Will the hobby be an old man's club within 20 years?

zendude · February 16, 2011 1:31PM

Just curious. I don't see kids as enthusiastic about spending their money on cards these days. Back in the seventies at least half of the guys in elementary school had some form of a card collection. It was the norm. Now kids are obsessed with video games, cell phones, and other time wasting gadgets. How can the future of our hobby survive without the youth movement? Are we doomed or can kids be taught to embrace vintage baseball?

sideordertodd · February 16, 2011 1:40PM

I can't speek for baseball but the kids where i live love to play and collect hockey cards even more so now than when i was a kids 30 years ago.

akuracy503 · February 16, 2011 1:59PM

It is certainly true kids just don't collect like their parents used to.
However It is my opinion that retail outlets like target sell quite a few packs/boxes, it's still a relevant hobby for our youth.

I honestly don't think our hobby will change too much, I am in my early 30's and collect vintage stuff that I didn't technically grow up on, but i've graduated into that era of collecting which intrigues me more than modern cards.

20 years isn't that long of a spread, I should be in my prime and I'll be sharing this hobby with 20 and 30 somethings.

Toro · February 16, 2011 2:37PM

<< . However It is my opinion that retail outlets like target sell quite a few packs/boxes, it's still a relevant hobby for our youth. >>

When they get a little older and realize why they never got a game used card due to DB's out there, they'll drop the hobby.

Garabaldi · February 16, 2011 4:16PM

I think the new cards with all the inserts has hurt the collecting. There are too many subsets and most have been burned because you were unlikely to collect the right set. I also think that Beckett Monthly did not help out because for awhile the older cards did not go up in value for years. Before graded cards, Beckett was the primary guidline. It seemed like the trend was the new stuff was released and it went up in value and then it would eventually fall and collectors lost money.

fkw · February 16, 2011 4:36PM

Like others said, Kids of old used to collect cards, flip them and trade them often trying to complete sets of 660, 726, etc.

I bought cards in my youth with nickles and dimes. Now they need cash... and no one is trying to complete a set.

It became an adult hobby shortly after the large price guides evolved from those mini $3 guides of the late 1970s we had as kids.
The hobby really died as we knew it (Kids hobby) about 1985-90, first when the removed the product (gum/cereal/cupcakes), then when 3rd party grading came into existence (play with/handle my cards, never!).
Thats the real problem, and 100% why kids dont collect anymore.

As Jefferson Burdick once said.... "Collector cards are always issued FREE with a product or service of some kind"
95% of all Cards of the last 2-3 decades dont fit this definition anymore, they are the product...... not any different now from collector issues like TCMA, etc.

handyman · February 16, 2011 4:46PM

I dont know anybody my age that knows anything about cards when I talk about them. Im 29 and consider myself young and I only focus on Pre 1975 stuff. I dont see a new age group jumping in on this hobby. But I think it wont die in 20 years. But then again you might be right. In 20 years I will be an old man

baseballfan · February 16, 2011 7:55PM

i was at a small local show sunday. i saw a kid probably about 13 or so picked up a decent , not great condition 53 monte irvin, for 12 bucks. it was nice to see a younger guy picking up a vintage card with all the new stuff out.

there is still hope

Dboneesq · February 16, 2011 8:35PM

PLEASE DEFINE "OLD MAN". (This coming from a soon to be 53 year old.) HAHAHAHAHA

fiveniner · February 16, 2011 8:44PM

I am not old and I am 62!!!!!

WalterSobchak · February 16, 2011 9:27PM

I certainly hope so. I have always dreamed of one day belonging to an old man's club.

jeffcbay · February 16, 2011 9:40PM

Well last night I spent about 3 hours digging through my cards and pulling out a bunch of Arod, game used, and Indians cards for my friend's 9-year-old son for his birthday, so this hobby still has some hope!

itzagoner · February 16, 2011 10:28PM

if i'm part of any old man's club in 20 years, lifting up a baseball card will be the least of my worries.

