Most Upside in Next 5 Years

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by nat

I see three problems with equipment:

Football helmets or catcher shinguards maybe, but I disagree regarding GU baseball flannel jerseys (and pants/hats/stirrup socks.)

Originally Posted by nat

(1) a lot of it is large and hard to store.

A tote with 20-25 flannel jerseys weighs maybe one tenth of a similar size tote filled with slabbed cards. A box with 4 or 5 flannels, individually bagged, takes up about the same space as a card binder, or 50 slabbed cards, and the jerseys weigh far less. This matters when enjoying a collection, and when buying or selling.

Originally Posted by nat

(2) it's hard to commodify. One thing that grading does is it turns every XYZ card in such-and-such a PSA grade into one that is (all of us "buy the card not the holder" folks aside) identical to every other copy in that grade... But you can't do it with rarer stuff.

Jerseys are professionally graded all the time, by SGC (Grob) and MEARS (formerly Grob, also Troy.) Reputable AHs describe jerseys accurately, noting restorations, repairs, team number changes, or all original condition. There are at least 2 great websites that have exemplars for most year/team/home-road combinations. Many jerseys have identifying tagging, denoting player, year, set, original uniform number, size, and of course manufacturer. Not to mention, past results archives from the dozen or more major AH that sometimes offer GU flannel. So, if a 1966 Mets road flannel becomes available, and a similar shirt from, say, 1968 sold recently, it can be used as a viable comp.

Originally Posted by nat

(3) At least for the older equipment, it's rare. Econ 101 will tell you that this will drive up price, but only to the extent that rarity doesn't drive down demand.

Flannels are somewhat scarce, but, except for the pre-1940 stuff, not rare. If the price on a quality shirt, like the 1948 Indians flannel that brought $5700 at Goldin this weekend, is considered strong, that indicates hobby strength. If that number looks like a bargain compared to bits of cardboard and ink that sell for much more, then it's a great opportunity.

If you're in Baltimore and walk into a man-cave, what are you going to be drawn to first? The glass display featuring a 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" mass produced picture of Brooks Robinson, printed by Topps in 1967, that has pointy corners, or a 1966 flannel worn by Dave McNally?