Future of ticket collecting

[Cmount76]

Great question. Tickets are, unfortunately, going the way of _________ (fill in the blank) They will become obsolete. I can see a future time when events will manufacture scarcity by offering a limited number of paper tickets for an event, in order to drum up desire and these will sell for a premium.

In answering your question, a hobby friend once said to me "There is an ass for every seat." I don't know if it will thrive, but I do believe it will exist. It may just be fewer asses to fill those seats.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Cmount76

Great question. Tickets are, unfortunately, going the way of _________ (fill in the blank) They will become obsolete. I can see a future time when events will manufacture scarcity by offering a limited number of paper tickets for an event, in order to drum up desire and these will sell for a premium.

In answering your question, a hobby friend once said to me "There is an ass for every seat." I don't know if it will thrive, but I do believe it will exist. It may just be fewer asses to fill those seats.

Sadly, in the modern digital age, literally every tactile thing is going the way of....
Signatures, handwritten letters, and endless paper ephemera have long been saved, cherished and collected from revered individuals of the past, as a tangible record of history and culture as well as their existence. What now? Will it get to the point where all that is left is to show someone a computer screen, and state "so and so once typed this into a keyboard"??

The future is depressing and bleak.

[Goudey77]

In regards to rare and vintage tickets i've noticed some high profile tickets in mid to low grade PSA selling for less in the past few years. For awhile there in 2013-2014 tickets seemed to get more attention. I havent heard much since.

[Scott Garner]

I may be in the minority, but I personally believe that truly rare vintage tickets to historic games will continue to be sought out by the dedicated collector.
I will also go out on a limb and state that I believe that valuation will continue to go up if supply is limited, just like anything else that's collectible.

Many of you may know that I am not a fan of PSA and slabbing tickets.
PSA seems to slab virtually anything for $$.
Case in point, they authenticate season passes and call them "tickets" to historic games.

A more concerning question that I believe is direct to the point is will the younger generation care about collectibles in the same way that we do?

I don't believe so, because times have changed with electronic gadgets like smartphones and videogames, for what it's worth.

[perezfan]

Yes, it's pretty depressing.

On a related note, I wonder how the future generations will view art? Will paintings and sculptures go by the wayside as well? Graffiti is now considered an art form, so I guess Rembrandt, Van Gogh and even Kreindler (some day) will be turning in their graves!

[Goudey77]

There will always be a sustainable market for valuable collectibles. Even within the sports card trading community generations go through phases as they mature into collecting.

Kids still collect, Panini, Donruss, UD, Topps are fighting over licensing rights. They havent gone bankrupt yet.

Today's craze for modern basketball inserts will gravitate to those collectors going after vintage. It only gets deeper from there and they all eventually end up on Net54 by the time they are in their 40's and older owning the RARE stuff...

I've lived through the stages of this thing called collecting in the last 20 years. I also started with 80's baseball and basketball cards when I was a kid. Now i'm hooked on T206 portraits.

As long as there are good paying jobs and sustainable economics our vintage stuff will stay desirable.
It's a gateway to Net54 i'm telling you..

[Snapolit1]

Well, as George Harrison sang many years ago, all things must pass. But hard to predict when when and how. A lot has changed since Shakespeare's time, yet kids still read his books in college and people still find going to his plays tremendously rewarding. Ditto fine art and much of what Sotherbys sells. Yeah, some wacky modern art demands great prices, but all these centuries later people still buy Picassos and Rembrandts. I think there will be a market for what we collect for many many years, though clearly things will fall in and out of favor. Maybe someday the mania we see today for Jackie Robinson turns into hysteria for Ken Griffey cards. Or people are going nuts for Judge cards. Impossible to predict.

I always think how Elvis Presley was the biggest celebrity on the planet when I was a teen. Today my kids would be hard pressed to name 2 of his songs. Do people go to Graceland anymore? I don't know. I doubt there are lines down the block. Yet, people still collect Beatles stuff big time. Impossible to predict.

[bbcard1]

I remember buying a lot of tickets at a chantilly show that came from lesser but still significant games...like the retiring of Wilt's jersey at Philly and a few others. The guy had been to all the games himself. I had a friend of mine come by and say,"What are you buying?" and I told him pieces of this guy's life at fifty cents a throw.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Yes, it's pretty depressing.

On a related note, I wonder how the future generations will view art? Will paintings and sculptures go by the wayside as well? Graffiti is now considered an art form, so I guess Rembrandt, Van Gogh and even Kreindler (some day) will be turning in their graves!

Mark,
I can't imagine that art will ever go out of style. Beauty is inspirational...

[scooter729]

My Red Sox season tickets didn't even have a paper ticket option this year - it is all electronic. Though I did buy some extra tickets for a few games, and those are paper tickets.

Boston Celtics do still offer paper tickets for the season ticket accounts, though they are offering promos to cut over to electronic. I do still enjoy my paper tickets for sure though!

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Mark,
I can't imagine that art will ever go out of style. Beauty is inspirational...

It never goes out of style, but the quality definitely changes/decreases.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Mark,
I can't imagine that art will ever go out of style. Beauty is inspirational...

I know you're right, Scott...

Was just having a bad day and suspecting gloom and doom.

Earlier in the week, we hosted a party including about a dozen "Millenials"... All college educated (mostly expensive private schools). The conversation somehow turned to Bob Hope entertaining the troops during Viet Nam, and they all had a blank look on their faces. Then I asked who in the room knew who Bob Hope was, and it was just an uncomfortable silence. Finally one of the girls said I KNOW... He operates the airport in Palm Springs!

Rather than correcting her (pointlessly) I replied.... That's right! Just like John Wayne runs the Orange County Airport.

She was very pleased with herself, so why fight it?