Inserts are inserts, and if you havent found out by now, they are the pinnacle of pulling cards from packs. However, it can be tough to determine outright which ones will be valuable short term and which will be valuable longer term.

Here are some of the variables I look at when trading something new.

Rarity

Topps has done a great job in saying “this card will only have a print run of XXXX copies.” If that number is very low, its likely that the card will be a pretty big chase for the collectors. Even more of a contributing factor is time it will be in packs, combined with its place on the card sheet. SR cards that hit packs for 24 hours are going to be insane pulls and very valuable.

Card Design

If a card looks cool, its going to be a valuable card. Future is Now was a sweet looking set, and many people still want to trade for them. Sigs have a lot of this factor going for them, too.

Player Availability

This is a big factor – especially for pitchers. If the player only has 1 or 2 cards available in the game, be sure to calculate what that will mean. Stephen Strasburg only has 1 card, and its a low print run SR mystery card. AUTOMATICALLY this card will be coveted. If the player is marginally productive in points but a big name, they can still be worth a ransom with no other available cards.

Points

Pitchers are automatically going to be more valuable because they score more points. That’s just something that wont change until the game changes. Felix and Verlander opening day cards are still valuable because of this factor.

New Hotness

Lastly, if a card is new, its going to be hot. Just like real sports cards, if you pull the new card, minus a sig, its worth considering a trade to all the people who are impatient like me. Dont sit on a card and wait for the value to increase. Most of the time it will not. As for more than normal, though – you dont want to give up a valuable new card for nothing. As for the moon and settle for the stars.