Money in the Hobby

[1952boyntoncollector]

I think its funny when the 'hobby not going down' in flames guys say in not so many words the 'key vintage historical' cards will keep their value etc

What we talking about .1 of 1 percent of cards out there? The T206 Wagner going up doesnt impact most people here on net54 or the Babe ruth rookie..

also what exactly are the key cards everyone seems to agree will always have value....there will be difference of opinion once you get to the 4th or 5th card...

The t206 Wagner is more than a baseball card , its not really apples to apples to say if that card does great so does the hobby....its in a special world as well as those other 'key cards' that everyone thinks they will agree on but they wont..

Most cards will go down as collections start hitting the market from people that inherited them etc..

As far as the hobby is concerned, the canary in the coal mine to me what a rookie Frank Robinson will go for 15 years from now in a PSA 8 etc....great player and big prices now..... ...commenting on T206 Wagners is pointless to me as far as how it relates into the health into the hobby as a whole...

[Mark]

Who knows? For years, my dad spent time and money on a tremendous collection of stamps that now has very little value. I wish he had collected impressionist paintings, but he had a great time with stamps. If you collect baseball cards because you think it's cool as hell to have a t206 set or some rarer set, then you are doing great. It would, however, be very risky to count on selling the cards in 20 years to fund your retirement.

Personally, I think that baseball is here to stay (at least for another 100 years) and that the always increasing US population will produce enough collectors to support the prices of the most appealing and famous old cards. But I certainly am not banking on it, and I don't put money that I can't afford to lose into them or into memorabilia. (at least I try not to do that)