I have my own opinion, but with the recent surge with modern cards being numbered and/or autographed, and base cards pretty much being worthless, combined with PSA 10's being what seems to be the most popular type of cards, what does the future hold for vintage cards? Will the value of pre-war, along with Mantles, Mays, etc cards hold up with future collectors?
I have my own opinion, but with the recent surge with modern cards being numbered and/or autographed, and base cards pretty much being worthless, combined with PSA 10's being what seems to be the most popular type of cards, what does the future hold for vintage cards? Will the value of pre-war, along with Mantles, Mays, etc cards hold up with future collectors?
I think it's a fascinating question. I think part of that depends on the sport and how well the sport does marketing itself and its history. I think there will always be a portion of us humans who have a natural inclination to collect things, so I don't really see that going away. The question is, what will we collect? I think as long as the sport in question remains popular, there will be a market for memorabilia (like cards) that helps narrate the history of the sport. The more in-touch a sport is with it's history, the more interest there will be in the stars of yesterday. I think of the work of folks like Lawrence Ritter or Ken Burns as integral in helping engage with the history of the game of baseball that they may not have witnessed themselves. Similarly, I think that's why the Last Dance documentary (along with other contributing factors like COVID pausing live sports for a bit) helped to surge 1990s basketball cards.
So I guess I'm saying, as long as sports continue to be popular, vintage cards will continue to be collected, barring some apocalyptic situation where we need to burn them for fuel. I think baseball, which has always been in deeper touch with its roots than basketball or football, will continue to be popular among card collectors.
Great question Sam, thanks for posting it. Hard to beat or elaborate too much on Justin's answer as he really nailed it. But, I agree, history and history within the sport is a strong component to the value or stability in my opinion. For me personally, 99% of my collection is baseball as that is the sport and history that I love the most. I can remember thinking in the late mid 90s and early 2000s that as I started getting a little older and starting my career that there was not much hope of younger collectors finding their way to vintage or tobacco cards, I really thought that looked like that part of the hobby was going to be stagnant as so many vintage collectors aged out moving forward. Boy, that sure was the furthest thing from what actually happened. In fact, even pre-pandemic, many people found their love for vintage or reignited their love for vintage at a much higher number then the last 10-15 year prior in my opinion. Certain things just don't seem to go out of style, there may be ebbs and flows but a classic is a classic and an icon is an icon. People still value and recognize the best of the best from particular eras in their respective fields weather that be Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Babe Ruth, or Mickey Mantle. For me personally, I stick with the top tier names of HOFers and usually don't deviate too much from that if I am spending a substantial amount.
I have my own opinion, but with the recent surge with modern cards being numbered and/or autographed, and base cards pretty much being worthless, combined with PSA 10's being what seems to be the most popular type of cards, what does the future hold for vintage cards? Will the value of pre-war, along with Mantles, Mays, etc cards hold up with future collectors?
This is a great question and is one I often think about. I think that a lot of older, mid-tier HoFers may start to lose value over time. (Players like Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio, etc). I think players like Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Ted Williams, Robinson, Koufax, Ruth, Cobb and Wagner, Mathewson and WaJo will forever stay hot in the hobby. Rare pre war I think also stays hot and continues to climb. People love scarcity and people will always pay for scarcity. But long term I still feel really good about vintage cards in the hobby.
