The new breed of collectors...

[homerunhitter]

True, but think about it where do all these binders and boxes of top loader cards go too eventually. Someone else selling them for pennies on the dollar? The wife’s new boyfriend? Some card dealer that like , nope this babe Ruth card isn’t worth much because it isn’t graded. I’ll give you $10 for it! Hopefully it will go to someone that is knowledgeable about prices and would appreciate it. What is the end game in collecting? Just something to think about.

[Hordfest]

As a newer collector, one pre-war set I really think is neat and would be interested in collecting is the R326 and R342 1938 movie flip books. Not sure how big the print run was though and if it would even be viable.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

As us old farts are getting older, do you think that the younger collectors are really going to be into set building as we are now? Meaning do you think set building will eventually die out amongst the newer collectors entering our hobby?

Has anyone ever got to a point in their collecting where they thought, why even collect all this cardboard because in the end you can’t take it with you! So why collect? Just curious to everyone’s thoughts on this.

The same reason I do anything in life: I think it is right, I think it is practically necessary, or I think it is enjoyable. Obviously cards falls under #3. There’s no point and we all die, but that doesn’t seem a reason to me not to enjoy my life while I’m here. I enjoy the cards, so why not? I can’t take money with me either. Might as well do the harmless things that give me joy and enjoy the one brief life I get before it’s time to scoop me six feet under soon.

[Touch'EmAll]

Old or young, this is a fun hobby and hopefully with a little profit. Whatever makes it fun to whatever age should all be considered good as it keeps our hobby thriving. Sets, no sets, singles, vintage, modern, long term, short term flippers, it all contributes to the fun. Things change, go with the flow, don't get too stuck in the mud. Do what you like, don't knock the next guy. Appreciate the fact the hobby is alive and well.

[Mutton Chop Yaz]

Originally Posted by 3arod13

They did, but they didn't express it like most do today because of the internet/social media.

Some of them expressed it in person, while trying to rip you off to boot! Any kid who explored the local card shops of Anytown, USA with allowance or lawn mowing money in hand during the 1990s knows the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (from whence my user name originates) is only barely a fictional creation.

[BobC]

The new, young collectors aren't an issue, or a problem, they just come from a different place and perspective. Baby Boomers are pretty much the ones who started and have fueled the sports card collecting craze, till these more recent years. And Baby Boomers did so primarily based on a unique experience that has ceased to exist for decades now. It was a happy coincidence that the Baby Boomer generation pretty much exactly coincided with the rise of Topps (and Bowman) baseball cards, and their availability and relatively cheap cost to Baby Boomers as kids. And the fact that these companies have been around so long, issuing new cards and sets consistently year after year on a national level, was heretofore virtually unheard of. Old Judge cards are likely the next closest example, having lasted five years from 1886-1890. Zeenuts were strictly a regional, minor league issue. And though Exhibit cards alone showed the kind of longevity Topps and Bowman have experienced, they were sold in primarily a much different method, not in packs, and certainly not in a numbered set that was fully changed, updated, and somewhat unique from year to year. Also the size difference played a huge role. You would much more easily be able to find a kid hauling round a rubber banded stack of regular baseball cards to school or the playground, than you ever would expect to see them hauling around a stack of Exhibit cards. Virtually every dime, drug, or other local store you'd walk into back in the 50s and 60s would always have packs of baseball (and other) cards for sale right on the counters for sale next to the register. Certainly not so today, or for many decades now.

And combine that with the Baby Boomer generation coinciding with the long overdue integration of baseball, MLB finally extending all the way to the West coast, the beginning of expansion in the number of MLB teams, and maybe most importantly of all, the post-war advent of television and the bringing of games/teams on a national level right into our living rooms. These elements and their timing all added up to create the perfect storm that vaulted us into the sports card collecting rise and surge that started in the 1980's, and has carried us for the most part till today. And that was all primarily due to baseball cards as the initiating genesis for all this.

So, the "old-timers" among us approach the fascination and attraction to the sports card collecting hobby as a somewhat shared, but pretty much unique collective background and experience that will never be duplicated. It is certainly different from the backgrounds and experiences that have led younger generations to the hobby now as well. And the Baby Boomers are lucky that younger generations are embracing and picking up the hobby so as to bolster prices for some who can then use that potential cash, if needed, as they get older and move into retirement. For many who started out collecting cards for fun and/or as reliving youthful memories, it is akin to finding a $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of jeans they pulled out of the dryer.

And there was never any guarantee that future generations would hold and look at sports cards, especially vintage cards, in the same overall esteem and value as the Baby Boomers do. Just look at stamp or train collecting today. Though both hobbies are still active and out there, the overall acceptance, following, and of course value associated with such items, have experienced nothing like the continued surge and growth to the sports card hobby and market. We have experienced additional good fortune on at least some factors of our hobby attracting new, fresh and younger faces to the fore.

