How did this all start?

[glynparson]

As is often the case I believe Peter gave us the correct answer.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by glynparson

As is often the case I believe Peter gave us the correct answer.

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"X gets the square" ah too old for that reference amongst the stubbbe-beards.

Speaking of which, there IS an astute ebayed aptly named OLDstubblebeard!

Vegas Dave, yes he was one accused of "boosting (feel better about that word) prices" for his own portfolio.


The same thing happened in the late 80s and 90s right around when the first "booster"...!aka MR mint made is 52 topps find. People were digging in attics, grandmas going hog wild on qvc (thanks for cheating her Ken Goldin) kids busting packs and immediately selling singles back to the "Comic Book Guy" to buy more packs.


Now enter Sports Images a company based in Mass which would do these types of breaks on a major scale, with one sweet change. They would break hundreds of cases of products, take out any rookie or star, then repack and sell commons through distributors like toy stores or Kmart. Then the rookies and stars could be purchased via 100ct lots directly from them! It was done on a massive scale.


Boom...then bust. Just a few years later, nobody was interested anymore. The hype had faded. Card companies had significantly more offerings, and values languished for a long period of time. I'd say for at 10 to 15 years. Collections aka "retirement accounts for kids" can be pick up by thr u-haul load for a thousand bucks. Collection like these all wane around 1993/94, with yard sale pickers hoping to find a base Jeter rc. Many of those collectors never returned due to being burned or simply got a sour taste in their mouths.

Thr hype started after 86f basketball, which actually WOULD have allowed kids to retire now, if they had bought an unopened case or two!

By my posts, it may seem I am jaded, but I love the hobby, just hate the "fair weather fans". Being a patriots, bruins, and red Sox fan in the late 80s, I can spot them pretty well



So although history may not repeat itself, it certainly does rhyme.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

'

"X gets the square" ah too old for that reference amongst the stubbbe-beards.

You guys are cracking me up with the stubble/beard shaming. I don't even own a razor. I've probably been clean-shaven for maybe 10 days of my entire life. Never trust a man in a suit. Especially if he's clean shaven

[toothcutter]

Originally Posted by glynparson

As is often the case I believe Peter gave us the correct answer.

Totally disagree

[packs]

How many people do you guys know that both collect baseball cards and invest in crypto? I personally know zero people who do both.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by packs

How many people do you guys know that both collect baseball cards and invest in crypto? I personally know zero people who do both.

Mostly the modern guys I can’t think of many vintage hard core collectors of prestige that were big into the crypto crap, I could be wrong but I think that’s where most of it came from …the nft Geoff Wilson’s, Vegas Dave, Gary Vee types ect.

[packs]

I can see that in the modern crowd. I’m curious if the pre-war crowd got into crypto. I never dabbled myself.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by packs

How many people do you guys know that both collect baseball cards and invest in crypto? I personally know zero people who do both.

I own only prewar vintage cards and I invested in crypto. In late 2020 (I think), I funded a guy and we mined for etherium. It was a great investment until 2022, when the cost of electricity spiked, which caused (in part) the value of crypto to go down. In mid 2022, we sold all of our hardware, and did well on that since there was a shortage of GPUs (remember the chip shortage) but still decent demand from basement warriors looking to do personal mining. Then, late last year, I had the guy liquidate my etherium. It was a solid transaction soup to nuts.

Not sure how it all shakes out, but personally, I believe there is a “there there” with crypto.