Quote:
Originally Posted by Tripredacus
I think the junk era is still going on, but that the entire feel has changed. The fact is now that base cards are seen as being about as worthless today as cards from 1990. Less so in some cases for regional markup. But the problem remains that today the insert card rules the roost, and the base cards are the junk. In the early 90s, all the cards were junk, with few exceptions.
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I would tend to agree with this.
When visiting the local card shop, I regularly speak with the owner, and always ask, "so what's your best seller," or "what's moving for you right now," etc., and I find the answers enlightening. Basically, (from the owner's prospective), competition is good, and the fact that Topps is the only MLB licensee is not so good, and the fact that card packs, boxes, cases are increasing in price and the value that they contain are not increasing. Everything is based upon "hits" or "pulls," both terms that were foreign to me when I got back into the hobby in 2000 after leaving in 1985. So much had changed in those 15 years; cards no longer had gum in the packs, there were now insert cards with autographs, jersey swatches, bat pieces, baseball bits, shiny parallels, etc.
Seems that to keep the interest of "collectors," manufacturers have had to place random "hits" into packs to keep those that collect baseball cards buying the cards. I have tried on several occasions to try to get back into collecting modern cards, as I was a set builder from 1975-84, but I've found the cost too prohibitive to build sets, with the only exception being Topps Opening Day product, and even that product does not interest me; partly due to the design of the cards. I'm a graphic designer (of 26+ years) but all the Photoshopping, gradient effects, background texture patterns, etc. just really turn me off. The Topps Archives cards, as far as "modern" cards go, interest me the most because they mimic past sets that either were appealing visually or that I collected. The nice, clean designs of several sets of the 1970s (and 50s and 60s) speak for themselves; unfortunately, most collectors (according to the owner) don't buy modern cards for the cards themselves; they buy them for the "hits." Borrowing from a statement in another part of the forum I found appropriate, it's legalized lotto in a way.
I also find it interesting that the biggest sellers are the Bowmans and Bowman Chromes and the "throwback" modern cards, such as Allen & Ginter, Topps Heritage, etc. That suggests that those that are spending the money on new product still prefer the older cards, so if they buy new stuff, they gravitate to card designs that are vintage.
I, too, think the junk wax era continues, albeit in a modified form... Wasn't it nice to go to the local convenient store or 7-11 and purchase a few packs for under a dollar, open the wax (yes, wax) pack and thumb through the cards, and seeing what you needed while struggling with the extra sugary stick of bubble gum in your mouth?
Do I buy modern cards? Really, no. I've found that for the value of 2-3 new packs, I can certainly pick up something I really want, such as a Goudey or vintage Bowman card. If I really want the "thrill" of opening new packs, I buy Japanese baseball cards (the only modern cards I collect), as that is fun to me...