Who will be the buyer of our vintage cards in 20 years?

[toppcat]

Good vintage will always have devotees but where the line is drawn between classic and crap in the future is unpredictable. I think enough people collect cards older than they are now and will continue to do so in the future that good stuff will always be chased. I don't think you need to have been a card collector as a kid to collect now but you probably needed to be a baseball fan. And baseball is booming, football even more so and even with the economy in shambles.

[mintacular]

a very sobering thought. Kids today do not need a photographic image on cardboard to remember their heroes like the good old days. With one click they can look up an image, and even print out a picture themselves if they need to. Come to think of it, many of them don't idolize these players. With all the scandals (Woods, McGwire) for the whole world to see this cannot be good for the sports collectibles industry. In short, technology has killed cardboard collecting for most youngsters.

[Anthony S.]

I'm counting on advances in medical science keeping current adult collectors alive for more than 20 years.

Buy only generic meds so you can afford my cards.

[Leon]

First of all, welcome to the board, Bob.

I like the answer of "who is going to buy our cards in 20 yrs?" as being "me", the best. That being said I believe like the rest of the folks have said, it will be the people that migrate backwards from today's cards as well as those people that like the game, are collectors by habit, and start to have more disposable income as they mature. It's certainly true that kids today have a ton more options for stimuli available to them, than us baby boomers did. I still get a kick out of all the excitement which that recently shown 1937 Kendall Gas game of baseball players advertised, by only collecting the stamps!! It's classic. best regards

[T206Collector]

...but I started collecting baseball cards with force when I was 13 in 1987 because I learned that they had monetary value. Opening packs was a legal form of playing the lottery for a teenager. Plus it kept me up to speed on the players I was watching on TV.

The value inherent in these old pieces of cardboard is a lot of the reason why they will continue to attract attention.

In other words, it was never about capturing a picture of my idol on cardboard. And since at least the 1980s any kids putting down cash for cards have been doing it with an eye on the potential value. I expect that trend to continue with the vintage stuff for at least another generation or so.

[JLange]

But the question for me is who will buy mine? I worry less about the stars and HOFers, and more about whether the accumulation of my other tastes and interests will be desired in the future by anyone other than me!

[Brian Van Horn]

JLange stated:

"But the question for me is who will buy mine?"

I can't resist a line like this so my response is what do you have?

[Mark]

Baseball has attractions that will win over future generations. As for the worry that people who recall certain old players will die off and never buy their cards, I think that this has been belied by the continuing interest in pre-war cards. We don't need to have seen a player to learn about him and admire his work. All we need is access to records, books, cards, and film.