Quote:
Originally Posted by Yankeefan51
And now we predict that when the criminal investigations are completed a number of major hobby players will be in trouble and a slew of collector/investors will either stop investing or "dump their collections."
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Interesting point, but I respectfully disagree.
First, regardless of the ubiquitous financial scandals of the past few years, most people have not dumped their entire stock/mutual fund portfolios.
Second,
possible scandals within the hobby aside, I think that seasoned collectors are generally prone to remain in the hobby for the very simple reason that they are generally able to inspect the collectibles they purchase (or are considering purchasing) and evaluate them with the aid of their own knowledge, expertise, preferences, and collecting goals. In other words, regardless of the scandals, a collector at The National can hold that T206 Walter Johnson SGC 84 in his hand, inspect the slab, measure the card, etc. That same collector cannot do the same with his IBM stock. The difference is that the seasoned collector who purchases the T206 Walter Johnson SGC 84 is generally more confident in his purchase than he is with his purchase of 1,000 shares of IBM.
Third, after he makes the purchase, he can hold that T206 Johnson in his hand, store it in his home safely, etc.; his ownership of 1,000 shares of IBM is a heckuva lot more nebulous.
Fourth, and perhaps this is my most important point. What would you rather look at while you are sitting on your couch watching the ballgame:
a) Your snow white SGC graded card box full of T206 SGC 84s; or
b) The piece of paper (written in hyrogliphics) that your local brokerage house mailed to you which lists your IBM shares somehwere around page 4 (shares that the brokerage house is holding for you in "street name," I might add)?