Economists will eventually declare whether the nation’s economic woes fit the official definition of a recession, but the mere fact the term is being batted around as often as it’s been is enough to suggest things aren’t all that great on Main Street, U.S.A.

Economic slowdowns worry people in a variety of industries, and the sports collectibles business is one such industry. When times are tough, people tend to prioritize their spending. Hobby pursuits such as trading cards tend to get pushed down on the list.

But it might surprise some to recall that the hobby’s so-called “boom years” of the late 1980s and early 1990s took place during a time when the U.S. economy was entering a recession. Card values for vintage material were increasing on a steady basis, new card products and companies were arriving at a rapid rate and investors and speculators couldn’t get into the card market quick enough.

Why did our hobby grow at unprecedented levels when the economy as a whole was performing so poorly? A confluence of several events helped ignite the demand on the consumer level. Throughout the decade of the 1980s, there had been a renewed interest in older baseball cards, particularly those from the 1950s and ’60s. Youngsters from that era had grown up and were looking for items that reminded them of those years. Because so many of their original cards had been lost or survived in poor condition, demand for the remaining cards from that era was rekindled.

Increased demand resulted in an increase in values. As word started to spread around the country that baseball cards were appreciating in value, other collectors came out of the woodwork.

As values for older cards increased, the natural assumption was that modern releases held similar investment potential. As rookie cards of stars like Mickey Mantle or Pete Rose had increased at robust rates, buyers started hoping to hit even bigger rewards by stocking up on hundreds, if not thousands, of rookie cards of other can’t-miss prospects such as Eric Davis, Gregg Jefferies and Jim Abbott.

The news media around the country fueled some of this frenzy with stories that bragged about the return on investment in baseball cards as being far superior to what stocks and bonds were offering. Some dealers even offered to create investment portfolios of cards. Give the dealer $5,000, and he would build a collection of cards that he believed had the best opportunity to appreciate in value over the next few years.

Is a similar boom period in the cards – so to speak – for our hobby if a recession takes hold in 2008? Probably not. After all, the price surges we saw for older material were influenced by a large group of new buyers in the market.

In addition, the cash needed for someone to enter the market at that time was relatively low. Today, most people are well aware of the potential value of cards, and the startup costs of entering as an investor are much higher. Remember, back then you were buying mostly raw cards. Today, most of those same investment quality cards have been slabbed and graded and sell for premium prices.

If you wanted to take your chances on speculating on new cards, the startup costs are also much higher than 15-20 years ago, as are the risks. Only a certain percentage of new releases enjoy noteworthy gains in market value, and it’s harder to buy in the quantities needed to make most speculators happy.

Tough economic times could mean a renewed interest in lower-priced cards and memorabilia, but the same kind of investor-fueled frenzy that sparked the hobby’s boom period isn’t likely to be repeated anytime soon.