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by BobC

The new, young collectors aren't an issue, or a problem, they just come from a different place and perspective. Baby Boomers are pretty much the ones who started and have fueled the sports card collecting craze, till these more recent years. And Baby Boomers did so primarily based on a unique experience that has ceased to exist for decades now. It was a happy coincidence that the Baby Boomer generation pretty much exactly coincided with the rise of Topps (and Bowman) baseball cards, and their availability and relatively cheap cost to Baby Boomers as kids. And the fact that these companies have been around so long, issuing new cards and sets consistently year after year on a national level, was heretofore virtually unheard of. Old Judge cards are likely the next closest example, having lasted five years from 1886-1890. Zeenuts were strictly a regional, minor league issue. And though Exhibit cards alone showed the kind of longevity Topps and Bowman have experienced, they were sold in primarily a much different method, not in packs, and certainly not in a numbered set that was fully changed, updated, and somewhat unique from year to year. Also the size difference played a huge role. You would much more easily be able to find a kid hauling round a rubber banded stack of regular baseball cards to school or the playground, than you ever would expect to see them hauling around a stack of Exhibit cards. Virtually every dime, drug, or other local store you'd walk into back in the 50s and 60s would always have packs of baseball (and other) cards for sale right on the counters for sale next to the register. Certainly not so today, or for many decades now.

And combine that with the Baby Boomer generation coinciding with the long overdue integration of baseball, MLB finally extending all the way to the West coast, the beginning of expansion in the number of MLB teams, and maybe most importantly of all, the post-war advent of television and the bringing of games/teams on a national level right into our living rooms. These elements and their timing all added up to create the perfect storm that vaulted us into the sports card collecting rise and surge that started in the 1980's, and has carried us for the most part till today. And that was all primarily due to baseball cards as the initiating genesis for all this.

So, the "old-timers" among us approach the fascination and attraction to the sports card collecting hobby as a somewhat shared, but pretty much unique collective background and experience that will never be duplicated. It is certainly different from the backgrounds and experiences that have led younger generations to the hobby now as well. And the Baby Boomers are lucky that younger generations are embracing and picking up the hobby so as to bolster prices for some who can then use that potential cash, if needed, as they get older and move into retirement. For many who started out collecting cards for fun and/or as reliving youthful memories, it is akin to finding a $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of jeans they pulled out of the dryer.

And there was never any guarantee that future generations would hold and look at sports cards, especially vintage cards, in the same overall esteem and value as the Baby Boomers do. Just look at stamp or train collecting today. Though both hobbies are still active and out there, the overall acceptance, following, and of course value associated with such items, have experienced nothing like the continued surge and growth to the sports card hobby and market. We have experienced additional good fortune on at least some factors of our hobby attracting new, fresh and younger faces to the fore.

Bob, I always enjoy reading your well-thoughtout and detailed posts. Tony

[homerunhitter]

Very awesome responses guys!!!

I have been collecting for over 40 years! So I’ll be a collector until the very end.

I collect vintage. I would much rather have a mays, mantle, koufax and bench instead of a tatis jr, Juan sori, Guerrero jr or acuna jr. I don’t knock what others s like or want. Vintage is my preference but the great thing about this hobby is that there is room for everyone to collect what they want.

I collect because it has been my passion for 40+ years! I asked the questions why do we collect or what is our end game because I see the set collecting threads where people have 50 year runs of topps complete sets and while I think that is very cool (and something I’m doing) my mind wanders and I think wow! What do we do with all of these binders if sets or boxes of cards one day!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by 3arod13

Bob, I always enjoy reading your well-thoughtout and detailed posts. Tony

Thanks Tony, appreciate that. But you are likely in a very small minority. LOL

Could also add that another reason for the "old-timers" always seeming to complain about these younger collectors, and how they collect and view the hobby, is that seeing these changes and differences reminds and reinforces the fact that they are getting older and not going to be around forever. And along with that, they may no longer be the main driving force behind the hobby anymore, and thus they don't as often see the hobby industry as worried about or catering much to their collecting needs and desires. And human nature and instinct is such that most all people, whether they'll admit it or not, have and harbor some instinctual and/or inherent fear, or at least a disdain, for change and things they are not familiar with.

This does go both ways though, as younger generations, overall, do not seem to carry and hold the older generation in at least the same/similar level of esteem, respect, and appreciation as Baby Boomers do/did for their parents and grandparents. They can often look to Baby Boomers and lay blame to them for a lot of the problems and issues of today. All while seeming to forget all the things they have to thank the Baby Boomers, and preceding generation, for that they simply take for granted. With the advent and advances in technology involved in travel and the media, especially social media, the world is literally getting smaller every single day. And yet, personal connections and direct interactions among people appear to be going the opposite direction. Plus the internet emboldens people to say and do what they want to others, without having to actually say/do something to someone's face so there is no potential threat of a direct reprisal? That could only serve to desensitize at least some people from fearing they'll hurt/harm others, and care and ever being apologetic or remorseful about having done so. And by extension, if such people over time become so desensitized to treating and acting so horribly towards others online, you know it is only a matter of time before some become so emboldened that they start doing the same demeaning and defaming things in real life, to real people. And it will likely only get worse.

