Questions About "Modern" Cards

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by YazFenway08

that was a great summary tim. as a hopeless set collector…i love the parallel chase for completeness in any given year. not THAT expensive, but not THAT easy, either. i do it with flagship and chrome…and try to add the SPs. i binder them up and i think all the parallels look awesome all together. for the 93s i have the base, the two inaugural, the gold and the micro…the ‘84s have the base, tiffany and nestle…with the o-pee-chee in the back since it wasn’t a one for one. i love all eras of the game and of the cards…some months i do more modern, some more vintage. keeps it all fresh and fun

I love this post!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I have a huge soft spot for the Nestles. It has to be residual carryover from the 80s craze for them!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I love this post!

+1. a collector.

From my personal experiences, which are somewhat limited, it seems the younger generation is all about gambling on the next prospect. There just aren't that many young, true collectors, it seems. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just diffferent.

and a card...

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Leon

+1. a collector.

From my personal experiences, which are somewhat limited, it seems the younger generation is all about gambling on the next prospect. There just aren't that many young, true collectors, it seems. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just diffferent.

and a card...

...and those of us who've already dealt with people trying to get us to buy 100 Monty Fariss RCs in 1989 to put our future kids through college have been through this rigmarole a time or three. Old news to us.

[packs]

Is there a huge difference between gambling on prospects and all the threads about which pre-war cards to invest in that get posted all the time?

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by packs

Is there a huge difference between gambling on prospects and all the threads about which pre-war cards to invest in that get posted all the time?

No. It's just that collecting antiques is considered a respectable pastime, so you have a plausible alternative explanation for your hobby if you're trying to buy low and/or sell high with pre-war cards, as I assume we all are if we place any value on our net worth.

[packs]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

No. It's just that collecting antiques is considered a respectable pastime, so you have a plausible alternative explanation for your hobby if you're trying to buy low and/or sell high with pre-war cards, as I assume we all are if we place any value on our net worth.

Some of us buy cards we like because we like them. But there are always posts about what to invest in and what cards have the biggest room for return, etc. I'm not sure that's really collecting either.

[Bcwcardz]

Originally Posted by packs

Some of us buy cards we like because we like them. But there are always posts about what to invest in and what cards have the biggest room for return, etc. I'm not sure that's really collecting either.

I do get why some people only buy for investment or monetary value though. I’m not talking the guys with the pelican cases. I’m talking guys here buying pre war. As you get older you really have to look at your investments. I’ve known guys that have gone from huge collections to 4 or 5 excellent cards. I would still consider them collectors even though they are now mainly concerned with returns on their cards. Modern collecting has its place too. It’s the reason for all this interest and huge prices on vintage cards. I do see a lot of people who jumped back into the hobby the past 3 years have big interest in 50s-70s cards. It’s nice to see guys get weaned off the shiny stuff. I have my share of shiny stuff too. I stopped in 2018. Too many products. I don’t mind the amount of refractors etc, but the amount of stuff to buy is astronomical. They have wax products and online products, the better stuff was harder to come by. If it’s the right player I have no problem selling this stuff. Ohtani stuff was easy sell as was Judge second year cards. These people buy this crap up. Modern cards are thriving especially now with Fanatics having breaks. These newer collectors eat this stuff up. I couldn’t really tell you if these people are baseball fans like people on this board or just casual fans.


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[G1911]

Originally Posted by packs

Is there a huge difference between gambling on prospects and all the threads about which pre-war cards to invest in that get posted all the time?

The difference between the majority of investors here and the investors in modern is a lot smaller than people pretend. Modern is more higher risk higher reward but the approaches aren’t all that different. The biggest difference I’ve found is the distaste the vintage collectors have for the new guys while the new guys don’t really about the old guys.

[packs]

Originally Posted by G1911

The difference between the majority of investors here and the investors in modern is a lot smaller than people pretend. Modern is more higher risk higher reward but the approaches aren’t all that different. The biggest difference I’ve found is the distaste the vintage collectors have for the new guys while the new guys don’t really about the old guys.

That's kind of where I was going. It's a phenomenon repeated throughout time: people get old and think their interests are the pinnacle of all interests.

Just like when your parents asked you why your hair is long, or why you got a tattoo, or what's so special about the internet?

[gonefishin]

Originally Posted by G1911

The difference between the majority of investors here and the investors in modern is a lot smaller than people pretend. Modern is more higher risk higher reward but the approaches aren’t all that different. The biggest difference I’ve found is the distaste the vintage collectors have for the new guys while the new guys don’t really about the old guys.

