SortStack #738 — 2028-06-16

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. A new hardcover bestseller $30

   Hardcovers exist partly as price discrimination: publishers sell to eager fans at a premium first, then release the cheaper paperback a year later.

2. A Nintendo Switch Lite console $199

   Nintendo has a history of durable hardware: the original Game Boy survived a Gulf War bombing and still works, on display at Nintendo New York.

3. The average new car in the United States $48K

   The average new-car price has nearly doubled since 2010, driven by buyers abandoning sedans for loaded SUVs and trucks.

4. The annual permit for the hot dog cart spot outside the Met museum in New York $289K

   Prime NYC park vending spots are auctioned by the city — the pitch outside the Metropolitan Museum has commanded more per year than most American homes cost.

5. Andy Warhol's 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' silkscreen $195M

   The series got its name when a performance artist walked into Warhol's studio in 1964 and shot a stack of Marilyn canvases with a revolver.

6. Building the US Interstate Highway System, in the dollars of its day $114B

   Championed by Eisenhower after he saw Germany's autobahns, the system took 35 years to declare complete — the original estimate was a fraction of the final bill.

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