Do kids still play with cards ?

JimTyler

When we collected cards in the 60’s we knew the key players for sure. Open up a wax pack and find a Mickey Mantle and the excitement was what it was all about. We traded, clothes pinned commons to the spokes of our bikes. If price guides existed we didn’t know it. Kids still doing stuff like that.

pdoidoi

I think things are so very different now. When we were kids in the 1960's through maybe the 1980's we would walk to our local market and buy a few packs at about 10 cents a pack. We were out of the house probably all day, come home for dinner and back out for a couple more hours. I rarely see kids out in the neighborhood now .I can remember seeing all types of cards as a kid and young adult in so many markets and stores.. Now I only see cards in Walmart and Target. I would guess that kids do not collect like we did years ago.
Great question.

ElMagoStrikeZone

When we were kids in the 60s, we would purchase our packs from the corner market. For a stick of sugary chewing gum.

Today's kids will purchase packs with hopes of cornering the market on a 1/1 Emerald Diamond Ruby Plutonium Space Gem Mint Hottest New Athlete card. No gum allowed.

handyman

I thought you couldn’t even pull the super awesome 1/1. But get a redemption card that may or may not exist because of expiration. And hope it doesn’t get lost in the mail if not.

georgebailey2

Granted, I didn't start until 1972. I do have two older brothers that had some cards from 1967 to 1970. I have never seen a trading card clothespinned on a bicycle in the wild.

Are there board members here who legitimately used a trading card, not a playing card, in this manner?

JimTyler

“Are there board members here who legitimately used a trading card, not a playing card, in this manner?”

Of course. Actually you would cloth pin it to the frame so the card would sit between the spokes. It would spin and click. Faster you road the faster it clicked. I think we pretended it was our engine. We didn’t have access to playing cards. I don’t remember them in our house. Only the most common were used. I’m certain my tiny corner of the world wasn’t alone.

craig44

I started in the 80's and I can say that by that time, kids were no longer flipping cards. I would guess that ended sometime in the early 80s with the proliferation of the annual price guide. I think the beckett monthly started around 84. When I started in 87, 9 pocket pages, penny sleeves, top loaders etc were all very much in use and the condition of cards was paramount.

Neanderthal

I wonder how many times this scenario played out in the 1950s? I cringe just thinking about it.

azvike

@JimTyler said:
“Are there board members here who legitimately used a trading card, not a playing card, in this manner?”

Of course. Actually you would cloth pin it to the frame so the card would sit between the spokes. It would spin and click. Faster you road the faster it clicked. I think we pretended it was our engine. We didn’t have access to playing cards. I don’t remember them in our house. Only the most common were used. I’m certain my tiny corner of the world wasn’t alone.

"raises hand"...we did it as kids. Only for 1 summer as I recall, because as soon as we saw older kids mounting lawn mower engines on their bikes we realized how lame it was...LOL

pab1969

No. When I was growing up (late 70's), we used to compete against each other flipping Topps baseball cards matching the team colors. Each player would have a deck of at least 20-30 cards to compete with. Winner takes all. I remember arguments would break out over color shades that wouldn't exactly match up. Nowadays the cards are so stupid looking that I lost interest in anything modern.

RiveraFamilyCollect

I don't think kids do baseball/football cards.
There are plenty of people who do Magic the Gathering or differenct collectable card games. But sports cards? No seems old hat.

STLKabong

@RiveraFamilyCollect said:
I don't think kids do baseball/football cards.
There are plenty of people who do Magic the Gathering or differenct collectable card games. But sports cards? No seems old hat.

My niece's 12 yo son and his buddies get-together and open baseball cards (as well as Pokemon, etc.) and use their tablets to research the player/card and look up value. Not a chance a card sees a bicycle spoke.

ElMagoStrikeZone

@azvike said:

@JimTyler said:
“Are there board members here who legitimately used a trading card, not a playing card, in this manner?”

Of course. Actually you would cloth pin it to the frame so the card would sit between the spokes. It would spin and click. Faster you road the faster it clicked. I think we pretended it was our engine. We didn’t have access to playing cards. I don’t remember them in our house. Only the most common were used. I’m certain my tiny corner of the world wasn’t alone.

"raises hand"...we did it as kids. Only for 1 summer as I recall, because as soon as we saw older kids mounting lawn mower engines on their bikes we realized how lame it was...LOL

Yup. My neighbor 2 doors down was a mad scientist. His name was Brian. Brian took a Little Red Wagon, mounted a steering column on the handle and added a bucket seat and a motor. We took turns riding that thing to the end of a cul-de-sac down the street. Bike spoke cards became ancient history to us.

georgebailey2

@JimTyler said:
“Are there board members here who legitimately used a trading card, not a playing card, in this manner?”

Of course. Actually you would cloth pin it to the frame so the card would sit between the spokes. It would spin and click. Faster you road the faster it clicked. I think we pretended it was our engine. We didn’t have access to playing cards. I don’t remember them in our house. Only the most common were used. I’m certain my tiny corner of the world wasn’t alone.

Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the purpose and the process. All I am saying is I am 60 and never saw a trading card used in that manner. Playing cards? Yes. Those were plastic coated and were not only more durable but made a much louder sound. Consequently, no one I knew ever used a trading card. My grandparents and parents were more card players so there were many decks around. And with four kids, many decks made useless by missing cards. Thus, the supply was there.

I also grew up in a neighborhood where many collected. We traded. A lot. We rarely played games. Only remember flipping (leaners) a few times as the cards would get too dinged up. Covering the card was more common. Can't recall if there was a specific name for the game. A card was put down and you would take turns standing over and dropping a card at a time from waist height. Whoever dropped the card that fully covered the initial card got the pile.

Also, may I ask how old you are?