Baseball Cards And The Current Economy

What the trade tells us about market responses to profit, anti-trust
laws and inflation.

In a high-profile 1991 transaction, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall bought the elusive T206 Honus Wagner baseball card for $451,000. The American Tobacco Co. produced the T206 from 1909 to 1911, but only 50 were ever distributed to the public. As early as 1933, the card could supposedly fetch $50 on the collectibles market, which made it the most expensive baseball card in the world.
The year 1991 isn't only notable for the Gretzky/McNall purchase. It also marked the peak year for baseball-card sales. According to estimates from Sports Collector's Digest, card sales amounted to $1.2 billion in 1991, but by the end of the millennium total sales had declined to $400 million, and last year sales dropped all the way to $200 million. For followers of economics, the modern history of the baseball-card industry offers useful lessons about market responses to profit, anti-trust laws, business failure and inflation. (Read rest of article)