[smtjoy]

Welcome back and its also good to see some younger collectors making their presence felt, thats great for the hobby.

I can understand where you are coming from in pure value and being concerned with the future value of your cards. I do agree with a lot that has been said in that the hobby has changed a lot in 5 years from a value standpoint, just look up certain cards in VCP and the pricing can be crazy. I do feel that most vintage went down from the highs a few years ago and that correction was one part the US economy having an effect but I also think the other part was the whole FBI/Mastro thing. I feel it has had a pretty downward push on prices because a few years ago there was rampart shilling in many of the auction houses and while I still believe its happening I think many are being much more careful so they dont end up dealing with the Fed. I also think because of all the exposure on boards like this and on VCP that buyers are getting smart and being selective to which AH they use and how they bid in them.

It has also created an opportunity for a few new AH's to pop up without the baggage of those years and to put emphasis on no house bidding/shilling etc. I think its great for the hobby to have additional choices like B & L, Sterling, Love of the Game. Truth be told I now worry much more about bidding in auctions from ebay consignors as the shilling is at epic proportions imo.

Back to the market, I do feel the last two years have been an awesome buyers markets and I have gone full speed ahead. I think in the last year prices on most cards are slowly rising and as has been pointed out some are going gangbusters. Overall I think we have another few years of a buyers market as the US economy recovers and at that point the market will break through the old highs for most cards. If you buy quality and hold over time I think you will be fine when the day comes to sell.