I'll end with this. When I was in school, I was taught to respect my elders, not go talking back, and disobeying. If I got in trouble in school and ended up getting a swat from a teacher, I was even more afraid my parents would find out, and I'd get greeted by my Dad, with a belt and an additional whupping, when he got home from work. Nowadays, you accidently touch a school age child, or say or do something they may take in the wrong way or context, and you end up with screaming parents at the school, wanting the teacher immediately fired, and threatening to sue the school, and everything front and center on the internet and social media for all the world to see. My how times have changed, and we have only ourselves to blame!

[JollyElm]

Here's the only way to reply to this thread these days:

"When people are throwing shade at younger collectors, I take that very personally, because I identify as a 14-year-old female collector, so that's racist...and cardboard is responsible for global warming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Tony Gordon]

I have had a front-row seat to the recent hobby evolution as I have been setting up at local card shows just about every weekend for the past 25 years. I have been attending card shows since 1978.

I really have no issues with the new breed of sports card hobbyists. I find them very intelligent, extremely knowledgeable about modern cards, friendly, passionate and interesting.

Some of my observations: basketball is king. They want rookie cards, not necessarily slabbed cards. They all have a personal collection or "PC." Each PC seems to be unique to that collector. They vlog about everything and post regularly to Instagram. They have taken trading to new levels. They are masters at negotiating. They all have some sort of briefcase. Many have some of the worst hairdos I have ever seen... which is really saying something since I grew up in the 1970's.

Used to be that I could set up at any card show with my post-War commons and have flocks of set builders at my tables -- not anymore. I really have to pick and choose which shows I attend because the set builders only go to a handful of shows these days.

The new breed will stop and marvel at my stuff but they rarely purchase anything. I am starting to feel like an outcast, a relic. But I still enjoy it and regularly sell and buy enough cards to make it worth my while.

The thing I enjoy most about the new breed are their vlogs. I spend countless hours on YouTube watching vlogs from card shows. I just love it and can always spot my bald head in a few of the vlogs.

Many of these vloggers are great characters and have created their own culture around their vlogs. For example, there is a modern collector/dealer/vlogger out of Ohio, he looks to be in his late-20's. He goes to shows all over the country each weekend. At each show, in each vlog, he is met by other new-age collectors who give him cards and other memorabilia for his Ohio State PC. I mean, he can't go five minutes at a show, no matter where that show is located, without some random person walking up to him and giving him a card depicting an athlete who played college ball at Ohio State. It is remarkable to watch.

Yes, the hobby has evolved. I recommend you just go with it and enjoy it. I'm still having a lot of fun. I'm setting up at two shows this weekend!

[Hordfest]

Originally Posted by BobC

This does go both ways though, as younger generations, overall, do not seem to carry and hold the older generation in at least the same/similar level of esteem, respect, and appreciation as Baby Boomers do/did for their parents and grandparents.

It would be much easier to respect the older generation if so many of them at shows didn't act like I was easy pickings! LOL On here, there are many people like you who are more fatherly and willing to share their expertise.

In the real world, I tend to have much better experiences with younger dealers. A lot of the old guys get dollar signs in their eyes when they find out I'm new with valuable cards. It's just evident in their body language and it makes me distrustful. Most of the younger guard is far more transparent about why they will offer a certain dollar amount for a card or lot and act less like used car salesmen. That's how it has been in my, admittedly limited, experience at least.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by 3arod13

Bob, I always enjoy reading your well-thoughtout and detailed posts. Tony

I agree, and, Bob, one other factor has been the greatest generational transfer of wealth ever to current baby boomers, putting them in the ideal position to chase those'52 Topps Mantle cards.

[here2havefun]

I consider myself a "new breed" of collector.

I'm on these boards because part of my collecting focus is post-war vintage HOF keys, and Topps Venezuelans.

I was into collecting in the 90's from age 10 - 16, then stopped. I picked it back up again in late 2018, and it's been my number 1 hobby since then.

I consider myself new breed because I've only been a "serious" collector since 2019, and I own lots of shiny cards. In addition to what I mentioned above, I also collect Griffey late 90's inserts/parallels, Ichiro, and Minnie Minoso (luckily before he got into the Hall).

[Rhotchkiss]

I very much welcome the “new breed”, even if they are investors and they only invest in new/modern/shiny. They are the future of the “hobby” and will be what bridges the gap from one generation to the next. Welcome! And, I do believe all investors in cards have the collector gene (you reading the post of one).

