Finest Refractor / Topps Chrome / Bowman · OG chase cards · five years or longer
Vintage Inserts (90s-2000s), filed under inserts. Scored on four axes, because a type that gains value but can't be sold quickly is a different proposition from one you can move in a weekend.
With appreciation at 92 and liquidity at 65, this sits in the ordinary range on both axes. Those are the entries where the reasoning matters more than the scores.
Accessibility of 8 is the catch. That score tracks whether you can buy near MSRP or you're already paying a premium to someone else, and at 8 you are paying up. A card with real upside bought at double MSRP is a worse purchase than an ordinary one bought at retail.
Set against the 14 insert card types scored here, its appreciation of 92 ranks 2nd of 14, liquidity 65 ranks 9th, accessibility 8 ranks 13th, and risk 12 is the 1st-lowest. The closest thing to it on the numbers is Kaboom, which scores 96 and 80 on the same two axes — if you're weighing one against the other, the difference is in the reasoning rather than the scores.
Five years or more is a patience bet. Over that span the specific reasoning below matters less than whether the underlying thing stays desirable, and the honest position is that nobody knows what the hobby looks like in 2031. Size it accordingly.
At 12, this is one of the calmer entries in here. Read that as relative: the floor under any card is whatever the next person will pay, and that number can move a long way in a month.
Every entry gets four separate scores instead of one grade, because a single grade hides the thing you needed. Full explanation in the guide: what Kabooms, Downtowns and Color Blasts are worth.
Or browse all card types · how these scores are built