Twitter's influence on the current hobby boom....
Dpeck100
Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
I think there are a lot of us that have been active in the hobby for awhile that are fascinated by the recent surge in activity in the trading card market. There are many that are scratching their heads wondering if this is real or just another bubble happening right before our eyes. Having witnessed meteoric rises in so many cards one doesn't really know what to think.
I signed up for Twitter in 2014 but never really used it and then once the media became obsessed with Trump's tweets I started visiting it frequently. At first I just would read his tweets and the comments and then I became a little more active but not much. A few years later I stumbled on wrestling posts and saw many posting the programs and photos and other types of memorabilia so I jumped in. One of the things that got me so interested in the Wrestling All Stars cards was matching the photos used for the cards to their use in print in the magazines they produced and programs. I started posting side by sides of the card with the program and got a good response. I have kept at it and I can tell you it has brought more attention to the cards than probably any other platform I have been on. I get contacted frequently by new collectors looking to pick my brain.
I don't have many followers so I have to hashtag and tag various pages to get any exposure and hope for some retweets and a post might get heavily viewed. I have had a few that retweeted by big stars like Jerry Lawler and the tweet goes from crawling along to exploding because of his million followers. That said there are some guys on Twitter who don't and the second they hit go its a firestorm of activity.
Gary Vaynerchuk has 2.1 million followers. If he posts something in seconds the number of likes just starts exploding. The comment section does the same. The amount of reach he has with his 2.1 million followers is incredible. In the past year he made an appearance on the Rich Eisen show 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmXlZidqDuQ indicating he thought cards were going to get hot. He put his money where his mouth was and started buying heavily and posting his buys and picks on Twitter and a wave of of buyers followed. He is a hot topic because some like him and others don't but what can't be denied is his massive influence of getting people back into the hobby.
Another major influencer and really what prompted me to start this thread is Phil Hughes. https://twitter.com/PJHughes45
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hughes
A few months back I saw one of his posts and skimmed through it and moved on to the next because he was mostly discussing modern rips and I have no real interest in that. He has an extremely active Youtube channel Phil's Pulls https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4zH7QBYi7MT4d5HuhFulCg.
Yesterday he made this tweet.
Phil Hughes
@PJHughes45
The card hobby is absolutely booming right now. If you recently started collecting I want to hear about it. What inspired you? What do you collect?
I saw it and decided to read the comments which are now at 410. You would be stunned at the responses and how many people in droves are coming into the hobby. The stories in many cases are what you would expect that many are in their 30's and 40's and are coming back to what they did in their childhood. Many are bored at home with no sports and many others are looking to flip cards to generate income.
There is so much activity taking place on social media platforms surrounding cards and the excitement that many are showing leads me to believe this train is just leaving the station. None of us know where prices ultimately will land but I can tell you from witnessing this activity firsthand and participating in some that there are loads of new collectors showing up and that is why bid lists are getting longer on EBAY and frenzied buying is taking place. In the stock market you can create artificial supply but in the card market you can't and so prices can expand exponentially with an increase in demand. There aren't enough cards available right now to satisfy this tidal wave of buyers.
Many on here post on various card message boards and are just talking to other existing collectors. Twitter is reaching non collectors and enticing them to jump in. The reach is incredible and I think you are going to see an even greater number of hobby participants get in on this movement and social media is going to drive it.
These are my thoughts and I am curious if others are active on Twitter and are seeing the amount of posts related to cards and how active it is.
Comments
I agree 100%. Sports (old time clips), auction houses, and individual collectors post frequently. Follow your interests and you will find like individuals.
Agree with the agree! Haven't delved into twitter just yet, but for the most part "people's collections" seem to be the ones on Instagram. It seems most don't even have personal accounts, just ones dedicated solely to their collections. Then super easy to see others with like interests. It all comes to you.
I do posts periodically on Instagram and there is a ton of card content on there. Especially gaming and basketball. If you tag PSA in your posts sometimes they will share them on their page and you will get a lot of exposure.
To me Instagram seems to have more people who are familiar with the material that I post and Twitter many are seeing wrestling cards for the first time. Either way I know that the effort has broadened their appeal so not only am I having fun but it is increasing their desirability.
Great post & theory! Many of us are looking for a legitimate reason for the tremendous run-up in cards. Many theories have been posted recently. I never thought of the social media aspect. Hopefully a new breed of collectors, hobbyists, and investors (not spectulators) come on board
I know that the effort has broadened their appeal so not only am I having fun but it is increasing their desirability.
And to echo emar's sentiments. It most certainly is. A lot of it is simply putting things they've never been exposed to or even aware of its existence in front of their faces and then it goes into "must have" mode. All of a sudden you have a plethora of fresh bidding faces for relatively rare material, prices start to climb quickly.
This post obviously highlighted Twitter but in reality it is all the platforms. Facebook card groups, Youtube videos, Instagram pics and Tweets.
In the article that was posted recently about breakers the social media element in many ways is what is driving it and the ability for people to interact in real time just adds to the excitement.