Admittedly, I don’t really understand, and certainly do not collect, modern. But that’s on me; in fact, I consider anything after WWII to be “modern”, with the new stuff ultra modern

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Tony Gordon

Many of these vloggers are great characters and have created their own culture around their vlogs. For example, there is a modern collector/dealer/vlogger out of Ohio, he looks to be in his late-20's. He goes to shows all over the country each weekend. At each show, in each vlog, he is met by other new-age collectors who give him cards and other memorabilia for his Ohio State PC. I mean, he can't go five minutes at a show, no matter where that show is located, without some random person walking up to him and giving him a card depicting an athlete who played college ball at Ohio State. It is remarkable to watch.

CardCollector2

I watch his videos all the time, too.

He seems to have a very successful store in Ohio besides all the online dealing he does.

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by Leon

I still enjoy the hunt of rare pre-war type cards. I never get bored. Plus I then collect whatever I want to. I am very sporadic. This came in the mail a few days ago...

Is that a Deanie beanie? Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

[chjh]

I don't think the hobby/industry has really changed much over the years. What has changed is technology.

I was collecting as a kid in the 70's. Research had to be done at the library or buying price guides, shopping was done at card shows and the local card shop.

And trading was done with a handful of friends who also collected.

Collectors have always done research, shopping and trading. We've always collected cards because we liked them, or because they were rookies, or because they were rare. We have always tried to trade for, or buy, cards we felt were going to go up in value.

It's just that the internet has made all those things easier and more interesting. Instead of a few friends from school we have N54. Instead of the local card shop we have online auctions.

My prized card as a kid was a 1969 Jackson Rookie. I have kept that card for 40 years and protected it. Last year I sent it to PSA for grading just for fun. It came back as trimmed and they wouldn't grade it. I had no idea. But that trimming wasn't done by any of the people well known to be altering cards in recent years.

It was done by an 'old timer.' I acquired that card at a card shop around 1980.

So, there's always been people altering cards.

I think this is a great industry/hobby. If someone wants to invest in cards, great. If someone wants to collect raw, great. To each their own.

There have always been new people coming into the hobby with different interests. Some collect for fun, some for investment and some for nostalgia. Nothing new there.

Any changes to the hobby that bring in more people and allow for the sharing of info the better.

I also welcome grading, vault storage and more auctions. They are all optional services. If you don't like 'em, don't use 'em. Maybe those innovations don't last. But innovation and new ideas generally are positive.

I think the whole industry is moving in the right direction.

[chjh]

A few thoughts on prices for vintage cards: they will go up forever. I don't own modern but I would expect the scarce modern will go up in price forever, too.

Any asset that is scare and high quality and desirable will go up in price. Waterfront real estate, Art, high quality companies... scarce and desirable cards.

This has been happening far longer than 2 years.

It's been going on for 100 years and will go on for another 100 years

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Here's the only way to reply to this thread these days:

"When people are throwing shade at younger collectors, I take that very personally, because I identify as a 14-year-old female collector, so that's racist...and cardboard is responsible for global warming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Well then let's call BLM (Baseball collectors lives matter)!!!

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Here's the only way to reply to this thread these days:

"When people are throwing shade at younger collectors, I take that very personally, because I identify as a 14-year-old female collector, so that's racist...and cardboard is responsible for global warming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Well then let's call BLM - Baseball (collectors) Lives Matter!!!

[homerunhitter]

One way to look at it for me is, the more young modern card collectors that enter the hobby the better my vintage collection grows! What I mean by that is I can sell modern shiny cards like wander Franco, Pete Alonso, mike trout, Vladimir Guerrero jr, Soto, acuna jr, tatis jr, ohtani and Buster Posey! And flip that money to buy more vintage. An example is I sold some ohtani, Guerrero jr, Juan Soto and tatis jr cards and took that money and bought some 1950’s and 1960’s topps cards! 2022 Modern cards are red hot sellers right now on eBay! The new generation are buying them up lightning fast. So, now is a perfect time to flip modern cards for vintage! I could not build my vintage collection as fast without the new generation of collectors buying modern cards from me!

[John1941]

Originally Posted by chjh

A few thoughts on prices for vintage cards: they will go up forever. I don't own modern but I would expect the scarce modern will go up in price forever, too.

Any asset that is scare and high quality and desirable will go up in price. Waterfront real estate, Art, high quality companies... scarce and desirable cards.

This has been happening far longer than 2 years.

It's been going on for 100 years and will go on for another 100 years

The thing about the scarce modern stuff is that it's not actually scarce. Yeah, a 1/1 is cool, but there are thousands of other 1/1s. It's manufactured scarcity, and most of it will go down in value eventually.

