[mouschi3]

I've been thinking about this for a bit, and a response to an article I wrote today had me thinking. How many collectors are there truly out there? After I said there may be between 200-500 NNOF Thomas RC's, someone said they doubted it was nowhere near 500 (which he may very well be right), it got me thinking. Here is my response:

You may be right, however, I think sometimes we vastly underestimate the # of collectors out there and the # of Topps cards produced + unopened. The psa population report currently shows 173 of them and bgs shows 87. Whether that is the lion's share of them or a sliver of them, I'm unsure. All I know is that I've never sent anything to be authenticated before.

On a different note, I've been thinking about how many collectors there are out there. For example:
The psa population report shows over 2,700 PSA 10 89 UD Griffey rookies. These currently fetch between $400 and $500 each! I couldn't imagine there are that many collectors out there to support this price, but they are selling, and surely this # of psa 10's will continue to go up.

Even more eye-popping is Jordan's fleer rookie. Nearly 2,500 psa 9's in the population report yet they are going between 5-6k. WHAAA?? This has really opened my eyes to thinking that we collectors aren't just a group of 150 nerdy adults scattered all around America

Just as a bonus: psa pop report on the famous '52 Topps Mantle? 1,177!

How many collectors do you think there are out there?

[bamyanks]

I don't know, on top level PSA graded cards, that the amount of collector's is the right question to be asking. I think the PSA registry's are driving the prices of the top graded cards, as a form of made-up demand. Maybe the question on these should be, How Many Registry set people are there?

Now for the Mantles, there your question might be more correct. The baby boomers, like me, who are Yankee fans, and believe me, there are tons of them around the country, are driving the prices.

Just my opinion of course, but I think the registries are a sort of artificial demands.

[djohn]

The problem with asking how many collectors are out there, and then referencing some nice graded cards, is that a lot of those type cards are in hands of investors and not true collectors. In it's heyday (i.e. the late 80s / early 90s) there were millions of collectors and tons of investors too. That is one reason why the production numbers got so high, as the demand was there at the time.
Obviously a lot of collectors come and go from the hobby, and by the mid-90s a large number of investors had gone too (as they realized that values weren't sustainable). Will we ever see a resurgence of collectors and investors like there was in the 1980s, probably not. However I think you might be surprised to see just how many people are still collecting, and how many people pick up the hobby every day. Something to consider is that a lot of those kids that collected in the late 80s and early 90s are now at an age that they have some disposable income and as a lot of people do they "buy back their youth". In other words people want to relive the memories, and what better way to do that then buying a box of wax from their childhood and reminiscing over the players. It's easy to do right now when most boxes from that era can be had for only $5-$10. These people aren't even contemplating value when the buy the boxes, it's all about the joy and memories.
Now, if more and more people do this the prices will gradually pick up for unopened wax from that era. However it might take a LONG time and a LOT of people, when you consider the vast volumes of unopened wax from that era.
Anyway, back to your original question... How many collectors do you think there are out there?
I would say if you consider all sports and all countries (as basketball cards are huge outside of the US), there are still millions of card collectors out there. It's just that they all aren't collecting the exact same cards, everyone has their collecting niche (different teams, players, sports, eras, etc).

[michaelstepper]

Interesting question.
Before i started i knew of one other sweet spot collector and a couple of so so guys. In the 3 years ive solely collected them ive run into 3 other serious guys and a couple year specific collectors just on the boards. Probably another half dozen or so selling mini hoards on ebay.
I know of one collection that blows mine away. Whether he is still active... idk. While i aim to have one of the best collections out there for all to see, i undoubtably believe there are many "hidden" collections that prefer it that way.

[shivelycore]

The bigger (And sadly more morbid) question is, how many collectors will be left when the boomers are gone? What is that going to do to the vintage market when a lot of those collection come back into the market? Will there even be a hobby at that point?

[kerryandbeth]

The bigger (And sadly more morbid) question is, how many collectors will be left when the boomers are gone? What is that going to do to the vintage market when a lot of those collection come back into the market? Will there even be a hobby at that point?

You make a good point. I am in my 50's and do not know any other collectors personally in my town of 100,000+. The two card shops in town both closed over 10 years ago. My adult son has absolutely no interest in this hobby. I do not make it to any big city card shows, but I would be interested to know the percentage of "collectors" below the age of 50 attending. I agree our hobby may be in danger of dying out, much like stamp collecting.

[shivelycore]

You make a good point. I am in my 50's and do not know any other collectors personally in my town of 100,000+. The two card shops in town both closed over 10 years ago. My adult son has absolutely no interest in this hobby. I do not make it to any big city card shows, but I would be interested to know the percentage of "collectors" below the age of 50 attending. I agree our hobby may be in danger of dying out, much like stamp collecting.

I know a handful of collector's my age (30s) and the Twin Cities seems to have one of the healthier hobby populations in the country (though i dont have hard numbers to back that up) but overall it's definitely an "older" hobby. I do see some kids coming around but with the money problems millennials are already having (and let's not start splitting hairs over the hows or why let's just leave it at they exist) I dont know how much they can pump into it for an extended period.

Kerryandbeth you really need to make the trek up at least for one of the monthly club shows in Bloomington.

[kerryandbeth]

Kerryandbeth you really need to make the trek up at least for one of the monthly club shows in Bloomington.


[/quote]
If I went I would have to limit the amount of cash in my wallet...kind of like a kid in a candy store! The last time I was at a show was prior to 1998 in Louisville, KY.

[shivelycore]

Kerryandbeth you really need to make the trek up at least for one of the monthly club shows in Bloomington.

If I went I would have to limit the amount of cash in my wallet...kind of like a kid in a candy store! The last time I was at a show was prior to 1998 in Louisville, KY.

[/quote]

Hahaha what a coincidence, Im originally from Louisville.

[zeprock]

I know of at least one other collector besides myself.