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LetsGoBucsFinally, the "through the roof prices" that certain HOF cards realize can often be traced to the three whales
and a dozen other specialized collectors. As long as this "special population" of $1 million a year
spenders remains in the 10-25 person range, prices will remain very strong. If two-five whales and baby whales lose interest the way Copeland and others have then you may witness a very different scenario.
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We've had this thread in similar forms many times. I think this statement above shows why there is more "risk" with high grade baseball cards. I agree that as long as there are the 10-20 individuals putting seven figures into cards every year that there will be appreciation in card prices for the "best".
But if you compare those 10-20 to art collectors, or stamp collectors, or coin collectors then suddenly there is a different perspective. The main question to ask is....Will there be more or less seven figure collectors in the future? Personally I think there will be less. I can remember in the early 90's where basically there were no buyers of most material over $5000. I also remember the flight of investors from Stamps in the late 1970's/early 80's and I believe we will see the same thing in baseball cards.
My own opinion is that the best investment is a combination of true rarity combined with popularity (ie HOF), and that condition is third on that list. But the nice thing about this debate is that time will tell 