Biggest changes in the past 5 years?

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

David...you are a lucky man my friend!!!!! You totally missed paying ultra high prices for tougher types of almost any kind...in the last 5 years...T206 rare backs have advanced to ridiculous levels...t206 freaks/proofs/scraps are ultra hot these days too!

Bread cards have turned to poop!

Any early ruth card has turned to gold...and sadly those tougher tough cards that were in the stratosphere 5 yrs ago...have returned to ex-nm t206 common prices.

T206 is sadly still king as well!

Sorry for my disjointed response...you'll get plenty of more coherent responses...

Peter...There is nothing wrong with a nice disjoint (or datjoint?) first thing Sunday morning. I can think of no better way to start the day.

[sesop]

Thanks Peter. I always liked bread cards but could never find one I wanted at a reasonable price other than a Nap Rucker I once owned in SGC 20. Perhaps this belongs on the BST, but if whoever bought my Rucker has it and wants to sell at a loss, I'm a buyer.

Seriously- when you say poop, do you mean that the Hal Chase card I always wanted (always seemed to go for over $1,000 even in less than spectacular shape) can be had for practically nothing? Damn! I should add bread cards to my BST post.

Any idea why they went down so far?

When I left, rare back T206s were pricey. It's tough to imagine them going much higher.

[rainier2004]

Peter seemed to nail the t206 market. I can attest the 1915 CJ prices rising and the 1914s rising very dramatically as we approach their century mark and there is a book due out fall of 1913 highlighting them and their history. I haven't notice too much of a change in goudeys except the Ruth cards. It seems truly rare 'e' cards have also risen at a faster rate like e107s. But there are a tons of hunters out there looking for the 1/1 examples as far as color, misprints and a ton of quirky things. Welcome back!

[ullmandds]

Another significant change is the sentiment away from ebay...to a plethera of newer...smaller auction houses...

[btkpath]

Hi David.......welcome back to the fold!

I can only comment on the things I collect. In my opinion, over the past several years, 1933 Goudey's (especially those in modest grade) have taken a hit and show no immediate sign of returning to levels of 5 years ago. t205's seem to have been a good bargain over the past 5 years and continue to be lower than typical levels. Lastly, after several years of being depressed, 1914 Cracker Jacks have exploded recently and (as Steve mentioned) are very strong as the 100th anniversary approaches.

Likewise, as has been previously mentioned, being on the sidelines you can't help but notice the very strong demand and pricing for uncommon t206 backs and early Ruth cards.

[Big Ben]

I have always thought it best to be a contrarian in this hobby. I like T206's as much as anyone here, and I hope that everyone continues to chase the monster.

[sesop]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Another significant change is the sentiment away from ebay...to a plethera of newer...smaller auction houses...

I was thinking that the action must have shifted- would it be uncouth to ask what are some of the alternates to eBay nowadays? How about vintagecardprices.com? Is that still the best place to go for price guides?

I feel like I stepped out of a time machine - I literally haven't spent more than half a second thinking about cards since sometime just after net54 left the old board.

With regard to the price drops in bread, etc, any idea why? Less collectors or just lest interest?

How about the PSA 8 Wagner- any new developments with that?

[Jlighter]

How about the PSA 8 Wagner- any new developments with that?[/QUOTE]

Don't get them started.

[CharleyBrown]

David,

Welcome back to the boards. Very cool to see that you're from Cold Spring - I was born and raised in Poughkeepsie, but my father now lives not too far from CS. I've made my way down to Rockland County.

I'm one of those 30-somethings (31) that recently got back into the hobby. I know of at least a few others that are in the same boat as I am - finished college, started in a career, and came back to the hobby.

[smtjoy]

Welcome back and its also good to see some younger collectors making their presence felt, thats great for the hobby.

I can understand where you are coming from in pure value and being concerned with the future value of your cards. I do agree with a lot that has been said in that the hobby has changed a lot in 5 years from a value standpoint, just look up certain cards in VCP and the pricing can be crazy. I do feel that most vintage went down from the highs a few years ago and that correction was one part the US economy having an effect but I also think the other part was the whole FBI/Mastro thing. I feel it has had a pretty downward push on prices because a few years ago there was rampart shilling in many of the auction houses and while I still believe its happening I think many are being much more careful so they dont end up dealing with the Fed. I also think because of all the exposure on boards like this and on VCP that buyers are getting smart and being selective to which AH they use and how they bid in them.

It has also created an opportunity for a few new AH's to pop up without the baggage of those years and to put emphasis on no house bidding/shilling etc. I think its great for the hobby to have additional choices like B & L, Sterling, Love of the Game. Truth be told I now worry much more about bidding in auctions from ebay consignors as the shilling is at epic proportions imo.

Back to the market, I do feel the last two years have been an awesome buyers markets and I have gone full speed ahead. I think in the last year prices on most cards are slowly rising and as has been pointed out some are going gangbusters. Overall I think we have another few years of a buyers market as the US economy recovers and at that point the market will break through the old highs for most cards. If you buy quality and hold over time I think you will be fine when the day comes to sell.

[Runscott]

David, I took a long hiatus as well, and was also surprised by some of the changes. The first thing I did was try to reacquire my old favorite cards. I was surprised to find that T205's hadn't moved up much (if any), and the same for common-back T206's. The big surprise was how T206 backs and 'misfits' had skyrocketed. Finally, the T206 Wagner (which I had not been following) has gone into the stratosphere - much faster than I would have predicted.

As someone else mentioned, LOTS of small auction houses, and ebay is no longer as fun of a place to look for cards. Because of all the auction houses, the big discussions on auction night seem to have died, especially the chats we used to have. Plus, we don't have the normal nightly chats - that was great, but that has probably died because of the lack of interest in ebay, which is what we primarily talked about.

The board is bigger and definitely better. Great to see people discussing photographs, as there were only a few of us ten years ago. Lots of new 'experts' now . A lot more memorabilia discussers now, and some massive collections/collectors that were either not here or were lower profile. Good stuff.

[sesop]

I'm happy to read that the board is bigger and better, which leaves me with the question- has the hobby, in general, had more interest over the past few years?

This board was always an amazing resource for me- I enjoyed it so much, learned a ton (tried to contribute as much as I could whenever possible). I can't believe it's been so long, but coming back, in a way, feels like coming home.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and replies to my questions. Also, it's worth mentioning that Leon was so helpful to me yesterday in jumping back in. I know everyone knows how great he is, but figured it can't hurt to give a public shout out- THANK YOU LEON for all that you have done and continue to do.

So, if the ultra rare T206s have skyrocketed, are the Southern Leaguers considered less than exciting these days? Those cards were my favorite for a long time- after completing the set I went after their T210, T209, etc counterparts. Those were the days. I can't say I'm surprised that 205s aren't doing well, but how about T209s and other minor league series? What about the e90-106's , in general. Caramel cards popular these days? prices on eBay seem low for what I've been looking at, but again, maybe my perspective is flawed.