Posted By:
Charlie BarokasBarry,
It's all about money. Last time I checked the same money is used to buy stocks/bonds is used to purchase baseball cards.
If you choose to collect raw cards in off-grade than the hobby can be without much stress. However, if you are a dealer or collector of expensive cards, you better not let your guard down when forking over huge sums of money for pieces of cardboard.
People will spend $1000 on a laptop computer and spend months shopping and reseaching it. The same person will spend $10,000 on a baseball card over the internet based on a grainy camera phone picture from somebody with 10 feedback on ebay. And then, if something goes wrong, the fall back is... I was only spending $10,000 on baseball cards to get away from my daily grind. I think that is a specious argument.
If you plan on spending lots of money on any collectible, due your homework, buy from trusted sellers/auctioneers and always keep your antenna up for the scams.
CB