A question

[mjkm90]

There have been a number terrific posts by new members to the board of late. Thank you for your contributions. My question is this. Are those of you who collect primarily new (items 20yrs. of age or less), are you also interested in expanding into vintage material? I'm not saying you should, I'm just curious about your interests and thoughts regarding older items.

When I began collecting, I was always interested in both vintage and modern era pieces then switched exlusively to vintage. I enjoy hearing how people approach collecting.

[BoneRubbedBat]

I, like most, began in the hobby collecting newer items, mostly from current players at the time. As I started to see the hobby evolve a few years ago, I changed my focus to more vintage items. Now I only collect pre-1950 game used bats and Houston Colt .45's/Astros bats.

Remember the late 1980's/early 1990's trading card boom? The sheer volume of companies and product drove the "worth" of the new stuff into the ground. How many 1990 Donruss cards are out there? How many Palmeiro, Andruw Jones, and Sammy Sosa bats are out there? These guys seem to use more bats in a season than most current Hall of Famers used in a lifetime. I think the vintage (pre-1980) stuff is WAY undervalued (and/or the current junk is WAY overvalued) when scarcity is taken into consideration.

I do understand that people pay what they think an item is worth at the time, but I just think the newer stuff will go the way of the 1985 Donruss Mattingly rookies at $200 a pop. Now's the time to buy your 1989 Topps sets, 10 years from now will be the time to buy todays players. Vintage stuff has almost always held it's value better over the long term because those items are not influenced as much by current events. Eventually the market will correct itself, and Barry Bonds bats won't be more than Aaron, Killebrew, and McCovey bats.

Just something to think about.

Rant over.

Marcus

[worldchamps]

I do agree....but do you think a player could ever completely flood the market. Say he uses 100 bats a year for 15 years, that is 1500 bats. (I think that is taking it to an extreme in this example) For a superstar do you think there are 1500 fans who would pay a high price for his bat? I do. Especially when you look at guys like Ichiro and Pujols who really limit what they use, or let into the hobby.

A perfect example was, I believe, Brad Radke (sp) talking about the demands for autograph Brett Favre footballs. no matter how many he signs, there will always be a demand.

[slidekellyslide]

There isn't a whole lot of demand for Bob Feller's autograph because he's probably signed a million of them over his lifetime.

[BoneRubbedBat]

do you think a player could ever completely flood the market

Absolutely. Look at the guys I mentioned, Palmeiro, Andruw Jones, etc. Why have the prices for their bats plummeted (other than the 'roids)? It's because at any one time, anyone can find one available for sale on E-bay or somebody's web site. The market is pretty much flooded. I do think that the exception comes from players like Pujols, Bagwell, Biggio, and others that don't go through a different ensemble for every at-bat, and keep a tight reign on their items.

Our hobby really is not that big. There are a small few with very deep pockets for the big ticket items, and a small few with shallow pockets that work the other end of the spectrum. Most collectors are in the middle somewhere. Some collect jerseys, some bats, some batting gloves, some autographs.

If Favre signed 100,000 helmets, I bet Radke would have a few extras going cheap.


Marcus

[darylv1]

I turn 30 this summer, and I'm from Philadelphia. I grew up watching the Phillies, and was at my first game in 1979. When I was young, my father and I collected cards, but that quickly turned into collecting Phillies memorabilia and autographs, centering mostly around Mike Schmidt. I collect 1980's and 1990's phillies stuff, because that's what I grew up with and can remember most vividly.

Even though I don't collect vintage memorabilia, that's not to say I don't appreciate it. Holding a bat once used by Richie Ashburn would be an awesome feeling. I just appreciate it more for it's historical value.

[porsche544]

There isn't a whole lot of demand for Bob Feller's autograph because he's probably signed a million of them over his lifetime.

"An 8x10 unsigned photo of Bob Feller is more scarce than one that is signed". I'm not sure where I read this..but thought I'd share.