excerpt of response i gave to another member regarding the sportscard industry.

[yazfan71]

Believe it or not, there are actually people like me who buy cards strictly for enjoyment and dont intend to sell them and dont care about value down the road. I am so sick of hearing the word INVESTMENT used in this hobby. Its NOT a hobby when everyone is worried about investing and resale value, its Wall Street in cardboard. If i own a card i like, i could care less if the value goes down, i am not selling it. I only buy for my collection, i never buy to invest. I actually get ENJOYMENT out of the hobby collecting teams and players i really like, and use the cards as memories of those teams and players.

+1

[gps29070]

Great thread. Baseball cards are not an investment, as many others have pointed out. it is a hobby. I collect strictly for enjoyment, and I care less if a card value drops or not. The only value of Beckett (that artificially jacks up prices to benefit dealers) is for trading cards to make sure your trade is fair and equal.

[doniceage]

because it doesnt make sense to invest money into something that will yield no return. thats what the sportscard hobby has become. spending great deals of money on worthless cardboard.

Guess you haven't invested in graded vintage. I seen stuff sell for overbook too many occassions to count. So to me there a difference when your talking different spectrum of the hobby is it vintage or the new stuff.
DON

[Jamesngin]

I agree with don completely! Yhe young player stuff is what gets me more than anything. People invest a ton of money into said players, say "harper" for instance. I have seen his stuff sale for crazy amounts of money. WHat happens if he bombs or gets hurt? That $1500 investment just went down the drain. I am not in the hobby to make money but if i were graded vintage and HOF is where I would be! AS far as the value of the newer cards go i dont complain about stuff that goes on in the auction market ebay. I wish Johnny Benchs' newer stuff would drop in value so that i could own more!!!! LOL

[Sport26]

Believe it or not, there are actually people like me who buy cards strictly for enjoyment and dont intend to sell them and dont care about value down the road. I am so sick of hearing the word INVESTMENT used in this hobby. Its NOT a hobby when everyone is worried about investing and resale value, its Wall Street in cardboard. If i own a card i like, i could care less if the value goes down, i am not selling it. I only buy for my collection, i never buy to invest. I actually get ENJOYMENT out of the hobby collecting teams and players i really like, and use the cards as memories of those teams and players.

Amen' bud ... I just started collecting recently myself and to tell the truth, My fav cards are the less expensive ones of my fav players/teams over the high dollar cards ... I'm in it for the enjoyment of collecting 'what ever comes along'.

[meuandthelot]

You have to open cases of select product to have any chance.
See, BrentandBecca, closest I've seen at making a profit on cards