[VoodooChild]

I collect all eras. There's actually cool ways to collect modern that are more similar to pre-war than you would think. Trying to complete a color run of a modern card is just like trying to complete a back run of a T206 card in my opinion. There's a lot of new collectors (not the investors) who actually do collect in interesting ways like that. I've seen guys who collect the first or last #'d in a print run like 1/25, 50/50, etc. or only cards #'d with the players uniform number so the only collect Trout cards #'d like 27/50, 27/200, etc. There's guys collecting cards where the color of the refractor has to match the color of team uniform so red refractors for Cardinals, blue for Cubs, etc. Not all of this "new breed" buys just the PSA 10's of flavor of the week rookie/prospect. There's a new crop of kids out there with the same collector's gene (or addiction or whatever you want to call it) that we all have and they'll keep the hobby going. Even after the next bubble bursts and the investors realize there's no difference between their shiny PSA 10 and the thousands of PSA 9's (or even 8's really) and find a new way to waste their money. Here's some card pics for this thread:

[Lobo Aullando]

Same thing happens with Old Judges. So many are rare that rarity is the norm. I'm trying to sell a 1/3 in the $300-range – I'd like to find something a little better, if more common, for my type set – and it seems to be shelf turd-ing away. AITA?

Originally Posted by John1941

The thing about the scarce modern stuff is that it's not actually scarce. Yeah, a 1/1 is cool, but there are thousands of other 1/1s. It's manufactured scarcity, and most of it will go down in value eventually.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Hordfest

It would be much easier to respect the older generation if so many of them at shows didn't act like I was easy pickings! LOL On here, there are many people like you who are more fatherly and willing to share their expertise.

In the real world, I tend to have much better experiences with younger dealers. A lot of the old guys get dollar signs in their eyes when they find out I'm new with valuable cards. It's just evident in their body language and it makes me distrustful. Most of the younger guard is far more transparent about why they will offer a certain dollar amount for a card or lot and act less like used car salesmen. That's how it has been in my, admittedly limited, experience at least.

I hear you Brandon, that is why I said it goes both ways. There is good, and not so good on both sides. And trust me, when I was younger, I had older dealers treat me basically the same as you described. LOL Still get treated the same occasionally from some dealers online who can't tell how young or old you are. They just assume they are a dealer, and therefore they figure they know more than you. I just try to ignore them. Most people are good, young and old, but the younger generations are being brought up and taught much differently than Baby Boomers and older generations were.

There will always be a fan base for the major US sports, which should be enough to keep the sports card hobby around and going strong for longer than either of us can likely imagine. It has changed a lot over the past few decades, and will continue to do in the decades to come. But the vintage side will be okay. Regardless of how newer generations are brought up, people are people, and many people like to collect, and have that collecting bug that infects so many of us on this forum. When you combine all the history of the game and the stories behind the players, there should be more than enough to entice a sufficient number of the younger generations to carry things on.

Good luck, and good collecting to you.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Yoda

I agree, and, Bob, one other factor has been the greatest generational transfer of wealth ever to current baby boomers, putting them in the ideal position to chase those'52 Topps Mantle cards.

Thanks John, LOL. I just wish I had gone for some of the bigger cards, like a '52 Topps Mantle, much earlier in my collecting days. I'll likely never complete a '52 Topps set now because I can't justify in my own mind to spend what it would take to buy that Mantle now. Just like there's a lot of other sets I'll probably never finish as well now because I didn't get the Jackson/Cobb/Wagner/Ruth/etc. card before the recent price surge during the pandemic.

I am a Baby Boomer, and fully understand (and appreciate) the economic growth that has come to my generation. But in all fairness, most of us did tend to work our asses off to get to where we are today. Could always be better off, but most certainly could be a heck of a lot worse off as well. Having collected some rare, as well as many, many, many more common items, gives one the appreciation for what one has and collected over the years. I still enjoy occasionally opening an old box or binder and going through it, and rediscovering something I forgot I even had. Keeps the joy of collecting alive, at least for me.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Leon

I still enjoy the hunt of rare pre-war type cards. I never get bored. Plus I then collect whatever I want to. I am very sporadic. This came in the mail a few days ago...

Cool item Leon. You ever see the individual triangular fabric patches with various ballplayers on them out there in the hobby, like the Dizzy Dean one on that beanie you got? They were used to make beanies like that one you have.

I think that is so cool when you come across things that were made with, or incorporated, sports related collectibles and items. Like pillows made with S74 silks, or a blanket/quilt made from B18 felts.

[Exhibitman]

The new breed of collectors are...enviably unabashed at discussing the money issues that we've all thought of for as long as there's been collecting. Look, for as far back as I can remember, whether you got a good deal has always been important. Yet we (older collectors) all pretend it wasn't so. The only differences are modality and style. Fifty years ago it was whether you got a good deal in a trade and whether you knew something your counterparty did not. No guides, no web sites, no data, really, except what you picked up. Now, it is cash and data based. The new collectors are overloaded with data. Stylistically, they don't 'shucky-darn' their way through a deal, acting embarrassed about the commercial element of it, they own it.

