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Originally Posted by mferronibc
Wanted to get some seasoned collector's opinions on this - more just for conversation fodder as I know no one can predict the future and many factors are at play here (economy, next generation's interest in baseball/collectibles). What do you think the long-term (25-50 years) future is for vintage baseball cards.
Alot of people speculate that someone like me is part of the current up-tick bubble - 40 year old man who collected junk cards as a kid now with more financial stability getting back into a hobby for childhood nostalgia and small time side investment for next generation. However, I think I'm a little unique in that I grew up with Jose Canseco, Will Clark and Ken Griffey but now that I am back into collecting enjoy chasing low-mid grade cards of HOFers like Aaron, Mays and Clemente who I never saw play and honestly my dad was a bit of a Mantle fan but not exactly the type to talk at length about baseball greats.
I love the history of the game and art of vintage cards and hoping to instill this in my kids. But if the majority of vintage collectors currently are more in baby boomer range does that mean 25+ years from now there will be little base support collecting vintage cards at all? Is there any sense younger collectors are gravitating more to vintage or still chasing blue and purple refractor auto cards (or more likely not interested in cards at all as dealers not kids really drive that market). Will cards in general go the way of stamps and coins or is there something unique about cards that will there always be strong given their robust history? Will there be a resurgence of interest in tangible, historic collections as the digital age progresses or will the more millennial attitude prevail that there is nothing inherently valuable about a piece of cardboard as it has no practical utility? Will a box of PSA 8 Aarons some day sit next to a box of Hummels at a flea market for $5 apiece? Instead of stores that start "that $500 card used to be in the spokes of my bicycle" will we tell stories that start "that $2 card used to be in my safety deposit box encased in plastic?"
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Great thread and a topic I think about a lot. I'm in a similar boat to you - 35 years old. Grew a love for vintage as a kid. Collect as a hobby, but enjoy the inherent analysis / investment aspects of collecting. Never saw Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente play but took connection to Topps from childhood and integrated that with history of the game and connection to the 1950s-1960s sets. That continued to branch out into oddball and some prewar, etc. I don't think that is unique. A lot of older collectors on Net54, but I think many of the people chasing low-mid grade vintage and prewar cards today are GenX and even older millennials (born in the 1981-1985 time frame) that were part the baseball card craze of the early 90s. Have a lot of the same feelings on the topic as you do though in terms of long-term and more recently have noticed my collection goals changing. Started buying some rare stuff from the '80s '90s and have felt much more of a connection to it. You've already started to see it in high end graded cards (PWCC) and especially in '90s basketball, but I think that could broaden into a much larger market over time. Some of the unique insert sets, Tiffany, parallels, true chase cards, etc. Baseball should thrive just because of the connection to our generations' childhood collecting, even if popularity of the sport continues to wane a bit.
