The Future of Type I Photos

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

But here is what I am wondering. Of course, rarity/scarcity has been a big deal for a long time. But the top players always draw much value even when dozens, hundreds, even thousands of a particular card or issue exist. Yet, in many cases, Type I photos can be one of a kind or at least very few of a kind, with little chance that more will surface. PSA authenticates and presents them nicely in jumbo holders and the images are usually great--and in large size, and god bless them, usually without "centering" issues. Sometimes they were taken by the most famous baseball photogs. Anyway: As much as many of these have surged in value, shouldn't they actually go much higher in the future--due to the scarcity thing? Or even comparing similar images and size: Just for example, why should a Ruth Butterfinger or Ruth Quaker Oats, of which there are at least dozens, be worth more than a nice, similar, but nothing special Type I Ruth which might be one or three of a kind? Or pick your own examples of photo vs. card. Why should a Gehrig Goudey, almost too numerous to count, be worth more than a Type I Gehrig with a unique or nearly unique large image? Well, you get the idea.

Cards will always be the proverbial 800 pound gorilla of the hobby, with autographs second, then memorabilia including photos. It's exactly the uniformity of cards and autographs that lends itself to pop reports, price guides, etc., and places them alongside the big boys of collecting, stamps and coins. Photos are too individual to lend themselves to that kind of cataloguing, but, like everything else in the hobby, photos--and especially great ones--have been on a tear in the last few years, so it's not like they're falling between the cracks. I suspect that collecting top photos now, like other premium examples of memorabilia, will prove to be a smart investment down the road, perhaps even more so than cards or autographs. I don't know why that wouldn't be the case. I was floored today when I got the Heritage mailer with their WaJo uni on the cover with an auction estimate of 3M+. I was in Boston in 2006 when Sothebys/SCP ran that same uni in a very prestigious live auction, and if memory serves correctly, it went for somewhere around 150K. What happened to make it now worth more than 20 times that much? I don't know, although I really can't see it doing anything like 3M today. Just my opinion, though, and what the heck do I know.