Are Baseball Cards Destined to Slowly Diminish in Value?

[grundle20]

Hi there - I wanted to spark a debate.

I'm 31 and started collecting 1948 Leafs. I do it because I enjoy it and though it's a pricy set, I like the "pop art" feel of the cards. However, among my peers, it seems I'm on an island when it comes to baseball cards. My generation (X) were the kiddos in the late 80s racing to buy cards, that's all we did in between playing sandlot games. I remember the packs of cards front and center in EVERY package store.

Not only do kids younger than me not even play sandlot pickup games anymore (unless you count an impromptu game on PS3), but they're not buying packs of cards and they're not that "into" baseball, and I say this as a whole. Sure there are young kids at shows and sure there are some young collectors, but I say this as a widespread phenomenon.

I wonder when these kids are 40, 50, 60, etc. and have the buying power to go after a set like a 48 Leaf, will it even cross their minds? Is baseball even that much of a widespread interest? I'm saying this as myself probably the younger side (again, age 31) of expensive set collecting. I don't even see the POTENTIAL for interest.

Although I realize posting in a baseball card forum is bias to begin with, because we're all collectors and we probably think card collecting is the bee's knees, but I wonder, looking 50 years down the road, is lack of demand going to make a 1948 Leaf Set, with "short print" not even meaning anything to anyone in my generation, going to be commanding the prices they command today?

I'm just looking for some intelligent banter on the matter! And yes, as a young new collector for high-priced cards, I do have a vested interest in what you are all saying, because though I enjoy collecting, I would like to have some value to trade in decades to come!

[barrysloate]

It's pretty hard to look fifty years down the road, and there is a real concern that the hobby is getting smaller. And you are correct that most young kids today don't collect baseball cards. That aside, I think as kids grow into adults they often find pleasure in collecting things. I think there will always be collectors of baseball cards, but I am less confident the hobby will continue to grow the way it has in recent years. If you like to collect do so, and try not to focus too much on the investment part of it.

[Bicem]

I think cards will always have their place as a piece of American history and thus there will always be demand. To what degree compared to today I have no idea.

Stamp and coin collecting still exists, and I would think kids have much less interest in these things than baseball.

People just like to collect things.

[Matt]

I believe anything post WWII is due for a correction as the generation who saw those players leaves us and takes their market demand with them. There will still be demand as Mantle, Mays and Aaron are classic players, but the market demand will be smaller.

[DixieBaseball]

Are Baseball Cards Destined to Slowly Diminish in Value?

I would answer no (pre-war stuff). As long as folks have disposable income, and there are humans with collecting genes, this hobby will survive. I do believe it is cyclical to some degree, as when times are robust, the hobby has growth spurts, then settles down a bit. Of course the very scarce to rare market for cards to me has never been stronger. (They ain't making anymore of it!)

[Mark]

Let me begin by pointing out that all human things are bound to pass away. Having said that, I don't think that baseball card collecting is necessarily going to fade away soon. As to the sport's popularity, it really depends on where you live. It remains huge in the northeast USA. Where I live, the southwest, baseball is clearly the most popular participatory sport for kids under 12. It's really thriving in places like southern Calf., Nevada, and Arizona. It is true that card collecting is not so popular, but it is bound to remain attractive to substantial numbers of people because, as was said, people like to collect stuff, and because baseball cards are readily collectable.

[vintagecpa]

With pre-WWII cards, the economy helps or hurts their value more than demographics. Nearly every person will have some type of appreciation for a Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth card. I think you already see a softening of the cards in the late 50's and 60's. With many of those sets, the Mantle and the hi # series are the only cards with any type of demand. I would suspect that 30 years from now, my son would be more inclined to want to own a Cy Young instead of a Sandy Koufax. Much of the demand for the 50's and 60's stars is from the aging baby boomers that grew up watching them. I am curious what the 1952 Topps Mantle will sell for in 30 years when most collectors would have never seen him play.

[CharleyBrown]

I truly believe people will still collect. Heck, if you asked me 3 years ago if I'd start collecting again, I'd say you were crazy... and yet here I am more interested in the hobby than ever.

As a HS teacher, I have found that 95% of my male students are very much into baseball, and all sports in general. I asked them about baseball cards, and a majority said they collected when they were younger. One expressed to me that he would love to one day own a Ted Williams RC.. another mentioned Lou Gehrig...

The interest is out there... its just very different than our generation (I'll be 30 this month) in that baseball card shops and even shows are not as common, and the internet seems to be the major marketplace.