Money has been part of this ever since the first card shows appeared in the 1970s. Don't pretend otherwise and deride the new breed of collector for being up-front about it. The simple act of deciding what to sell and what to charge for it makes it about money. I learned how to negotiate a deal through collecting. I was wheeling and dealing as a ten year old, trying to grow my collection and flip cards for a profit to pay for it. We roamed all over looking into second-hand stores, junk stores and antique stores looking for cards. When we found a place with good stuff we jealously guarded it. I used to buy cards at this antique store 12 for a buck and flip many of them at $0.25-$0.50 each. It was a profitable enterprise. My daughter does the same thing with fashion. She goes to thrift stores and flea markets in search of designer stuff she can resell. The other day she tripled her money on a blouse. I told her that she now knows how I feel when i flip a deal.

The only negative I have about the newbs is that they haven't lived through a boom-bust cycle and have no idea what it is like to watch values implode. Many are in for a very rude awakening when they finally receive their bulk order of shiny stuff back from PSA

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

The new collector of anything not ultra modern knows very little about the player whose card he or she is purchasing and doesn't believe a card today can be rare or scarce as it is, or will be, available on the internet soon.

Remember the days of searching for years for the cards you wanted or needed and then paying asking price to finally get it/them? Don't get me going on mail order purchases sight unseen!

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Leon

I still enjoy the hunt of rare pre-war type cards. I never get bored. Plus I then collect whatever I want to. I am very sporadic. This came in the mail a few days ago...

Fashion always comes back around. Probably see those worn in high school in a few years lol.

[Tabe]

The disdain toward new collectors and "shiny cards" is a little nauseating. It comes across very much like "get off my lawn!" Things are different, they're not worse.

And I do have to laugh at people who claim they don't care about value in their cards. That's just not true. If you truly don't care, will you pay $200 for 1989 Fleer commons that you want? No? Then you do care. It's OK, go ahead and own the fact that you care.

[jamest206]

I suppose at 42 I am the "new breed". My dad was the son of a WW II vet, who at 17/18 went through South Africa in to Italy. He loved baseball cards, and so did we! Late 80's early 90's pay day meant boxes to open, and a lot of chores to do! My other grandpa was great at the numerical order of them, said it was no different than organizing his checks at his law firm, so all we had to do was unwrap and look for the gold mines (that never appeared).

Yes my dad did kick himself in the butt for all the Mickey Mantles that went in to the tires on his bikes as kids, but we always had fun going to auctions looking for a diamond in the rough, wherever they were in Indiana. By the way, I made sure to never wear a hat inside or even think about having my shoes on if I laid on a couch.

I got in to the T206's a couple years ago, reading 8 Men Out, and discovering "Sleepy" Bill Burns T206 on Wikipedia, and realizing there is more than just Honus out there. Slab or no slab, I love to build sub-sets, and then sell them for a loss normally. It is a hobby I can't do without. I am constantly learning with this. I used to work on a wide variety of Heidelberg printing presses, so looking at the cards, and issues the printers of those days were dealing with make my imagination go as well. At one point in life I could say I was the youngest person in North America running the largest sheet fed Heidelberg (11-color). I love the miscutting/centering issues as well. Brings back memories of my days in the print shop on the east side of Indianapolis. Dirty work!

I have all my wants in life, 4 cats, a nice coupe( like the Beach Boys sing about), an awesome town home by the Rockies, and a beautiful Blonde/Blue Eyes California Girl who I love to spoil. Doing it all for my baby now, and God Bless her. She is the true example of JFK's great phrase, and she gave more to this country and hasn't asked for anything back (Marine Small Arms & Army MP during the Bosnian affair). She is the definition of brave. I used to be a decent bodybuilder in the midwest, but those days are long gone. Now it is about US manufacturing and contributing my small portion to job creation & the GDP.

T206, whether competing for a card(losing more than winning) or finding what I think is a gem is super fun. To me, this is the ultimate hobby. I tried comic books (way different breed of collectors) but love the guys I meet doing this way more! I will keep on truckin, and raw or graded keep having fun. Sorry for the rant, but you all wanted to hear from a new breed of collector, and here you have it, still learning as I go!!

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Tabe

The disdain toward new collectors and "shiny cards" is a little nauseating. It comes across very much like "get off my lawn!" Things are different, they're not worse.

And I do have to laugh at people who claim they don't care about value in their cards. That's just not true. If you truly don't care, will you pay $200 for 1989 Fleer commons that you want? No? Then you do care. It's OK, go ahead and own the fact that you care.

I wouldn't pay $200 because I can get them for 1 cent and they are available everywhere. It would simply be stupid to pay $200. That doesn't mean one cares if their $200 card becomes worth 1 cent; it means they aren't a complete idiot. I've often far overpaid for what a card would go for at auction or what I could ever hope to resell it for, but if that's what it takes to get a card I need, there is not a cheaper method of acquiring it at present, and that money is in my disposable funds budget, then I do it.

I know I'm in a tiny minority, but I hope the market crashes and my collection loses all it's value. I'm not selling my collection, so it's value is rather meaningless. I want to get more of the cards I'm looking for, because I like set building as my hobby and break from the real world, and it would be much more cost effective to me if the values crashed.

