From reading these threads, it appears to me that there are 3 categories most baseball collectors fall into: 1) those who strictly "collect" to make money, 2) those who collect solely for the sake of loving cards, and 3) those who collect because they love cards but will also sell a few off if the prices are right.
I'm a category 2. Once a card is in my collection it will never leave as long as I have a say in the matter. Do I care what the cards are worth? A little, but if they were valued at zero I would still purchase cards for the sake of collecting. With that mindset, to me the values are secondary. I spend money on cards as if I were going to Vegas to play the slots. First, I only spend "extra" money. Second, if I spend $500 - $1000 and lose... it hurts but oh well! It's not like that was my retirement investments. Besides, the market will never drop to the point where you'll see T206 Cobbs going for $5.00. So unlike the slots in Vegas, your chances of going broke on cards is 0%. You will always be able to get something back for them
Also, as long as the miracle stories keep hitting the media like granny finding a card in her attic and trying to sell on Ebay for $10 when it's worth $50k or a 206 Wagner is bought at an estate sale for $1.00 then sold for $500k, I think the public will still be interested in baseball cards.
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