What does everyone think about digital cards?
Copyboy1
Posts: 479 ✭✭✭✭
I'd be super curious to hear everyone's take on Top Shot and other digital cards.
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Copyboy1
Posts: 479 ✭✭✭✭
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Not for me.
Not for me. But I’m old.
I have a hard time putting a finger on it.
Well, when it comes to money, there seems to be a growing number of people who don’t care about actually having the money in hand, keeping it digitally. So I guess why not try it with other assets or physical things like sports cards. If it’s something where it’s like an image that can only be viewed with some password key that only the owner of that digital image has access to, then I think I would try something like that out. Especially if I could keep those cards/images on my devices.
No interest.
I don't
I have been using Topps Bunt since around 2014, more so in the last couple of years than the first few. I check in through out the day and get the free packs, wheel spins and such. I will never spend any money on them, but it is kind of a fun substitute for actually opening packs, which I stopped doing years ago. I do see people have spent money on the cards or coin/diamond packages. There is a reason those online games are so popular. Some people eventually end up spending real money to play them in general or play ad free. I have tried a few, got tired of waiting for the "lives refresh" and quit. The reality is though, at least for these, you can see the cards in the app. Even those you don't actually own. What is the difference owning the image as a card in your portfolio and having access to the same image? Nothing that I can see.
Love top shot moments and playing swyysh with them. It’s fun give it a try if you like basketball.
Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
To each their own, but I cannot seem to see how anyone would want to collect them. And I genuinely tried to reach a different conclusion.
not for me BUT i ripped a few boxes of national treasures. "landed" an mpj rpa "auto" /5. not gonna lie. was a lil pissed when i realized it was a digital card and not a real card.
but once i finally redeemed it, the offers started pouring in via panini site. so, while not for me, it's apparently crazy popular.
AND. not to steer the thread off course but if you think digital cards are crazy, look into nba top shot clips. yes, 10 sec clips that are issued in digital packs!
https://www.nbatopshot.com/
they go for CRAZY, CRAZY MONEY.
for clips you can youtube.
Yeah, that was the original article I linked - about Top Shot. Well into 5 figures for some. People post these on Twitter and the joke is always "He paid $75,000 for that and I just downloaded it free from this tweet!"
13 years ago, our wedding photographer reminded us that a negative can last hundreds of years, but just try and open a Word doc from 15 years ago. File formats change. I wonder what'll happen when the file format that Top Shot uses is obsolete?
Anyone tried to play any of the CD-ROM cards from the late 90s/early 00s recently?
Or even try to open a Word doc from then?
Interesting take that I hadn't considered.
I don't much care for digital cards. For whatever reason, I really like old paper. Old photos, postcards, trading cards, other ephemera. Maybe I owned a printing shop in a past life. I like the physical item and the idea of what went into producing it and how it has survived over the years. I don't feel similarly about digital files.
Neither would I care to ship my card to a vault in Oregon and only have a jpeg.
Call me old school.
Yes I know, my paycheck dollars go directly to a vault in cyberspace
lots of people store cards in safe deposit boxes. not much difference that I can see.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
if I want a "digital" card, all I would do is save a pic to my pc and BOOM. Wanna see my collection?
SCAregalia.com - Masonic Regalia & Supply
That's the same argument as "Why would I spend tens of thousands of dollars on a '52 Mantle when I can print out a copy at home and have that?" As long as people agree that something has value, it has value. You can have a bunch of .jpgs on your computer but no one is going to buy them from you. People are willing to buy digital baseball cards.
I've collected Bunt since the Android update in 2014. I've spent money on the app and have accrued a pretty decent collection (top 1%). I didn't do it because I thought I was ahead of some curve or that the cards would be worth millions one day. I just look at it as an entertainment cost.
To me, it's the closest thing there is these days to sitting around with my friends as a kid and trading cards. My entire collection is always with me and I can open packs or make trades anytime I want just by simply opening the app. That kind of fun and convenience is absolutely worth money to me, although you can collect for free.
Obviously, the "this digital card sold for a gazillion dollars!" headlines are what people mostly see and know about digital cards so I can absolutely understand the complete WTF perception many have. The truth is, digital cards are dirt cheap. You can buy a Mike Trout card limited to just 25 copies for about $25. The overwhelming majority of digital cards can be bought for under $2. It's just a lot of good, cheap fun.
Arthur
Nope
I am old and seen too much tech and digital fads come and go... I would not invest any serious $ in this myself. I do like the video clip aspect but just not that excited overall
I got into topshot at Christmas time..was much easier to buy then..invested a little over $500 and grew my portfolio to now over $12k...but I’m selling all to invest back into psa cards
It’s not for me...but also concerning to see people say they can’t cash out
Whatever happen to my etopps cards. Anyway to get those delivered after all these years?
Wasn't Bunt something like that? I have some kind of digital account - can't remember what?
Also, Panini has something like that also?
I think I only have about as much appreciation for them as my wife would have if I sent her a "Box of Digital Chocolates" for Valentine's Day.
Cant they just have a 1/1 where they put your face on the guy doing the big play? Id buy every Jordan possible. Or your face is the ball or something. Id buy my enemy's Bill Buckner.
i got them all.
