Dr. James Beckett: Sports Card Insights

Stefan and Angela Loeffler and Ben Wilson asked me to guest for an hour on their weekly show, About The Cards.  Ben Wilson had apparently been saving up some questions and comments for me on Economics, which I enjoyed.

Brad had just returned from setting up at a much smaller card show and related his experiences with Rich and me (who have set up and promoted smaller shows, Rich recently, and me long ago).

A brief recap of the past four weeks of daily episodes in case you need a refresher.  Send your episode ideas to [email protected] and thanks for listening!

Collectors are frequently asking me about investment risk with sports cards - here today on the exact 20th anniversary of 9/11 are seven macro (potentially apochalytic) trends that could significantly affect our hobby (at least the way we have always known it).  My intention is to be sobering, not depressing - however today is a melancholy day of reflection and thoughts of the future.  There are NO sure things.

Kevin Sullivan and Monica Paul had me as a guest on their weekly Mic Drop podcast from the Dallas Sports Commission - here are the portions that dealt with our hobby and sports card insights.

Ben Ecklar came to Beckett Publications in 1994, probably his first full-time job, and continuously helped build our hobby to what it is today, having been at Panini for the past many years, after leaving our company.  He will be missed not just for his hobby excellence, but for the even better person he was.  We didn't have the chance to say goodbye to Ben, but we can pray for his wife and six kids.

Listener Corey Barnes suggested Rich and I discuss notable non-rookie cards over the decades - we start with 1952 Topps and work our way up - more to come.

Do pure collectors recoil at the word investment - is there a stigma - most, but not all, hobbyists consider sports cards and memorabilia an alternative investment. 

Many think there are too many parallels these days.  Victor Roman, Rookie Card Specialist, asked the group to re-consider whether the parallels of the base RC should also be considered RC's or as merely rookie year cards, like inserts.

The big Fanatics news and shake-up in the sports cards category will certainly affect the existing marketplaces where cards are bought and sold.