Not caring about value is not a morally superior or better way of doing cards, no method is. Investors, collectors, in-betweenners may do whatever they wish, but some simply are not here for the fiscal side. That isn't superior, but it is an extant method.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by G1911

I wouldn't pay $200 because I can get them for 1 cent and they are available everywhere. It would simply be stupid to pay $200.

"they're everywhere"

"it would be stupid to pay $200"

In other words, you're aware of, and care about, value. You proved my point.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Tabe

TAnd I do have to laugh at people who claim they don't care about value in their cards. That's just not true. If you truly don't care, will you pay $200 for 1989 Fleer commons that you want? No? Then you do care. It's OK, go ahead and own the fact that you care.

Why would anyone pay $200 for something that's easily obtained for fifty cents?

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Why would anyone pay $200 for something that's easily obtained for fifty cents?

They wouldn't, of course.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Because they're aware of, and care about, its value?

I see this differently, I guess. Declining to pay $200 for an '89 Fleer common, to me, shows an awareness of and care for the value of ones own money.

The monetary value of the card is basically zero, so there would be no reason to try and obtain the card in the first place if one is focused on the card's financial value. My 2 cents.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I see this differently, I guess. Declining to pay $200 for an '89 Fleer common, to me, shows an awareness of and care for the value of ones own money.

The monetary value of the card is basically zero, so there would be no reason to try and obtain the card in the first place if one is focused on the card's financial value. My 2 cents.

OK, let's put it another way - would any collector trade a high-value card they don't need for their collection for a low-value card they DO need?

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Tabe

OK, let's put it another way - would any collector trade a high-value card they don't need for their collection for a low-value card they DO need?

I think, while surely statistically abnormal, it's possible, depending on the details and circumstances.

I wonder if another way to get at this might be: would one purchase a card with the caveat that they would never be able to sell it? Say, upon their death it would be donated to a museum. Would it be fair to describe such a collector as truly not caring about monetary value?

[SyrNy1960]

[FrankWakefield]

Grrrrrr....

$200 for a 1989 Donruss common? No, I'd not pay that, but that doesn't mean I care about the value of a 1989 Donruss common. I don't want a 1989 Donruss common. I'd not give you two dollars for the entire 1989 Donruss set, with free shipping. I don't want to clutter up my house with a box of 1989 Donruss cards.

Right now I'd like to find an E102 of Sherry Magee. I'd overpay for one that's about VG-EX ungraded. I'd pay more than it's worth. That card is a hole in my little set of those. (I lack Cobb, and it's unlikely I get one). But I don't want a mint graded Magee. I'm also after a W572 of Ruth, not graded, and about VG-EX. I have about 60% of those little rascals, and I've grown to like that odd set.

I've paid about 50% more than what I thought some T206 commons are worth, because I wanted the card, I could live with paying too much $70 -$75, for a card that's at best about good.

The player, what he'd done, aspects about the issue, some tie to history, a story that goes with the card... those aspects give a value to the card to me, not the catalog value or the grading cost for a slab. If that weren't so, I would buy a 1989 Donruss set for $2 and then turn around and sell it for $15 (if they sell for that).

[Keith H. Thompson]

I would go shopping in Rochester, Michigan of a Saturday night with my parents. I would stare longingly at the colorful boxes of Wheaties with baseball players and beg my mother to buy the Charlie Gehringer. No, we always got the cheaper Kelloggs corn flakes.
I was a child of the Great Depression, and by that I mean that my mother made my clothing on her sewing machine. As a younger boy in Danville, Indiana (also Sam Thompson's home town) my father shot rabbits for the table, and I mean hundreds of rabbits. My mother tanned some of the hides and made me a jacket.
I think my collecting has been adversely affected by my childhood, but from time to time I pull myself together and dig deep in to the pockets for say --Charlie Gehringer's 1935 World Series Ring, a Harry Wright scorebook or a Tomlinson Imperial Cabinet Detroit Team Picture.

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by BobC

Thanks Tony, appreciate that. But you are likely in a very small minority. LOL

Not that small. I enjoyed your response a great deal, as well!

I'm smack dab in the middle of Gen X and inherited (as many of us mid-70s collectors did) the Boomer perspective on collecting. My parents were part of the Silent Generation and didn't collect much, as their parents had grown up or spent their early careers in the Great Depression.

For one, I love the new breed of collectors' interest in and attitude towards the hobby. Maybe I bridge the gap a bit, but having worked at hedge funds early in my career, I can appreciate their transactional and/or statistical take on the hobby, even if I tend to focus on the idols of my youth and the obscure rookie cards that may never hit the mainstream (just a quirk of my personality).

Cheers!

[RCMcKenzie]

When I was a kid, I got a Cobb for $75 from mowing the grass. Today's generation must get $1,000,000 for mowing the grass to buy a Lucas Doncic.

