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T206CollectorI started putting all my pennies into cards when I was a teen back in the 1980's. Even if the baseball card market has always been poor for 1987 Topps cards, I still believe that this was money well spent compared with my friends who bought twinkies and candy and toys and other crap 13 year olds buy. I still have the cards and they are still worth at least something, if nowhere near what I paid for them.
I apply the same logic to my "investment" in vintage cards today. My excess cash flow would get spent on more expensive dinners, travel and other leisure activities. By putting some of that cash into cards as a leisure activity, at least it holds some value, if not appreciation over the years. That $500 I put down on my first two T206 cards back in 1997 is worth more than $500 on two scales: first, the cards have gone up in value; and second, I would otherwise have nothing left to show today for the $500 that was in my pocket 7 years ago.