I remember the hobby's popularity skyrocket in the early/mid-1980's with the introduction of Fleer/Donruss and also that's when Pete Rose was approaching Ty Cobb's hit record. I think that's when the rookie card craze started where Rose's rookie card became very sought after. There was even some speculation that some key industry figure(s) started buying up all the rookie cards, old and new, to drive the prices up. This created sort of a card mania that pulled everyone in, me included.
Yeah - and that speculation regarding key industry figures continues to this day. I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that certain big players started paying artificially high prices for old cards in the late 1970s, causing the prices listed in early guides to be inflated.
It's not far from the controversy surrounding sealed NES games and WATA from a few years ago.
Actually, it's the opposite. The baseball card industry wouldn't have amounted to much if most of those cards had remained in nice condition.
The truth is that the print runs of the 1950s and 1960s were actually higher than we think they were. It was the destruction of collections at the hands of mothers doing spring cleaning that caused the sudden drop in supply.
Once those who were young had the financial means to buy back the collections they once lost, the constraints on remaining supply pushed the hobby forward. Add in hype caused by articles like this Wall Street Journal piece, and you've got a bubble.
I remember the hobby's popularity skyrocket in the early/mid-1980's with the introduction of Fleer/Donruss and also that's when Pete Rose was approaching Ty Cobb's hit record. I think that's when the rookie card craze started where Rose's rookie card became very sought after. There was even some speculation that some key industry figure(s) started buying up all the rookie cards, old and new, to drive the prices up. This created sort of a card mania that pulled everyone in, me included.
Yeah - and that speculation regarding key industry figures continues to this day. I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that certain big players started paying artificially high prices for old cards in the late 1970s, causing the prices listed in early guides to be inflated.
It's not far from the controversy surrounding sealed NES games and WATA from a few years ago.
this hobby depends on a whole lot of mothers not throwing them out when the children moved out.
Actually, it's the opposite. The baseball card industry wouldn't have amounted to much if most of those cards had remained in nice condition.
The truth is that the print runs of the 1950s and 1960s were actually higher than we think they were. It was the destruction of collections at the hands of mothers doing spring cleaning that caused the sudden drop in supply.
Once those who were young had the financial means to buy back the collections they once lost, the constraints on remaining supply pushed the hobby forward. Add in hype caused by articles like this Wall Street Journal piece, and you've got a bubble.