[todeen]

Originally Posted by hcv123

I am the first in line for a good conspiracy theory. That said I find it hard to wrap y head around the idea that the supposed manipulation you speak of is stretching as far and wide as the market shift appears to be...

I don't think there's any conspiracy about it. MattyC's post had more to do with factors, avenues of investing, and who the supposed "gurus" are. I do agree with the rest of your post about supply and demand. I would even go so far as to say that there could be 5000 PSA 10 Fleer Jordan RCs, and it's price would still be going bonkers due to his image and popularity.

MattyC's post reminded me of the supposed JFK Sr quote, "When I was getting stock advice from the shoe shine boy I decided it was time to sell." MattyC, IMO was spot on discussing factors. The avenues of investing in sports cards has grown significantly due to social media, youtube, and population reports (which are highly inaccurate and misleading). This has led to an influx of new investors in our hobby who are inexperienced, and an influx of snake oil salesmen. Savvy new collectors will learn for themselves. But there are many blind investors who are willing to forego common sense and stick with the self proclaimed "prophets." All of the workers at Enron knew better than to narrow their stock portfolios by investing only in company stock, but they did it anyway. And they got burned by "those in authority."