[JollyElm]

561. Wear is Over (If You Want it)
Since modern day pack rippers completely ignore everything but the ‘money’ cards, which are immediately put into protective toploaders or albums before quickly being sent off to be graded, there will never again be stacks of cards showing the traditional wear and tear from kids excitedly, repeatedly handling them.

See also: Packslabbing - removing new cards from packs and immediately getting them ready to be sent off for grading.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I wonder if another way to get at this might be: would one purchase a card with the caveat that they would never be able to sell it? Say, upon their death it would be donated to a museum. Would it be fair to describe such a collector as truly not caring about monetary value?

If you phrase it that way, there are probably many collectors who would fit that description. The mindset being, "well, heck, I'm not around anymore, so sure, go ahead and done it".

[G1911]

I would pay $200 for a 1989 Fleer common, if it's resell value was $0, I collected 1989 Fleer, and I could not readily buy it for one penny.

There's not caring about value, in that I do not care (actually I do care, I actively wish for it to happen) if my collection becomes worth $0 and I 'lose' (I've already budgeted it as a 100% loss) all the money I've put into it. Being a complete idiot and buying something from seller A for $200 when seller B has it available for a penny is a separate thing from caring about the value of my collection. That's being a complete idiot, because it is easily available for less basically free.

I want my collection to lose value. I want it to become worth nothing. Then my $200 could buy me more cards that I derive personal enjoyment from collecting. I don't care about the monetary value, cards are where my beer money goes. I'm not selling, so my collection's value is meaningless to me.

And yes, I have done trades where I have lost a lot of monetary value. If I can swap $$$ cards for cards that I would enjoy more and are not readily available for less, I'll do it. I've swapped much more expensive baseball cards for tougher boxing cards that don't come to market much but are worth little.

It's a hobby for me. My approach is no better than anyone else's, nor have I ever stated or insinuated it is. In fact, in measurable ways, my method is worse than other peoples; I'm sure to take a 100% loss on every purchase. But it quite obviously does exist as an approach, I find it weird people are saying that what I am doing simply does not exist at all as an approach. It quite evidently does.

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by G1911

I would pay $200 for a 1989 Fleer common, if it's resell value was $0, I collected 1989 Fleer, and I could not readily buy it for one penny.

There's not caring about value, in that I do not care (actually I do care, I actively wish for it to happen) if my collection becomes worth $0 and I 'lose' (I've already budgeted it as a 100% loss) all the money I've put into it. Being a complete idiot and buying something from seller A for $200 when seller B has it available for a penny is a separate thing from caring about the value of my collection. That's being a complete idiot, because it is easily available for less basically free.

I want my collection to lose value. I want it to become worth nothing. Then my $200 could buy me more cards that I derive personal enjoyment from collecting. I don't care about the monetary value, cards are where my beer money goes. I'm not selling, so my collection's value is meaningless to me.

And yes, I have done trades where I have lost a lot of monetary value. If I can swap $$$ cards for cards that I would enjoy more and are not readily available for less, I'll do it. I've swapped much more expensive baseball cards for tougher boxing cards that don't come to market much but are worth little.

It's a hobby for me. My approach is no better than anyone else's, nor have I ever stated or insinuated it is. In fact, in measurable ways, my method is worse than other peoples; I'm sure to take a 100% loss on every purchase. But it quite obviously does exist as an approach, I find it weird people are saying that what I am doing simply does not exist at all as an approach. It quite evidently does.

Ok

[Leon]

Originally Posted by G1911

I would pay $200 for a 1989 Fleer common, if it's resell value was $0, I collected 1989 Fleer, and I could not readily buy it for one penny.

There's not caring about value, in that I do not care (actually I do care, I actively wish for it to happen) if my collection becomes worth $0 and I 'lose' (I've already budgeted it as a 100% loss) all the money I've put into it. Being a complete idiot and buying something from seller A for $200 when seller B has it available for a penny is a separate thing from caring about the value of my collection. That's being a complete idiot, because it is easily available for less basically free.

I want my collection to lose value. I want it to become worth nothing. Then my $200 could buy me more cards that I derive personal enjoyment from collecting. I don't care about the monetary value, cards are where my beer money goes. I'm not selling, so my collection's value is meaningless to me.

And yes, I have done trades where I have lost a lot of monetary value. If I can swap $$$ cards for cards that I would enjoy more and are not readily available for less, I'll do it. I've swapped much more expensive baseball cards for tougher boxing cards that don't come to market much but are worth little.

It's a hobby for me. My approach is no better than anyone else's, nor have I ever stated or insinuated it is. In fact, in measurable ways, my method is worse than other peoples; I'm sure to take a 100% loss on every purchase. But it quite obviously does exist as an approach, I find it weird people are saying that what I am doing simply does not exist at all as an approach. It quite evidently does.

Please don't become a financial planner.
.