Where Cards are and are going - Link to Josh Luper's "statement"

[glynparson]

Originally Posted by Fred

??

Are modern cards are like the gateway drug to vintage collecting... So, an Ohtani rookie is like primo weed that will lead to a Ruth/Cobb heroin addiction?

What is this reefer madness. The myth of cannabis being a gateway drug has been credibly debunked many times.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by glynparson

What is this reefer madness. The myth of cannabis being a gateway drug has been credibly debunked many times.

So true. In fact, weed has gotten me away from booze entirely. A nice edible mellows me out way better than a shot of whiskey and without the deleterious side effects. Just a little cottonmouth.

But I digress...

Investor-Collector? Collector-Investor?

--When I was a kid and $3.25 could get you a good condition 1952 Bowman Mantle at auction at a local card show (true story) no one was an investor.

--When I got back into the hobby in the late 1980s, it was as a Collector-Investor. I collected for myself 80% but would keep an eye out for a good deal I could flip.

--Now, it is Investor-Collector. I still have stuff I collect purely for $hits and giggles: I don't sweat the future value of sub-$5 cards. But the rest is strategic, so I guess investment. Even if I like the card I have to be convinced of its future potential because if I am fortunate enough to be able to retire in the next decade, I plan to use my cards as a main occupation to gradually unwind my collection at retail over the course of the early years of retirement.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

So true. In fact, weed has gotten me away from booze entirely. A nice edible mellows me out way better than a shot of whiskey and without the deleterious side effects. Just a little cottonmouth.

But I digress...

Investor-Collector? Collector-Investor?

--When I was a kid and $3.25 could get you a good condition 1952 Bowman Mantle at auction at a local card show (true story) no one was an investor.

.

This is the stuff that kills me, obviously we can't pick when we can go around the sun, in this world, but none of us will ever experience prices remotely close to this for modern cards (not that I'm a modern guy, but still) , let alone vintage.

I'm happy with my 52 Bowman, but I had to pay a decent penny for this one. Some cards seem so unreachable nowadays, like #311 for example. A double printed issue, with a good amount of cards known to the world. Hell I wouldn't mind If I even had to pay $5K for one of them. But $30K, for a PSA 1? I say to myself that hopefully by the time I retire, which is a LONG time from now, that I'll be able to get one, because collecting is a journey.

Vintage, has a STEEP entry point, for newer collectors, especially those on fixed budgets. Kids will never be able to enter the hobby as they once could. What 10 year old can afford a $100 card let alone something that's $1000. Well every thread needs a card, here's my 52 Bowman.