With a reported 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 EVERY DAY for the next many, many years...one wonders why PSA doesn't advertise strategically in some sports pages. Obviously a cost is involved, but I think well place ads about collecting in some major newspapers might put a much needed jolt into the hobby.
I feel that baby boomers have carried this hobby for the last 3 or 4 decades. (I'm 42 and a gen Xer). Starting in about the late '80s each successive generation of kids are being priced out of the hobby by flat out greed from the card manufacturers. Who is buying this product? A lot of adults. (Who have disposable income). Kids today have incredible amounts of new technology to entertain themselves with and card collecting probably seems a bit old-fashioned to them. My fear is that in 20 years or so we will have a lot of "old time collectors" with the ranks of future collectors dwindling fast. I think high end vintage product will always have a niche somewhat like antiques but is there really anything special about the crap that's been produced over the last 20 years? I think we owe it to our hobby to keep the passion alive and engage kids as much as we can. By the way watching Ken Burn's Baseball with your kids should be mandatory. Well done raiderscott.
Ask any vintage collector about almost any star card and there is an image. If I say "1965 Mantle" you have that image. If I say "1963 Musial" you know what it looks like. If I say "Rose Rookie" there is no question about it. But, if I say "2004 Pujols" what image do you have? Or "Jeter Rookie"? Or any rookie of the past decade or two? Most of these players have a dozen rookie cards. I am a Saints fan in football. I'd love to collect Drew Brees. But on his master set there are 160 Rookie Cards listed. How can a kid even hope to accomplish this? And when they hit 30-35 and they have some money, will they even bother going after these cards? I doubt it. The best thing that could happen to the hobby would be if only one company made cards per sport (Topps for baseball and football) and they only made one set, or a couple at the most.
<< <i>Ask any vintage collector about almost any star card and there is an image. If I say "1965 Mantle" you have that image. If I say "1963 Musial" you know what it looks like. If I say "Rose Rookie" there is no question about it. But, if I say "2004 Pujols" what image do you have? Or "Jeter Rookie"? Or any rookie of the past decade or two? Most of these players have a dozen rookie cards. I am a Saints fan in football. I'd love to collect Drew Brees. But on his master set there are 160 Rookie Cards listed. How can a kid even hope to accomplish this? And when they hit 30-35 and they have some money, will they even bother going after these cards? I doubt it. The best thing that could happen to the hobby would be if only one company made cards per sport (Topps for baseball and football) and they only made one set, or a couple at the most. >>
Well put. That point is the KEY to this entire thread. Its why I stopped buying new cards in 1999. When you say "Schmidt rookie".... everybody knows what that is. Things were still reasonable in the 1980s with 3 to 4 rookie cards of your favorite player to choose from. I am sure many others even held on through the late 1990s like I did because Bowman Chrome had all the key rookies that everybody wanted, and you could still keep a focus with rookie cards. The rope snapped though in 1999 when Upper Deck put out about 5 different sets/products with all the top rookies included only as short prints. Bowman then started doing the same with its rookies and then autographed, short-printed insert rookies took over........and its been downhill ever since for the hobby.
Rookie cards have always driven the hobby. Even though the players union and the card manufactures finally figured this out a few years ago, they failed to "fix" the issue. And they still let the chase for possible autographed/jersey insert cards in high dollar packs drive their sales and profits. The hobby will never rebound until that stops.
With a reported 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 EVERY DAY for the next many, many years...one wonders why PSA doesn't advertise strategically in some sports pages. Obviously a cost is involved, but I think well place ads about collecting in some major newspapers might put a much needed jolt into the hobby.
Another problem is the changes in sports. I was born in '78.
I got to enjoy the big four sports *in their prime*. That's what created heros....out of Dale Murphy, Mattingly, Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken, etc. These guys were genuine role models. Thus, the emotional attachment to collecting.
Remember stories in the 80's or early 90's about kids having every Ozzie Smith card in their room? Basically a shrine. Do kids have that kind of passion about anyone now?
Sports have been diluted since the late 80's, early 90's...expansion, team changes....x games, mma, motorbike racing, tiger woods scandal, etc. I think there was more loyalty to teams in the 70's or 80's. I think steroids, the strike of '94, increased ticket prices....they factor into the decline of baseball. I dont have the same interest in it at all that I had as a kid.
But some 80's collectibles are doing pretty good. Does anyone collect GI Joe from the 80's? Some of those are doing well. A sealed Stadium Events nintendo game sold for a record on ebay awhile ago. I think people will sort out of the early 90's overproduction. Some of the stuff may end up going up after everyone gave up on it being worthless. Wouldn't be suprised.
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<< <i>Ask any vintage collector about almost any star card and there is an image. If I say "1965 Mantle" you have that image. If I say "1963 Musial" you know what it looks like. If I say "Rose Rookie" there is no question about it. But, if I say "2004 Pujols" what image do you have? Or "Jeter Rookie"? Or any rookie of the past decade or two? Most of these players have a dozen rookie cards. I am a Saints fan in football. I'd love to collect Drew Brees. But on his master set there are 160 Rookie Cards listed. How can a kid even hope to accomplish this? And when they hit 30-35 and they have some money, will they even bother going after these cards? I doubt it. The best thing that could happen to the hobby would be if only one company made cards per sport (Topps for baseball and football) and they only made one set, or a couple at the most. >>
Well put. That point is the KEY to this entire thread. Its why I stopped buying new cards in 1999. When you say "Schmidt rookie".... everybody knows what that is. Things were still reasonable in the 1980s with 3 to 4 rookie cards of your favorite player to choose from. I am sure many others even held on through the late 1990s like I did because Bowman Chrome had all the key rookies that everybody wanted, and you could still keep a focus with rookie cards. The rope snapped though in 1999 when Upper Deck put out about 5 different sets/products with all the top rookies included only as short prints. Bowman then started doing the same with its rookies and then autographed, short-printed insert rookies took over........and its been downhill ever since for the hobby.
Rookie cards have always driven the hobby. Even though the players union and the card manufactures finally figured this out a few years ago, they failed to "fix" the issue. And they still let the chase for possible autographed/jersey insert cards in high dollar packs drive their sales and profits. The hobby will never rebound until that stops.
Anything else I could say would be pure conjecture.
How about an ad in AARP magazine?
I got to enjoy the big four sports *in their prime*. That's what created heros....out of Dale Murphy, Mattingly, Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken, etc. These guys were genuine role models. Thus, the emotional attachment to collecting.
Remember stories in the 80's or early 90's about kids having every Ozzie Smith card in their room? Basically a shrine. Do kids have that kind of passion about anyone now?
Sports have been diluted since the late 80's, early 90's...expansion, team changes....x games, mma, motorbike racing, tiger woods scandal, etc. I think there was more loyalty to teams in the 70's or 80's. I think steroids, the strike of '94, increased ticket prices....they factor into the decline of baseball. I dont have the same interest in it at all that I had as a kid.
But some 80's collectibles are doing pretty good. Does anyone collect GI Joe from the 80's? Some of those are doing well. A sealed Stadium Events nintendo game sold for a record on ebay awhile ago. I think people will sort out of the early 90's overproduction. Some of the stuff may end up going up after everyone gave up on it being worthless. Wouldn't be suprised.