Hallco · February 16, 2011 10:33PM

<< if i'm part of any old man's club in 20 years, lifting up a baseball card will be the least of my worries. >>

mbothner · February 16, 2011 10:41PM

50 and older is old. I'm 49.

jwgators · February 16, 2011 10:55PM

I thought it was an old man's club already.

MantleMarisFordBerra · February 16, 2011 11:03PM

<< I thought it was an old man's club already.

>>

Ha! I won't lie, that was my first thought as well. Seriously, all hobbies go through peaks & valleys...and while I don't see us ever reaching the heights of the '80s boom again, I don't think it'll simply "fade away" either. My guess is it kinda stays right about where it is, along side stamps, comic books, coins, books and other types of collectibles. And that's just fine in my book, after all - it's just a hobby right?

kwtoz · February 16, 2011 11:33PM

<< 50 and older is old. I'm 49. >>

***VERY**** wrong answer! I'm 54, and I'm not remotely old.

hammered · February 16, 2011 11:34PM

Well, adults today collect pre-war cards, although most of those collectors didn't live in (or collect cards during) the pre-war era, nor did they ever see any of those players play.

andycapper · February 16, 2011 11:39PM

Actually where i'm from alot of kids still buy alot of cards. The thing is they are all Magic or other dragon slayin' games. Sports stuff is now mostly on an order basis. A few weeks ago i was there talking about the rule 5 draft!!!! and how it affects teams and a 13 year old kid comes in and drops $85 on 20 packs of sword swing action. I have no problem with it but like i said most of the stuff the seller did get in was being dropped for this gaming stuff. I guess there is a hugh market for that, maybe the thing that takes over?

Goodsport40 · February 17, 2011 12:11AM

I have 3 sons that I have tried to get interested in sportscards. The oldest two, age 19 and 22, never wanted to collect.

My 10 year old will look at sportscards with me, but when it comes time to buy packs he always wants Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon!

Maybe he will cross over when he gets older! I'll keep trying.

Robert

WinPitcher · February 17, 2011 1:55AM

It already has become one.

Mickey71 · February 17, 2011 2:00AM

I'm with Steve. It's already there.

WeekendHacker · February 17, 2011 2:13AM

<< It already has become one. >>

Before I even opened this thread and started to read the post and replies, this is exactly what I thought when I read the title.

Saberman · February 17, 2011 2:17AM

Yes, it is basically here already.

40 years from now the card market will be awful, to a downright collapse...if society doesn't collapse everything else even before that!

bking · February 17, 2011 3:07AM

<< I dont know anybody my age that knows anything about cards when I talk about them. Im 29 and consider myself young and I only focus on Pre 1975 stuff. I dont see a new age group jumping in on this hobby. But I think it wont die in 20 years. But then again you might be right. In 20 years I will be an old man >>

This right here would be my biggest worry - a generation that isn't very engaged in collecting. They won't pass that interest on, so it sort of breaks the chain.

ThoseBackPages · February 17, 2011 3:27AM

i too, already thought it was.

Barfvader · February 17, 2011 3:55AM

My 9 year old is semi-sorta into cards (and everything else I collect).

He loves to sit down and read the backs and ask questions so the seed is definitely planted but who knows what interests he will have over the years.

theczar · February 17, 2011 4:12AM

there will not be a lot of young men, but i forsee buxom college females getting into the hobby along with their lonely cougar mothers. i can see me as a 70 year old then going with them to the beach for a little volleyball, then heading to a card show followed up by a jump in the hot tub then doing some searching on VCP of some newly listed items on ebay, a little dinner and then some massages to close down a busy day.

itzagoner · February 17, 2011 4:26AM

Goot · February 17, 2011 5:24AM

If I ever tell people my own age that I have a card collection, they kinda look at me funny and give me the "Oh, that's pretty cool...", which we all know means they're really thinking, "Why the hell would you do that?". Plus my closest friends, which I used to collect cards with back in the day, can't believe I still collect.

