7/17/07 DOW hits 14,000 >> Now 8700, but BB hobby still thriving ?

[Exhibitman]

I'm finding lots of cheaper cards postwar and from mainstream sets. Add in rarity, however, and the market has substantially dried up or remains strong. My hunch is that there is a strong core of collectors whose prospects haven't been dimmed by the crash, other than a decline in portfolios. Heck, I now have an even better excuse for buying more cards--what else was I going to do with the money, piss it away on stocks or real estate?

[tedzan]

This is very true......
" Yes the Rose RC (as well as the Schmidt and the Carlton RC's) were all exploding in that time frame. ? "

I bet you would agree that the 1980 World Champions Phillies and the Willow Grove Show had a lot to do
with the growth of the "rookie card craze" ?

Initially, it can be attributed to the hype of the 1952 Topps Mantle "rookie" card, that started the "rookie
card craze" in 1980. Of course, many of us knew that Mantle's 1951 Bowman was his true ROOKIE card.
However, his Bowman card got no respect back then. I never really understood that. But, who was I to go
"against the flow". I was buying up the 1951 Mantle cards at $50 - $100 apiece....while the Topps Mantle
was selling for $1000's.

Subsequently, every star player's 1st card was selling at premium.....indeed, it was a very interesting time
to be in this hobby.


TED Z

[Rich Klein]

And I would also state that with some "hype-manipulation" from Mark Lewis and CPU -- there was also quite the growth that way as well. Nothing works quite as well as when someone sees it in print.

Regards
Rich

[Potomac Yank]

The people that voted for Hope, and Yes We Can, may have found themselves someone that can fix a rudder on a disabled ship, and knows how to read a compass.
Salvaging the rudderless S.S. Titanic II, is not easy, but with all the odds against it ... we are seeing signs of slowly getting back on course.

Let's pull together, because except for the whales, we're all in this boat together.

[tedzan]

Interesting that you should mention Mark Lewis. He was a tough character to deal with back in the early '80s.
I recall getting into an argument with him regarding how his Card Prices Update (CPU) guide was hyping up cer-
tain Topps cards (rookies) and de-valuating certain other cards (1952 Topps Hi#s and 1949 Bowmans).

Then, you recall that he ran into some trouble and dropped out of sight. Years later her returned as a dealer at
the Ft. Washington Show in the early '90s and had "mellowed-out".


TED Z

[barrysloate]

Mark Lewis ran into a lot of trouble, when it was determined that he plagiarized lists from Beckett and copied them verbatim in his CPU. He disappeared after that.

[tedzan]

Mark re-appeared in 1994 as a dealer at the Ft. Washington Show with an eclectic display of pre-war and post-war
cards at his table.

I bought a few cards from him and was surprised how friendly and fair he was with me on our deal.


TED Z