Select's 'AFL GEM Football' public sale came and went in a matter of minutes, and we now enter an exciting period for the series! Over the past few weeks, we've liquidated our inventory to the best of our ability to ensure that we have the cash to splash for this precise moment. This will be explained in greater detail below, but we're now OVER halfway to our desired $2000 with some key investment pieces still in our possession. So as always, let's see how the past 7 days transpired for Buy/Sell/Hold!
STRATEGY
$1,063.64, that's the cash balance at our disposal ready to attack the next couple of weeks before 'AFL GEM' hits the hands of collectors. Last week, we touched on ensuring that we cleared the deck of any cards in our inventory that aren't currently "relevant", which was achieved to some extent. It was also mentioned that we may see some 'fire sales' for those trying to gather funds for potentially a second box of the premium release. And to my surprise there actually wasn't a whole heap of action in the lead up to Sunday's public sale. My rationale behind the lack of listing is that collectors were potentially unsure as to whether they'd be able to secure their general release allocation. Which is a fair assumption considering that the last non-rookie premium release (Brilliance) lasted less than a minute on Selects website. With that being said, it seemed like the vast majority of people who wanted a second box, where able to secure one. Which only takes some quick maths to figure out that a number of people would've spent $1200+ on the new release, that is still a week away from being shipped. Throw in the 'breaks factor' for those who participated in pre-sale GEM box breaks, and suddenly there's quite a bit of money tied up in trading cards for the next fortnight. That's why I'm confident that heading towards the expected shipping date of July 25th, we'll be seeing some selling movement on both eBay and Facebook groups. So what are we looking for? Cards that are severely underpriced, panic sales which allow us to purchase bulk lots, or cards which pose value heading into the end of the regular season and into finals! So while everyone is focused on GEM, I think there's a real opportunity to plan ahead and take advantage of the lack of demand for non-GEM cards, which we can financially benefit from once the new release is in the rear-view mirror. So how did we go? Let's find out!
'BUY'S'
Adam Cerra Optimum Mirror Signature 44/50, Optimum 2022 - $120
This is a purchase which fits both of the categories stated above, undervalued and holds relevancy heading towards the end of the season. Adam Cerra is a player that has massively fallen victim to the 'no-mans land' trend some players find themselves in when switching clubs early into their careers. You couldn't give Adam Cerra cards away for free, after he decided to leave Fremantle and head for the Blues. And while I've been personally critical of Cerra since arriving at Ikon Park, he's probably the only Carlton player who has risen to another level in 2023. Not only that, there's somehow a sense of belief amongst Blues fans that Carlton may feature in this year's finals series. Do I believe they'll reach the Top 8? No, but that's irrelevant! I believe that Carlton fans believe they are a sniff for finals, which could mean this card carries so much demand moving forward, given it's Cerra's first signature card in Carlton colours. Easy decision in the end, the seller was a pretty good bloke too!
Nick Daicos Optimum + Rookie Card, Optimum 2022 - $38.26
When Optimum 2022 was released, I was dumbfounded in seeing that this card was selling for consistently more than $50 out the gate. 9 months on, I'm sitting here suggesting we've got ourselves a bargain. Crazy! It seems that regardless of the number printed on the back, Nick Daicos cards sell at an astounding rate, and this card in particular with the 'RC' logo to match carries a great deal of demand. If Daicos was to win the Brownlow, a race which he is the resounding favourite, I can see ourselves moving this card on for $70+. It's nice to be buying cards that we don't have to sell urgently straight away!
David Mundy Guernsey Patch 69/160, Select Certified 2016 - $38.90
Select in 2016 & 2017 Certified releases included Match-Worn Guernsey Patch Redemptions', which was the last time Select used "patch cards" in a Series 2 release. Looking back at the checklist across the two series, it hasn't necessarily aged very well. But one player that definitely wasn't a 'miss' was David Mundy, who has established himself as at least a 'Top 5' Docker of all time. No one variants of this card on the secondary market, and for under $40 I don't think you can go wrong.!
Charlie Curnow Rookie Card, Select Certified 2016 - $35
A nice pickup which landed right on the buzzer when writing this article. There were more cards picked up in this deal, hence why we didn't pay postage, but we don't have photos of the cards so will have to save them for next week's write-up. We recently bought and sold a Carlton Coleman Predictor, which I'm happy we no longer have cause it was probably the most risky predictor purchase we've made on this series. But disregarding that, Charlie Curnow is still a strong candidate to win back-to-back Coleman Medals, and if he were to achieve this feat, I expect this card will receive a spike in demand. As is a common theme with our pickups, there's no Curnow rookies listed below $65 on the secondary market, which leaves us some room to manoeuvre when it comes to selling!
'SELL'S'
Mitch Owens Rookie Parallel 13/115, Optimum 2022 - $25 : $11.85 Profit, 182% ROI
Mitch Owens Rookie Parallel 96/115, Optimum 2022 - $20 : $7.52 Profit, 116% ROI
Nick Daicos Optimum+ Rookie Card 14/450, Optimum 2022 - $89.99 : $39.37 Profit, 103% ROI
Nasaiah Wanganeen-Milera Rookie Parallel 22/115, Optimum 2022 - $15 : $1.48 Loss, -13% ROI
'WEEKLY TOTALS!'
For a week that started off relatively slowly, the past 7 days ended up being relatively eventful. The Nick Daicos 'rookie card' which I planned on keeping in the inventory for coming weeks, lasted a mere few minutes on eBay. Suggesting that Nick Daicos pandemonium may be back in full swing for the remainder of the year. With still just under $950 in our cash balance, there's still plenty of funds to react to however the market behaves, up until GEM's shipping day (25th of July) As mentioned above with our Charlie Curnow purchase, there's still some cards left in that deal which will be included in next week's article, giving us an early boost for next week's discussions. If you've reached the end of this weeks article, I thank you for interacting with the series as the support has been super. As always, feel free to let me know which cards you've been buying and selling, and catch us next week for what I predict will be a mega 7 days for the series! See you all then.
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