Funny that I just drafted a reply that said basically the same thing, but deleted it so as not to offend anyone.

I never, or very rarely, hear a young, new to the hobby collector, cut down a vintage collector, etc. I read a lot of posts from vintage collector's that either make jest off, or run down the modern collector. It's not right and I don't agree. The truth is, modern collectors are what keeps this hobby alive and thriving. They are the future. We may not agree with the methods or reasons why they collect, but unless it does damage, real not perceived, why should one care? We should be elated that young people have joined the hobby.

[YazFenway08]

I don't think that 'investing" and "collecting" need to be absolute opposites either. I think you can collect what makes you happy while also keeping a view for some modicum of value.

I love my vintage cards...and I love my modern parallels. when my heirs ultimately deal with these, I have written little notes with thoughts on how to proceed.

using my '84 or '93 binder projects as an example: i have collected those, displayed them, and enjoyed them the way I love...but have also tried to collect high end condition for them. so, when they finally are sold, either they will find a home with another "master set" dude like me who will recognize and appreciate the value...or the auction house can break them up, grade the mattinglys and jeters to maximize value and sell the rest , etc. We're talking hundreds of dollars, not thousands...but over 25 years of "master" set building with SSps and parallels , it adds up

Thats perhaps not the same as maximizing value on graded T3s, but I would like my successors to still maximize the value. is that investing or just being prudent?

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

Funny that I just drafted a reply that said basically the same thing, but deleted it so as not to offend anyone. I never, or very rarely, hear a young, new to the hobby collector, cut down a vintage collector, etc. I read a lot of posts from vintage collector's that either make jest off, or run down the modern collector. It's not right and I don't agree. The truth is, modern collectors are what keeps this hobby alive and thriving. They are the future. We may not agree with the methods or reasons why they collect, but unless it does damage, real not perceived, why should one care? We should be elated that young people have joined the hobby.

A big +1 to that! What a drag it would be to be passionate about a hobby you knew was going to die away with your generation, it might make me wonder what the hell I was doing collecting these things! In defense of my generation, I think a lot of the disparagement arose from the assumption that the "shiny stuff" taking up more and more of the table space at shows would be rendered a fool's quest by the seemingly infinite numbers of those cards produced and the fact that practically none of them would ever get thrown away by moms or put in bicycle spokes or go into paper drives, so the supply would always be more or less unlimited and therefore be only temporarily of collector's interest. And until quite recently, I wouldn't have been able to tell you if I thought the vintage collecting of my boomer generation was a "one-off" based on our nostalgia for the cards of our youth and then trickling down to the older cards of players we had come to idolize from our reading about baseball's long history, or if succeeding generations would have similar feelings about the cards and collectibles of their peers. Now it appears to be the latter case, and to me it is a wonderful thing to behold.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

I never, or very rarely, hear a young, new to the hobby collector, cut down a vintage collector, etc. I read a lot of posts from vintage collector's that either make jest off, or run down the modern collector. It's not right and I don't agree. The truth is, modern collectors are what keeps this hobby alive and thriving. They are the future. We may not agree with the methods or reasons why they collect, but unless it does damage, real not perceived, why should one care? We should be elated that young people have joined the hobby.

This comment is gold.

I am sorry to say because we tend to ignore it in this forum, but unless you walk through a show in horse-blinders you have to realize that vintage has become a fractional segment of the hobby and hopefully always will be. To many dealers, as has been mentioned prior in the thread about the Bo Jackson card, the dealer did not sell "vintage". The ridiculous definition of modern we hold is just plain silly. 1980 was 43 years ago, I can get a Historical automobile plate for a car in Michigan after 26 years...thus a 1996 Honda Civic is a Historical automobile as weird as it seems.

I collect all years from the 1800's to tomorrow and enjoy every bit. It keeps me in touch with my son and I learn more everyday and keep the old man memory losses slowed down, lol.

I collected stamps as a kid and teen and watched the lack of new collectors kill the hobby. It remains only a bastion for the handful of old collectors still getting the classics like Graf Zeppelins but any thing else isn't worth face value most of the time. The USPS put the first nail in by making it a hobby for sticker collectors and killing albums then the collectors tossed the dirt on by being unwelcoming to anyone young. We don't want that future.

The absolute best thing for the hobby, bar none, is modern cards being successful and keeping the base growing. Those 14 year old kids with the backpacks and pelican cases at the show are far more important to the hobby than us and we should welcome them with open arms.