26-year-old collector buys 1952 Hank Aaron Indy Clowns postcard for $275,000

Brent G. · #1 Yesterday, 12:09 PM

There's always talk about how vintage will die when everyone after Gen X rules the hobby and no one cares about old-time players.

This guy's guest shoots that theory down — he just sold everything in his collection except a Toleteros Josh Gibson to buy one of two known examples of the '52 Aaron Clowns PC for $275K!

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uQ9EEaCDaQ

Discussion about the item specifically starts at 13:33, but it's all worth a watch.

There will ALWAYS be people who love and value the history.

raulus · #2 Yesterday, 12:15 PM

Let's hope he has a lot of bougie friends that love vintage too.

Aquarian Sports Cards · #3 Yesterday, 01:22 PM

I never understood that argument about vintage. How many of us saw Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, King Kelly? Hell I never saw Mantle and I'm in my 50's.

Peter_Spaeth · #4 Yesterday, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulus

Let's hope he has a lot of bougie friends that love vintage too.

"Bougie" lol.

packs · #5 Yesterday, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

I never understood that argument about vintage. How many of us saw Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, King Kelly? Hell I never saw Mantle and I'm in my 50's.

I think the thinking is that pre-war was only a generation before the boomers, so when the boomers all returned to cards from the 50s as they got older, it wasn't much a leap for them to get curious about cards from the 30s, 40s, etc. especially when their fathers or grandfathers probably did see them play and had stories from life to share.

But for today's younger collectors, the heyday of their hobby memories are more in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s eras, which leave quite a distance between their collective memory and pre-war.

I have a son. As he gets older he'll hear stories about Don Mattingly and the 1996 Yankees. I won't have any stories about Mickey Mantle either, except maybe for seeing him at card shows in the early 90s when I was really young.

Republicaninmass · #6 Yesterday, 02:36 PM

Seems like your everyday 26 year old stubble beard card collector.

Not

maniac_73 · #7 Yesterday, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulus

Let's hope he has a lot of bougie friends that love vintage too.

Important point. The circle of high end collectors is actually very small and keeps getting smaller.

Aquarian Sports Cards · #8 Yesterday, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packs

I think the thinking is that pre-war was only a generation before the boomers, so when the boomers all returned to cards from the 50s as they got older, it wasn't much a leap for them to get curious about cards from the 30s, 40s, etc. especially when their fathers or grandfathers probably did see them play and had stories from life to share.

But for today's younger collectors, the heyday of their hobby memories are more in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s eras, which leave quite a distance between their collective memory and pre-war.

I have a son. As he gets older he'll hear stories about Don Mattingly and the 1996 Yankees. I won't have any stories about Mickey Mantle either, except maybe for seeing him at card shows in the early 90s when I was really young.

Yes but there's an awful lot of Gen X'ers like myself in Pre War, that's two or more generations before our time. My dad's father was born in 1920. So you have to go back three or more generations to get to T206 or Old Judge. I think people like yelling "The sky is falling"

raulus · #9 Yesterday, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

I think people like yelling "The sky is falling"

Probably more wishful thinking. If we all want it bad enough, prices will come down.

Brent G. · #10 Yesterday, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Yes but there's an awful lot of Gen X'ers like myself in Pre War, that's two or more generations before our time. My dad's father was born in 1920. So you have to go back three or more generations to get to T206 or Old Judge. I think people like yelling "The sky is falling"

I collected Canseco, Gooden, Mattingly, Bo, McGwire, etc. as a kid in the mid- to late-80s. Now I collect cards going back to 1886. All it took to get there was time, an interest in sports/U.S. history, and money. When I got that Jack Glasscock Allen & Ginter in hand for the first time, it changed everything for me. Hopefully subsequent generations have the same experience.

packs · #11 Yesterday, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Yes but there's an awful lot of Gen X'ers like myself in Pre War, that's two or more generations before our time. My dad's father was born in 1920. So you have to go back three or more generations to get to T206 or Old Judge. I think people like yelling "The sky is falling"

Well I'm only a decade or so younger than you and I was probably the only kid my age at any show looking at T206s and OJs. There weren't any peers for me. Everybody my age liked Griffey, which is probably why his UD rookie is so expensive now.

There are few of us. There may be more in the future but as a person who has collected their whole life, attended shows their whole life, there were never a lot of me. It's easy for me to see people of my generation coming back to Griffey, McGwire, Ichiro, etc. and it's even easy for me to see people my age getting into Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb.

But what I don't see in the future is an interest in type card collecting, in collecting lesser pre-war HOFers and I think a lot of the niche stuff we have now, like paying so strongly for an Art Whitney with Dog OJ or the premiums on the Shag or the Titus T206, is probably not the future of the hobby. I'm also unsure how much interest there will still be in complete sets in the future. Nobody really has any interest in complete sets now. I wonder if anyone ever completes, say, the newest 2025 Bowman Chrome first autograph set. I think cards like the tough T207s are nearing their end of hobby relevance.

sb1 · #12 Yesterday, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maniac_73

Important point. The circle of high end collectors is actually very small and keeps getting smaller.

Actually, the pool of high-end collectors is at an all-time high, fresh money in large amounts is being thrown at more cards than ever before. In the old days we could count on one hand the high-end who were bidding on items in an auction or a player on the big cards at the shows, and list them by name. Now, people we have never heard of OR even thought were interested in vintage cards are making record size purchases...at shows, in auctions and privately.

