Food for Thought...Any collectors important read!

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Interesting read. I for one actually enjoy sports cards and if the industry totally went away, I'd still collect. Actually for me the hobby has disappeared since I have not bought a pack of cards sionce 1992 and don't buy cards retail from dealers. There are other ways of acquirineg a ton of cards and I'm not talking about mass produced junk either.

The reason I enjoy card collecting is I happen to have a huge nostalgic streak in me. Because of that personality trait, I really enjoy card collecting and always will.
 
Interesting read. I for one actually enjoy sports cards and if the industry totally went away, I'd still collect. Actually for me the hobby has disappeared since I have not bought a pack of cards sionce 1992 and don't buy cards retail from dealers. There are other ways of acquirineg a ton of cards and I'm not talking about mass produced junk either.

The reason I enjoy card collecting is I happen to have a huge nostalgic streak in me. Because of that personality trait, I really enjoy card collecting and always will.

Agree with Symphonic Metal, Better than "just okay" as it causes one to think, which may beyond the desires of many in this environment.
Of course, we must also note that, living in the middle of no where (as SM does) one has much time to think, ponder one's navel, and wax philosophical about many topics. The motto in his neck of the woods is "ahead to the past".
Just remember: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be."
 
Agree with Symphonic Metal,The motto in his neck of the woods is "ahead to the past".

You are correct sir! That is my motto! I can only think of one thing that I like better today than I did "back in the day' and that would be music, thanks entirely to Youtube opening up a whole new world for that form of entertainment.. Other than that "AHEAD TO THE PAST!" I say.

I was surprised that the article said the hobby is doing really well right now. I know current issues are selling well right now but I think that is mostly due to boredom during the pandemic and could be a short term trend.
 
I agree Jeff. I think that is a short term trend, and may die down shortly.

I am also majorly nostalgic, and love the memories of growing up, going to the card shop next to my great aunt and uncle's beauty parlor with my beloved Grandmother who raised me, waiting for my Grandfather to come home on the train from his job at the Chicago Tribune....it reminds me of a really fun time in my life!

I have moved into mostly custom cut signature cards, whereas I was entirely ttm for many years, and still do a little bit. Never built sets, just went after players I liked.

I have walked away from this hobby many times, taken breaks, sold most everything, and I just keep coming on back! It is fun, and that is what I wish to keep it! This site has honestly been what has kept me in the hobby, all of you are awesome!!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
Glad to see that people took the time to read this and I agree that no matter where you stand on this subject it really makes you think. I personally have almost called it quits on several occasions but not because of the hobby itself but some of my experiences with others in the hobby. I also was a collector as a kid and didn't pick up another card for almost 30 years and I have to admit I was unpleasantly shocked at what happened to the hobby but I quickly got over that and jumped in with both feet. I love this hobby and I always will I have just learned to cut the negative aspects of the hobby out and just enjoy all the things about it as I did as a kid. One personal victory for me on one of my major turn offs about this hobby...Redemptions ! Panini is being sued and rightfully so I think Panini are crooks as it is but they take it even further with redemptions/reward points but that's another story all together. Hope everyone gets a little something from the article I know I did.

Ernie
 
I enjoyed the read.

I've jumped in and out of the hobby many times, selling everything I had at those times, but was always drawn back a few years later. I worked at a baseball card shop for 6 years during high school and college. I was able to make a name for myself in the Portland (Oregon) area and often had other shops trying to persuade me to come work at their shops, since I had done such a great job at the store I was at. Bob (Store Owner), shared his collecting passion with me and others and since he trusted me with his business, I chose to stick with him. I loved the hobby back then and couldn't wait to get to work, host a card show, or just interact with others in the trading community. Then I decided to join the Navy and didn't touch a card for 5 years or so. I've been in the Navy just over 19 years and I think I've taken a break from collecting about 5 times. Mostly due to operational commitments, deployments, or crazy work schedules that didn't allow me the time for the hobby. I've been back in it off and on for the past 8 years and am at another fork in the road about stopping again. I enjoy the hobby, but I'm starting to lose the nostalgia feeling and enjoyment I once had. I've been posting a lot of $12 LOTS lately to thin the collection out and rid myself of the cards I no longer feel have a place in my collection. Shifting my direction to Quality over Quantity has helped a little, but it's not as fun for me as it was in the past.

