Biggest changes in the past 5 years?

[ullmandds]

Another significant change is the sentiment away from ebay...to a plethera of newer...smaller auction houses...

[btkpath]

Hi David.......welcome back to the fold!

I can only comment on the things I collect. In my opinion, over the past several years, 1933 Goudey's (especially those in modest grade) have taken a hit and show no immediate sign of returning to levels of 5 years ago. t205's seem to have been a good bargain over the past 5 years and continue to be lower than typical levels. Lastly, after several years of being depressed, 1914 Cracker Jacks have exploded recently and (as Steve mentioned) are very strong as the 100th anniversary approaches.

Likewise, as has been previously mentioned, being on the sidelines you can't help but notice the very strong demand and pricing for uncommon t206 backs and early Ruth cards.

[Big Ben]

I have always thought it best to be a contrarian in this hobby. I like T206's as much as anyone here, and I hope that everyone continues to chase the monster.

[sesop]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Another significant change is the sentiment away from ebay...to a plethera of newer...smaller auction houses...

I was thinking that the action must have shifted- would it be uncouth to ask what are some of the alternates to eBay nowadays? How about vintagecardprices.com? Is that still the best place to go for price guides?

I feel like I stepped out of a time machine - I literally haven't spent more than half a second thinking about cards since sometime just after net54 left the old board.

With regard to the price drops in bread, etc, any idea why? Less collectors or just lest interest?

How about the PSA 8 Wagner- any new developments with that?

[Jlighter]

How about the PSA 8 Wagner- any new developments with that?[/QUOTE]

Don't get them started.

[CharleyBrown]

David,

Welcome back to the boards. Very cool to see that you're from Cold Spring - I was born and raised in Poughkeepsie, but my father now lives not too far from CS. I've made my way down to Rockland County.

I'm one of those 30-somethings (31) that recently got back into the hobby. I know of at least a few others that are in the same boat as I am - finished college, started in a career, and came back to the hobby.

[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.

[sesop]

I can't thank you guys enough- this has been exactly the push I needed to get back into full swing. From what I've gathered over the past few days, everything is starting to make a lot of sense, and I'm increasingly confident in the two areas I was focusing on when my collection was in its heyday (vintage-type collection of Highlanders/Yankees and T206 Southern Leaguers with their counterpart cards from other series (I always liked the idea of having a Gordon Hickman T206 AND T210).

Certainly the notion of quality over quality makes sense- it's a lesson I had learned the hard way years ago. With low prices today and more discretional income, the way I see it is that I can't afford NOT to jump back in.

If someone would kindly point me in the direction of the fellow I sold my set of E98 Hippo Vaughns to, I'd be grateful : )

Seriously- no shortage of interesting stuff. I'm starting to find and navigate around the newer auction sites to find what will be my first pickup of the new era. I'm also heartened to find so many board members in my age bracket (I'm 36). Regardless of age, if anyone is in the NY-Metro area and ever wants to get together to talk cards, I'd love to connect someday. This is an amazing hobby with incredible people and I'm thrilled to be back. Thank you all for your input and insight and humoring me- I know nobody has anything to gain from talking a former collector back into collecting, so I truly appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts. I look forward to a great future here on the board and in the hobby...

[coaster]

I've lurked on this site for a little while now, but never really had reason to post. However, this seems like an appropriate place to chime in. I've collected trading cards since I was a little kid, bits of everything from both the baseball and non-sports piles. By the late '90's though, I had gotten away from baseball cards just because there were so many sets, so many chase cards, and frankly, so much crap, it had lost its appeal to me (non-sports cards have done the same thing lately, but that's another story). It was sad really, because it was something my dad and I used to do together, and I feel like the industry sort of left us all behind.

A couple years ago though, I decided to get back into it, but had no idea where to start. I think what helped me is that my wife liked going through my old cards, and she has that same collector/hoarder mentality we all do (she collects old books). So after doing some research, I bought her an E91A Joe Tinker for her birthday, and she loved it. She's a diehard Cubs fan, so I figured a card that saw them last win the World Series (1908) seemed appropriate. Plus, as a White Sox fan myself, it was a fun way to twist the "lovable losers" knife. She's decided she now needs to have the other 10 Cubs players in the series, and it's been a fun little project picking them up. She's since started getting interested in some of the other old sets too, so if nothing else it's easier for me to justify buying them.

With regards to what some people have mentioned here, it's important to keep in mind why you like collecting. If you're scared of your collection losing value, then, sure, it's a scary time right now. While no one wants to see their cards lose value, I like to appreciate them for what they are, so if they all became worthless tomorrow, depressing as that would be, I don't think I'd appreciate them any less. And when you consider all the other expensive hobbies out there, having one where you can get back most of what you put into it is pretty unusual.

[Runscott]

David, I took a long hiatus as well, and was also surprised by some of the changes. The first thing I did was try to reacquire my old favorite cards. I was surprised to find that T205's hadn't moved up much (if any), and the same for common-back T206's. The big surprise was how T206 backs and 'misfits' had skyrocketed. Finally, the T206 Wagner (which I had not been following) has gone into the stratosphere - much faster than I would have predicted.

As someone else mentioned, LOTS of small auction houses, and ebay is no longer as fun of a place to look for cards. Because of all the auction houses, the big discussions on auction night seem to have died, especially the chats we used to have. Plus, we don't have the normal nightly chats - that was great, but that has probably died because of the lack of interest in ebay, which is what we primarily talked about.

The board is bigger and definitely better. Great to see people discussing photographs, as there were only a few of us ten years ago. Lots of new 'experts' now . A lot more memorabilia discussers now, and some massive collections/collectors that were either not here or were lower profile. Good stuff.

[sesop]

I'm happy to read that the board is bigger and better, which leaves me with the question- has the hobby, in general, had more interest over the past few years?

This board was always an amazing resource for me- I enjoyed it so much, learned a ton (tried to contribute as much as I could whenever possible). I can't believe it's been so long, but coming back, in a way, feels like coming home.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and replies to my questions. Also, it's worth mentioning that Leon was so helpful to me yesterday in jumping back in. I know everyone knows how great he is, but figured it can't hurt to give a public shout out- THANK YOU LEON for all that you have done and continue to do.

So, if the ultra rare T206s have skyrocketed, are the Southern Leaguers considered less than exciting these days? Those cards were my favorite for a long time- after completing the set I went after their T210, T209, etc counterparts. Those were the days. I can't say I'm surprised that 205s aren't doing well, but how about T209s and other minor league series? What about the e90-106's , in general. Caramel cards popular these days? prices on eBay seem low for what I've been looking at, but again, maybe my perspective is flawed.