Quote:
Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli
My opinion: the memorabilia and card markets are typically not tied to one another in any way other than "a rising tide lifts all boats."
I tend to think of a Venn diagram, with card people in one circle, autograph people in another circle, game worn in another, and memorabilia in a fourth - there are places they intersect, and certainly people who collect all four, but I don't think a run-up in one area negatively impacts prices in the other.
I wouldn't hesitate to run high-end memorabilia in an auction during a time when card prices were strong, and vice-versa.
-Al
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I agree with Al, and do collect all 4 of those categories. I have no discipline, I suppose. But I do not believe the dramatic spike in card prices indicates a negative for memorabilia at all. If anything, some card collectors who now get priced out, may turn to certain forms of memorabilia as an alternative. As Al eloquently stated... a rising tide lifts all boats.
I'll cite one example... A lot of the cards on my want-list are now out of sight. I can't justify the prices when I know this is a seller's market and not an ideal time to buy. So I turned to Original Type 1 Photos, used to create the 1955 and 1956 Topps cards. These are crystal clear images taken by esteemed photographer William Jacobellis.
I've focused on my favorite team (the Reds), and have recently acquired Gus Bell, Joe Nuxhall, Johnny Temple, Rudy Minarcin, Smoky Burgess and Al Silvera. It's really exciting when you can find the original images used for both the portrait and the action shots that appear on these wonderful horizontal cards. And it's even cooler to display the cards alongside these amazing photos.