[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by sirraffles

Those are good criticisms and put me in an awkward position. I find myself wanting to argue that Helmar cards have a high investment potential when I've already said, correctly, that no one knows. Maybe that impulse is my well-known contrarian nature speaking or maybe a little bit of ego. Probably both. And another way I'm in an awkward position is that I don't want to be too successful in my argument because the size of my little business is exactly where I'd like to keep it. If anything, I am already too busy and don't want to expand or be tempted to.

The only thing we can confidently say about the future is that it won't be the same as today. Many of the rules and guidelines that we use will go by the wayside. We regularly see evidence of this now. Big companies and their standard ideas and practices collapse, only to be replaced by no-name companies with fresh ideas and new products that would have been ridiculed just a few years before. It is a constant revolution out there and, yes, a bit of a scary landscape for investors. But it is a great place for consumers, with new horizons and exciting new products.

More specific to our hobby, remember that many T206 cards, righteously loved by collectors today, ended up on the sidewalks outside of smoke shops. No one would have considered them investment worthy. Similar stories can be told about many, if not most, old sets. And most of those companies, once at the top of the market, are long gone. Taste changes, too. Unfortunately, it is possible that collecting cards at all will someday be comparable to how we look today at collecting, say, matchbooks or thimbles. Ho-hum. Cards have the advantage of being personality-driven, to a large extent. But will anyone really remember Christy Mathewson in another 50 years, or 100? I wonder about that. And if the lives and stories of those stars becomes too remote for people to identify with in a couple of generations, than one can pretty much write off the hobby as an investment at all.

But back to Helmar and the rest of the art card market. Most of our series are limited to around 20 sets. That is a very small quantity and they will all sell out. In twenty years if just 25 collectors (just 25!) wanted to collect a series then the prices would rise by a corresponding, or larger, percentage. That's all for now, Charles

For those of us to whom the player on the card means something, the card, to be deemed worthy of significant value, must be like a little time capsule, which not only connects you to the player by capturing an instant of his life, but also takes you back to the time. Ask yourself if if this criteria is met,

Respectfully,

Larry