Future of our collections

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Posted By: Mike

I attended the National on Saturday. It was overwhelming the amount of cards and dealer inventory. I thought prices were high. Most business owners what to move inventory, but many of these dealers will die with a lot of inventory for their wives to sell for pennies on the dollar. Which brings me to a question, " What will happen to our collections when we all past away ? Estate auction, sent to Mastro etc., in a will/trust, remain in family etc." Are there enough young collectors collecting the vintage stuff after us "baby boomers" are gone ?

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Posted By: Ray Piskadlo

I'm "only" 32 and have been collecting baseball cards since I was 5. Unfortunately for my wallet, I don't think there will be a shortage of collectors from my generation. My dad raised me right... taught me to appreciate the game of baseball and learn about its heritage. Went to Cooperstown twice as a kid. I think there are a lot more of us out there than you think. I also hope to collect vintage with my children someday and continue the tradition. It doesn't get much cooler than to hold a piece of cardboard over 100 years old with Cy Young's picture on it!

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Posted By: keyway

The good thing about collecting sport cards is, as long as there are sports they will always be popular. When I started out I did not have much interest in pre war cards. Just wanted to have one, any one, to have a type. As time went on I found much greater interest in older cards. I believe there will always be a group of collectors who will advance to older cards. There just so interesting.

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Posted By: Duke42

Vintage cards is all about the men, their stories, hard times, history, and the birth of a sport which became America's life's blood before TV. A time when baseball was more important then cutting firewood for the winter months. I have always been a Vintage lover, and have been able to hold onto a some of my old cards from when I was young. As I watch today's market, seeing how the younger collectors think more, and more in terms of money. I turn my eyes more toward the vintage years. I remember, those days after listing to a Yankee's game on a Saturday, then heading to fine the guys to get a ball game going at the school yard. With each pitch I try to play, swing like my hero's of the 50's, and early 60's hoping one day I to would play in the major leagues. Collecting my cards is all about old friends of childhood days, and good times. My collection will be donated to the Cooperstown HOF where I know it will live on even it my collection lives in a closet, but it still alive, and collecting my cards was all worth it.

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Posted By: Bruce Dorskind

Mike raises a plethora of thought-provoking issues

Whilst there may always be a "demand" for sports cards, that certainly
does not provide a guarantee that prices will not fall.

Over the course of the past several months, we have witnessed weaker
auction prices on a number of the more common cards---even those
from the most popular sets.

Whilst the press releases focuses on the record prices for the Joe Jackson,
Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Mickey Mantle examples, many other cards
go up and down.

As an avid collector of rare material for more than three decades we have certainly
seen radical shifts in the market. Rare regionals, rare books, some sheet
music and a plethora of other items are well below their all tiime highs... On the other
hand high grade e-cards have exploded over the past five years.

Our advise to Mike is to enjoy your collection for as long as it gives him pleasure.
Have a plan in place to dispose of your collection when the time comes and someone
who will represent the best interests of you and your family should an unexpected tragedy
occur.

We know, from personal experience, that even in the best of markets, if one has to
sell quickly, one will find a number of great items that will not begin to meet your
expectations.

We would suggest you speak with two or three auctioneers about long-term planning
and include your accountant in the discussions. If you have some really exceptional
pieces you may want to arrange to donate them to a museum.

Lots of good luck


Bruce Doskind
America's Toughest Want List

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Posted By: samuel

I'm 20 and just started collecting pre-war cards. mostly t-206 right now. I don't see how I'll ever give it up.

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Posted By: Jason

I'm 30. I have no idea if I'll die with a collection or not. If my son takes a more active interest in the hobby I would happily hand them over to him to continue the hobby.

If he doesn't, then they're graded and I have a list that my wife can follow to sell them.

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Posted By: bcornell

...many of these dealers will die with a lot of inventory for their wives to sell for pennies on the dollar

Not a chance. Consigning to an auction house has never been easier - wait 2 weeks and there's another one in competition for inventory.



Bill

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Posted By: David Atkatz

"As an avid collector of rare material for more than three decades we ..."


Make up your mind. More than one Bruce, or not.