[Cardboard Junkie]

Aloha! I have collected cards since the fifties. My brother since the forties. We both agree that the "hobby" was waaaay more fun when cards were'nt worth a bunch of cash. I remember turning down 500 different t-206's in the late sixties for a dollar a piece.....5 hundred for 5 hundred. I remember being shocked when first hearing of a single card selling for 100 bucks. I remember buying a complete 53 topps set for $30.00. I remember in the late eighties 52 topps high #s for 5 bucks a piece in some dealers books.
This hobby has become more like coins and stamps since grading companies have sprung up. Also in this economy (which I don't think will ever recover) card prices will decline drastically. In a post apocolyptic world all of us would trade our complete collections for food or water or medications or ammuntion, if we needed it.
That being said, I will still continue to collect but "at my back I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying near". I suspect someday soon, perhaps in my lifetime our beautiful cardboard wafers will be valueless. I buy now only rarely. And only if I don't need the $.........meantime I am cashing in on many of my duplicates to "get ready when the fan hits the poop". Food, water, shelter, clothing, meds, and guns and ammo....thats the way to go. PS check out the history of the great "tulip bulb mania" to see what will become of this hobby. Mahalo, Just my thoughts.
(graded cards suck.....raw is the way to go)

[barrysloate]

Cardboard Junkie- interesting that you feel the economy will never recover. While I'm not sure that's true, the same thought has crossed my mind too. America is changing drastically, and we will all need to learn how to cope with these changes. Of course if it is in fact true then I would not put much faith in baseball cards as an investment.

My guess is the economy will get better, but it is still many years away. What we are experiencing now is not ending any time soon.

[bbcard1]

I don't care much. I am collecting for me. The fact that there will be some value to my hobby is a bonus. If I bowled three nights a week or played weekend softball tournaments, there would be no residual value from my hobby.

i don't think I would put $10,000 into cards for a long term investment, but put considerable money into it for the immediate return of owning (at least for a while) something I enjoy.

[fkw]

Same questions have been brought up for last 25 years... yet the values have always gone up.
If someone would have told me 25 years ago that people in the future would be paying 4 figures for a common topps card in MINT condition (PSA registry hype), I would have laughed in their face!! ......these same exact cards sold in the $1 bin in any card show back then.

Some prices are just plain crazy IMO, but collectors collect what they want, and their is alot of extra $$ out there to be spent.

PS 1949 Leaf

[glchen]

I think the prices of modern cards won't hold up even with the chase cards. I think it's going to be function of supply and demand. There are just too many shiny cards out there. Even a Jeter or Pujols rookie, there are thousands upon thousands of those cards. For the chase refractors like the Strasburg phenomenon last year, I think people will realize that those cards really aren't that valuable. I think people will continue to collect, but they will still be drawn into prewar and vintage cards since the supply is so much less than modern. Therefore, I think these older cards will still hold their value. Now, I don't know if they can continue a strong uptrend like before. I think you could have purchased a T206 Green Cobb 10-15 years ago during the dot com boom still considerably less than you can right now with high unemployment. There may still be gradual appreciation, but I don't know if you can still expect exponential growth like before. I also don't know about card condition at the high end. There is so little difference between PSA 8 and 10 (or SGC or whatever), is the price difference really worth it? That I don't know.

[Bicem]

Good points raised by Matt and Mike about the baby boomers and 50's/60's stuff, couldn't agree more. I suspect the appeal of 50/60's stuff is that these collectors also collected these same sets when they were kids. While the appeal of prewar has more to do with early baseball history.

[barrysloate]

Well there is history in 1950's cards too. Aren't Mays, Aaron, and Mantle, among others, part of baseball history? Sure, the 50's and 60's cards got a huge boost from baby boomers, who are now at an age where more will leave the hobby than enter. But a 1952 Topps set, always a classic, is approaching 60 years old and is also a part of history.

Sure, I think E, T, and N cards have a better chance to increase in value than Topps and Bowman, but I find it hard to believe that the better sets from this latter era won't be avidly collected in the future.

[mcadams]

I disagree with Cardboard Junkie that the world is coming to an end. Economic downturns always bring out the "fear factor" in people. Guns and ammo sales always spike during economic downturns. Although you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, its there. Unemployment will once again be below 6%, people will feel foolish for having 5 handguns at their house and 2 years worth of canned soup in the basement, and people will feel "normal again".

