1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Sells for $2.88 Million

[steve B]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Oh yes, brother— whenever I see one of those internet posts about "prices going down," I just smash the old panic button, as the fear of losing imaginary money I have no intention of realizing completely overrides my love of collecting beautiful baseball cards

Joshing aside, do any of us collectors care about what the day-to-day, completely hypothetical valuation is of cards currently held in our collections— which are not being presently sold? It is just so utterly moot— no practical significance whatsoever.

It's not like we are cruising happily through life, see some random card or cards sell for whatever price, and then suddenly decide based on that to part ways with cards we have scoured the earth for and so carefully selected. So I fail to see the utility in making pricing generalizations— especially since the generalizations themselves are specious, because a unique card could come along and set a record. And that in itself would of course not signify an upward trend.

Bottom line, I think we collectors collect until we die or are forced by vicissitudes of fortune to sell. And if I'm facing skid row at some point years from now and have to part with my cards, I certainly am not going to shake my fists at the sky because I didn't sell at some prior "high" point, years before, when I was happily cruising along collecting.

In general, I'd hazard the opinion that if collectors online spent more time simply showing cards and explaining why they love them, instead of either prognosticating financial Armageddon or acting as if certain cards are in a competition with each other, it would be great. When I first got back into the hobby after college, all I knew was Post War classics. Thanks to enthusiastic collectors, I came to learn about so many more cards— from PreWar to Modern— that I now happily collect. All the collector-generated written content that contributed to that education was purely positive and so useful.

As a very long time generalist collector It's so wonderful to see another collector who really "gets it"

I used to track pricing somewhat, but yes, it was really pointless unless I wanted to sell something. I explained to a friend that the hunting stuff was the game, and the "value" was just a way of keeping score.
Then I was away from mainstream hobbies for a few years, and into a niche of a niche hobby. No price guides, no solid idea of what was out there to be found, so not even a "set" to complete. And very little information to be found anywhere.
And I pretty much loved it! It was sort of pioneering, and required that I give up a few things - I no longer believe in "completeness" a fable my friends foisted on me when they asked if I'd completed any sets then said I must not be much of a collector if I hadn't. I also had to give up on using money as a way to keep score. Everything I found was either way out of my league pricewise, or so cheap I almost felt bad about it. Almost, usually I was the only bidder or the high bidder when my max was way over the final price. I eventually came to realize that being nearly the only person that appreciated something wasn't bad at all.

Now I've changed to coolness to keep score - much simpler, as I got to define that! So a flea market find isn't "look at the deal I got!" but "look at the really cool thing I found" It helps that there's loads of things that are both really cool, and not expensive.



And for others - if you really want to know about the money, lest just say of you've got mainstream tastes, buy nice stuff you really like and have it for long enough the money takes care of itself. Plus you've had all that enjoyment.