[Exhibitman]

Certain other markets may be sucking the wind out of cards. The stock market keeps hitting record highs, so no one is realizing their gains and putting their winnings into cards. Residential real estate in certain areas is also way up. The median house price in Los Angeles os $900,000, which is a crazy high record. No one there is having a windfall selling because mortgage rates are so high to replace a sold home--inventory is way down, and the 'treats' that sellers might buy are not getting bought. Commercial real estate (offices) is a cash flow investment (primarily) but is in the toilet, so the cash flow from those investments is gone and that may also be exerting a downdraft on higher end cards. I know of quite a few big time card buyers whose primary livings are in that sector and they aren't buying. Then, of course, there is the perception of value question. A collector with a highly appreciated collection doesn't see a card that he paid $1800 for as a $10,000 card, even if it down from $16,000 a year ago. I know i fall into that mindset and simply cannot bring myself to buy high-demand cards that are 4x or more above where they were several years ago. I know I've stopped seriously shopping for those cards and have instead been focusing on cards that are objectively rare instead. My last 2 big pick-ups have all been of that nature: a signed Joe Louis Exhibit card and a signed 1972 STP Richard Petty card.

It doesn't take a lot to crush the market even for Cobb or Ruth when the pool of collectors able to afford big cards is a relatively small number of people to begin with.