Do you worry about our hobby dying?

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by 1880nonsports

I doubt card collecting will ever approach the levels of the cash rich 1980's and 1990's nor the level of interest it received as a new investment concept. It was an explosive time - selling was about the sizzle AND the steak. Enough time and a few reality checks have precipitated in the OVERALL decline of the prices we are experiencing in all but the finest material and whatever specific issues are "hot" at the moment.

Since the question was posted on the Pre-War forum, I'm assuming the "hobby" refers to collecting Pre-War cards.

If this is the case, I don't understand the quote above at all. I was collecting these cards in the 1980s and 1990s. I can't think of any baseball card made between 1887 and 1930 that could be had for less today than it could have been in the 1980s or 1990s. The prices continued to explode through until about the Fall of 2008. Even when the market for these cards "crashed" in 2008, the prices were still a heck of a lot higher than they were back in the 1980s and 1990s. And today a lot of those cards are way up from 2008-2009 again.

Cards from the major sets of the 1930s did soften when people realized they were not that scarce. In truth, I think some 1933 Goudey and 1934-36 Diamond Stars actually sold for more in the late 1990s then they would fetch today - especially commons and low-level stars and HOFers.

The part of the "hobby" that died in the 1990s was largely comprised of thousands of speculators trading case quantities of 1989 Upper Deck, 1987 Donruss and the like. When that garbage pile collapsed, those people left. So what? Good riddance.

The value of Pre-War cards was not hurt a bit by any of that.

Cheers,
Blair