I am also of the belief that card values on the whole will go down over time; there just aren't enough young collectors to sustain the current level of prices. I wonder how much of the lack of interest in the hobby by people under 30 is impacted by the perception that baseball cards/autographs/memorabilia is a hobby populated by shysters and scammers.
Obviously, there are many honest and ethical people involved with the hobby. But I do find myself exasperated at times by the seemingly infinite amount of people looking to rip off buyers.
I hope I am wrong about this, but I think the counterfeit cards/slabs wil keep improving to the point that it may be impossible to tell what is real and what is fake. If that is the case, I can definitely see the high end market of Ruth/Gehrig/Cobb/Jordan etc. cards collapsing as people just throw their hands up and give up.
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