Personally, I really liked vault - from a "collectibility" standpoint. There were lots of GREAT memorabilia cards, and autographs.
What Vault showed us was that ITG was running off extra copies of a lot of those cards, but they were never intended to pack-out. Think about the show-stamped cards we used to get for opening boxes at the expo.... same kind of deal as these Vault cards.
Of course when collectors saw that their Gold Patch cards that was supposed to be /10 actually had 20 (or so) copies printed... they're disappointed. "My card is not as rare as it was supposed to be". I never had that sentiment myself. My card /10: I do believe there are still only 10 unstamped copies out there.
I have found vault to be a nice way to pick up amazing memorabilia pieces (and some autographs) for my collection, because I'm more focused on the GU quality, rather than the rarity of the card anyway. One aspect of my collection has been "get a GU card for anyone to have ever player for the Oilers, if he has a GU card". You can find some GREAT pieces, with the Vault stamp, and you can usually get them for a pretty low price.
For my Ranford collection, I would not take a Vault card and cross something off my wantlist because I now own that one. I want the unstamped, pack-pulled, version. Same with any sets I'm working on. Never happened yet with the Ranford cards I'm still missing.... but a few years back a Gump Worsley Jersey card I was looking for (and was limited to 9 copies) showed up, with a Vault stamp. I bought it, as I'd never seen an unstamped copy in all the years I'd been looking for it. The result? two (ish) weeks later, an unstamped one shows up. I paid slightly more for that one, lol.
I have picked up lots of Ranford Vault stuff over the years (when it comes along cheap) - but to be honest: If I didn't own any of it, I wouldn't miss it.
Vault cards, for a player collector to add, were tough. Since you don't know what exists - you don't know what you're chasing.... so it's just a guessing game. It's like show stamps. A bonus when you get them, but an afterthought if you don't.
