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Posted By: pat

the major advances in the hobby is tpg and ebay naturally. the internet opened up the doors for everyone who was less knowledgable to catch up with the rest. the sharing of information is easier. the internet and ebay renders brick and mortar stores and shows virtually obsolete. i think just a few very large shows per year are really successful. then you can throw in the major auction houses. they have an impact as well. more people know them and are confortable bidding. but they have recently become disenfranchised (sp?) with the % commission bumps. looks very greedy. in addition, when auction houses list sets both ways as complete sets and individual cards, and then selling to whichever is highest. that makes them look so bad to me. also (within ebay) as more and more people learn the sniping aspects on ebay it generate higher prices for the sellers. buyers no longer have to sit and watch each auction. vcp actually has an impact as well. as more and more people join that service, the end prices are less likely to be all over the board. there should be more consistancy. my concern with the latter though is if they get greedy. $9.95 per month is plenty fair all around. at that price they will have life long loyal customers. with all the shared information, it becomes easier to catch scammers as well. that is a great thing. twenty years ago, very few people knew the difference of a counterfeit mantle rc or a real one. i cant really comment on modern as i am not familiar with it. i think vintage will be stong for a long time to come. i also think sites such as this are a great tool. there is an incredible amount of knowledge on here. of course all this is just my opinion.
pat