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Posted By: Bob

While it is sometimes discouraging to be outbid by young collectors, especially those with an awful lot of disposable income for their age, the flip side is that I am very encouraged to see the young guys in the hobby collecting vintage prewar cards. Sure some are in it for strictly investment and speculation purposes, but many are not. It is very refreshing to read posts on this board from collectors in their 20s and 30s who really love the Game and collecting the cards from the early years. I've really enjoyed meeting many of the younger guys at Nationals and swapping stories with them about not only cards, but the players, baseball itself, and life in general.
I, for one, am very encouraged about the future of the hobby and our collections. I wonder sometimes if Frank Nagy, Lionel Carter and some of the other pioneers had the same optimistic view of the hobby in general when they were within shouting distance of 60 years old.

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Posted By: samuel

it's the beauty of the cards and the mythology of the players for me.

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Posted By: ali_lapoint

i will likely either burry my cards in some sort of treasure chest or be burried with them. a lot of my first pre-war baseball cards were bought for me by my father for my birthday and christmas and the like when i was a kid. the rest of them i bought while attending shows with my father. i pretty much know when and where i bought the majority of my cards that have not come from eBay and my father was with me for almost all of them. my father won't be around forever and they will always be a constant reminder of who got me so interested in them in the first place. i just couldn't die with the thought of some grubby descendent selling the most beloved possesions i own.

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Posted By: Glenn

I'm 30. I don't have any kids, but if someday I have children who take an interest in the hobby, well naturally I'd leave the collection to them. I haven't really planned anything else, but I suppose if I kick the bucket tomorrow I'd want my wife to consign everything to Barry. (Hi Barry.) I guess I should let her know, but it might seem like a peculiar thing to bring up out of the blue.

Honey?

Yeah?

Have you seen my shoes?

The brown ones?

No, the black ones.

Yeah, I think they're next to the suitcase in the closet.

Oh, got 'em, thanks.

One other thing.

Yeah?

If I die tonight, send all my baseball cards to Barry Sloate.

Is there something I should know?

Nope. Good night.

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Posted By: Erich

I just turned 27 and started collecting pre-war about 1.5 years ago. I'm absolutely fascinated with the history of the cards and the players they feature. I read as much as I can about the players and even wrote my own book featuring players in my collection along with biographical information. My collecting spans from t206, e95, e91, t218 boxing, , n162 and n2 indian chiefs.

My collecting will be on hold for a bit because I just got engaged!! I look forward to buying with more enthusiasm after this wedding is paid for!!

Here's to a bright future...

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Posted By: barrysloate

That's very kind Glenn, but you have a long life ahead of you!

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Posted By: Marc S.

and have been collecting pre-war for about 8-10 years now. Don't see myself stopping anytime in the next few decades. I don't collect purely for financial reasons, and I do not spend money I do not have into my collection. I would love for my collection's value to appreciate and allow it to be one of many diversified investments I make for the future and well-being of my family and my heirs. If, however, my collection becomes as irrelevant as a blister case of 1988 Donruss, I shall not lose any sleep over it.

M

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Posted By: Donny Muth

I'm 33 and bought my first vintage card when I was maybe 11 years old. It was a 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle... got it for $33. By the time I was out of high school, I had made my first two T206 purchases - a Big Jeff Pfeffer with Sweet Caporal back in poor condition from a class mate for $5 and a Mordecai Brown in "Cubs Shirt" from a dealer at a local card show for $110.

When the insert and card grading craze started coming on, I got very disillusioned with the hobby and slowed down my card buying. I continued to work a little on building my collections of T206s and 50-60s HOFers/stars though. I also decided to try to complete the '59, '62, and '65 Topps sets. Still working on those... I picked up various other vintage cards just to have a type... two T205s and a T207 while at the National in Atlanta... a Caramelo Deportivo off eBay...a '33 Goudey of Mickey Cochrane, etc. I also started collecting Hal Lanier and Mickey Vernon cards as Hal was a college friend of my dad's and Vernon was my dad's favorite player growing up.

After another multi-year hiatus, I have returned to collecting and am focused on two main areas: 1) completing basic sets from the 80s and early 90s that I had started when I was a kid and 2) vintage, vintage, vintage - whether it be completing vintage sets, getting more HOFers, or getting a few types that interest me.