[mcap100176]

The Wall Street Journal had an article on youth baseball participation earlier this year:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000..._share_twitter

As someone who has worked in local government for 10 years, I can say without any hesitation more kids are playing soccer. Why? More action, cheaper and the games are shorter. When they kids are getting older and decide what game they like best (and what they are good at), they follow in that direction.

Concerning economy, it will recover. When there was the change from agrarian to industrial society, there was economic issues. We are in the midst of a change from industrial (manufacturing) to service delivery. People need to be retrained and re-educated.

Concerning cards, I see the market as more "collectibles" than cards. Show someone an REA catalog and they will read it cover to cover. It just takes a spark to get them involved.

The internet IS the marketplace. I got back into the hobby 4 years ago (I am 34) and have never been to a show or card store.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Well there is history in 1950's cards too. Aren't Mays, Aaron, and Mantle, among others, part of baseball history? Sure, the 50's and 60's cards got a huge boost from baby boomers, who are now at an age where more will leave the hobby than enter. But a 1952 Topps set, always a classic, is approaching 60 years old and is also a part of history.

Definitely a big part of history Barry, as will be 70's/80's/90's cards too. Just personally think that the new vintage collector entering the hobby 20 years from now and with no personal ties to 50/60's (such as collecting it as a kid or seeing these players play), will naturally gravitate towards the older, more diverse stuff. Maybe for no other reason than the perception that older is usually better when it comes to collectibles.

[joeadcock]

Michael

I appreciate what you say. I am not enthusiastic at all that unemployment will drop below 6%. In fact, I suspect long term it will stick around 9-10%, maybe worse.The healthcare system will no doubt have a huge negative impact on our economy. I know, I work in it all week. However, your positivity certainly at least gives me some hope. In the health care field(I dont know, you may work in it), we are not enthusiastic at all.

On the other hand, agree with Frank. I suspect prewar Baseball will only climb, though perhaps slowly.

[barrysloate]

Jeff- I think there are many post-war sets, such as 1949 Bowman, 1952 Topps, 1953 Bowman, and 1957 to name a few, that will always be widely collected. Will they be as popular as T206? Perhaps not. But they will have their supporters.

[Bicem]

Agreed Barry, there will always be collectors of it. I just think the # of those new collectors may shift a little towards earlier stuff after the baby boomers no longer collect.

[Jcfowler6]

My kids love baseball. I have lived in several states in this great union. I have seen towns that have 14 fields and so many people that want to play they don't have room for it.

I think we will see a steady increase in interest in this hobby. Everything is a mindset. If we say "the economy sucks" then the economy sucks but if we keep positive then things are good. We watch too much of those 24 hours news channels.

I think if the kids aren't playing pick up games then we should encourage them to do it. My kids beg me do take them to the park and play baseball all the time.

This is a hobby that tells a story. That's the part we must always remember. Teach this to everyone that will listen. Heck my wife couldn't tell you who Ty Cobb is but if she knows all about the Merkle Boner cause she liked the story when I told it to her.

The new card hobby isn't the same as what it was in the past. But in ways it is better. We have graded cards, we have blogs, we have ebay, and now some of us have money of our own to by what we want. Find the good things to focus on and not so much the negative.

Just my two cents.

Jon

[tcdyess]

With the possibility of the dollar being outed, maybe the IMF could use cards as the new base currency!! No wait, they would have to be foreign cards...... Ughhhhhhh.......

[hangman62]

Interesting topic... It does make some sense to think 20-30 yrs from now.... the 40-50 yr olds will want the stuff they grew up with/or admired as kids....which then makes sense to say...Why would that collector be into 30s/40s cards.
I know a fairly major dealer who always says...the kid stuff like Pokeyman and Pogs,etc... that junk will be valuable( again) some day..when those kids get to the age of having the extra cash and want to go back and find that stuff that they loved as kids.

The other side of the coin is,...in the present time,why do collectors in their 30s40s collect Goudey cards .when they never knew or admired Cochrane,Dickey,Waner,etc...as kids growing up

[Exhibitman]

I don't want to take an overly bleak view; I mean, 10% unemployment is 90% employment, right? Certain people collect stuff. Like all of us. Baseball remains hugely popular and a part of American cultural history. It will always be a subject of collection. The only question is whether we've seen a peak to the market for cards. I think we've seen a peak for a while with the pre-2008 prices. I think we've seen the short term bottom some time last year. I think it will take years for prices to rebound--but they will go on. It will beat down some collectors who have to get out now but those who can hold long term and who won't need the money have no reason to panic. Personally, I am liquidating my high grade postwar cards and rebuying the same cards in 'collector' grades for a fraction of the price, and finding that I enjoy having them raw in albums far more than slabbed in stacks, and I can get far more cards for tbe buck to enjoy. That's my adjustment to the new normal; don't expect others will agree.

