Lack of interest in the history of the game
 

The one thing that I can foresee happening to cause a substantial drop in the values of vintage cards is the developing of a lack of interest in the history of the game. The MLB Network seems less focused on featuring shows of that nature than it has in the past. Will it happen? Or will our younger collectors (I think there will always be some who want a "piece of the action," so to speak--those with the "collecting gene," as Bill Mastro has said) go on to develop such an interest? Let me know what you think.

Highest regards,

Larry

There are an endless number of books being published that deal with the history of the game, but I just don't know how many people are reading them.

Well, Barry - I bet I have as extensive a Baseball Library as anyone I know, but I've only read about 10% of the 250 or so books collecting dust on my shelves...and yet there are 3 more on my Amazon wish list...am I a hoarder?
perhaps, but really, I'm just looking for that one thing almost all of us are...no, not a Wagner...or even a '52 Mantle....


A ROUND TUIT!


The last one of my collection I read cover-to-cover was our own Hank Thomas's masterful bio of his grandfather, Walter Johnson...which I once again urge everyone to check out.

,

I do not share your pessimism.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi.../Jones%201.JPG

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

I certainly didn't pick up my love for the history of the game from MLB Network. I grew up well before the Internet, and certainly never saw ruth or Cobb play. I never saw mantle or mays either. Griffey and Ripken were the legends of my era. And yet, despite no MLB Network or Internet, and despite being raised in Miami (as opposed to NYC, Boston or Detroit), I loved the history. My dad didn't care about baseball, and I never played the sport. It's just in us or it's not.
A ty cobb-back sold on heritage last night for over 400k. You think that was some baby-boomer lying on his deathbed placing bids?
I would be willing to bet that more kids today know who Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were than Woodrow Wilson or Rutherford B Hayes. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it certainly says a lot about their legacies.

Will us collectors be replaced ? I don't know. I think there will be less. Let's take a poll in our own families. I will not be replaced in my family. Have 2 sons with no collecting interests. Many collectors on here have already stated that their sons and daughters have no interest in their collections.

I'm sure there's some bias on these boards (in the sense that we are all baseball guys so we are definitely more likely to be reading baseball books) but I'v bought at least 10 baseball books over the last year, and none were about baseball that was played after I was born.

I don't think that the replacements necessarily have to come from within our own bloodline. We are a rare breed. As mentioned above, I didn't replace my father in card collection. He never collected. My 7 year old seems to have the gene. It is manifesting itself in Pokémon right now, but that's cool. Garbage Pail kids were my gateway drug.

Guess after they’re done eating tide pods we’ll find out if they are collectors.

It's amazing how all those acid-eating, free-loving hippies of the 60s started making money and buying cards. It's almost as if life is cyclical.

Like I said in the money in the hobby thread. We will remember Ruth, Cobb etc but not lower level players in any sport. There will be to many to chase and to remember.

In the 1990’s I found out that my 1960’s/1970’s cards that I collected as a kid had value. I went to some card shows and sold my duplicates. Before long though, I started seeing how cool some of the early cards were at these shows. I loved baseball but didn’t know that much about the history. I did, however, remember hearing of Wee Willie Keeler so I bought his T206 for $20. Then I ran across a bunch of Old Judges and fell in love and bought several over the next few shows (but didn’t spring for either of the two Billy Hamiltons that the dealer had for $100 each :mad:). Before long I was reading all I could about the history of the game and was hooked. I think the younger generation may take the same path - only interested initially because of the value of cards and eventually getting hooked by the history of the game....or so I hope.

Rob M

The Monster Number thread seems to indicate the “set” hypothesis is valid and many collectors are buying cards of strangers they’ve never heard of nor would they pay 50 cents to see them play in a game.

I was not an acid-eating free-loving hippie in the 60s, but I lived with some. The current status of their card collections is unknown. Maybe we need a thread for them to chime in. I’m sure they have heard of the internet, but they may not be able to find it.:eek:

I actually think that history sometimes encourages collecting some of the vintage players.

As popular of a stat as WAR has become, check out the top 20. Of your current players, Pujols and Beltre are highest on the list. Just for grins - Mike Trout is 200-something.

Who knew without looking that Tris Speaker is top 10?
Frank Robinson is top 25 - that was a surprise to me, I knew he was really good but top 25 all time?

I think this generation will continue to be interested in the analytics part of the game, and while they may focus collecting on the current guys (same way I got started), the "education" they gain on the comparison likely opens up some other collecting interests. Sure did for me.

I have said it many times ill say it again.
 

Many kids in my daughters school buy cards, they buy football cards they buy pokemon cards and they buy baseball cards. I have several people i went to high school with that know i do cards, that will email me about there kids are now into cards and ask for advice. a younger friend from my old neighborhood is at the age where he has very good disposable income and has started a collection, he's in his late 30's still young enough to have many collecting years. I have been hearing it was going to die since i was 8 years old back in 1980 still waiting to see those types of prices again.

It's the history of the game that drew me to collecting vintage...and once I started collecting vintage, it only made me want to learn more about the history of the game.

The game changer for me was seeing "The Glory of Their Times" on TV circa 1991. I was instantly drawn to the early days of the game, and the men that played it.

I would submit...the state of our hobby is strong.

Here's what I presume to be a stupid question -

Are there many people that collect pre-war ("that's WW2, the big one") that have little or limited knowledge of baseball history?

If you fall into that category, please post why you collect vintage.