Posted By:
Bob CBruce,
What you are proposing is introducing an entirely new facet to our hobby. Your concept of forming a hedge fund to “manage” sports collectibles is both non-traditional in its own venue, and viewed as an intrusion by collector’s and hobbyists who enjoy sports collecting for its own rewards.
As an investor, I am skeptical. Most of my colleagues and family see the hobby as a child’s errand and a questionable use of my time and energy. Further, since hedge funds engage in opportunistic investing strategies, would this fund “short” the “market” as well? Although the internet, EBay in particular, has leveled the playing field, the hobby is irregular and inefficient for many reasons. I have a lot of other thoughts that I won’t go into here, but serious investor’s will need to be seriously convinced this is real, and you know what I mean.
As a collector, I cringe at the thought of launching significant new dollars to pursue scarcer and scarcer supply. I have been chasing four (4) Ramly commons to complete my set for nearly two years now and I don’t even want to talk about graded T3’s. As a collector and hobbyist I abhor your idea and you know what I mean.
Manhattan as a scene is red herring, who cares. If you think your average couple at The Four Seasons is going to pay $250 a throw to preview a sports collectibles auction, well I want some of what you have been smoking, just ask my wife.
My two cents, no smiley faces.