I think I will stick with vintage. I am guessing the current issues with MLB will probably continue to get more collectors, both young and old, interested in vintage material too. I've gone so far as to separate out players who have been tarnished to some degree in my mind. I put them all in a separate red covered album. Daryl Strawberry (my favorite player growing up - picked a real winner didn't I ??!!), Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Keith Hernandez, Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds... I wonder how many red albums I'll need in the end?

So, I wouldn't worry too much about the vintage market drying up. People like old stuff anyways, and given the impact of the modern era bad apples, I think demand will continue to grow for vintage cards. That really only leaves us with one question - what should we buy now, while we can still afford it?

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Posted By: Darren

The majority of my collection will stay in my family. My T206 set will be donated to our local college library. My nonsport animal cards will go to the Audobon Zoo for display. I've been fortunate in my collecting pursuits and have accumulated some good material. For a while there I collected everything, but lately I've been a bit more focused.

My shinies and modern autos are most popular with my lady. She'll get those if she outlasts me.

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Posted By: Bob

The real shame is that you have a generation of kids collecting new baseball cards and immediately checking the price guide to see how much they are worth and slipping them in sheets instead of flipping them, not putting them in shoeboxes by team and looking and re-looking at them, not learning math by figuring out batting averages and pitching ERAs, not swapping them for cards they need regardless of who the players are, not slipping them in the spokes of their bicycles (do kids still ride bikes now or are they too busy with video games?), not "bonding' with baseball cards.
Oh for the good old days!

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Posted By: Marc S.

The good ole' days weren't really that better.

At least for someone who is only 32 and has been collecting for over 25 years...although I loved trading with friends and collecting Mike Schmidt back in the day, I still had a limited budget at age 7, and price guides were a good calibration [not great, but decent] at figuring out if I was getting ripped off or not. And, trust me, without the Internet and nice collecting communities, there were many more shysters at the local card show that were happy to take a young boy's money just because.

I think collecting is a lot more fun and collaborative these days than in the past...

M

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Posted By: Bob

Hi Marc. Nope talking about the late 50's early 60's. To me the 80's are recent history. Opened my first pack of cards outside Wyberg's drug store on Nicolett Avenue in Minneapolis in May 1958...

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Posted By: barrysloate

Bob- bought my first pack in August 1958, and still remember to this day getting a Ted Williams AS. I was six years old and didn't know what an All-Star was, but it looked different than the other cards in the pack.

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Posted By: Tony

I'm 32 as well and I just recently got back into card collecting after a long hiatus. I'm currently collecting T206. I have a love for the history of the game that was taught to me a long time ago by my grandfather and great grandfather. I have a 9 month old daughter who I hope to one day pass my collection on to.

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Posted By: Sean

I started collecting when I was 9; I remember buying packs of 1986 Topps when ever I had extra money. In 1987 I was addicted and finished my Topps set right after they were released. Before every Twins game I would take the Twins and the other team they were playing and lay the cards out in each players positions when they were in the field and when they were batting I would move them around the bases to show where they were. I would try this now, but I doubt my wife would think it's that cute.

But I some day plan to pass my collection to my children (when I have them) if they show interest.

Hey Bob it think Wyberg's is closed now, but the building is still there.

Sean

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Posted By: peter ullman

I'm 39...and have fond memories of going to teaneck, nj on occasional sat nights with my family...I'd buy baseball cards, comic books, and we'd get ice cream at bischoff's and rye bread and onion flats at butterflakes. I'd trade with my friends and others...but it was mostly modern stuff...I mostly collected 50's - current with a smattering of pre WWII. Price guides were relatively new...and I always bought the completed sets and just got packs for fun.

I never was so concerned about condition...but I liked nice, presentable cards. The hobby was in it's early adulthood and cards were dirt cheap...by today's standards...but more money than I had. My collection, while meager, is one of my most prized possessions. Baseball has always been one of my true loves, and while I have left it at times in my life...I always go back because it is the greatest game ever played and it's history is rich and long...and my cards are my little escape, my window to it's past!


My cards will die with me...we will both be cremated and placed in one of my Warren Mackenzie jars. Maybe this one...on the right...I think it's big enough!