Under - Over 30?

akuracy503 · January 21, 2014 6:46AM

I know this topic comes up frequently but it's been a couple of years since I've regularly visited these discussion boards.
I see a lot of new members.

So I am curious how many collectors here are under 30 years of age?
If so what do you collect?

There was an interesting CBS bit (2012) about baseball card collecting dying with a particular generation of collectors.

CBS Report Video

Time for your voices to be heard, who's in their 20's or younger and still collecting?

akuracy503 · January 21, 2014 6:47AM

I apologize in advance if posting links to Beckett is against PSA terms of use agreement.

WhiteTornado · January 21, 2014 7:19AM

I will turn 46 this year and mostly collect football, vintage from late 70s to late 80s and also modern cards. I especially like star running backs and my all-time favorite player is Walter Payton.

Dodgerfanjohn · January 21, 2014 7:23AM

Based on collecting focus, I'm guessing the participation on this site is heavily over 30, probably majority over 40.

I'm 41. Few kids are into cards though I'm happy to report that my finances 15 year old daughter is infatuated by the Dodgers(it's probably our only common ground) and loves to rip into packs I buy looking for Dodgers cards.

LarkinCollector · January 21, 2014 7:36AM

<< <i>Based on collecting focus, I'm guessing the participation on this site is heavily over 30, probably majority over 40.

I'm 41. Few kids are into cards though I'm happy to report that my finances 15 year old daughter is infatuated by the Dodgers(it's probably our only common ground) and loves to rip into packs I buy looking for Dodgers cards. >>

I agree, probably majority over 40 (I'll be joining that crowd in a few months), though have seen quite a few others mention involving their kids with their collections as well.

There may be either a skipped generation or based on the responses to the What Decade Did You Start Collecting? thread, many drop out of collecting in the 20-35 age range while attending college, establishing a career, getting married, having kids, etc. only to pick it back up later.

hyperchipper09 · January 21, 2014 7:39AM

Yeah over 40 crowd here also. 44 in Feb. Collected pretty hardcore from 84-00. Long break from 01-08, back in 09 small time, little bigger each year. I stick with player collecting. I don't get into much modern product at all. Guys I liked back in the day or had huge respect for even if I didn't like the team they played on is basically my niche.

BostonAmericans · January 21, 2014 7:44AM

I am 47, but in the past couple of years my nephews (now 14 and 10) have started collecting baseball and hockey, respectively. Don't know if they will continue, but I am glad to help them get their collections started.

I was at a card show on Monday (MLK day) and I did see a few kids there, although a majority are similar to guys my age.

CharleyBrown · January 21, 2014 7:45AM

32 here.

oddity · January 21, 2014 8:00AM

I'm almost 35, and I figure I'm one of the younger ones who read this board.

flash2 · January 21, 2014 8:01AM

65

msassin · January 21, 2014 8:04AM

One of the youngsters still in his 30s here.

MantleFan23 · January 21, 2014 8:14AM

I'm 35, and most of my collecting interests are from the 1950's to mid 1980's baseball.

jordangretzkyfan · January 21, 2014 8:16AM

I'm 37 and have been collecting without interruption since 1982. Always have been focused on high grade rookies of elite players along with unopened boxes from all the major sports.

Dpeck100 · January 21, 2014 8:20AM

I will be 35 in a few months.

dtkk49a · January 21, 2014 8:28AM

Not yet old enough to retire, but old enough to wish I was retired.

vintagefun · January 21, 2014 8:31AM

42 with a 5 yr old future ripper (I hope)

I collect unopened from all sports 73-86 (mostly), though I'd like to get down to my birth year of 71, but prices are tough.

I also collect all the players I loved as a kid, as well as all the guys my dad told me were legends growing up.

MrNearMint · January 21, 2014 8:31AM

28 here.
I collect BGS graded Michael Jordan cards along with mid to high grade vintage rookies and stars. I have also recently started collecting unopened.

I think the people who say the hobby is dying probably aren't active in it. The sportscard hobby also has shifted from mostly kids collecting to mostly adults and to me, the hobby seems very much alive!

akuracy503 · January 21, 2014 8:42AM

So i've always speculated that my generation (I am 36) was the tail end of the baseball card collecting youth culture.

Naturally we all gravitate to our past time hobbies after we settle down, most likely in the 30 year old range.
The census here supports my theory.

With that said it will be very interesting to see if our hobby grows with today's under 30 crowd, once they hit their 30's will they collect?

In ten years will most of us be answering this same question with "i'm in my 40's and 50's" or will we see new 30 somethings come into the hobby.
I believe that might be a true indicator of growth in this hobby.