So... I'd say it's already there guys.

bking · February 17, 2011 5:36AM

<< there will not be a lot of young men, but i forsee buxom college females getting into the hobby along with their lonely cougar mothers. i can see me as a 70 year old then going with them to the beach for a little volleyball, then heading to a card show followed up by a jump in the hot tub then doing some searching on VCP of some newly listed items on ebay, a little dinner and then some massages to close down a busy day. >>

perhaps a little trimming to wrap up the evening??

theczar · February 17, 2011 6:07AM

perhaps a little trimming to wrap up the evening??

of course a little trim would be nice. the brazilan or landing strip method can always get you a gem mint

Hallco · February 17, 2011 6:59AM

Visa will probably doing commercials about us.

thunderdan · February 17, 2011 7:10AM

<< perhaps a little trimming to wrap up the evening?? >>

Or perhaps a man-o-lantern

HoofHearted · February 17, 2011 8:13AM

<< Or perhaps a man-o-lantern

>>

That scene was the hardest I've laughed at a movie in, well, my whole life?! Absolutely hilarious!

Oh, yeah, about the OP. My three kids (1 girl, 2 boys) didn't get into sports cards. They enjoyed Star Trek cards, I remember. As my two grandkids get older, I'm going to do my best to plant the collecting bug...

Garabaldi · February 17, 2011 8:26AM

I still think the card company has to take most of the blame for flooding the market.

Estil · February 17, 2011 9:34AM

Agreed. It's just absoultely ridicious how expensive packs have gotten, not to mention it's a rip off spending all that money on packs when you can just get the whole set (after about a year or two) for the cost of a few of those packs. Kids just simply CAN'T collect cards anymore. At least not the way we used to. Yes, there were expensive packs back in the 1990s (remember the $25 1993 Finest packs?) but every company back then had their base set packs at $1-$1.50 or so. Now how much do even basic 2011 Topps packs go? $3?

neilkneels · February 17, 2011 10:05AM

i would say the hobby is in good hands. every time i hit the local walmart for packs, there are middle-aged men picking up packs.

they're not old, but they're super fat and ugly.

TheHun · February 17, 2011 11:10AM

While I think the "known" sports card industry is fading, not all sports are ... read this:

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/match-attax-the-brand-that-started-a-phenomenon/

Gaming, combined with carding has been very popular with younger people. Futera - a card company out of the UK, has millions of dollars of limited edition product that allow collectors to power their online team with star cards. Each card have a code on the reverse that players can use or sell / trade to other players. The transfer takes a few days.

These cards range from $100 to $200 each.

Personally, I don't play the game - I'm old school and collect just for the history.

baseballfan · February 17, 2011 8:05PM

<< If I ever tell people my own age that I have a card collection, they kinda look at me funny and give me the "Oh, that's pretty cool...", which we all know means they're really thinking, "Why the hell would you do that?". Plus my closest friends, which I used to collect cards with back in the day, can't believe I still collect.

So... I'd say it's already there guys. >>

goot
i went through that same faze, you slow down collecting in college to mid 20's, then when you get out, find a job (hopefully) and start to make some $$, you can afford the cards you always wanted but couldn't buy before and the thrill comes back (sometimes).

as long as the seed is there when their young they may come back.

how's school going?

Garabaldi · February 17, 2011 9:01PM

There are just too many different sets and inserts to really know what to focus on for collecting. The early 90's flooding really hurt the collecting becuase so many people wasted so much $$$.

corvette1340 · February 17, 2011 11:15PM

I think the hobby will be fine from a vintage card standpoint. They aren't making any more of it and someone will be there to take over the supply that's out there now. Where there is money to be made there will be interest when it comes to antiques and collectibles. Think of it like vintage cars, that market will always be there because people love old, vintage stuff. Some of the kids that are collecting new stuff today will turn their interest to vintage at some point too.

johnny1976 · February 17, 2011 11:39PM

I don't think collecting will ever die, but I do think there will be less and less people collecting as years go by. How many people have got bored or had a life change and stopped collecting? My son who is 8 doesn't have any intrest in cards at all. I will buy him packs from target from time to time and he looks at them once and puts them in a bin and hasn't looked at them in some time now. I don't know how to get kids intrested in card collecting. I will agree that the middle to high end product put out now is way to hard for me to justify buying packs for my kid let alone buying them himself.

