Not so much the baby boom as the cards as a collectible boom that existed for much of the mid 70's to mid 80's (With a bit of a dip in 81)
The guys who were 30 in 81 had collected as kids, and either looked at completing sets or buying stuff that had been tossed. I'm only using 30 as a rough age, that's about the time many people that collect something get into it somewhat seriously. Student loans paid off, career going well, etc.
When I started being more "serious" about cards in 77-78 There were a few adults, and some kids that collected, maybe 50/50 (Not counting kids that just bought packs at the corner store) I had 4 friends that collected during high school, and none of them would admit it around non-collectors. By 84 that had really changed, card collecting had become acceptable as a hobby for an adult, and there were more older guys buying cards.
So a lot of people who were 30-40 got into collecting and without a large number of sets it was common to buy the new ones already sorted into sets each year. And many dealers carried early 70's sets (Fritsch supplied many of them and may still be working off their inventory bought as new vending cases. )
I had a "job" sorting cards into sets each spring, paid in trade value instead of cash until all three companies made factory sets. Fleer in 82, topps and donruss a bit later. (Or maybe at the same time but more expensive than vending?)
Personally I never bought the "quality" of Upper Deck. Bland design, the silly hologram, the cardboard that made 81 donruss seem sturdy.....And all at double the price- what a bargain!
Steve B
Quote:
Originally Posted by theseeker
Sorry, but I'm just not seeing any evidence of 1970's cards "coming out of the woodwork." So if I have it straight, people who were 30 in '82 and would have grown up collecting early '60's cards, are now selling off there 1970's cards to prepare for retirement??? All this is loosely anecdotal at best.
This does, in a round about way bring up the greater issue of an aging hobby going forward as the baby boomer generation heads further into retirement age. As far as moving the hobby forward, the fact a 37 year old is taking up the cause as a young vangaurd of the hobby is telling. And by moving forward, does that mean sustaining prices? Because, it is the investment angle that killed off the hobby interest of the majority of those in their late 20's and early 30's, after the investment craze of the late '80's/early '90's abrutely turned cardboard investments into "shiny junk." The new card quality ushered in by UD in 1989 was a huge leap forward for the industry. Unfortunately, they were viewed (and sold) mostly as investments. As a result, those younger than this age group largely haven't grown up with collector interest and simply won't pick it up as adults.
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