Living memories of players long gone...

Aspie_Rocco

I wonder sometimes, if the iconic cards of the 1800s and early 1900s will still hold the same appeal to collectors in the future. 20-30 years from now will people still be all over cards like Wagner, Ruth, etc?
My guess would be that they will still have some appeal, but I just speculate how much? There is a solid collector base for old US coins from the late 1700s up to pre 1900s, and I imagine there always will be. Since coins are more durable than cards, they can last much longer, and in less than ideal conditions for a card. Having been a part of commerce throughout the country and sometimes internationally they have a wide appeal and audience.
So when I am drawing parallels between the collectible market of coins and trading cards I wonder when the children of the 1980s are wrinkled old folks with gray hair, will the next generation of collectors apply the same reverence to the old tobacco cards and baseball cards of the early 1900s?
From my perspective it has always been interesting to read about or see photos of the iconic cards of eras long gone, But the appeal is not the same for me as it is for players that have done their work in my lifetime, games that I have seen, or cards I bought new.
I guess I might answer my own question following this coin versus card logic, because coins long before current collectors lifetimes are still very popular but I wonder what is your opinion?
Will interest fade, With only the deepest pockets buying these sort of cards or speculators?

doubledragon

Very interesting question. I have often wondered how Ruth, Wagner, Cobb cards will look to future generations. I guess time will tell, but hopefully the future generations will come to appreciate the history of the sport they're interested in.

mrmopar

I would guess that people truly interested in the past generations of the game will slowly dwindle as the gap widens between their age and the beginnings of baseball. I became interested in baseball in the mid to late 70s. While I was watching the then present day stars develop, I was also learning about the past players as well, but even then the real early names were less appealing than their 30s-60s counterparts, at least to me. I never saw any of them play, but something about the 1800s and early 1900s had no appeal for me. Maybe even though Mays and Aaron were only recently retired, I could relate to them better than say Cy Young or Walter Johnson. Even the collectibles were less appealing, likely because the real old stuff was just too expensive for my budget. I can still remember being interested in certain players' cards, but not others. I always preferred Seaver over Ryan, Campy over Berra, Snider over Mantle and Mays over Aaron for example and what I bought in those early days is reflected by those choices I made.

On the other hand, when looking at the value of the collectibles, it would make sense that the old stuff would only grow in value to newer generations as the gap widens. Pretty much everyone looks at older stuff thinking it has more value than newer stuff. Still, even now there are probably more collectors out there that only dabble in "vintage" cards or avoid them completely in favor of the new stuff. I could say it is a value argument like when I was a kid, but I don't think that holds water when cards barely 5 years old are changing hands for six figures!

remedylane

I think the all time greats will always be just that. Those that follow sports will hold the legends in high regard. As far as cards and card values, who knows. Folks have been collecting them for over 100 years, I don't expect that to change. But I'm unsure how much of the collecting base is made up of today's youth. I feel a large portion of collectors are made up of guys like us.

The hobby took a hit after the 80s and 90s. It has recovered somewhat, but in an unexpected way. I see tons of modern limited issue insert type cards go for absolutely crazy money. I wonder how long that will continue.

I deal in vintage items and antiques. Last year I purchased a 1924 Selrite home run king wind up tin toy. It was the most I'd ever paid for an item for re sale. Based on past auction results it was a wise move. But what I quickly found out was that while it was an exceedingly rare toy, the collectors that really cared about it and maybe even had one as a kid had pretty much died off. It took me way longer to sell it than I thought. I made money, but not nearly as much as I thought. I often wonder if when the collectors like us are gone, will the younger generation care about that 52 mantle as much?

Billyk97

Being a guy who was born in 1997, I think it depends on the trends of the hobby. Nowadays, everyone is after the inserts of up and coming players or the 1/1 variations of super star athletes like LeBron, Trout, and many others. People want to make a quick buck. It's like the idea of buying and trading stocks. Buy at a low price and sell high. That's just how the hobby is going. I think it's perfectly fine, but I don't think the purpose of having a card collecting hobby is to be in it for the money.

Personally, I love the vintage cards more than anything. There is something about collecting cards that are as old as I am. I love history and vintage cards are a good way to connect to the past, without having to be as mundane as reading a history textbook or book. It makes you feel like you are living in the past by holding a 50 year old card. That's exciting to me. I could care less about the newer stuff, other than Topps Heritage.

To your point, I believe vintage cards will always have an interest for kids and adults. Everything depends on which way the hobby is going. If the value of vintage cards go down somehow, that is great for people like me that enjoy collecting cards from the 50s-70s.

PROMETHIUS88

I think that the mystery and intrigue of the legends of old will always be just that. I can tell you that being born in 1969, I started collecting in about 1977 then thru the 80's and stopped in the 90's. While I have some cards of players from the years I collected, or sets, my primary focus is on players that I never got to see play with most having retired well before my birth. I'm guessing this is different for everyone and regardless, the market will have it's ups and downs for every aspect of the hobby. As far as the comparison of cards to coins, I think it's even harder to get kids interested in coins today than it is cards.

jay0791

Collecting is all about history of this country and how important sports were and currently are.
History is a subject that has taken a big hit in todays schools. I do not know of many kids collecting coins or cards these days. My son did like them and I bought him presentation coins of presidents in nice cases and some Jeter cards. I know they made way to many of them to ever be an investment. I was hoping they could tie the history of the USA into something fun. I bet he couldn't name BB hofers besides Ruth, Mantle and Gehrig so vintage cards mean nothing to him.

Around here a few coin dealers are putting one million dollars worth of vintage coins into the public to promote coin collecting