Will digital cards end grading as we know it?
ndleo
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Random Saturday morning thought. I was looking at Barry Sanders autograph cards and noticed a few "digital cards" being sold on ebay. I assume there is some type of NFT aspect to it. I'm a newbie when it comes to the NFT stuff so I don't really know.
If the digital cards take off, does this mean that grading will become less important in the hobby? I'm not even sure how grading would even be necessary for digital card but maybe I'm missing something.
Mike
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Digital cards have their own, separate space in the hobby. It's not a zero sum game. I think both digital and physical will continue to grow in popularity in their own ecosystems with their own sets of pros & cons. Not needing to grade a digital card is just one such aspect. But physical cards are here to stay. The hobby has never been more lucrative for manufacturers.
Arthur
Art - I would hope physical cards stay as the main part of the hobby. However the overall trend in the world in general is towards digital. Heck I'm in process of scanning my entire collection so I can view them digitally rather than dragging out the golden case.
I worked at a major DVD replicator in the mid-2000's. When I started the parking lot looked like a high-end luxury card dealer. Two years later I was auctioning off all of the assets in the replicating facility. While we all knew that streaming was coming, the DVD biz collapsed on the anticipation of streaming. Change can come quicker than we expect.
I personally think digital is more of fad but I also thought Bitcoin was fad, so I'm a poor prognosticator of the future.
I have zero interest in digital properties, NFTs right? Just not like holding a card in hand just bytes in the ether. Been in IT for 30+ years and just don't get it. And in 20yrs (if I am still kicking) I'll kick myself for missing the boat. So be it.
I am not one for digital cards but I can see one aspect that would be appealing. The space my current collection of paper cards takes up would be much easier to deal with if all the cards were digital. lol
I agree with you about the trend and I think that's one reason why digital cards are increasing in popularity. But I think of digital cards more as a complimentary piece to physical rather than its own unique entity in direct competition with digital cards. Like I said, it's not a zero sum game.
I love having a digital collection on my phone that I can open and trade, rip packs, complete sets, etc anytime I have 3 minutes to kill. It reminds me of being a kid and getting together with my friends and everyone having their binder of cards. Except this a few hundred thousand friends. I'm Black VIP most months so I'm probably on the higher end of spenders on the app (I've been active daily since 2014 and have a Top 1% account).
I don't do it because I think I'm going to cash in one day. I do it because it's fun and is worth it in entertainment for me. But despite all of this, I don't think there's a chance digital overtakes physical in the next 20+ years and I doubt ever. Digital cards just lack far too many of the idiosyncrasies that OCD and neurotic collectors want in their collection. The enjoyment from collecting physical cannot and will never be able to be replicated by collecting digital.
Arthur
Hope digital cards go crazy and make cardboard nearly worthless. My collection would be simply amazing if that happens. Ty Cobb’s for $.25 and Babe Ruth’s $1.00. Bring on the digital revolution! Think cardboard will always be collected - but I can dare to dream.
My answer, based on similar experience, is no. I'm a card and video game collector. Over the past dozen years or so the game industry has been increasingly digital. Not just for new games, but emulation of retro classics such as the mini Nintendo and Sega plug & play consoles. I heard all the doom and gloom predictions about physical games crashing in value, but the opposite has happened. Despite most classic games being available digitally (and for very low prices), collectors still like physical product. There has been little to no crash of physical game prices, and I don't see card collectors suddenly (or even gradually) deciding to abandon physical cards.
Personally, I prefer owning "things" not digital representations of things. that could very well be a function of my age. I do understand tastes vary
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I wonder sometimes looking at my collection who has a larger stockpile that likewise has never scanned a single card. When I want to look at my cards, I want to look at my cards. I realize that’s an old mans outlook but one I don’t see changing for me. The next generation ….maybe not.
The funny thing about digital cards, despite only being around for almost a decade, is that I actually have fond, nostalgic memories of many of them. The award card aspect is a great pro for digital cards and I have many very low (<100 count) award cards that I remember jumping through sixty hoops to earn and they're simply not for trade because of that.
12 Days of Rickey was both extremely stressful and extremely enjoyable. The award card was his '80 rookie and it ended with just 40 people earning it. I'll never trade mine.
Arthur
I've been in the Arcade and Console EMU "game" since 1996! But building arcade cabs and customized control panels as hobby is probably OT here.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)