I don't think any of us, are unfamiliar with this concept or term. I feel like It really took off in the late 80s (Greg Jefferies anyone?) with the hobby boom. With the recent explosion of the past few years, It seems like people are leaving themselves more open to huge financial loses. I feel like this is more prevalent now, than ever before in the social media age, with many younger people wanting to be "Famous Influencers."
The latest case that I ran into, was something I saw on Twitter. I mostly use the platform for breaking sports transactions, but this came across my page recently.
https://twitter.com/cblez/status/1623144423445131264
For those of you who can't see the link, It's some social media "card guru" that explains that he paid $50,000 for a 1 of 1 Austin Martin Signed Card, which has seriously tanked in value. Almost if like "investing" in these rookies is like playing with penny stocks. Never mind all the wonderful vintage he could have bought with that sum! As a side note, I'd love to hear what everyone over here would use that 50K for.
Back to the true point of the post, the outrageous prices of some modern cards, the minuscule chances of any of these players actually putting up numbers that would justify these insane prices, combined with the fact that "1 of 1" means nothing at all at this point, makes me think that that the modern market will fall to pieces in a similar way the hobby on the whole did, in 1994. I do however think that while it will drive the "new money" away from modern, those in vintage, or are getting into vintage, are here to stay. Nothing is going to change CY Young's 511 Wins, Ruth's 714 Homers, or Cobb's 4189 Hits. They'll continue to remain strong, and the new blood in the Vintage side of the hobby, will continue to be involved for years to come. What are everyone's thoughts on this?