[Runscott]

Originally Posted by sirraffles

Thank you for all the input and thanks, Leon, for starting the thread. A few of the things I've read have really astonished me!

As I'm prone to tell anyone that talks to me for more than five minutes, I think that I have the best job in the world. Every day feels like I am eleven years old again, waking up on a late June morning, grabbing my mitt and badgering the first kid walking by my door to play a little catch. I'm pretty sure that even if 0% of the people liked the cards I make, I would still make them. It is very addictive and satisfying to be building a body of modest work. I've made many great friends through this experience and hope, over time, to make more.

I would find it hard to believe that what I do detracts from the hobby in any way. If anything, I believe that it brings a little vibrancy, a little fresh air to our collecting. Just because I make an art card of Eddie Grant, for example, the value or importance of other collections are not threatened or degraded. This is not a zero sum game; when I make a new card it does not mean that other cards are somehow less desirable. That is my opinion, at least.

A question has occurred to me a few times over the past couple of years: if there was some fellow, like me, who had been making cards like this back in the 1940's, for example, what would modern collectors think of them? I tend to think that they would be valued, perhaps quite highly. Well, the only difference between me and that hypothetical 1940's creator is a few decades. While I may be able to artificially age my creations, I can't make them genuinely old. Nature, however, will eventually take care of even that.

At the beginning of this post I mentioned that I was genuinely astonished at some of the comments. What surprised me was the idea that some of my cards should be more mass produced! My impression for the last twenty-five years is that they make too much of everything! Indeed, my idea of making just four cards a year and very publicly auctioning them (while spacing them out, at that) was my attempt at finding a reliable antidote to the problem that people could count on. In any event, I can't imagine doing much in the way of increased production. Certainly, in fact, for any series that I've made thus far. I think that it would disappoint the winning bidders of the "originals".

Thanks again for all your considered opinions, Charles from Helmar Brewing

Charles, it's the nature of the internet to bash everything that you don't personally collect. If you read some of the other threads, you'll find that E97 collectors bash T206 collectors, pre-war memorabilia collectors bash modern game-used collectors, everyone bashes the Cowboys and the Yankees, old established members bash newbies, etc., etc..

Thanks for the explanation - makes perfect sense to keep putting them out slowly, and the baseball artwork is probably the best I've seen anywhere. Still, not paying those prices.