Ted; couple of points
Yes the Rose RC (as well as the Schmidt and the Carlton RC's) were all exploding in that time frame.
The Rose went from a quarter in 1979 to those insane prices by 82/83 and Carlton and Schmidt were not far behind but any and all cards of those players were incredibly popular. I could not keep any reasonably priced card of those three players in stock at that time.
We don't quite have any good matches for that today -- cards such as any of the Jeter RC's or Chipper or other players not yet tarnished by the steroid age arent quite the same. I suspect Sir Albert Pujols may be the closest player today to what R, C and S were in the early 80's.
Like I said; the country's economic condition is similar but the hobby is sure different. We have more "classic' collectors now and I think that helps. In those days; finding older cards was easier than it is today.
In a different market
What I'm noticing is that the "autograph" market for modern players seems to be settling down. Several shows and promoters are looking for more "collector-friendly" players in terms of pricing. Dave Jackson (I may be butchering his name so I apologize in advance) runs shows in St Louis and is making a point to keep autograph prices as low as possible for him to attract fans and still make a small profit. The "Edge Fest" show in Chicago this weekend also apparently has many decently priced autograph guests, especially on Friday.
I did not thoroughly check the National's autograph prices but I'd wager Jeff, Bobby et al are making sure there are a few reasonably priced for the collector guests as well.
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