Michael B · #13 Yesterday, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

"Bougie" lol.

I find it amusing that a word which is meant to mean low class has been turned into a positive expression.

bk400 · #14 Yesterday, 05:23 PM

Respect this guy for his conviction. He has good taste. Certainly smarter in terms of value than buying a Ferrari.

BioCRN · #15 Yesterday, 05:33 PM

I was born in the 70s and started following baseball at a competent level around 1982. I got turned onto baseball card collecting in 1983 and the rest is my wallet's history.

I have a sizable collection of 1950s+ stuff from all teams, and of course my junk wax heroes. I didn't get to see most of the 1950s-1960s players in their time, but I've seen enough clips on TV and listened to enough people talk about them.

...but I have no interest in having cards of Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, etc.

If it wasn't for caring about the deeper dive into Cubs team lineage history, I probably wouldn't be into the pre-war scene at all. I didn't get into it until I decided to get into the cards of the players I was reading about in team history books.

My 1800s-current Cubs collection has been (and still is) a fun chase and build. The pre-war part of that chase ends 13 cards from now...unless I discover another name I should add to the list...which occasionally happens.

Aquarian Sports Cards · #16 Yesterday, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BioCRN

I was born in the 70s and started following baseball at a competent level around 1982. I got turned onto baseball card collecting in 1983 and the rest is my wallet's history.

I have a sizable collection of 1950s+ stuff from all teams, and of course my junk wax heroes. I didn't get to see most of the 1950s-1960s players in their time, but I've seen enough clips on TV and listened to enough people talk about them.

...but I have no interest in having cards of Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, etc.

If it wasn't for caring about the deeper dive into Cubs team lineage history, I probably wouldn't be into the pre-war scene at all. I didn't get into it until I decided to get into the cards of the players I was reading about in team history books.

My 1800s-current Cubs collection has been (and still is) a fun chase and build. The pre-war part of that chase ends 13 cards from now...unless I discover another name I should add to the list...which occasionally happens.

To me this is a GOOD example of how pre-war collectors are made and will continue to be made, even if you don't really consider yourself as one.

Exhibitman · #17 Yesterday, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Yes but there's an awful lot of Gen X'ers like myself in Pre War, that's two or more generations before our time. My dad's father was born in 1920. So you have to go back three or more generations to get to T206 or Old Judge. I think people like yelling "The sky is falling"

This.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulus

Probably more wishful thinking. If we all want it bad enough, prices will come down.

And this.

My father was a teenager in the 1940s when he saw Babe Ruth on the street in New York and the Babe nodded hello to him. He never saw Ruth or Gehrig play but he saw DiMaggio's generation. They were long gone by the time I got baseball and cards in my consciousness. When I was ten I was crazy for cards of the stars then Hank Aaron, Dr. J, etc. When I was in my late twenties and able to finally spend on cards it was 1950s Topps and Bowman I'd coveted as a kid, followed by T, E, W and R cards. The contemporary is the gateway to the older. Same as it ever is and ever will be.

Peter_Spaeth · #18 Yesterday, 06:57 PM

Looks like Jonah has posted here before. An interesting thread.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=362388

NiceDocter · #19 Yesterday, 07:09 PM

Autographed ondeck circle……

raulus · #20 Yesterday, 07:22 PM

I guess he has been a bit of a vintage collector before this, and with some people who have complaints about his methods. Plus now I know the story behind why snowy got banned. He sure did ask for it.

I do think that there are a fair number of people who make a splash and buy a big card or two or three, with the hope to make some money on it. And maybe someday they really get into full blown collecting? I think there are fewer of those people who have a sizeable collection and run around buying commons and lesser stars from obscure prewar issues. So I guess I would draw a distinction there.

Although in this case, he kinda worked backwards, starting off collecting an obscure issue, and then selling it off to pick up a single big card.

Peter_Spaeth · #21 Yesterday, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulus

I guess he has been a bit of a vintage collector before this, and with some people who have complaints about his methods. Plus now I know the story behind why snowy got banned. He sure did ask for it.

I thought it was just theatrics and Travis would be back. I guess not.

Brent G. · #22 Yesterday, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Looks like Jonah has posted here before. An interesting thread.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=362388

What a saga. Totally forgot about Snowman.

puckpaul · #23 Yesterday, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb1

Actually, the pool of high-end collectors is at an all-time high, fresh money in large amounts is being thrown at more cards than ever before. In the old days we could count on one hand the high-end who were bidding on items in an auction or a player on the big cards at the shows, and list them by name. Now, people we have never heard of OR even thought were interested in vintage cards are making record size purchases...at shows, in auctions and privately.

I agree. It makes no sense to me to say that the pool of buyers is shrinking as records keep getting set and almost everything vintage that we all want keeps going strong. With so many auctions and so much stuff for sale, the pool of vintage buyers is expanding.

shagrotn77 · #24 Yesterday, 08:04 PM

I can't even imagine being 26 and being able to spend that type of cash. Good for this dude. That's a HUGE get. I actually think it could double in value before long.

premiercardcollectors · #25 Yesterday, 08:38 PM

I deal with more and more guys in their 20s and 30s every day. Seems like they get started in 50s and 60s vintage and over time they strayed towards Pre-War. It�s great for the hobby and it�s great for our collections. Pre-War will likely always be a microcosm of the hobby but it brings a lot of attention.

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