Rising Tide Lifts All Boats, But . . .

[T206Collector]

I have a couple of general thoughts on this.

The maturing of the Internet and proliferation of on-line auction houses has dramatically influenced how people collect - not just what, but how they enter the hobby, and what interests them from day to day.

Mantle and Cobb, for some reason, have taken off at a rate I haven't really seen in quite awhile. I sold mine for what I thought were ridiculous prices only to look back just a few months and start to feel like I should've waited a bit longer. People who recognized the value in Mantle's 51B card only a few months ago are now seeing even crazier prices today.

Common T206s in 5 and below have stayed at about the same level for the past 10 years or so, with some exceptions - collectors are also waking up collectively to the relative scarcities of certain commons in the set (e.g., Bull Durham).

The takeaways for me are not that different than usual - Cobb and Mantle and Ruth always sell and always seem to appreciate in stages.

Where I get scared is when I shell out $5K+ for a common T206 card signed by the player, a practice I've engaged in way too frequently of late. In that niche area of the market there are only three or four people engaged, and we all know each other. If I go to sell, I'm removing 25%+ of the buying market. If one or two of the other guys stop being interested there will be a massive softening. I like to remind myself that I collect for the beauty and passion without regard to price. But, if I ever need to sell, I really don't have any particular expectation that I'm going to get money back on these!