Content is king in the world we live in today and so people are constantly looking for things to entertain themselves with digitally and showcasing cards has exploded. Every single one of the breakers they interviewed for that story do it online in real time and add their own personal spin to the process. There are countless Youtube channels now talking about the hobby and so the more information that is out there the more people want to get in.
I personally believe that humans get turned on by rising prices and actually are more apt to act when that scenario is taking place. I find myself looking last night at the Heritage completed auctions of PSA 10 Jordan's and just kick myself for not snagging one when they were in the low 20's several years ago. That said they were retreating and so human nature is to wait for further price decline instead of just picking a spot. Once they start rising now the fear of being left out is greater than the fear of losing and the pile on effect occurs. It is incredibly impressive that a PSA 10 went for 96k and this is just another example of with collectibles once the horse leaves the barn it can run and run fast and never return. A Jordan isn't going back to 23k at this point.
I had a conversation with Joe Orlando last year and in it we were talking about content creating more interest in cards. He agreed. When PSA opened up their SMR and pop reports is exactly when their submission levels started to rise. People like information and the more informed a person is on what they are buying the more apt they are to make the purchase.
One thing that is happening is "flip life" is a big trend and so if anything suggests caution it is this. As Gary Vee predicted the sneaker heads have moved to cards and so much of that market is simply the greater fool theory and the belief that prices will continue to rise. It is shocking how big the sneaker trading market is. There are a lot of speculators moving in and so much of the buying is done to try and quickly resell in the future to someone else. Clearly making strategic buys where you know you can turn something over and either profit or keep pieces for yourself takes place all the time but the wave of buyers just playing the momentum will lead to some parts of the market where someone is left holding the bag. That said just like in the stock market people love action and will keep playing and so I think we are going to continue to see robust activity for awhile. I also believe that because humans love status symbols the higher the prices go the more people will want the merchandise.
In the Heritage auction there were two super refractors that went for over 100k. I don't follow baseball closely anymore and wasn't aware of these two players but obviously they must be popular to have their cards achieve this level. That said think about it. Over 100k for cards that are less than 10 years old. Mike Trout has a card in Goldin auctions that has a current bid of 220k +BP. Serious money is flowing into the card market and it isn't just going to stop overnight.
I think there was a thread earlier here about "what if there were a tv show about cardboard and what would be the name of it?" a few weeks back. Well as David stated above, it's already here. And 1000s of different channels to watch. To the big ballers to the the young kid that was lucky enough to be in target when excel restocked prizm. So many different characters and presentation. It really is a new wave and if you've been stuck in the old ways of collecting, is really eye opening when you draw back the curtain. Us old farts sit back and talk about these prices, bubbles and how that record price just had to be shilled. And yes, shilling does still occur, but there is so much action on so many different platforms that it is mind boggling and more importantly, very encouraging. And while you may think that young'ens these days are only into their phones and not interested in cards, just don't forget...they are using their phones to post, sell, buy, trade and break cards. These kids are hustlers getting their side hustles on. We did chores to buy cards, they break and flip cards not to have to do chores. And some of them are paying other to do their chores. Pretty funny actually.
Dpeck, tulip mania does come to mind. One has to be careful in the current market.
I got burned in the 2016 ''buyers group'' hype.
Flip side of the coin, too many times I've waited for the better price on a vintage low pop card and missed out big time.
I've learned to go after aggressively the more rare items. It's years til you get a 2nd chance
A few aren't, but for the most part, i think prices have started to exceed the buying group peak. As with a lot of things in life, You're always good if you have the ability to hold. Ie current stock market. A lot of the flippers buying on credit were the ones left holding the bag on that one. Don't get me wrong, I still have 2 cards that chide my pride, but for the most part all of those purchases seem pretty decent right now.
I have been doing some selective buying this year and actually on the margin have been a net seller. I just sold the DJT rookie I tried discussing on here for a $1,000. There are cards like this that have gone parabolic.
What has really happened is many of the cards I own have gone up on paper significantly and so time will tell how it plays out but I am a collector so not rushing for the exits.
My big focus generally is to buy raw and try and self sub and so I am working on another big stack currently and have some nice stuff in the hopper I plan to send in.
Over the long term you can't go wrong buying what you want and especially if you have to wait years to get it. Time is money and you can't put a price tag on pride of ownership.
Some of the buyers group prices were far surpassed this time around. If you had held, you were handsomely rewarded in basketball--Jordans.
Nah didn't sell. I panic bought the 74 Winfield while having a brief run-up. $650 for a 9. Hasn't got anywhere close since.
$$$$$$ Attention frenzied buying people. Lotsa great 70s, especially the 1974 Dave Winfield #456 $$$$$$
Apparently Kang disagrees! Haha.
I think if people are jumping back in only because they are bored and have extra money to spend right now, many will as quickly depart when they see prices drop back down once things balance out. I'm sure some will stay, but many will bail.
I am constantly getting direct messages on Twitter asking for advice on cards. I personally think we are in the midst of a major boom and it may lead to a bubble or already be a bubble but I think it isn't ending anytime soon. People are hooked and I don't think that just stops on a dime.
So many are trying to "hustle" or "fliplife" and so in some cases someone is going to get left holding the bag but not in all.
Time will tell how this plays out but it seems like the momentum just keeps increasing.