Yah know, I'd like to see some "cheap" cards come back.

Brian48

I stopped collecting altogether sometime in 92-93 when the hobby was just starting to take off in really weird directions. I've only returned to it this past fall and only as a "casual" collector at that. The one thing I've noticed is that most, if not every, card issue seemed tailored for the adult in mind. Nothing for the kids.

The only reason why I'm still interested today is because I started with .25 packs back in 1978. There is no way in hell a 8-9 year kid can lump down $2-3 for pack of 8 cards, at least not often enough to complete a set. I'm really saddened that my two year son may never get the chance to stroll or pedal down to the neighborhood corner store with his friends, walk out with a bag of packs, and spend the summer flipping/trading or what not. It's one of the real joys of childhood that I always look fondly back upon.

You'd think it'd be worth of the one of the card company's while to produce a .50 (or lower) pack of "budget" cards, printed on inexpensive card stock with inexpensive packaging, and maybe even packaged with gum/candy for the younger crowd (investors need not apply). So what if they're never going to be worth anything. Most young kids wouldn't care about that anyway at the time. They just want a card of their favorite hero.

Man, this hobby has really changed. I see the same old men collecting the same old cards 30 year from now (if I live that long).

basketballcollector

Brian --

I couldn't agree with you more !!!

ajmoeller81

Funny you should mention this. I listened to the Topps 3rd quarter conference call this morning and they stated their intentions of definitely getting back into this market and bringing kids back to the hobby. You may get your wish soon enough!

ajw

You can find "cheap" cards out there. I bought a box of 2005 Topps Baseball for ten bucks. It had eleven packs and 8 cards per pack. No, it's not the $.35 pack that I bought in 1983, but it's not too bad when you consider inflation and the improved quality of the product. I bet if you go to the Wal-Mart next to your town's freeway you can find a box of baseball or football cards for ten bucks that will give you at least ten packs to bust open and a whole bunch of cards to flip through.

If you want packs for fifty cents, you can probably buy some at your local card shop that are a year or two old and don't have the hot insert/rookie cards to drive the price up.

Knuckles

A kid shouldn't have to go to a card store in order to get cheap packs. They should be located at the local corner stores like before. They need to start putting gum back into the packs. In '87 when I was 7 years old I bought packs of OPC hockey and half the reason I bought them was for the gum. I also bought items like 'Puck' I think it was called which was a choclate.. kind of like a wagon wheel treat which had 'Puck' proset hockey cards included. Cracker Jacks... Anyway the combination of a treat along with the cards is what got me started.

imwonderboy

I agree, this is no longer a child's hobby. I still remember the outrage when Upper Deck issued cards in 1992 that were $1.00 a pack! What's worse is I can buy a box of cards not for $100-150 and get about $20-30 worth of cards out of it. Just one reason I haven't bought wax in years. I prefer to invest the money in graded cards - atleast then I KNOW what I am getting. Packs today are OUT OF CONTROL and almost always give you back less than you pay.

Knuckles

Yep.. May as well buy lottery tickets instead of packs. Once in awhile I'll open my wallet for a $20 pack of cards.. I end up with $4 worth of cards always.

wick70

I don't think it's whether or not they can afford the packs, it's what they choose to purchase. Kids, today, have no problem with being able to afford Playstation 2 games, cell phones and iPods.

Wick

phreakydancin

<< <i>You can find "cheap" cards out there. I bought a box of 2005 Topps Baseball for ten bucks. It had eleven packs and 8 cards per pack. No, it's not the $.35 pack that I bought in 1983, but it's not too bad when you consider inflation and the improved quality of the product. I bet if you go to the Wal-Mart next to your town's freeway you can find a box of baseball or football cards for ten bucks that will give you at least ten packs to bust open and a whole bunch of cards to flip through. >>

I'm not a baseball collector, but have sets gotten smaller as well? I'm guessing you don't need to collect 800 or so cards to finish a set any more. Hockey sets are certainly smaller than they used to be.

Knuckles

Wick.. we're talking about ages around 7 to 10 year olds collecting hockey cards I believe, not teenagers. Teenager probably wouldn't collect because yeah things like having a cell phone.. ipod etc are cooler to have. If they had the chance though to collect at the age of 6+ maybe they would come back to the hobby when they're in their 20's like I did.

MajorDanby

<< <i>Once in awhile I'll open my wallet for a $20 pack of cards.. I end up with $4 worth of cards always. >>



I think it was Topps Retired Heritage or something like that....$40 dollars for one pack. First pack i ever bought that was more than $4.

I got a tom brunansky autograph card...worth probably 25 cents.

Lesson learned. If youre not big into gambling and not a fan of the modern card...don't shell out $40 for 6 pieces of cardboard.

That same day, i also was thinking of buying a product called EX....had very fancy packaging. $100 for like 4 cards.

Knuckles

It's so tempting to buy $100 packs of Ultimate to try and get a vintage signature cut but I won't because there's still too much of the newer players kicking in the sets.

Tabe

<< <i>]I'm not a baseball collector, but have sets gotten smaller as well? I'm guessing you don't need to collect 800 or so cards to finish a set any more. Hockey sets are certainly smaller than they used to be. >>


Absolutely they've gotten smaller. As pack prices have gone up, collectors have demanded that the player selection be better. It's bad enough to spend $4 on a pack of 6 cards and get no auto or jersey card. It's worse if the best player among the six is Hubie Brooks, ya know?

That said, there are still larger sets available - Topps Total, for example.

Tabe