This is a great discussion...and I think about it a lot recently.
I think that the question as to whether to buy now probably depends on what you are buying.
If you are in the market for a blue chip card (as mentioned above....Cobb, Ruth, Mantle) I'd think you're safe to purchase now if you are looking for longer term ownership. Even though they have spiked considerably, and even if the prices level or even dip a little, I have little doubt they will continue to climb in price/value, slow and steady. You may not be able to flip it right now for a profit, but you'll be OK long term. I think the new collectors that are coming in to the hobby now will ensure that.
The one area I would hesitate to buy now, would be highly graded PSA slabbed cards. Even more so with modern cards. While you could still probably be OK with those blue chip cards, I feel like the premium paid for PSA slabs is increasingly artificially high. As I research mid grade vintage hall of famers, I feel like you can save HUNDREDS of dollars by buying identically conditioned cards in SGC holders instead of PSA. Part of that might be because of modern collectors coming in to vintage. As far as I can tell in modern, it is all about the PSA 10 Gem Mint card. Those are the gold standard. So even though modern collectors might be surprised to find out that PSA 10 cards are almost non-existent in vintage, that PSA label likely still looks more appealing to them. In my opinion, nice condition cards in SGC slabs are likely a good buy right now...as I would guess collectors will someday figure out that the card in the holder is what's important, not the slab. I'm sure there are people right now exploiting this by buying nice SGC cards and making a profit by reslabbing them in PSA holders...even after the grading fee.
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