Just a message to Topps in case you have any long term business plans, a hobby starts at youth, price them out now and they will likely not be interested later.

pjb103183 · January 21, 2014 9:07AM

i turned 30 this past october...most guys my age seem to have forgotten about the hobby...all it takes is a little 80s junk wax and all the memories come flooding back...i personally have always been an unopened pack hound, and its great to share my passion with friends who are completely unaware this material is still out there in unopened form....most 80s and 90s wax is still a bargain right now...it is eventually going to dry up when everyone catches on...i can remember getting my mom to order me 70s and 80s unopened material from mark murphy on the cheap back around 99/00...if only i had the foresight then to keep it all unopened...hell i wish i would have just cherry picked the mint condition cards...back then it was about pulling a star card; the condition didnt matter....sometimes i miss the simplicity of those days

vettfanatic · January 21, 2014 9:09AM

I'm 36 and definitely got back into collecting to relive those days in the early 90's when cards were everything to me. Acquiring now what I never could then has been a blast. So like akuracy503 said if kids today don't associate cards with their youth chances are they will not start collecting at random when they hit their 30's. Nostalgia is a powerful motivator that seems to get to everyone one way or another.

Jeff

coachnip13 · January 21, 2014 9:21AM

<< <i>Based on collecting focus, I'm guessing the participation on this site is heavily over 30, probably majority over 40.

I'm 41. Few kids are into cards though I'm happy to report that my finances 15 year old daughter is infatuated by the Dodgers(it's probably our only common ground) and loves to rip into packs I buy looking for Dodgers cards. >>

Similar story here. I'm 41, and my 13 year old daughter and I go to Tampa Bay Rays games together and we get there early so she can get autographs. That has carried over to her having a major interest in helping me open modern packs and boxes so she can look for the Rays.

Stingray · January 21, 2014 9:22AM

47 and have collected since 74. Really only collect Detroit Tigers cards now, but still buys packs of new stuff as it comes out. Mainly baseball and football.

TJMAC · January 21, 2014 11:58AM

I am 39 and collected off and on from 1980 to 1992. I got back into it in 2001.

Bear48 · January 21, 2014 12:23PM

45!

miwlvrn · January 21, 2014 12:24PM

35

fiveniner · January 21, 2014 10:19PM

I guess so far I am the Old Goat in this crowd with one other fellow 65.I collect mostly Post War to Pre 80 with most emphasis in the 50s era mostly baseball but will dabble with football in hockey .Post 80s stuff I like are 84/85 Donruss Baseball and 89 Upper Deck.Used to do Topps Heritage but no longer do..Like Early Bowman Football Sets and 50s and early 60s hockey.Collected as a kid and got back to it in the erarly 70s.

Gemyanks10 · January 21, 2014 10:54PM

I'm 29 and soon to be 30 on January 31st. I collected as a kid and got out of it in my mid-teen years for reasons already stated above. Girls, partying, starting a new career etc got in the way of 1982 Cal Ripken rookies. It's weird how I started to get back into it. I was living in Knoxville Tennessee in 2008 and I was in a Walmart doing my weekly grocery shopping, and I hit the newstand looking for Maxim magazine, Sports Illustrated, etc. I love baseball and always followed it regardless of card collecting. Anyhow, i stumbled onto a Beckett baseball card monthly at the newsstand, and I can just remember flipping through and looking at some of the prices and the cards and it was just something that I wanted to dive nose deep into again and the rest is history.

Fortunately nowadays, I'm blessed with a pretty good job that allows me to spend probably a little more than I should on cards, but I enjoy it and I'm happy that my wife has taken an interest also. One thing that changed drastically during my absence from the hobby is the advent of TPG's. When I got back in the hobby in 2008, I remember scouring Ebay and couldn't believe how much more a graded card was worth/cost compared to it's raw counterpart. It took me awhile to find out why, and to each his own, but I prefer right now to build graded sets, as well as collect unopened material. 1980 Topps baseball is the first set I decided to work on for nostalgic reasons. When I was really young back in the early 90's, I completed that set from wax packs and buying singles with my allowance money at card shows. I have no idea why I even wanted to build that set when I was young, but always liked it. I just wish I still had that set I sold it years ago for beer money. 😑. I miss card shows also, they seem to have really taken a hit around here

jeffcbay · January 21, 2014 10:55PM

I'm 37, been collecting from 1985 to 1992, then 1998 to present.

PM770 · January 21, 2014 11:06PM

I'll turn 44 in July - At the National no less!

totallyradd · January 22, 2014 12:31AM

I'll turn 35 in a few weeks. Got back into collecting a few years ago when my step dad passed away and my mom let me go through his cards from the 50's. (Mostly 52-57 and some other years through 83 scattered in there) before my stepsister could get to em. My mom told me to take "some" cards, so naturally I grabbed all the stars and Milwaukee Braves cards.