Maybe if we got back to basics and made it more cost effective for new collectors it would take off again.

On the other hand I could be wrong. I will use myself as an example. When I was growing up I had a very slight intrest in cards. I would buy packs here and there, but didn't have the love for it. My neighbor would buy vintage and modern at the time. He would put them in penny sleves and hang them on his cork board. I remember he had at least five 86 jordan's and at the time I was like thats cool, but I wasn't very intrested. Fast forward 15 years and I love collecting.
So maybe there is hope after all.

Aric · February 18, 2011 1:18AM

I think card collecting has always been more of an old man's hobby. Just look at Jefferson Burdick and his cronies. Card collecting appealed to kids in the 50's-90's because they were sold alongside candy and packaged with bubble gum.

RonBurgundy · February 18, 2011 1:23AM

This is breaking new ground. I don't think I've ever seen this topic discussed before. Germans!

HoofHearted · February 18, 2011 3:01AM

Maybe we're coming full-circle to the way things used to be. Here is a page out of The Trader Speaks (TTS) where a major hobby player complained of the high prices due to magazines promoting card collecting, such as TTS. He went on to complain about how "the hobby was a close-knit group of collectors and much more enjoyable". The author talks about how there used to be about 500 collectors in 1968 and how that number soared to 8,000 per the monthly mailing list of TTS. As a result, he goes on, "thousands upon thousands of cards , autographs, publications, etc, which might have rotted in peoples attics and basements are now in the hands of collectors."

This was from a January 1975 issue. See the end of the sentence, 17 lines from the bottom on the right, which starts, "On the first day of the Cincinnati Convention I was approached by an 'old-time' collector...".

(Sorry for the poor scan. I'm going to get a new scanner soon...)

Reljac · February 18, 2011 3:03AM

<< Germans! >>

Damnit! Did they bomb pearl harbor again!

raiderscott · February 18, 2011 5:28AM

I'm somewhat having that battle in my house with my 8 year-old son. All his friends are into Pokemon with some sports cards sprinkled in. Problem is none of their fathers are active collectors. Starting 2 years ago I started buying Topps football hobby boxes and together we've busted and are working on completing a run of 2005-2009. I'm going to buy a 2010 box in the next week or so for us to bust. I've also sprinkled in some blaster boxes. Back in the fall he started getting real interested in Babe Ruth- so for Christmas I bought him 1976 topps PSA 8 card of Ruth. It took a while to explain the PSA 8 part- I'm not sure he ever fully grasped it. Lately we've been watching a lot of youtube clips of great sports moments, games, player highlights, etc. We watched Bobby Thompson's homerun and he didn't understand why they called it "The Shot Heard Around the World". He kept asking- how far away did they hear the shot, etc.- very funny- he's a very to the point boy. On tap for us shortly- we'll be watching the Ken Burns documentary on Baseball.

Hallco · February 18, 2011 5:36AM

<< Germans! >>

Discovered by the Germans in 1904. They named it San Diego, which of course in German means "Whales ______"

BunchOBull · February 18, 2011 7:31AM

I think the biggest problem is that the generation of child collectors from the late '80s/early '90s were the ones burned as kids on overproduction. The generation following them met higher priced, overproduced cards after that, effectively pricing those kids out of the game. The next generation of collectors was established by card flipping prospectors (profiteers) who aren't really collectors as much as kids trying to make a buck. That's 25 years of bastordized hobby. Only those with the discretionary income to survive the times (so called "old men") were able to weather the storm.

There are small percentages of child collectors who never stopped collecting or who pick back up after school, but they are really few and far between.

Will the hobby be an old man's club within 20 years?

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