[JJ McGraw]

I’m not sure the prices will exactly crash, but the question might be, when will they be out of reach for most collectors. I’ve seen guys buying just one in order to own a Cracker Jack as part of their collection. Some hold at that, but many are bit with the “molasses stain” bug and continue to collect them….like the old Lays potatoe chip commercial with Bert Lahr….you can’t collect just one.
I started collecting them back in the early 1990’s and regret stopping at 23 or so. Started up again this past fall( about 20:years later) , now I’m up to 56 and also bought a 1915 Album. At first I said, I’ll just finish my Boston Braves sub set….I didn’t even finish it before I started buying other cards. But even since the fall, I’ve noticed crazy rising prices, with no end in sight. My goal is to get to at least 100, not sure that is even possible at this point, but I’m not giving up yet. We all want our collections to be worth as much money as possible, but if I knew ( had a window to the future) that prices would crash in 5 years, I’d still continue right now to collect more to the best of my ability, because, and yes this may be corny, but it is all about “collecting” Cracker Jack cards. I have a great retirement and health care that I worked hard for, so I’m not relying on this to get me through my last days…I’m simply collecting the set, as far as I can afford to get. The folks here and on other platforms, for the most part, have been kind to me and dealt with me on their price( some won’t budge for various reasons) and that helps keep me adding to the set. Last fall I got some pretty decent 1915’s ( and even a ‘14) for under $200……that doesn’t seem to be happening anymore. My last one, I recently won on the LOTG auction….it was over $400 as I recall…..that seems to be the norm with commons. I’ve had my 1915 Wood for over 20 years, it’s raw, but a beautiful card that probably would grade well. Regardless of what the future holds, it is, to me, the most beautiful of all the sets.