Questions About "Modern" Cards

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Wow, Tim, what a fabulous tutorial, and directly to the heart of my questions. I have to wonder how many of those cards the "Becketteer" kids of the 90s left on the floor as they tore through packs looking to extract the special cards might be worth something today or some day, as it seems as though those sets, deemed worthless at the time due to the assumption that an unlimited number of them would be put in protective holders without so much as being touched by human hands, are and will be increasingly collected up by fans of those generations. Scarcity is scarcity, no matter the reason, and as long as there is demand for those, they will get collected up and become more and more scarce and valuable. I find it so cool to find out that succeeding generations to mine aren't just in it for the money, but are instead true fans of the players, teams, sports, etc., they love, and those with the collecting gene are continuing the traditions of the hobby pretty much unabated and unchanged. What us old farts used to refer to derisively as "shiny stuff" just turns out to be the cards of heroes of the newer generations, not a bit different from the cards of our heroes. Not sure why I'm so surprised by this, but it's great to see. And the assumption seems to be that a substantial percentage of these collectors will at some point move into vintage as well, although I'm not sure why that even has to be part of the equation for the hobby to continue on in great health. That might just be showing a bias on the part of us older guys with vintage collections, and one that turns out to have little basis in fact. I don't know why a kid who grew up in the 90s should care about Mickey Mantle, Carl Hubbell, or Walter Johnson cards. And when they start having the disposable income to dip into the older markets, maybe they will, maybe they won't, time will tell. Anyway, thanks again, Tim, you've really opened my eyes to the intricacies of the modern hobby, and I appreciate it.

Hank...

Great topic. I think about the part highlighted in bold all the time. But then I set myself at ease by realizing that our generation never saw Cobb, Lajoie, Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Ott, Greenberg or even Joe DiMaggio play. Not to mention the really early guys like Ewing, Ward, Anson, Cy Young, etc. But we still respect and value their cards to the utmost extent. We may have grown up idolizing Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente and Bench, but you naturally branch out as your hobby knowledge evolves.

I think that same thing will occur with future generations of collectors. Perhaps in a different way, but there will always be people out there who value and revere baseball's rich history just like we do (even if the player's image appears on dull paper vs, chrome!)

[toledo_mudhen]

Even tho I primarily collect 1955 Topps Baseball and T206s - I have always had a soft spot for :

1980 Topps Baseball
1983-84 Donruss Baseball
1987 Donruss Baseball

[darwinbulldog]

One corner of my collection is rookie cards of the top 50 players from each sport, so occasionally a current player will move onto that list, and then I'll add one of his cards. I added Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler earlier this year to my NBA group and just picked up Max Scherzer in the past month. I prefer the base/"paper" card just for consistency's sake to go along with my 1969 Topps Alcindor, 1958 Topps Jim Brown, 1954 Topps Aaron, etc. I have very little interest in the other cards from any of these sets but will occasionally buy a shiny autographed modern card of a prospect I particularly like.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Hank...Great topic. I think about the part highlighted in bold all the time. But then I set myself at ease by realizing that our generation never saw Cobb, Lajoie, Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Ott, Greenberg or even Joe DiMaggio play. Not to mention the really early guys like Ewing, Ward, Anson, Cy Young, etc. But we still respect and value their cards to the utmost extent. We may have grown up idolizing Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente and Bench, but you naturally branch out as your hobby knowledge evolves. I think that same thing will occur with future generations of collectors. Perhaps in a different way, but there will always be people out there who value and revere baseball's rich history just like we do (even if the player's image appears on dull paper vs, chrome!)

I personally agree with this prediction, Mark, but a difference could arise from all the history of the game we learned from the backs of our Topps cards as well as all the reading we did from "Big-Time Baseball" in 1950 to "The Glory of Their Times" in 1966 and the succeeding generations of excellent biographies, team and era histories, etc., that whetted our appetites for older cards and collectibles. I'm not sure the younger generations today are indulging in that history and absorbing much of it into their collecting pursuits. If I had to guess, I'd say that many of them will at some point begin directing their disposable income toward vintage if for no other reason than that the older stuff is just so cool looking and so different from the modern designs, not to mention their so-far proven value as commodities.