I collect as a hobby not an investment or to flip and slab and resell. Back in the 60's I used to buy autographs from a guy named Max who some of you old timers knew. Ruth for $35, guys like Jimmy Collins and other rare HOFers. Unfortunately I also sold them all in the 1960's. I now see certain trends. There are a limited number of set collectors of the older sets from the 1950's (except maybe 52 topps). I used to collect the 55 Bowman set but about 2 years ago I decided to just collect HOFers and Jewish players. I sold off most of the set but held the umps. When I say someone sell off about 20 of the umps on ebay for over $20,000 I decided to let mine go and use the $ for more HOFers. The $20000 was because 2 guys with deep pockets had a bidding war. When I listed mine there was no bidding war and I got maybe $3500 as did a similar lot that sold by legendary. The younger collectors won't have an interest in this material other than select players in the set.
I think the # of collectors willing to pay lots of $ for obscure players to complete older sets is limited and will decrease even more with time. Same with specialized collectors like I collect every Jewish player. All I need now are cup of coffee guys from the 1920's or regular players from before then. If some come up tho I won't pay exhorbitant prices and neither will anyone else tho in the past a few people might have. Rare HOFers will do well. Easy to get deceased one have taken a hit but I don' think they will go down any further.
I can't imagine these "rare" modern insert cards of mediocre players will hold their value at all. It is more like gambling and it is hard to say about guys like Miguel Cabrera etc who go for a few hundred dollars and will be around 70 more years to sign.
As an IP collector I still see young kids getting autographs tho alot of them are sent by their dads who want the autograph and know the kid has a better chance of getting it. These kids push and shove in front of you and it is a farce. there are some young collectors who are serious and respectful too but most of the people you see are post 30 years old and most of those are post 50.
The # of fakes being authenticated- balls and vintage cards has been very disturbing recently- anywhere from 33 Goudeys to awful examples of Koufax etc. This makes me want to get out of the hobby at times as I want to buy them and trust the slabber but just can't. It is a great hobby but a tough one and with young people getting into more high tech stuff the hobby will continue to take a hit but continue to exist. Most kids that love baseball don't know history and would rather have a current scrub players autograph than Satchel Paige.
My son batboyed for team USA when Frank Robinson was manager. Players included Wainwright, Mauer, etc- a high % made the majors. Alot of the players on the team didn't know that Frank ever played ball.
Collect for pleasure and for the hunt and for meeting some great folks along the way
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