State Of The Hobby

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by swabie2424

Fun thread. The age old question!

Lots of excellent points made so I won't rehash.

Allow me to say I totally agree about technology aiding in the success of the market these past 10-20 years. It's just quite simply way easier to buy and sell. My collecting life changed with the ebay app... not having to run back to a computer X number of times per day. Alerts, bid sniping, message boards etc etc. Basically the world is your card store/show and opportunity abounds to build a collection or invest in any way a person desires! Also, in the internet age, with ease of access to quick/solid research, there's just such an awareness of value to possessions for the average non-moron. What once may have been tossed in the trash or thrown into a yard sale bin for a quarter is now posted on an auction site for market value.

To add a new angle, and focus in on the vintage... I've been wondering at what point grading populations are going to begin to completely plateau on pre-war and then subsequently on the pre-70's post-war star player markets. Obviously there's a ways to go but at some point in the coming decades I have to imagine the vast, vast majority of the truly grade-worthy cards will have been slabbed (assuming the grading phenomenon doesn't implode/explode!) At some point, the days of finding major vintage collections in attics, in barns and at yard sales... or that co-worker staggering into work with his deceased dad's ungraded vintage collection... will come to end (with the rarest of exceptions becoming like unicorns.)

When those star player pop reports truly grind to a halt, and there are basically no more 1950's Mantles left to grade if you will... it's going to be very interesting to see what happens to the market.

Grading will never end, thank God. Cracked slabs will be weaponized and constitute an essential element of national security. The most popular bumper sticker of 2026 will read

CRACK IT FOR UNCLE SAM