddy… and you’re welcome.