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Old 07-07-2008, 07:45 AM
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Default Who Are The Hobby's Most Influential New Collectors

Posted By: Preece1

I am probably in the minority here, but I do believe that Bruce's questions are some the most thought-provoking ones on the board. I also agree that the majority of his questions could be written in a less combative manner. But, in person, the persona that rubs so many of this board's members the wrong way vanishes and you are left with an individual that does have a lot of hobby information to give.

As to his question - Since it only takes two bidders to influence the price of a card, I agree that the entrance and exit of wealthy collectors (or as some here would say, investors) does have a large impact on card values. From my point of view, there has not been a change in the "players" for expensive 19th century cards, depending on the specific card. For example, California League Old Judge cards will bring three specific bidders once the card hits $50,000. All three are well known board members. There are five bidders that will be tend to be involved in Four Base Hits hofers as you approach six figures. The list can go on and on for many specific cards. I believe this will be the case for some time in the 19th century area because with most of the specific cases, there are only 1-3 cards of each player in existence and the chances of getting the card again in the near future is limited at best. Does this mean this total group of 10 collectors has a great deal of influence on the prices of a 20-30 19th century cards, absolutely. Does this mean that they influence the 19th century collecting as a whole, no. I think where Bruce places to much importance is on the 20-30 cards that will be significantly impacted by wealthy individuals entering the hobby. This same examples can be done for 20th century cards (1914 Ruth, E107 Matty, E107, Wager, T210 Jackson, etc.)

To me, when mentioning the word "impact", it is too often solely refering to "price impact", and not true hobby impact. The Jay Miller's of this hobby with their Old Judge project, the Ted Z's of this hobby with their T206 contributions, the "M104/105" article in the most recent Old Cardboard, is where I believe the true hobby impacts are made.

But, this hobby should be strong enough for someone like Bruce (who granted likes to push people's buttons) to ask a question without personal attacks. If you don't like the question, let it go, there are other articles to read.

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