Posted By:
Frank WakefieldPreece... I don't agree with your rationale.
A few financially well off folks who bid up the value of an extremely rare card have no effect on me. Nor do they affect most of us hobbyists. Most of us will never own a T206 Wagner. And while we contemplate such ownership, fantasize about owning one, watch the Wagner auctions, and enjoy the posts about the Wagner cards; that doesn't affect us because we won't ever own one. Most of us here won't ever own a T231 Fan card. So the next time one sells, we'll all be interested in it, but it doesn't afftct us at all. It won't influence our collecting.
I think the accurate answer to Bruce's question would be that there are no new collectors who have any appreciable influence on the hobby.