Another reality is that there are several eras of collection that have very little to do with one another. Anything older than WWII is one epoch, the boomer era cards are another--say post WWII to 1973. The 1970s to 1980 are another. The rest is modern. I do not see any real value to post 1980 base sets. You can have them all for the asking for pennies a card.

[rainier2004]

@hangman...Im 34 and I love the 1915 cj and 34 goudey set more gthan any other cards and I started collecting when I was 5 or so. BB cards were a HUGE part of childhood as my father took me to shows and he eventually started collecting.

Now, when I get my 48 bowman mmcoskey or my 1915 cj alexander I feel like a kid again. I open it, have a special place for the new addition, show it to the wife, talk over and over again about it...I feel like a kid again EVEN if I never saw the guy play. Its our history, who we are. Im basically willing to do this b/c most adults havent felt like a kid in a LOOOOOng time and I think thats a shame. I hope my collection stays valuable but at the same time Ive received more value from it than any amount of $$$ could give me. We just need more kids to feel like kids and get them away from all the electronics.

[hangman62]

Ranier,
I see your point, but 30 yrs down the road..your 64..who's to say that the "now 34 yr olds" will be into CJ's and Goudeys, or maybe the statement should be in 30 yrs there will be LESS younger collectors attracted to CJ's and Goudeys

[Cat]

Baseball seems to be becoming more international. I have always thought that in a decade or two that international market will become more likely to participate in collecting items from a century ago. We may be selling our prewar stuff to someone in Korea or Japan.

[E93]

I think the fact that you are 31 and collecting Leafs says that there will always be interest. I know a lot of folks younger than you that are passionate about older cards. I am not too worried.
JimB

[rdwyer]

After cherry picking the shiny stuff, dealers should donate the thousands of unwanted cards to Elementary schools. It's the only way that kids will become interested in BB cards. Otherwise, kids will stay away because of the high prices.

My third graders go nuts when I auction off 100 cards at once at monthly auctions. (Children earn scholar dollars for scholarly traits. They maintain a check register for credits & debits. Things from the DollarTree store, etc are then auctioned off. BB cards are the most popular.)

[mark evans]

With the possible exception of true rarities, I think values will gradually decline over time due to the combined effect of long-term economic conditions and aging baby boomers.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by mark evans

With the possible exception of true rarities, I think values will gradually decline over time due to the combined effect of long-term economic conditions and aging baby boomers.

Even if cards stay the same price, they are sill dropping in value. Since baseball cards carry limited value or interest overseas, their value is strictly based on their relationship in regards to the American dollar.. Basically, if they don't follow suit with inflation, they are becoming less valuable. I'd see the sports that have more of a growing global interest showing more upside investment-wise in the future due to their global value. That said, Soccer cards carry very little value as they currently sit, so I'd see Boxing cards/collectibles having the most to gain in a volatile economy. Possibly even Hockey or Basketball, since those are the sports in which foreign countries are showing the biggest increase in interest in regards to the American professionalized leagues and their history.

[grundle20]

rdwyer, what a great idea about the schools. Absolutely brilliant. There are so many worthless cards out there, but kindergarden kids aren't concerned with value. They'd just be interested in the novelty. I wonder how you'd go about making that a reality.

[rdwyer]

grundle20:

Very easy. Contact any Elementary school and ask if they want them. Most Principals will use them to either bribe or reward students. Spread them around to as many schools as possible. Some schools will use them in school fundraising. So you would be helping not only the school, but also the students.

[mcap100176]

Joe - sorry for the delayed reply.

No I am not in healthcare. But healthcare and education are two major economic drivers. Both are still growth fields and until they collapse, the economy will be fine. Believe me when I say this...don't be concerned with unemployment, be concerned with the country's infrastructure. You won't believe how bad the sewer and water systems are.

To get back on topic...the hobby will ebb and flow. When I came back, I was HOF rookie cards. Now I am more into what I think is "cool or interesting" and sold off the HOFers. If the 48 Leaf set is interesting to someone, then they go after it. There is something for everyone.

[tedzan]

Let's go back to 1982 and for example I'll talk about the 1949 Leaf BB cards that you collect. I was acquiring this set's scarce 2nd series
commons for $25 (Ex cards) to complete my 98-card set. Nowadays these same SP Leafs go for $500 each.

