What is happening with baseball card prices?

[kailes2872]

Yes, some collectors will be taking a profit, but more people continue to enter the market. Things look good and the bubble is expanding like 5-piece wad of chewing gum being blown by Kurt freaken Bevacqua. Put me in the bulls corner.

He couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat!


I love my collection and spent so much time collecting and upgrading. It felt like 90% of the time along the way I was the sucker because I won an auction that was above VCP. But if I waited for VCP, I would have never got the card. Then someone gave me life changing advice. He said "you never pay too much, you just pay too soon" Obviously this meant that the price would eventually get there so stop fretting and just realize that it is a long game.

I have told the story before, but when I first got on the board, someone asked what they should pay for a 33 Goudey Ruth. There were about four immediate responses on top of each other and every response was a variation of "a grand a grade". So, around 2014, I began searching for a 4-5 for $4,000 or $5,000. I was not seeing it. In fact I was having trouble finding one for half that (and maybe I was looking in the wrong spot). I didn't want to be the idiot that overpaid, so I kept waiting. I will probably never be able to own that Ruth now - and definitely won't be able to won all four of them liked I hoped.

It is fun watching sold card prices these days. I bought my PSA 6 Aaron for about 10% of what it is going for now back in 2015. But, if I sold it, it would mean that I no longer have an Aaron and the money would either just go into my investment account or back into another card and I prefer Aaron. What I am finding now though is that the collection is starting to feel more like an asset class than a hobby. I fear fire and theft and the cost to insure continues to go up because the relative value goes up.

My only hope is that maybe, just maybe, those 86-90 sets that have been in binders and sheets that were worth more than the cards - will suddenly start having decent relative value to the late 70's/early 80's cards. I am hoping that folks will either throw them away or donate them to Tim Carroll so that he can make a picture. If that happens, and I am the last to hold onto them, they might end up with some value as well. I mean, there was a time when T206's were massively overproduced and it worked out okay!