General Forum

Hi,

Been a collector in and out of the hobby since the early 1980s.  Was out of it for a while, got back into it with my son and now this card explosion and shift in the hobby has happened.  Okay I get it, the late 80s, all of the 90s and most of the 2000's brought us large volumes of cards.  Here we are in 2020....  The card companies changed the game on us, making a pack of cards akin to playing the lottery or pull tabs...  With how many different "sets" that are out there is it no different than the high volume era (better known as the "junk era?")  I mean with anywhere from 3-15 different colored cards, aren't we just playing into the same game that one friend recently referred to as the junk bond era?  The quantity of cards are there, the prices have gone way up, making it impossible for a child without a 7 figure trust fund to get into the hobby honestly anymore, and the adults have taken the fun out of the hobby for others?  I can't buy a pack of cards for my kid these days, when I do the cards that most want aren't in there, because you have to buy them from a certain retailer, or get a certain set, or pay $4k for 8 cards as many cards exist.  Yes I like how the game has changed also, so I'm not totally one sided in this discussion, I love the autos, I love the relics, I love the serial numbered idea, I love the clever ideas each of the inserts do now. When I was collecting in the past, the base set was where the focus was, all the other cards were just there, now it's the other way around, the inserts/variations/parallels are the ones to focus on.  All star cards you couldn't give/trade away back in the day, today those are the cards that matter most.  I just want to see the discussion (forgive me if this already exists because I couldn't figure out how/where to find it so I started my own thread.) 

Good luck to all in the "hobby" including myself and son.

I agree with you, as I used to collect in the 80s but bailed in '92 when I felt that the price of packs were going 'way up' past my usual $0.50 expenditures. Nowadays, even if I did want to get a pack, they're definitely not $0.50 anymore. It definitely feels like one big get rich scheme, so that's why I collect for fun and skip the packs. If you and your son can enjoy the hobby by getting your cards through other methods then maybe it won't feel like one is getting ripped off from what is essentially gambling on hitting the big ones.

Regarding kids, my daughter sees me get cards from Ebay or through trades and wishes to just put some of her own in pages. She's asked when she can get a shipment of cards to sort through, so though I'm worried what kind of can of worms that might open, it does seem that spending $10 on a bulk lot of random cards might be all it takes to keep her interested. Maybe that's an option for the new collectors out there?

Your observations are in line with mine.

For me as a collector I have just adjusted my collecting. I also have taken breaks from the hobby so I have large gaps in my collection so to get the best bang for my money I have been buying older forgotten collection eras from people selling off their collections and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. The key for me is to try to find a buy that has a decent amount of stuff I don't have. Not too long ago I bought 20,000 cards for $30. A fair amount was junk era stuff I had but a good amount was cards from a time I wasn't collecting. Now any high profile rookies were out of there but there were a lot of stars and HOFers still in there.

For the kids it gets tougher. They maybe can't find the joy in collecting cards from the 90's? I'm not sure of the best way to keep things affordable for the kids but one idea might be to stick with lower end product and immediately sell any inserts/numbered/auto cards to recoup some of your spending and keep base cards.

Thankfully I find just as much joy digging through these collections and remembering guys from the 80's and 90's that were really good players.

I think the card companies are just responding to the wide and varied demands of the customer..

in general, I like new stuff as well, but usually stick with base only, for favorite team only, and no buying boxes

bulk of my $ go to vintage

I can see how it can be overwhelming to a new collector (or previous collector entering hobby again), so it is important for a new person to taste the different things out there and decide what they like best instead of feeling like you have to have it all..

mark 

It's probably closer to "yes" than "no". I saw that a few years back, it looked like Topps put out a set that could be sold at a decent price, called it Big League. When I got a few packs I said to myself "Huh? What's this crap?" It didn't seem like there was any Wow to the cards or the variety that I enjoyed as a kid in the 90s. 

Kind of the same for Upper Deck MVP for hockey. It's affordable for everyone, but I hate the shortness of the sets with the same 5 players from your team every year. Every trip to the local card shop is a debate about how much damage I want to absorb. Or to the Meijer/Target/Walmarts that usually end up with disappointment over the cleared shelves. I'm almost becoming "that guy" online, I started thinking about snagging 3 or more blasters when the price is right because, when am I ever going to see one of those again?

I greatly appreciate the replies/discussion here.  So far yes I am just flummoxed by the amount of cards, any one set (inserts and variations) can contain 1-50 cards (IN THE SAME YEAR/SET) of the same player?!?!?  How is anyone supposed to enjoy the card(s) when there are that many out there, and why are the "values" so high for said cards?  I mean no different than the junk era, just different types of cards and are we all buying into it?  I ask not to insult anyone, but to have a real discussion, as I've gotten so into it, and miss it so much (pandemic/shelter and all) that I am struggling to even get my kid into it just because I can't guarantee I'll have an extra $20-100 sitting around every time we return/walk back into a retailer and he sees a box on the shelf if he does ever find a box on the shelf anymore.  I was speaking to a man who stocks these big retailers, and they're now treated like armored car drivers..  Has the hobby become that monetized that we're bitcoining everything that we all used to know?  (yes I have investments in crypto as well as I'm a commodities trader) so seeing what's happened to the hobby has me thinking from every angle, do I love it for the money, or do I love it because it brings me back to the age of innocence?  I want my son to grow up in not as fast a world as we're living in today, yet I don't want him behind the curve either when it comes to what's happening around us and even the things that were supposed to bring joy to our lives are actually a hurry up and survival of the fittest style game now.

Yes

It's a business to them, and a hobby for most of us.

And by the way, congratulations are in order because I don't believe anyone's ever used "flummoxed" on a thread here.

I recommend trying to find a decent card shop if you can. There's one near me that, in addition to the expensive stuff, has quarter and dime boxes where I can hunt for my teams and players. Usually just the ones that have little value, but sometimes I come up with one that's worth a lot more on here (take that lightly). Definitely a great option to build up a personal collection quickly, and also get your kid to develop a taste for picking what looks good to him.

Another hidden gem can be antique or resale stores. Did the quarter and dime thing at one of those near me too, with less selection obviously. But recently I was on a trip to Kentucky and found two packed shoeboxes for $10 each.

I agree. It is pretty bad when, if youa re a set builder, (I am) then you spend $400 on 4 boxes of Stadium Club, or $75 a box on Topps Update. But, we have seen this before, a surge has happened, and, as usual, the penduleum will swing back. As early as 2018 you could get your boxes for $50 - $60 a box and that isn't bad, considering they are now $220 to $275 a box. I just keep collecting and hope I get my sets built. As soon as my sets are built, I stop and move on, because I don't care if I build the sets for the inserts. Back in the day you might get 1 or 2 inserts a box, now it's 1 or 2 per pack.