This web site has helped with my collection a lot and I've come to find that the honesty here is way better than most sites I've tried to trade/buy/sell on. I'm glad the site is back up and running and will give us an outlet to continue to build friendships and collections.

Sorry for the long read,
Billy
 
I can relate with Billy. I was in the Navy for 20 years and the collection pretty comes to a halt when you are 600 feet below the North Atlantic. But I for one have never lost the passion for collecting. I did dump a ton of doubles for pennies on the dollar. I sold 100,000 cards for 75.00 a few years ago. They were cards that I always thought I could trade but we all know how that works out. I have a very large collection and it continues to grow. A lot of the growth has to do with this site and I am really appreciative at all the changes and upgrades that have happened recently.. This is starting to bring more traffic to the site and hopefully will get my collection to grow some more. But I am getting up there in age and have had discussions with the family about what to do with the collection when I am one day gone. I have instructed my wife and kids to sell all of it. I know she will never get out of it what I put in. But the enjoyment I have gotten out of this hobby cannot be measured. I jst hope that one day someone else will get the same enjoyment that I have gotten over the past 40 years.

Thanks guys,

Bryon
 
I like Billy and Byron was in the service just not the Navy. Army for 20 years that caused some ebbs and flows in collecting. I retired in 2011 just wish I would’ve jumped back in then missed out on all the Trout RC other than Heritage Minors. Family commitments and finishing an online college degree kept me from being engaged all that much, finished my degree in December 19, and started back collecting it is something that I have missed as it is something that brings enjoyment only thing that is annoying is that some seem to be more interested in chasing the buck like all the people buying up retail products and trying to sell for twice the SRP. I have yet to find a blaster box of Bowman and even Gypsy Queen blasters have been cleaned out in my area.
 
I agree Jeff. I think that is a short term trend, and may die down shortly.

Here is a major reason I think the long term outlook for the hobby is bleak. The average age of baseball fans is 57 years old. I think the average age of card collectors is not going to be much younger than that.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...e-news-for-baseball/ar-BB15tjyS?ocid=msedgntp

Since baseball is the dominant force in sports card collecting and their fans are pretty much dying off, I just don't see the hobby being healthy down the road despite this recent resurgence.

I posted a topic about the popularity of football cards vs baseball cards and football cards lag well behind baseball in popularity. With football and basketball having younger fan bases, who for the most part don't collect cards, how can this hobby's future be anything but bleak?
 
The average fan may be 57 although I kind of doubt that is a hard number and depends on the area you are conducting the poll. But with how things are currently going money can be made in cards so people could be drawn to that aspect of it without being a "true fan".
 
The average fan may be 57 although I kind of doubt that is a hard number and depends on the area you are conducting the poll. But with how things are currently going money can be made in cards so people could be drawn to that aspect of it without being a "true fan".

I was thinking about that average age thing and one major flaw in that number is the popularity of baseball with Hispanics which is a much younger demo than whites. That poll almost seems to be an average age of 57 for white fans although the article obviosly does not mention that.

Short term you are correct about money being made but long term, I don't see that continuing.
 
The two guys above both make excellent points. I just posted earlier about the prices of cards from 1985 until now and how much the prices have sky rocketed. And the recent find that has been in the news has everyone dreaming of the ultimate find. But how much higher can even the vintage stuff go?
 
Thank you all for your service!

I can agree with the above statements, as I too am in and out, and can relate to what Billy said about quality over quantity, that is exactly where I am at with all of this right now!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
The only time I truly stopped actively collecting was a few years while in the Navy. I only stayed for 6 years active duty, and the flame started back up before I got out. It was the time I was in school, away from home for the first time, finding new adventures and ultimately punching holes in the water (only in the Pacific for me @mm1sub). I am sure we have spoken about this, but it has been years. I was a STS3(SS) when I got out, made 2nd class in the reserves before separating completely in 2000.

