Part of it for me is I am terrible at starting conversations, online or in person. I can sit and watch people for hours and not say much if anything. At parties I keep to myself, same at concerts, at the bar, out with friends, etc. I will respond to questions/statements, but don't count on me starting a lot of conversation.
That said, it seems like in the last year or two it's been a lot of the same threads over and over. "Topps sucks, we need competition", "who should I have grade my cards/should I get my stuff graded", "I got damaged cards, what should I do?" "I hate redemptions" (both of these often piggybacked with the Topps Sucks thread) I feel like it's overwhelmingly negative and I catch myself being just as negative in responding. Add that to a lack of product a collector can just open and enjoy without having to worry about getting value back. Dropping $5-10 on a new product to sample is barely giving it a chance or in some cases not even able to give it a chance. Who actually LOOKS at the cards anymore when you spent $20-$200 (or more) on them, it's becoming a matter of "I'd better get SOMETHING for my money". It's getting too difficult to focus on things besides the money when $20 is the starting point. The oddball stuff isn't coming out like it did years back. When was the last time you saw a police set issue? or a gas station slurpee coin type giveaway? The closest I can remember around here is a 2005 Minnesota Twins Medallion promotion between Speedway/Super America gas stations and the local paper, but even that was get the paper, clip the coupon, go to the gas station, buy the medallion for $3+ tax and wait until the next day, building a set a was a $75 or so investment in a 25 day span, and then the last day of the giveaway:
This happened
There just isn't the volume of stuff around, what is there is more readily available across the hobby, and quite honestly, everyone seems a lot busier now than they ever have been, and other things are taking priority. Even in the Bench Sim league I see posts from people who won't have access for days at a time. I was on every night for I don't know how long, but in the last few months, I'm finding myself not at home at night to log on, and if work is busy, that's not always an option like it is today. I wasn't home last night, I wasn't on a couple nights before that, I know at least two days last week I wasn't on, it's easy to lose track of threads when you are not constantly checking. Like your action card thread, if I hadn't seen this thread, I wouldn't have known about it to post because I hadn't checked card talk in a day or two and tomorrow and Friday are typically days I don't access the Bench from work much
That said, it seems like in the last year or two it's been a lot of the same threads over and over. "Topps sucks, we need competition", "who should I have grade my cards/should I get my stuff graded", "I got damaged cards, what should I do?" "I hate redemptions" (both of these often piggybacked with the Topps Sucks thread) I feel like it's overwhelmingly negative and I catch myself being just as negative in responding. Add that to a lack of product a collector can just open and enjoy without having to worry about getting value back. Dropping $5-10 on a new product to sample is barely giving it a chance or in some cases not even able to give it a chance. Who actually LOOKS at the cards anymore when you spent $20-$200 (or more) on them, it's becoming a matter of "I'd better get SOMETHING for my money". It's getting too difficult to focus on things besides the money when $20 is the starting point. The oddball stuff isn't coming out like it did years back. When was the last time you saw a police set issue? or a gas station slurpee coin type giveaway? The closest I can remember around here is a 2005 Minnesota Twins Medallion promotion between Speedway/Super America gas stations and the local paper, but even that was get the paper, clip the coupon, go to the gas station, buy the medallion for $3+ tax and wait until the next day, building a set a was a $75 or so investment in a 25 day span, and then the last day of the giveaway:
This happened
There just isn't the volume of stuff around, what is there is more readily available across the hobby, and quite honestly, everyone seems a lot busier now than they ever have been, and other things are taking priority. Even in the Bench Sim league I see posts from people who won't have access for days at a time. I was on every night for I don't know how long, but in the last few months, I'm finding myself not at home at night to log on, and if work is busy, that's not always an option like it is today. I wasn't home last night, I wasn't on a couple nights before that, I know at least two days last week I wasn't on, it's easy to lose track of threads when you are not constantly checking. Like your action card thread, if I hadn't seen this thread, I wouldn't have known about it to post because I hadn't checked card talk in a day or two and tomorrow and Friday are typically days I don't access the Bench from work much