I really lucked out at a BB card show in NJ by acquiring the Leaf Satchell Paige for a cash/trade deal equalling $200. Nowadays the same
Leaf Paige goes for $10,000+.

The U.S. economy in the early 1980's, when you were born, was suffering. High unemployment and high Interest rates. Most people were
stashing their cash into Savings accounts and getting up to a 20% return. Not many were "investing" in collectibles in the early 1980's.

By the end of that decade, the hobby was doing great, as unemployment dropped and Interest rates were down around 7%.

Baseball card values levelled off from 1990 to 1998. Then, started going up again in the late 1990's to their current values. Currently, low
Interest rates have offset the failing economy and card values are certainly looking good. However, the Sub-prime Home Mortgage problem
is not going away; and, may actually get worse. This factor may affect card values in the future.

Finally, I don't see as many kids getting into BB card collecting as did in the 1980's and 1990's. Therefore, this hobby's growth is diminishing.
There are quite a few factors causing this....but, that's a story for another time.


P.S.......Sorry, I corrected you regarding the year of the Leaf cards. I collected them as a kid; and, trust me they were issued in the Spring
and Summer of 1949. I wrote an article on this set in the OLD CARDBOARD Magazine (Issue #9). You'll find it very interesting and it explains
why these cards are a 1949-only issue.


TED Z

[bosoxphan]

i think about football in relation to baseball. Football is clearly the most popular sport in America and its really not even that close. Wonder if classic football cards will eventually gain in popularity quicker than baseball cards going forward.

[mcadams]

Funny to hear everyone state their ages. I too am 34 and I don't collect much of anything from the 50's, for many of the reasons already discussed here. I collect Aaron because my parents were at the game at the old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium when he broke the HR record, so we have sort of a family connection with Aaron and the Braves in general. But other than Aaron, I don't touch 50's stuff because I never saw any of the guys play, and more importantly I don't have ANY attachment or sentimental view toward that era.

I do feel an attachment to most all N series cards because I view them more as historical pieces and also as artwork. I recognize that our country invented the game of baseball and THOSE were the guys who were there as the game was first created. That kind of historical appeal, I agree, will never go away.

[theseeker]

In this global economy, America's middle-class will continue to be squeezed. As the standard of living in this country heads downward, the very American hobby of Baseball card collecting will almost certainly follow the same path. In American, the lower economic classes never have participated in the hobby for obvious monetary reasons. With many more projected to join their ranks in the future the hobby will largely dwindle down to affluent history buffs.

[bbcard1]

Originally Posted by bosoxphan

i think about football in relation to baseball. Football is clearly the most popular sport in America and its really not even that close. Wonder if classic football cards will eventually gain in popularity quicker than baseball cards going forward.

I sincerely doubt it. Football is very much an event driven thing. Most fans don't care if it's Leroy Kelly or Thurman Thomas or Ahmad Bradshaw tottin the rock...it's just the result that matters.

History in football is not nearly as appreciated. Most guys you'll find at your average NFL game have no idea who Pete Pihos or Tommy McDonald were. And there's a good reason for that.

It is absurd to compare the eras. A decent DIII team could probably play with most NFL squads of the 30s. As late as the 1960s, players as a whole were either far smaller or far slower than the modern player. It's not to say they didn't have great accomplishments...they did...or that the best then wouldn't be the best now...I think Jim Brown may well be the greatest American athlete...but we're talking about a mean.

Football players have short careers as a rule which keeps them from building a strong fan base over more than a decade.

They don't look on the field like they look on the street. They have a helmet on.

These are just a few of the reasons...I think football card collecting, for the most part, will be a lot like penny collecting. It's a great hobby but not necessarily a great investment.

[Delray Vintage]

i do collect and consider what I buy to be investments. I only buy Cards that are timeless and will be known 100 years from now. That means Pre 1900 and pre war. I think Cobb, Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, Wagner will be enduring figures always popular with adult collectors. While kids today are not huge fans I think baseball will remain part of Americana and will be collectible. I am assuming they will keep up with inflation plus some upside depending on the economy.

Adult rich folks will want that high grade Cobb regardless of their affection for modern baseball. i no longer watch games anymore but love the history of the game and collect from the era I never was part of seeing personally.

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Let's go back to 1982 and for example I'll talk about the 1949 Leaf BB cards that you collect. I was acquiring this set's scarce 2nd series
commons for $25 (Ex cards) to complete my 98-card set. Nowadays these same SP Leafs go for $500 each.