Like any "scheme" a few who were in early enough or the few who are shrewd enough will profit most will take a loss. Actually that applies to many hobbies or investments those who are lucky or devious will make out OK, however most folks like myself fall in the between area.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
https://blacksportsonline.com/2021/03/blockchain-startup-that-sells-nba-highlights-makes-50-million-in-a-month/
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Here's a "classic" article back in 2015 regarding digital cards.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-the-hell-is-this-jpg-of-han-solo-worth-225-1726156785
...and a quote from that article to give perspective on ownership:
To most people, the idea of a digital trading card having any value just doesn’t make sense. It’s just an image, right? Well, yes and no. “It’s a digital object that you own,” said Ian Hundiak, a producer at Topps Digital. “You can go on Google Images and see what a piece of art looks like, but there’s something about owning it. The space of the app makes ownership feel important. Actually owning that card far outweighs the joy from just viewing it.”
I still don't see the appeal of "owning" a video that can be seen on Yotube...same exact clip...those who say we can make a copy of a card and it's the same thing -- it isn't...one is a card, the other is a copy of a card...with the clips, they are exactly the same
I'm old and digital cards are STUPID
> @stevebay said:
LOL digital WHAT? hahahahahahaha this sounds much like the crypto currency vs physical ownership thing.
Ya, I'll take physical 365 and 24/7 and not be an ounce apologetic about it thank you very much.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Of course this argument falls through easily. If I view the Mona Lisa on Google Images, I can't display it on my walls. If I were to buy a dedicated video board to display a digital card I own or one that I found on Google Images, what would be the difference?
The difference is, you can't sell it. A digital card, with a numeric fingerprint to show its authenticity, is sellable. Any other copy, no matter how identical, isn't.
I am little surprised Bunt never caught on.
I understand that, I just have a hard time trying to figure why anyone would want to buy it from me.
For me it comes down to the fact that a digital anything is just ultimately comprised of ones and zeros. A card is physical material that has a manufactured date and starting on that date it has a finite lifespan, it has the the ability to become less than mint, it's tangible, it can be held, it needs to be cared for in the right environment, the right holder, all that adds up to something that FEELS like it has value. A file that gets copied and moved around with the click of a button is cold, unwelcoming, unchanging, boring...but that's just me, I'm sure if you are more of an investor than a collector these things would faze you less. I liken the digital cards to fractional shares of collectibles, it's fine if you're looking to turn a profit but if you are truly looking to collect something I would imagine having a physical connection to something will always be paramount.
The idea of encryption and blockchain provenance is also still a fairly new and a novel idea in this hobby, in a few decades it may very well become the new norm as the younger generations take over the market, but I'm pretty sure old decaying cardboard will always have a following and will command a premium in the future.
Nailed it right here.
It all feels like The Emperor and his clothes to me.
People seem to get tied up with the concept of value. Why does a digital card hold value? Makes no sense.
You can say the same thing about any collectible. Why does a cardboard picture of a man sell for millions of dollars? It does because the community that collects those cardboard pictures have established a market and that card's market is that selling price.
I have absolutely no idea if there's going to be any long term value in these. Topps Bunt grows exponentially every year though. I could easily sell my Bunt account for thousands of dollars.
Digital cards are extremely fun and come without a lot of the bad stuff physical cards do. There's no shipping -- if you buy a card from me I can get it to you in 5 minutes. There's no need for grading -- no concern for authenticity, alterations, or sending your card off hoping to get a 10 when you get it back a year later. No worry about finding wax -- there's always packs available for you to open for whichever set you're working on, and the price is always roughly the same.
I know people are getting wrapped up in the prices but the Topps apps are really a cheap way to have a lot of fun.
Arthur
The concept of grading holders' cert numbers are facilitating our physical cards trending towards being a category of the NFT Marketplace. I'm having more and more sold items being shipped to buyer's PWCC vaults or to their COMC account boxes. Based on the NFT situation, there seems to be less difference every day now between the graded cards vs. digital cards. I think it is the explanation for the "egg" cards that were discussed recently on a different thread here, not just limited to sports cards vs. odder novelty items.
I find it interesting that there’s a lot of “get off my lawn” posts on this topic. When I saw NBA Top shot come along I was intrigued enough to drop $1,000 in it to see what it was about. I would have thought this board is the prime target audience for this product but maybe just off by a generation in age.
The Millennial’s today grow up with NBA 2k having digital stores of value rather than physical cards and maybe that’s the difference. Anyway I’d suggest everyone at least try NBA Top shot and buy some cards and packs. The packs are basically free money, it’s currently like getting a 1978 wax pack for $20 where even it you don’t hit a Molly the commons will sell for at least $30 and you come out ahead. And I mean $30 ten minuets after you open the pack not 9 months after sending in for grading.
You can also use your moments to play fantasy basketball called Swyysh for prizes which I love too!
Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
My biggest issue is the technology itself. I want to collect something I can hand down to my kids when I kick the bucket (hopefully) 40 years from now. I would be shocked if this technology is still around then.
They're not for me. I, like many others that have already posted, like to actually hold and feel my cards. One thing that would really worry me is what is stopping Panini/Topps/some really smart IT kid in his basement, from months/years down the road copying the image and "making" more of the same cards. At least with a physical card, the presses stop at some point and move on to the next years cards.
Blockchain prevents that. Think of it like a digital serial number that is linked to a gigantic transaction spreadsheet that is open source.
You can now get an NFT (the technology that makes individual digital "things") of Jack Dorsey's first Tweet... assuming you have $2 million (which is the current bid).
https://mashable.com/article/jack-dorsey-first-tweet-nft/?utm_content=tech&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=social&utm_campaign=mash-com-tw-main-link