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What is "High End"?

Some talk on this forum site about "high end" part of the hobby being strong relative to other investments. So my question is what constitutes "high-end" and can it be defined by population report rather than PSA Grade? Does that mean that middle and low-end card market is soft/weak?

Is a card with a population less than 10, 50, 100 in the high end of collecting?

Is any card with market value $100, $1000, $5000 considered high end?

Is any card PSA 8 (1959 and older), PSA 9 (1960-1979), PSA 10 (everything newer) considered high-end?

Sorry for the crazy barage of questions...

Here is the my thresh-hold opinion for the sets that I collect and therefore familiar with. Others pipe in with your area of collecting...

T206 - Anything PSA 6 and above because most populations and above are below 50 and all packs have been opened and discoveries are almost non-existent. Any rare back (Broad leaf, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox, Uzit) regardless of condition or player.

1956 Topps - Anything PSA 9 and up (some 8.5s) because that is what it takes to build a top 10 set on the PSA Registry. I also think Superstars PSA 8 are high end even though their populations reach up to the 200s because people don't let these cards go.

1986 Sportflics - Absolutely nothing high-end, not even PSA 10s because sportflics were not mainstream enough for collectors and PSA 10s are easy to find on ebay. There are a few 1 of 1 PSA 10s and 9s, but the hobby doesn't notice or care.

2001 Topps Archives Autographs - PSA 10 HOFs and all the Superstars with print-runs of 50, because they demand prices as low as $500 and $1000 for raw cards the likes of Ryan, Mays, Berra, Aaron, Musial and a few others.

2002 Donruss Diamond Cuts - Nothing really, maybe a PSA 9-10 Pujols Autograph (none graded that high yet), same for Babe Ruth Bat or Ted Williams Jersey. Everything else is just modern memorabilia cards that are very condition sensitive (chip easily)

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