Investing or collecting

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

"Better get that other line. I think Joann is calling for advice."

Quip of the day.

That said, while incapable of taking accountability for his own words, Bruce does make an interesting point or two about how just a handful of buyers can propel or deflate segments of the hobby.

The first time I noticed it was when I was aggressively building my 1938 Goudey set in higher grades. The prices I had to pay for cards in 6, 7, and 8 were often multiples of the prices in published price guides. Even after I started tracking every sale I could find in an Excel spreadsheet, I found the number consistently rising.

After I completed the set, I continued to track prices for a while, and noticed a decline of maybe 10% over the course of a month or two. It took me a while to realize that since I was no longer bidding on these cards, they were selling for a little less than they were before.

Now, I'm no "whale," I'm barely a guppy. But that's an illustration of how the exit of just one collector from a thinly-traded issue can impact prices.

All that said, I still think that the market for sports collectibles of all kinds - and not just the ultra-elite stuff but ALL of it, in all grades - will generally continue to rise. There may be pockets that occasionally dip, but I'll consider those to be anomalies in an overall upward trend.

-Al