I had to rush off on Friday before finishing my post the way I wanted to, so I ended up sounding like a Debbie Downer; which was not my intention.
Yes, the pricing on what we consider to be "classics" is on a downward trend at the moment, for all the reasons many here have enumerated, but things can and will change with the passage of time.
The current market for these things might be driven mainly by nostalgia, which is generational and not sustainable, but if these racquets manage to survive past the next 30 - 50 years, they will be in the hands of people who are motivated by something entirely different. After all, those who pay a fortune today for antique cars, ancient relics, and war souvenirs from past decades and centuries are unlikely to have had any personal experience with those time periods and events. They value these items for their history, for their innate beauty and craftsmanship, and for their rarity. All of these objects were once common, and judged "worthless" by most people who had easy access to them after they stopped being useful. It is only through the efforts of the few who valued these artifacts more than everyone else that the items survived to this day.
Not all of our "classics" will appeal to future collectors; I would readily concede that most of what I have amassed probably won't, but there is also no denying that these racquets are attractive artifacts that perfectly encapsulate the spirit of their time in terms of technological innovation and artistic expression. At a glance, one can easily differentiate a racquet from the '60s vs one from the '70s or '80s, just like contemporary clothing and cars. While no one can predict exactly what people in the future will value, something that is rare, esthetically pleasing, and skillfully put together probably stands a better chance than most to command interest, especially if it had some historical significance.
This is why I think there will be renewed collector interest in racquets made in the '70s and '80s in the (distant?) future, not only because they represent a watershed moment in racquet technology evolution, but also because of the level of creativity made visible through their unprecedented variety in form and manufacture methods. Today's racquets might overpower those made 30 years ago on the court, but to a racquet collector 50 - 100 years from now, there can be no question which ones are more historically significant and interesting. A wall decorated with racquets from 1979 or even 1989 will contain a lot more conversation pieces than one decorated with 2019 offerings.
The one sad and inescapable paradox here is that in order for these racquets to gain value, more of them must be discarded or destroyed through wear and tear, owner neglect, or natural disasters. So the current (and perfectly natural) downward trend in pricing might actually benefit collectors long after we are all gone. So let us . . . rejoice?
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