Posted By:
JohnBruce,
With all due respect you are way off on those last statements. I have a very good friend I went to school with she is an art appraiser and personal buying consultant to arguably the top 20 art collectors in the world today. Not only does she make a very handsome living, but it is her direct input and knowledge passed on to the very collectors who are financing these purchases that in turn drives the art market.
There are many factors in all markets that drive them in all directions; it isn’t as simple as the guy with the wallet drives the market. I would think someone even with your so called pedigree could grasp that.
In fact auction houses that pass on info are driving the market with knowledge Bruce, if Barry had a 10 million dollar item tomorrow, perhaps he could not afford to buy it himself but he could certainly play a role in influencing the person who could…did he not just play a role in the direction of the market?
It’s seems to me sometimes that you want to live vicariously thru wealthy folks and you seem to fixate on this perhaps I’m wrong. However you do over the simplify our hobby IMO, it is bigger than a few rich folk trust me it has to be anything that is driven by a handful of folks is no good and ultimately will have no stability. Imagine the auto industry with only Ferrari & Rolls Royce....
I do agree with T206collector on this I tend to focus on the collection and the person behind it not so much the amount of cash spent and where did he get that money? These guys aren't rockstars, just collectors with deeper pockets.
We have several examples of those collectors here, these guys buy cards I could never afford but it’s their passion, collections and the items they purchase that inspire me, not what they do for a living or their given bank account statements.
Cheers,
John