Would you be in this hobby if it wasn't for Al Gore (wink, wink)?

frankhardy

How many of you out there would even be in the hobby if it wasn't for the internet? I collected as a kid, but due to all of the over production of the late 80's and 90's, I quite. Then, along about 2001, I got back into the hobby mainly because of Ebay. Now, I buy and sell on Ebay, and also buy from a good number of different sites.

yankeeno7

Shows would again be popular and also think prices for higher grade stuff would be down. Im sure that slabbed cards would hold a place in the hobby but not like they are today. I would most certainly be collecting.

Estil

Considering we have no sports card stores in this area, it would be impossible for me to be in this hobby w/o the internet.

Brian48

I got back in mainly because in 2004, the Red Sox made that great run that sucked me back in. I was very slow to forgive baseball for their player's strike. It was also the year in which my old favorite Roger Clemens made his resurgence in the NL. eBay has definitely made it easier for me to get back into the hobby, but it wasn't the factor that fueled my interest. I would have stuck with the old brick and mortar card shops if it wasn't around.

bigdcards

I found my way back to the hobby in 2002 without Knowing how the internet had changed things. I just was passing a card shop that I hadn't been to in 10 years and couldn't pass that time. But it would be so different without the internet. I'd be paying way more for wax and I don't know if I would have gotten into grading.

TJMAC

My return to card collecting was fueled by both PSA and the internet. I would maybe collect Topps sets from the 70's up without PSA, but there is no way I would buy any vintage star without them.

bifff257

THere is no question that the internet has Revolutionized the card industry... Like Estil said, I don't have any local card shop in my area either... All my buying is from the internet.....

Well except for that wonderful 1989 topps find I had last year from a co-worker..

kcballboy

Internet did it for me. I was sitting at the office one day in 02-03, trying not to work, and I decided to explore Ebay. I was just doing random searches, and I figured I'd see how much an Upper Deck Griffey rookie was going for. I started looking up prices of other cards I had, and pretty soon I realized I could afford a lot of the cards that seemed out of reach when I was a kid, and I've been back into it ever since.

Thanks Al Gore. I didn't like not having an addicting hobby to spend my money on.

Oh well, I guess it's better than being addicted to crack.

rube26105

LMAO- i remember something about al saying he invented the internet lol,poor guy, thanx al,billgates- i started collecting in 50's i suppose as my friends grandparents had a old mom and pop store, and we would go steal all the cards lol, (i was a great kid),internet sure makes it alot easier thats for sure,when i went in army computers were about as big as houses,now ya can carry one around in your pocket!
randy 66-92 us army ret

scooter729

I would definitely be collecting still, but it would be more difficult to find the vintage stuff that I like. I used to wait all year and count down the days to the big Wilmington show in November here in the Boston area, but it's not quite as big a deal any more.

Also, I bet the Internet has dried up many people's hopes of a yard sale-style "find" of vintage, since people have become much more savvy and aware of what they have now.

nightcrawler

<< <i> Oh well, I guess it's better than being addicted to crack. >>




I don't know??? Them crackheads really like their crack

thedutymon

Good day,
December 1997, discovered E-bay. Sold the last 50-60 boxes of Vintage comics (From my 20 year collection of over 100,000) over the course of the next year. I was just finishing up, getting to the last box. I discovered a box of Non Sports I had set aside 20 or so years before. Over 100 Mars Attacks, several Outer Limits sets, 1000's of singles mostly from 60's, all Non Sport. Over the course of a couple of months I sold over 5K worth (10 times what I was making on the dregs of my Comic collection.)
Been hooked ever since: Ebay 100 % positive 1150 Feedbacks, 3000+ transactions.
Neil

Ladder7

I don't know about card collecting, but I've met some pretty hot jpegs in my years of surfing!

perkdog

I blame PSA and the internet both equally for dragging me back into the hobby.

jimq112

<< <i>Considering we have no sports card stores in this area, it would be impossible for me to be in this hobby w/o the internet. >>



I think there would possibly be more sports cards stores in your area if there was no internet. Ebay killed the stores in my area, the prices were higher at the card shops, there was much less to choose from, and condition didn't matter.

I can't tell you how many times I used to hear that something was mint for the year.

TheCARDKid

Call me crazy, but I think I liked it more pre internet days.

The internet is great (we all need an Al Gore poster on our wall to remind us of our good fortune), but without shows, shops, SCD, Beckett...the personal element isn't there anymore. Card collecting isn't the same experience.

Ebay is fun...but my best memories of collecting is when I was a kid. Sifting through boxes at shops, going to card shows, trading with friends in person....can a computer replicate that?

If I was a kid now, with few shops and shows, I don't think I'd be collecting at all, the computer isn't enough to draw me in.

BigDaddyBowman

To use an analogy:

I used to be a recreational user.....with the internet I am a hardcore addict! I attended 3-5 shows a year and dropped into the local card store a few times as well from late 80's to late 90's...then one day in about 1998...I remember it well...one of my comic book collector co-workers said those fatal words "Have you ever bought cards on Ebay?" My reply Ebay...what's Ebay? Now, hundreds of cards and thousands of dollars later...Ebay has become the supplier of my addiction. Since my buddy who use to collect vintage football with me and was my partner in crime at shows sold off his collection....this forum has been my "socialization" in the hobby.

Allen

CardKid- I hear you on that. I love the internet and how much better it makes the hobby. But shows and hanging out at the card shop are great.