Jason Heyward
Bryce Harper
etc.
etc.
There have been certain cards of certain players who have brought in way more money than alot of people could ever imagine paying for a single card.
First came the realization that cards from the 50's and 60's were actually worth something. Then in the 80's, rookies of Canseco and Griffey Jr. blew up. In the 90's, Brien Taylor and Andruw Jones ruled the hobby. The 2000's saw Ichiro, Puljos and Lincecum dominate ebay. 2010's, so far, we have Strasburg, Heyward and now Harper achieving outlandish prices.
Do we know this already? Yes
Have we all seen and heard the selling numbers for these cards? Yes
Would any of us spend that much on a single card? Odds are, No
Is all this actually good for the hobby? ...
Because of some of the "1st year" and RC card of 2010 Bowman, alot more attention has been brought back to our hobby. Yahoo did an article on the Strasburg Superfractor and I'm sure Beckett has done something on it by now as well. Alot more people are looking at baseball cards and thinking, "Hmmm..."
Prices for these cards are reaching numbers that I, personally, have never seen modern cards reach. The prospect of being able to turn a quick buck is better than ever right now with some of these RC.
All of us have seen card collecting all but die off. So any added attention would be a great thing for our hobby, right?
Or is it?
Don't worry, this isn't a rant. I'm gonna really try to stay from doing those, cuz I always feel douchey after I post one. I'm not questioning my cardboard faith. This is just a roundtable discussion that hopefully everyone can put some feedback into.
So what do you think? Obviously, attention is what we want and need in this hobby. But is the fact that these cards are selling for so much a good thing or will it only create problems for actual collectors like us?
Is too much attention bad as well?
Isn't there some kind of saying about cake or something?
(...Joe)
I don't know, maybe it is just me, but I don't go after high priced stuff anyway. It is kind of nice that I could get a card to sell for a lot, then pick up a different version of some Jason Heyward parallel next year for $.25 or a sticker auto for $25. I guess I'm also not a big parallel collector.
ReplyDeleteWe all have different collecting interests and I think how the fact that these cards sell so high affects us depends a great deal on our collecting interests.
I'm just happy that Ike Davis cards are still available for a reasonable price because he has been so overshadowed by all these other big names.
I'm kinda thinking what you're kinda thinking - brings in some new blood (people looking to make money), screws over us card collectors.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I hardly ever buy packs, and I never buy boxes, since I don't really set collect. I spend my card money trying to find obscure low numbered serials of my player collections. Wish I has a Strasburg 1/1 though!
THE CAKE IS A LIE
ReplyDeleteTHE CAKE IS A LIE looks like an anagram I need to try someday.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind if people want to throw their $$ around, as long as these uber-prospects aren't Twins cards that I collect. The only way I would pursue a card >$10 is via a trade. Some of us have to maintain spousal approval of our hobby.