Later I tried to make my step sister an offer on em, and found out she had just sold em all off for about a grand. About 8,000 cards total. Had I known more about vintage cards and this board then I would be building a pretty nice 50's set right now (All the cards I had graded came back between 4-6). Still got some really nice star cards regardless.

Now I'm collecting Milwaukee Braves team sets, 80's unopened, and in the last six months have been writing to Brewers through the mail and getting signatures. A pretty affordable yet rewarding hobby. Would really like to get every Jackie Robinson card someday. Love the 50 Bowmann and 53 Topps Jackie, a lot. Someday!

Brick · January 22, 2014 2:29AM

66.

yankeesman · January 22, 2014 3:35AM

I'm 43 and collected as a kid (first packs I remember opening were '78s) and then gave up on it around 1980 and picked back up in 1986 and been on and off ever since. I've bounced around alot between high end modern (Ultimate Collection, Legendary Cuts cases, Triple Threads, etc.), set collecting, unopened, etc. I really need to narrow my focus. My typical pattern is collect something hot and heavy and then sell it off and start something else. I don't know... maybe that's what keeps the hobby fresh to me. I have two boys and though both like opening modern packs from time to time don't really seem interested in collecting as a whole so all of what I have may end up as college tuition.

76collector · January 22, 2014 1:02PM

I just turned 38. I collected in the mid to late 80's and then started back up again around 5 years ago. Like a few others have said, I am reliving my earlier years, but now I can actually afford to buy some cooler stuff. I am also sharing it with my 9 year old son.

grote15 · January 22, 2014 1:03PM

All I know is I'm younger than Doug, LOL..

cardcountry · January 22, 2014 1:19PM

40 for me

Jeff

cpamike · January 22, 2014 1:52PM

<< <i>All I know is I'm younger than Doug, LOL.. >>

Me too.

PhilG · January 22, 2014 2:21PM

I am 65. I collect 93 Finest Refractors. Ok I hoard 93 Finest Refractors. Now up to 3381 of them.

lahmejoon · January 22, 2014 3:04PM

35 here. Got back in a few years ago and am having fun building sets from the 70's (and 1965).

miklia · January 22, 2014 10:01PM

a goldmine of hilarity in that report. my favorite: "Can't happen anymore...the son can't enjoy it anymore because he's into computers and girls."

Ahhh, the idyllic mid-90s, before girls or computers were invented.

30 people still call Mr. Mint every day?

Counselor · January 23, 2014 12:00AM

33

akuracy503 · January 23, 2014 12:56AM

You have a point there and pose a good question, is Mr Mint still relevant?

<< <i>a goldmine of hilarity in that report. my favorite: "Can't happen anymore...the son can't enjoy it anymore because he's into computers and girls."

Ahhh, the idyllic mid-90s, before girls or computers were invented.

30 people still call Mr. Mint every day? >>

Big80s · January 23, 2014 12:58AM

37 deep.

digdug · January 23, 2014 1:06AM

36 here

Tishasheree · January 23, 2014 9:09AM

I'm 42. I started collecting with my dad when I was about 10 (pretty much exclusively baseball cards). I got back into the hobby about five years ago with my son, and I now collect mostly football, some basketball, and baseball cards. My daughter has started getting into it too, which I love.

athleticsfan · January 23, 2014 5:53PM

Another 35 here!

abcoltsfan · January 23, 2014 8:00PM

32.

CollectorSector · January 24, 2014 12:19AM

I am 31 but just got back into the hobby two years ago--I got a decent bonus from my job one day and got nostalgic all of the sudden and started buying cards I always wanted to own as a kid (Sandy Koufax, Mantle, Clemente, etc) but could never afford with paper route and lemonade stand money. I got back into the hobby so much so that I created my own website for sports card collecting and other things. But, I will tell you all that I do not see many users on the site who are less than 30 nor do I see very many who are less than 30 circulating the few card shows that take place down here in Miami.

I think what happened (or at least contributed somewhat to all of this) is that the sports card hobby crashed in the late 80's and early 90's right around the time when those of us hovering around 30 years old now were then 7, 8, 9, 10 years old--the prime spot when childhood hobbies/memories are formed. So I would think that not many kids who were in their prime collecting years after that crash up until now have really even had a chance to get into the hobby as deeply as we all have because the sports card market just didn't fully recover nor has it had the same appeal to youth after the crash as it did before. I remember when I was in high school I had a part-time job at the local Boys and Girls Club and I would notice that all of the kids were into Pokemon cards, Magic the Gathering cards, etc. ---anything but sports cards. It was disappointing but I guess that's just the reality.

Plus, as was said before several times, I do think there is definitely a lot of merit in the thought that young people in their late teens through their 20's are concentrating on other things (dating, trying to earn money, etc.) so maybe we just all take a break for a while and start back up in our 30's....who knows?

Under - Over 30?

Comments