[FrankWakefield]

Not at all...

A rare book in the hands of a book collector is known and appreciated. Once it falls into the hands of someone who cares not about books, then it could end up in a box in an attic, a yard sale, a garage... it ends up water damaged, then discarded.

Something is more likely to survive if it stays in the hands of someone who appreciates it.

Now as for 'us' being able to obtain it... we buy most of our cards from other collectors or dealers. We buy cards from someone who has more than just one card for sale. Those single Shag cards of the 20s and 30s and 40s were less likely to make it to the hands of today's collectors than a Shag card that was in a collection.

I took my wife and kids to see The Blind Side. I thought about getting a Michael Oher card for each of my daughters, to put in their Christmas stocking. But I didn't. They'd have looked at it, figured it was the guy from the movie, thought 'cool', then it would go upstairs into their rooms, and lost. It may well have been used as a coaster up there... Cards that go into the hands of a collector are collected, held, appreciated, and more likely to survive, than the cards that go into the hands of a non-collector.