How much would you pay?

[Stampsfan]

Sorry, this makes no sense to me.

How much would I pay for something that has no useful purpose, and has zero intrinsic value?

Uhhh... nothing?

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Sorry, this makes no sense to me.

How much would I pay for something that has no useful purpose, and has zero intrinsic value?

Uhhh... nothing?

"No useful purpose" is completely subjective. I would argue that the joy of ownership is a useful purpose.

[conor912]

I'm pretty surprised that 1 in 5 would pay absolutely nothing for a nice, career issued card of the biggest icon the game has ever known. IMO that doesn't bode well for fandom of the hobby for pure enjoyment's sake.

[familytoad]

I am a huge baseball fan, and my purchase history and collection shows how much I want “the card” and not “ the future value”. I have a lot of cards that I paid good money for that would be snubbed by the investor types for not being nice enough. My fandom isn’t hard to see.

My point in my response is directly to the 33G Ruth. If it wasn’t worth anything, I wouldn’t pay anything for it. That’s a circular argument indeed.

But if I wanted to enjoy pictures of Babe Ruth, I have other opportunities to print off the Internet, and better pictures/ poses etc.

I want a 33 G Ruth someday, but I want all HOF baseball cards. I cannot think of why someone could sell me one for multiple thousands, but I , in turn couldn’t do the same thing to another collector...even if it was less than what I paid for it.
I know I have bad luck, but I would hope the market didn’t dry up on me quite that fast!

Of course, I know your question is mostly hypothetical. Your point is probably more about “ Is money driving your collection habits , knowing that what you buy today may have some value later...or do you not care at all ? “

Originally Posted by conor912

I'm pretty surprised that 1 in 5 would pay absolutely nothing for a nice, career issued card of the biggest icon the game has ever known. IMO that doesn't bode well for fandom of the hobby for pure enjoyment's sake.

[packs]

If baseball cards suddenly became worthless I would be the happiest guy in the world. I'd eat the loss for my entire collection and then go about buying up all the cards I ever wanted, worthless or not. I certainly wouldn't pay much for them but I'd enjoy them all the same.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by packs

If baseball cards suddenly became worthless I would be the happiest guy in the world. I'd eat the loss for my entire collection and then go about buying up all the cards I ever wanted, worthless or not. I certainly wouldn't pay much for them but I'd enjoy them all the same.

Amen.

If Ruth cards were worthless I'd have to assume some sort of apocalyptic event took place and baseball cards would probably be the least of anyone's concerns

[frankbmd]

I think the premise of this thread is flawed.

Granted that the market for my used socks is thin currently, but who knows what the future holds.

To denigrate the value of the used socks ignores the market value of game used socks worn by the “Babe” himself. And what if Ruth’s socks from the game in which he hit #714 came up for auction with photo matching and certified fungal ancestry? Remember to register before you place a bid.

[packs]

Does anyone remember what they paid for a Ruth Goudey in 1998? I'm just curious to see how prices have swung in 20 years.

[rhettyeakley]

I am coming at this question imagining we are in an alternate universe and trading cards never attained any real following in that universe. In a situation like that I could see the item having some value just based on age and novelty. I would assume a value of $25-100 or so just for those reasons alone.

Strange but interesting question.

[bbcard1]

I would probably pay about $100. That's my limit to go see a concert or a play or something that the reward is being part of the expeience.