The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>As I read through my newly acquired "The Trader Speaks" run from '79-'81 it is imminent that nothing in the hobby has changed except the 0's in the values/prices...

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Daniel Bretta</b><p>How do you mean? Certainly the knowledge gained on certain issues has grown exponentially since the advent of the internet allowed collectors to share information much more easily and instantly. And ebay has certainly had the largest impact in bringing new cards to the market.<br /><br />

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Rich Klein</b><p>when we (as a group) complain about high prices, not being to get those cards as cheaply as we did a few years ago, the supply of cards are truly drying up,....<br /><br />Is that 25 years ago, the exact same sentiments were being written about in these Trader Speaks.<br /><br />Yes, the information flow is much better and yes we know a ton more about the cards and the history than we did 25 years ago -- but the financial bottom line for each and every one of us collectors is the same issue that occured 25 years ago.<br /><br />Rich

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Julie Vognar</b><p>LOOK MA, NO SLABS!

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>quan</b><p>glad to see ur back posting julie, i always enjoy ur comments.

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>I should have extrapolated a little more....the same sentiments about high prices, investors vs collectors, bad folks in the hobby, etc.....all of the same issues...minus the slabbing are still here...it is very ironic as you read them at how much hasn't changed. This board is the 21st Century Trader Speaks, somewhat....(no doubt there is a huge leap in information though and how fast it travels)<br /><br />edited for spelling, and to note that most cards being sold and talked about, in the TTS were TOPPS, LEAF and BOWMAN.....so maybe that is different than this board....but there's Collectors Universe for that....

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Harry Kress</b><p>"This board is the 21st Century Trader Speaks"<br /><br />Not even near, IMO<br /><br />I miss TTS, Lipset's TOJ newsletter and the original VCBC<br /><br />edited to add VCBC! <img src="/images/sad.gif" height=14 width=14><br />

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Mark Rios</b><p>I like to pick up old pubs like - The Trader Speaks and look over the <br />availability of the "tougher" cards. And it seems, at least to me, that<br />it parallels the current status of the hobby (minus the internet factor,<br />information, better organized auctions and high profile catalogs.)<br /><br />M.

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Leon and I were talking about this this morning, and I pointed out one significant trend that makes today's hobby much different than the one of 25 years ago. Perhaps old timers have always bemoaned rising prices, but the fact is if you wanted to buy vintage cards in the early years of the hobby, you could do it. You just had to get over the psychological hurdle that cards that were once 50 cents were now $5. But with today's high prices, and with the trend the market is taking, the hobby is slowly (and perhaps quickly) becoming a pastime of the very rich. Complaining about high prices today isn't just a matter of voluntarily not participating; the rare material is simply out of reach of most collectors. That is why PSA-1's and ungraded cards with ten crease and a corner missing have become popular today; that is all some collectors can afford. There is nothing wrong with this, and it is the natural order of things, but like fine art, rare coins, classic cars, etc. soon only the rich will be trading the better quality cards among themselves, and everyone else will be left to pick up the scraps. Look, we can't all own Picassos and Van Goghs, that's just the way it is.

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Daniel Bretta</b><p>You make good points Barry which is why I actually enjoy the memorabilia side more than I do the cards....I still have a bunch of prewar cards, but most of them I've had for about 10+ years now. You can still buy store model baseball gloves, bats, score cards/programs et cetera rather cheaply...and I really enjoy photographs which are still relatively cheap compared to cards. That kind of stuff takes up more space, but IMO they make for a neater display. I am one that would actually love to see the vintage card market collapse so I could afford some of the cards that I've always wanted...but I'm not holding my breath and I doubt the market for some of those cards will ever collapse enough to the point that I could attain them.

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>mcavoy</b><p>If you read the old Card Collector Bulletin from the 1940-50s with the Burdick opinion editorials (you can get an idea of what these were like by reading some of the Vrechek articles), Burdick, who buy the early 50's appeared to no longer even collect Baseball cards, reported all the old material had dried up. <br /><br />Burdick encouraged all collectors to acquire what they could in collectable condition (cards with no creases, no marks, and no back damage), if for no other reason than to have trade material. He noted new finds, no matter what collectors might think, would be quickly acquired and be soon unavailable. I haven't read the Trader Speaks, I have read the CCBs, and the only important differences I can see between then and today are the prices and a shift to collecting types rather than assembling entire series, but I gather from the above posts these differences appeared before 1979. The information technology is different, and I imagine information is easier to acquire passively today.<br /><br />I am reminded in the mid-1980s when that huge 1951 red back find hit the market. Those $8 packs now readily trade for much more on eBay. The point is collectors will absorb new finds of vintage material with little apparent long run impact on price.<br /><br />Best, Mike

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>John Spencer</b><p>It is funny, at least to me, that nobobdy gave credit to the author of The Trader Speaks, Lew Lipset. Lew was one of the early hobby pioneers and has made a massive contribution to vintage card knowledge, history of the game etc. Of course, after The Trader Speaks came The Old Judge and then his definite 3 volumes on early cards. I just wish he hadn´t run out of energy to complete the remaining volumes of his mission. I think all collectors owe a debt of gratitude to Lew.

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Harry Kress</b><p>Dan Dischley

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Richard Masson</b><p>I'm sure Lew is chuckling over that last post...<br />Dan is the only reason any of us have ever heard of Lake Ronkonkoma (sp?)

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>You spelled it right. Well done.

The Trader Speaks......nothing has changed
 

Posted By: <b>Richard Masson</b><p>Thank you, professor.<br />

What I really enjoy about reading old publications is the progression of the hobby and how new information becomes available. Early hobby history and its formation to what we see it today is truly fascinating.

I believe if it weren't for these early publications, future generations might not know who Buck Barker, John D. Wagner or Jefferson Burdick were. They might not know how price guides started or how prefixes came to be? It sounds odd, but all that we know about the hobby right now could be lost in another generation if we don't teach it today. This is why, other than a value placed -a price guide (and the good folks at net54) is a good source of information and to promote the hobby. Frank Nagy once said that the hobby tomorrow is only as good as we make it today.

I agree completely. Maybe I will get back to posting some early hobby correspondence soon. Also, in our Archive Center, second to the right icon in the row of them, there are several threads concerning old hobby publications etc....Here is a particularly good thread by David K. which is permanently placed there.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=241674

Wow back in 2006 I had hair and my teeth..