I don't think I would think of these in terms of investment. As for "flooding the market" if they are out there and that's the price someone will pay, it's a free market.

I'd love to get more for some things I have collected, but eBay has made just about anything available to everyone. If I thought the price was too low, I'd BUY more. But since we can see that things which were thought to be worth more can be found for less on Internet auctions, I would guess that that's the real value for now. Simply put the demand is setting the price.

The unusual items, limited editions and chasers as they have come to be called, should hold up fine in the long run.

I also agree that there are a limited number of collectors, but that number is growing. That means that for someone to find more strikes for their collection, the competition will increase, which means the prices will increase.

How many collectors are willing to pay $1200 for a single strike? Next time if there are two collectors who "really want" this one for their collection, the price could go much higher. In other words, one auction doesn't mean beans.

I also agree with you, that trading is the best way to get new strikes. You might have picked something up from a machine, and the other person did too. If you were both lucky, it's going to cost you the price of postage, and well under the face value of the SS.

Values will rise and fall, but the personal value stays the same. If you collect anything, the enjoyment is the most important value, and should be for fun.

With 500 club members and more coming, at some point, things will increase in demand and therefore value.

I often wonder how many of the "chaser" strikes end up in some drawer at home or in a trinket box. The owners don't care about value and don't know what they have. It's just another nice looking casino token to them.