The Future of Type I Photos

[GregMitch34]

Yes, thousands of images of these guys--but vast number are not duplicated, unlike cards with same images, sometimes thousands each. And yes, demand not so high right now but my question is why and why won't that change in era where rarity seems to count so much. And yes, plenty of so-so images but then again most card images are so-so and look like each other....

[Snapolit1]

What really kicked card collecting into the stratosphere was the registry. Collecting became a dick measuring contest of sorts for many people. A race … a game … one more thing to win. Collecting photos doesn’t have that aspect because, as we know these photos are rare, there is no population report.

To me, photos over cards every day of the week. Look at Hunts Christy Mathewson auction. Stunning stuff.

[BuzzD]

Try as I may, I have never learned lesson of rarity vs scarcity. I seem to specialize in rare Yankee photos that do not have a lot of demand. Here is a possibly unique Bain photo of Alex Burr who played 1 game in 1914 and then went to war, dying in France in a flying accident. Also a Walter Bernhardt Conlon photo from Culver archive, who played 1 game in 1918 coming directly from Penn with no minor league experience, went to war and never returned to baseball. Someday my ship will come in...LOL

[GoCubsGo32]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Yes, thousands of images of these guys--but vast number are not duplicated, unlike cards with same images, sometimes thousands each. And yes, demand not so high right now but my question is why and why won't that change in era where rarity seems to count so much. And yes, plenty of so-so images but then again most card images are so-so and look like each other....

I started collecting Type 1 snapshot photos about 10+ years ago.
At the time very..very..few collectors. Hardly any photos at auction houses.

...now....you are starting to see a strong steady increase of photo lots being added and even some auctions are only Type 1 photos.

It will increase in the future. It's happening now, especially the past few years.

However, photos are not mainstreamed yet vs cards. They are not formatted to a set. Due to them being so unique and different, there's no real price guide. It's the wild wild west with pricing to some degree.

So why the increase? One reason I think, collectors are being out paced with tradition cards cost and fatigue of seeing the same cards over and over again (add in there fraud issues too).....Where as photos offer something truly uniquely special on all levels (as Brian D. stated above) and collectors are starting to connect with that.

Would you rather see a newly discovered photo of Ted Williams or the same Ted Williams cards? For me, I still love cards, but I pick the photos.