Money in the Hobby

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

I think there's a very rational reason this topic comes up so often. These discussions strike me as a group enabling session. People who know better get together and attempt to justify their behavior through “group think”. If I can find other people who tell me my behavior is ok, it must be ok then, right? If I know other people are spending their kids’ college tuition on baseball cards, then it becomes rational for me to do it too.

And as an aside: I think there's a very real possibility of an MLB player’s strike looming in the near future. The strikes of ’81 and ’94 turned a lot of people off to baseball for a long time. What happens to the value of a Mike Trout card if there's a prolonged strike?

And how is that different than the millions of people who watch CNBC all day, or participate in stock chat boards?

I'd personally be much more excited when everyone starts yelling to sell.

[packs]

These threads get made out of fear, I think. And the fear is that our collections will cease to have buyers. Threads like this get made all the time and the discussion has taken place over and over again. That's because this fear is very real. But then every time the discussion takes place there's always people who pretend like everything is fine and have some counterpoint to every point someone makes re: the eventual demise of the value aspect of the hobby.

Listen, if these fears were totally unfounded this thread wouldn't be made so often. There's nothing wrong with accepting you've poured money into something that may one day have little value. Just sell soon and buy again later.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by packs

These threads get made out of fear, I think. And the fear is that our collections will cease to have buyers. Threads like this get made all the time and the discussion has taken place over and over again. That's because this fear is very real. But then every time the discussion takes place there's always people who pretend like everything is fine and have some counterpoint to every point someone makes re: the eventual demise of the value aspect of the hobby.

Listen, if these fears were totally unfounded this thread wouldn't be made so often. There's nothing wrong with accepting you've poured money into something that may one day have little value. Just sell soon and buy again later.

People like you were saying sell, sell, sell back in the early 70s when the Wagner card was probably selling for $10,000. How did that work out?

My uncle got out of the stock market in the 1970s because it was a Ponzi scheme and overvalued. How did that work out?

Everything is ALWAYS ridiculously over priced to someone. Sometimes the guy holding it does lose his shirt. And sometime he makes a fortune.

Some crazy ass painting that everyone on this board hated of a skull just sold in NY for something insane like $400 million dollars. I'm sure someone bought it for $1 million and people were giving him all the reasons why he just made the worst decision of his life.


But to just blankedly saying any thriving market is going to collapse decades from now is just guesswork.

[packs]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

People like you were saying sell, sell, sell back in the early 70s when the Wagner card was probably selling for $10,000. How did that work out?

Well that's not really true since my theory is predicated on the boomers collections entering the market en masse after a die off, which didn't happen in the 70s. Also the exact people spending money on the Wagner are the people I'm talking about exiting the market. Unless there's some firebrand tech kid in his 20s who buys the next Wagner.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by packs

Well that's not really true since my theory is predicated on the boomers collections entering the market en masse after a die off, which didn't happen in the 70s. Also the exact people spending money on the Wagner are the people I'm talking about exiting the market. Unless there's some firebrand tech kid in his 20s who buys the next Wagner.

That exactly who WILL buy the next Wagner. Bingo.

[packs]

Let me know where this kid is when you find him. I have cards he may like.

[joshuanip]

Originally Posted by packs

Let me know where this kid is when you find him. I have cards he may like.

Not Rich nor a kids but, what you got? ��

Originally Posted by packs

Let me know where this kid is when you find him. I have cards he may like.

Why would you need "this kid" in a currently thriving marketplace?

[rats60]

Originally Posted by packs

Let me know where this kid is when you find him. I have cards he may like.

There is a story on Blowout about a collector selling his company for 2.1 Billion dollars. Sports will always be popular. There will always be fans who are successful and will want to put money into key pieces. Just like some like art and will keep the art market going. If you want to sell your Wagner, 52 Mantle, Ruth's, Cobb's, etc. I don't see the problem. If you are looking for someone to sell your 1985-1994 sets to, I don't think that is going to go well for you.

[NYYFan63]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

That exactly who WILL buy the next Wagner. Bingo.

I went to the White Plains show in January and was talking with one of the dealers. He had a 52 Mantle on display(I think it was a PSA 1.5 or 2) and a couple of younger guys in their 20's or 30's came by and was looking at the cards he had displayed. The younger guy wanted to take a look at the 52 Mantle and said that he wanted to save to someday buy a 52 Mantle.

[ALR-bishop]

Or collect what you enjoy, with funds your family will not need, without regard to what they may sell for some day when you are dead or dying.

[ZiggerZagger]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Or collect what you enjoy, with funds your family will not need...

This, exactly this.

It's kind of titillating to speculate on the future of the hobby, sure.
I'm sure that's why we're all reading this thread. A bit of drama is always... well, dramatic.

Sure there are demographic trends galore out there, and who knows how they'll turn out to affect the hobby for better or worse.
But as many have said, I also have the collecting gene, as I'm sure nearly everyone on this board does. The urge to collect won't go away no matter the generation, although we can't predict what the focus of that collecting will be.

We have an amazing hobby with a great history, and I hope it thrives. As others have also said, my personal mantra is to only spend funds on cards that are not otherwise needed. There's really no anxiety with that approach, just the thrill of the hunt.

Would I be disappointed if I woke up tomorrow and my collection wasn't really worth anything? -- yes. Would I regret having collected? -- no flipping way.
Honestly my biggest beef with our currently healthy market is that I'd like to buy a nice T206 Bat Off Cobb in midgrade and it will now cost me another 50% more because I dilly-dallied over the past few years...

[Leon]

Collectors should generally be comfortable with the value in their collection, whatever the circumstances might be. If you feel you have too much tied up in it it is easy to right-size it. It is way more fun when it isn't financially burdening, not that any of us would ever do that.

To reiterate others, I don't think baseball card collecting will die off in any of our lifetimes. That said there are fewer and fewer 50s-70s Topps set collectors, just starting sets, and there is an overabundance of those cards in low to mid grade. If I had millions of those I might be a little concerned.

.

[aconte]

To reiterate others, I don't think baseball card collecting will die off in any of our lifetimes. That said there are fewer and fewer 50s-70s Topps set collectors, just starting sets, and there is an overabundance of those cards in low to mid grade. If I had millions of those I might be a little concerned.

I agree with Leon's comment. I even think this is true for higher grade cards
from the 50s to 70s that are commons or mid level players. I would definitely
care if I had money I needed down the line tied up in commons.

[Rich Falvo]

I would love to build more 50's to 70's sets, but the fun in that was going to shops and shows with my want lists and working the set. Now, there are very few shows and shops around here anymore. It's not nearly as much fun trying to build a 700 card set buying the cards individually or in small lots online.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by Leon

Collectors should generally be comfortable with the value in their collection, whatever the circumstances might be. If you feel you have too much tied up in it it is easy to right-size it. It is way more fun when it isn't financially burdening, not that any of us would ever do that.

To reiterate others, I don't think baseball card collecting will die off in any of our lifetimes. That said there are fewer and fewer 50s-70s Topps set collectors, just starting sets, and there is an overabundance of those cards in low to mid grade. If I had millions of those I might be a little concerned.

.

I get what you are saying, but the 1960s Topps sets are what I enjoy...commons and all. I have tried other avenues of this hobby but have circled back around to this. I generally work on a set at a time, nothing terribly high grade. This is just a hobby for me, and what I spend on the cards is not a factor in my family's lifestyle. Someday when I am dead and gone, whatever my daughters can get for them will be a bonus.