TED Z

I took a quick look at the stock market during the same time frame. From mid-1982 to mid-2011, the Dow and NASDAQ went up 15-fold and 16-fold. Not much different than those 1949 Leafs which went up 20-fold.

That being said, the 1949 Leafs were still better and even if they were the same, I bet owning the cards were more fun.

[JLange]

...to our nation since 1980! Roughly 33% more people. Even a diminished interest in baseball / collecting cards in 50 years could potentially equate to a much larger market than today.

[Jcfowler6]

I agree Jason.

[vargha]

What about tulips? Does anyone foresee the market coming back for them?

[jrog007]

Tulips don't have Cobb, Ruth, Williams, Mantle, etc. If tulips were in the shape of those that had accomplished great things and had been the idol of thousands they might make a comeback. I don't believe that sports collectibles are invincible and not susceptible to economic decline that plagues every market from time to time, but as long as sports are an important part of the American psyche, it is hard to imagine a total collapse of the market. However, if there was a total collpase of the market, wouldn't it be awesome to be able to get all of those items that are completely out of range for a relative bargain.

[Collect Equity]

Here's my two (or maybe three) cents:

-I think that vintage pre-war will maintain value for a long-time to come. After all, it seems like a large percentage of us responding (myself included) are in our early 30s. We will continue to buy cards for at least 30 years to come. Plus, as we get older and our kids move out, we should have more disposable income. So I think vintage cards are safe to at least keep pace with inflation for 30+ years.

-I believe that currently produced limited numbered cards of key sets will be worth good money in the future. This is because all of us are watching these people play and there's something exciting about owning a rookie card of a player you've seen play. (specifically the Pujols rookies could continue to climb to crazy prices)

[parenthetical side note: are there more '52 Topps Mantles out there or Pujols Bowman Chrome cards (print run of 500)? I'd rather own a Pujols rookie in a heart beat because I never saw Mantle play and have seen Pujols (plus I am a Red Sox fan and wouldn't spend money on anything Yankees)

-I think cards from the 60s and 70s will stay stagnant or go down in price. Our generation never saw those guys play. We will either gravitate to the pre-war *old and rare is cool) or the modern, but why do I care about cards from the 1960s?

-I believe that the oddball and rare vintage cards will continue to rise the most. The internet makes it easy to research the esoteric and oddball cards that in the past were overlooked.

-I think the international market will also help. The World Baseball Classic should help to drive interest in international markets.

-I think soccer cards will actually rise in price, specifically cards of Pele from the 1950s. Globally soccer is the most popular sport and cards (or stickers from Panini) are part of this allure. Some day some American whiz kid will do for soccer cards what Tiger Woods did for golf cards (who woulda' thought that mid-80s Golf cards would be worth anything? Or an SI for Kids card?)

-In a nutshell, if you are investing you should be selective to only rare (true for both vintage and modern) and aim for a 7 year investment or less. If you are collecting then buy what you enjoy and know you will get more from your hobby some day than if your hobby was owning horses.

[mintacular]

You lost me when you tried to argue that a limited Pujols rc would be worth more than a '52 Mantle in the future...plus a bunch of other stuff you said. It's important not to project your personal preferences to the market as a whole

[yawie99]

As much as I hate to say it, I'm bearish on the hobby over the long haul. The game itself is still popular with kids, but baseball cards have almost no hold on the imagination or interest of today's children. I suppose there's hope that Pokemon and other gaming cards or even fads like Silly Bandz might prime kids for later collecting behavior, but I see little future nostalgic attachment to baseball cards. There will always be a market, of course, but I doubt that natural population growth will offset the dwindling percentage of young people that collect.

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by Jcfowler6

My kids love baseball. I have lived in several states in this great union. I have seen towns that have 14 fields and so many people that want to play they don't have room for it.

I think we will see a steady increase in interest in this hobby. Everything is a mindset. If we say "the economy sucks" then the economy sucks but if we keep positive then things are good. We watch too much of those 24 hours news channels.

I think if the kids aren't playing pick up games then we should encourage them to do it. My kids beg me do take them to the park and play baseball all the time.

This is a hobby that tells a story. That's the part we must always remember. Teach this to everyone that will listen. Heck my wife couldn't tell you who Ty Cobb is but if she knows all about the Merkle Boner cause she liked the story when I told it to her.

The new card hobby isn't the same as what it was in the past. But in ways it is better. We have graded cards, we have blogs, we have ebay, and now some of us have money of our own to by what we want. Find the good things to focus on and not so much the negative.

Just my two cents.

Jon

Great Post!!!!