Thoughts on 1950s cards over the next 15 years?

[ALR-bishop]

For those of us for whom it is strictly a hobby, it has and will always be just fine

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

For those of us for whom it is strictly a hobby, it has and will always be just fine

Amen!

[theseeker]

Sorry to have to say it but, the demographics are what they are. Since the decades of steady rise in hobby interest hit its frenzied peak in the early '90's, hobby interest has been in a steep decline. This has always been a hobby with its roots steeped in childhood experiences. Unfortunely, the exploding interest in the hobby, back in the early '90's, was so badly managed that the generations that have followed have not grown up with those cherished memories. The shortsightedness, shift in the collector/investor matrix focus, and overt greed led to a bubble that largely turned off the last generation (individuals now in their late 20's and early 30's) that grew up with the hobby "bug."

The change in hobby focus from collector to investor, lead to kids treating their card collection as investment portfolio. This manipulated market is what led to all the bad feelings towards the "worthless shiny crap," after the inevitable bursting of the bubble. The hobby is headed to where stamp collecting is at today-- where the rarest of examples still fetch huge dollars from the "I bought it because I can" crowd, while the true collector market has all but dried up.

Great to see a 28 year old with such genuine passion and pure interest in the hobby. There won't be enough of them to keep prices from plummeting, IMHO.

To the true collectors that remain, that won't be an entirely bad thing. And there will always be some value in the cards that were made when it truely was a hobby. That's more than I can say for my other leisurely interests.

[Brianruns10]

Again, I disagree. Young people like myself are more and more getting passionate about these kinds of these. We're more selective about our tastes is all.

There are really two halves to the hobby: the REAL collectible, and the READY made crap. The REAL collectibles are the vintage stuff. Talking 40s and 50s and sixties. Some might go further, I frankly have no interested in stuff after the mid sixties. The artistry doesn't compare to the sheer artistry of the early to mid 50s stuff. With a few exceptions, yes, the stuff made the last 30 years or so will plummet. It's worthless crap to my eye, made to be hawked by obese dealers whose idea of vintage is stuff so beaten up it doesn't deserve to be called PO-1, yet is priced for a PSA 5 or 6. But the true, classic stuff will gain in its appreciation by a generation of which I include myself which is growing to appreciate the quality and artistry in American manufacturing before it all got outsourced and planned obsolescence became the modus operandi of big corporate manufacturers.

Also, realize that vintage baseball cards have appeal beyond baseball fans. There are also those who appreciate the artistry of the cards themselves, and the quality of the printing methods. Heck, that's what draws me to the 52s. I simply adore those hand coloured, flexichrome images. They are utterly gorgeous, candy colored works of real American ingenuity and craft. And then there are those who appreciate them for their place in Americana, what they represent: a far less cynical time, when cards were made for boys to trade and put in bicycle spokes, not to be transferred straight from the pack to the plastic. I love these cards because I know some kid held them in his hand and loved them, treasured them.

Lastly, I would not be so quick to compare them to stamps, speaking as someone who collected stamps, coins and now cards. There was no comparison to my eye. What killed my interest in stamps was all the fine detail. I couldn't have cared less how many perforations a stamp had, whether it was from a roll or a sheet. Didn't give a care about a slight difference in the cross hatching on the engraving between type 1 and type 2, the different watermarks, the size of the z-grill or the tint of blue.

I collected coins for a decade, but ultimately fell out of the hobby because there wasn't enough variety. I put together complete sets of just about every 20th century coin, yet the thrill faded because apart from the dates and the mint marks, they were all the same.

What thrills me about ball cards is each card is different, each card has it's own character, it's own challenges. I love that, in the 52 series, there are some cards, like the Mathews, that are damn near impossible to find well centered, or the Yvars, who always seems to come diamond cut.

I also think there is a different persona involved when you're talking about the collectors. What largely turned me off to stamps and coins were the collectors/dealers I came upon were largely assholes. Old curmudgeons who whipped out their graysheets and didn't seem to love the coins, so much as covet them and what price they would fetch. They were not particularly friendly or cheerful or enthusiastic, and not ones I'd want to hang with.

But ballcard dealers, the ones who deal in legit, quality vintage, have all been wonderful to do business with, wonderful to chat with, and do what they do because they never quite lost the kid in them. They really do adore the hobby. So many of the ones I encountered do it part time, or they've retired, and now they're revisiting something they love.

And that is the big lesson. You think the hobby is dying? Well with that attitude it will. It's all in the hands of the old guard, to work on their outreach. To smile and be cheerful and interact with the young and get them excited about the hobby. If you just grouse and make gross generalizations, grumbling about "Those kids these days, they just want to download everything and they don't care, and they're gonna let this hobby die," well of COURSE you're gonna prompt those kids to do just that, and go off to somewhere else, because who wants to be dismissed or lumped in with the rest of their generation.

I intend on building one of the finest baseball card sets ever. Going to finish the 52s, then the rest of the 50s Topps. Then the Bowmans. Leafs. Goudey's. The t205s, Crackers Jacks and, yes, the t206.

So the hobby will last at least as long as I do, if I have anything to say or do about it.

[ValKehl]

Briansrun10, you have made some excellent points. Personally, I believe that true collectors are born with "a collector gene." I collected stamps and coins as a youngster, before I started collecting cards. And sports card collectors are almost always also sports enthusiasts, which greatly enhances the collecting enthusiasm and interest. IMO, Stamp and coin collectors don't have something comparable to fuel their collecting enthusiasm and interest. Hence, I believe that sports card collecting will thrive in the future much more than coin and stamp collecting.
Val

[Brianruns10]

Precisely. And I think more and more people will be drawn with fascination to the classic years of baseball, back before players became steroid addled monstrosities. Back when players had a sense of community loyalty, and stuck with teams rather then sell them and their fans out for a bigger paycheck, and a better shot at a World Series Ring. Back when getting their autograph meant hanging out by the entrance to the team locker room, not in line for an hour to pay 50 bucks for a drunken, wavy line passing for a signature.

Like I said, I have practically zero interest in major league ball today. None. But I adore the game as it was played in the 50s and earlier. It is an era that everyone I talk to who grew up in it speaks of with great fondness. It is an era I sorely wish I could know, but never will.

Through vintage cards, I'm able to get a little taste of it.

[Volod]

Brian, I think what you are lamenting is a broad shift in society as a whole, as much as a change in pro sports itself. Reading the bio of a local baseball icon a while back, it struck me that he took great pride in forfeiting potentially the four most productive years of his pitching career to serve during WWII, and after encountering arm problems in 1949, he refused to accept a token increase in salary the next year, telling the team owner he didn't deserve it, even though he had already earned his spot in the HOF. Bob Feller died in 2010, a few months after another local idol, LeBron James, made his "decision."