Dennis you raise some very interesting points to ponder. The number of those that collect $200 strikes versus the supply. I'm sure the number of collectors is far smaller than strikes in general. After all they are far more expensive than the average strike. Only a few years ago there were only a handful of $200 strikes in existence and in the case of the Imperial Palace they remained in play for a very long period of time thus making them available for play and in the market. Most collectors aspire to acquire all of some item defined by some sort of theme. The pocket book also limits the ultimate goal. Las Vegas had only the two Bally's and the two Imperial Palace strikes in the market for quite a few years. Obtaining one from each casino was not out of the question for even the average collector. Certainly at least an Imperial Palace 1998 issue was not of the question for many collectors. Part of the reason for the diminishing interest in collecting $200 strikes are the limited issues. Just the numbers alone preclude many from striving to capture even a few of these strikes for themselves. The concentration of these limited release strikes into the hands of one or a few increases price. What's more machines play being controlled by paid players forces out the collector from seeking these new relelases directly from the source. In the past collectors obtained the strikes from the machines. There were many that lived in Las Vegas or within close travel. Some fortunate few could even cross the country to obtain the new offerings. Extra strikes were sold or traded. The trade factor has been totaly killed by the profit seekers. When was the last time anyone saw a new release out there for trade? No matter how one looks at this problem market is shorted by a significant portion of a small release being offered for sale by a few.

I'm not interested in the numbers game being played with strike values. Trying to to seek out profit from collectibles is a dangerous game. Even more so with collectibles that are in current circulation as new items. One can even say this is fad collecting. Since the hobby of strike collecting is so very small market factors can cause huge swings. The shorting of the market as previously mentioned, Overbidding by one or more buyers with an intent of inflating prices, is another. Also catalogue pricing can affect this hobby quite easily since there is so few sources for pricing information. Ebay is the primary source for strikes. Basing a price guide on such a volatile source as a single auction house is pure folly. It was amusing to watch the strike prices dramtically fall long before the recession or 9/11 yet many of the catalogues are not updated frequently or cling to pricing bases on a sampling of prices during an inflated period. Keep in mind any item is worth the exact price one receives for it when sold. The so called book value is just that, a price in a book. The dealer and of course the collectors with established collections adore such publications. The new collector is detered by them.

Tom