I think we have seen a big spike in card prices due to baby boomers getting older and spending their savings on things like cards that remind them of their childhood. More boomers are retiring, at home with their computers, buying cards that they only dreamed of as a kid.
This could continue for a few more years, but I actually worry about cards holding value in the long long term. I volunteer with the Boy Scouts and spend a fair amount of time around teenage boys. The kids I know today have never collected baseball cards, and in fact aren't interested in baseball at all, and I really don't see them as future collectors that will keep prices high.
The NFL and NBA are kicking baseball's ass, and I don't see future collectors in the kids I see today. I'm not saying that we are collecting beanie babies that will be worthless, but I just don't expect to see the huge growth that we've seen, and we could actually see decline in the long long term. That said, I think we're safe for at least 10-15 years.
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