I think about walking away, but only because of the fact that my kids don't seem to have any passion for anything like this. I don't know if they ever will. Both dabbled very lightly at my pushing and never kept an interest, even when both were passionate about basketball (just not the cards). As I get older and the stuff piles higher, I just can't help but think what am I going to do with it all or what happens if I die untimely or w/o warning. I don't want to burden my family with a couple rooms full of collectibles to deal with.

That said, if my kids liked cards, then I would probably never think twice about stopping and just plan to leave it all to them to figure out what to do with. Assuming I still have a few decades left, I probably should start selling off in the near future, as it is going to take forever if I want to maximize my returns. I never collected for the perceived fiscal gains, but I have wrapped up a lot of $ into this after 40+ years and it is money that I can squeeze back out, at least partially. Some stuff I have purchased has definitely appreciated, other stuff has tanked. It all washes out in the end hopefully.
 
The only time I truly stopped actively collecting was a few years while in the Navy. I only stayed for 6 years active duty, and the flame started back up before I got out. It was the time I was in school, away from home for the first time, finding new adventures and ultimately punching holes in the water (only in the Pacific for me @mm1sub). I am sure we have spoken about this, but it has been years. I was a STS3(SS) when I got out, made 2nd class in the reserves before separating completely in 2000.

I think about walking away, but only because of the fact that my kids don't seem to have any passion for anything like this. I don't know if they ever will. Both dabbled very lightly at my pushing and never kept an interest, even when both were passionate about basketball (just not the cards). As I get older and the stuff piles higher, I just can't help but think what am I going to do with it all or what happens if I die untimely or w/o warning. I don't want to burden my family with a couple rooms full of collectibles to deal with.

That said, if my kids liked cards, then I would probably never think twice about stopping and just plan to leave it all to them to figure out what to do with. Assuming I still have a few decades left, I probably should start selling off in the near future, as it is going to take forever if I want to maximize my returns. I never collected for the perceived fiscal gains, but I have wrapped up a lot of $ into this after 40+ years and it is money that I can squeeze back out, at least partially. Some stuff I have purchased has definitely appreciated, other stuff has tanked. It all washes out in the end hopefully.


Great read my friend. I was active duty for 20 years. My time in the Navy cut into my collecting in some ways but not in others. While I had to keep the stuff I got in my car until I was on leave and could take it back home, it did allow me to visit shops around the country. I was in New Jersey for a few years, Connecticut for a bunch of years, Florida and Illinois. New Jersey and Florida had shops all over the place back then. New Jersey is where I picked up a bunch on vintage cards really cheap. A store bought a collection from a lady whose husband had passed. The 1960 Topps looked like they just came out of the pack. I bought the Yaz rookie for 35.00. I still have that card in my collection. But for the years I was over seas or the times I was on major deployments, the collecting came to a halt. There are not any card shops 600 feet below the North Atlantic.
 
I assume the internet and times in general have made it easier now too, for military collectors and everyone else alike. I got out before I really even knew what the internet was. I had a roommate with a computer and he would do stuff on it, but me and my other buddies were more interested in going to Waikiki whenever we had free time, bar hoping. I am still not sure what that guy did online (besides ****), but I recalled him talking about message boards at one time. There was no ebay yet and I had no interest in staring into a computer screen on my free evenings.

In a way, I am glad that I was in and out before things really changed in that regard. I'd hate to think that I would have spent all my liberty time online, surfing for cards.

I can also only imagine what kind of photos I would have collected overseas too, had I had the ability to take any picture at any time and not worry about the cost or manner in which to develop the film!

Now with smart phones in just about everyone's pocket, the world and especially the collecting world is a different animal. I only recently came out of my own prehistoric cave and started using the app and phone, otherwise before that I would check the computer each night and set up snipes for anything else. If I needed to check something during the day, it had to be incredibly important and I had to find some back door way like ebay canada, because corporate IT blocked regular ebay back then!
 
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