What Happened to Card Collecting That I Knew?

[Jayworld]

I first got into the hobby of collecting baseball cards in 1975, buying a few packs here and there (mostly baseball) from the local 7-11 as a kid; back when you could get 10 cards for 25 cents and a (horrible) stick of Topps bubble gum. Here and there included some of the Donruss Freaks baseball and football card/stickers as well. By 1977, I was really into collecting, and I bought packs all summer to finally get my first complete set, and yes, I colored in the blocks on the checklists and team checklists to track my progress. I collected the 1978 Topps set as well, and ordered the few cards I was missing at the end of the year from (at that time) the best card order house; Richard Gelman's Card Collector's Company, and Santa was good to me that year through Gelman's company when I received near-mint lots of cards in quantities of 25, 50 or 100 from 1963-72 Topps.

1979 was the first year I purchased the complete set from a dealer at the first of the season ($9.99 from a Leon Rock) and also marked the first time I attended a local (Dallas) card show where I became hooked on vintage cards after buying a few 1951 Bowmans for $2 each (Bobby Thompson, Clint Hartung) and a 1933 Goudey Gus Mancuso. The year 1980 introduced me to Renata Galasso, a company I had become familiar with through their comic-book style full page ads in football and baseball digest magazines. I was thrilled at the announcement in 1981 that two other card companies were going to produce baseball cards, and I quickly pre-ordered the complete sets from Fleer, Donruss, and Topps from, you guessed it, Renata Galasso.

I began buying Baseball Card magazine at this time, and continued to pre-order sets from Topps and Donruss in 1982, and for the first time I purchased two Fleer wax boxes to try to put together a set (I was about 40 cards short) from a set, in retrospect, feel far short visually of the 1982 Donruss, which was the better looking set for 1982 to me. Going to bigger card shows each summer allowed me to finally finish putting together the 1974 and 1976 Topps sets I'd been working on since 1978, and I still admired the overall design for both these sets; the 1976 Topps is my favorite set to this day. Donn Jennings out of Alabama got my business for ENOR sheets, albums, and other cards, as I had "graduated" from shoeboxes and the company boxes that sets were shipped in at the time.

After purchasing the 1983 Topps and Donruss and 1984 Donruss sets, the hobby "bug" began to cool, and I did not collect another card through college, although I tried to fill in the gaps later by purchasing the 1985 Donruss/Leaf, 1986 and 1987 Topps, 1988 Score, and the 1989 Bowman, which I put together through two wax boxes after being so excited about the Bowman name coming back into collecting.

Fast forward to 2001, when I walked into a card hobby store and saw company names I did not recognize (some I did) and outlandish prices for packs of cards. I was also introduced to jersey swatch cards, memorabilia swatch cards, autograph cards, cards that were made to commemorate vintage sets, etc. It just did not feel the same. Over the last few years, I've purchased a handful of packs to try to get the bug back again, but the lack of the gum (yes, shudder, staining was a part of card collecting for me), much higher prices for packs, the realization that building a set would be next to impossible because of the sheer number of cards and the prices, and the overwhelming amount of card producing companies have left the hobby empty for me. Graded cards have been a turn-off as well, as I'm the kind of guy that buys a comic to read, not to slab and look at the cover as an investment - same with cards, as all of my cards were/are "raw" (another term I've learned in the past few years).

I've sold all my sets from the 1980s, as well as my 1951 Bowman cards and most of my T206 cards (purchased from Richard Gelman for 50 cents each back in the late 1970s), but I still have my 1970s cards, especially the 1974, 1976-79 sets. What's happened to the hobby that I knew and loved? The new cards don't interest me much at all; perhaps because I don't know the players anymore, nor do I care for the baggy pajama style uniforms where every team seems to wear navy or blue (even my beloved brown/gold Padres have worn blue for 20+ years). Does anyone else feel this way?

[Mark70Z]

It seems I go farther back in time then you, but it's just not the same anymore. I wasn't really interested to much in getting all of the cards in a set back in the day, but I did like to collect players that I liked, or basically anyone who played for the Orioles. I got back into collecting a number of years ago, but now I mainly collect vintage O's cards, but I do pick up some of the newer cards that I like... As an example I would pick up all of the Brooksie cards produced, but of course now it will be impossible to accomplish, but a good thing is there are "plenty" of his cards now to aquire.

I personally do like some of the slabbed cards because at least you know pretty much what you are getting, not just some person claiming it's in a certain shape. Personally I've never collected for the investment value, I just collect what I like at the time. I think if you did that...just pick up what you like it will be interesting again for you.

Hope you find your interest in the hobby again. If nothing else you meet some great people along the way...

[JasonL]

Thanks for that post, as it was a fun read. A sad one, and I can sympathize with much of it, although you pre-date me by about 10 years. I got my start cutting my teeth on trying to assemble the 1984 Fleer set, and I went through a similar cooling period during later high school and college years.

The developments came on through the 90s with all the new companies entering the field, and that is when I turned out the lights, because, like you, I couldn't find any satisfaction in trying to attempt any collecting goals with the incredibly high number of sets, variation cards, chase cards and the like. Then it only got worse into the 2000's with the additions of 1/1's and 1/50's etc...impossible. And who really enjoys "impossible?"

But that is what turned me back to vintage. Those card populations don't change! And I don't have to worry about what color variant of the 1962 Willie Mays Topps card I need!!!

Now, the grading thing for me - I took a different attitude about that. For me, the grading became a necessary evil to keep up with. The reason for it was the escalating costs of cards that you mentioned. My thinking since I got back into collecting in 2003, was this: If I am going to spend this much money on a card, I want to make sure that it's got a good chance of holding the value I am spending. Meaning, I want to make sure it's authentic, and I want to make sure my $x if going towards a card that everyone (not just the dealer or myself) think is actually the NM he says it is, and that it should be worth close to $x. I don't know if that makes sense, but I approach the grading from the perspective of protecting and ensuring value since I am spending money on a card. It is upsetting because here's the flipside of my thinking: I wouldn't even CONSIDER buying a raw card of any worth anymore. I mean, with all the doctoring going on, the uncertainty of online buying, etc...why on earth would I bother buying an ungraded Lou Brock rookie??? That makes no sense to me. I'll need to shell out the same (or maybe a little less) money for something that may not be as good as I deserve to get for the purchase.

And that is sad. Because there is definitely a part of me that longs to collect raw vintage sets, and make checklists and have fun readng the back of the cards....but much of that is long gone for me, and instead I have a group of good looking investments that are part of the game that I have loved since a child.

It is different.
No doubt.

[Exhibitman]

Some stuff I agree with; some not.

I liked the gum in packs.

I agree that the modern production of cards has gotten away from the principles that we all fell in love with as kids. Like commons that count for something. Breaks my heart at a show to see kids crack packs and leave the base cards behind with the wrappers. Some of my lack of interest in modern cards also has to do with my lack of interest in the present day game. The drug scandals, outrageous costs of attendance, spoiled brat douchebag owners, whiny child millionaire players, and for us Los Angeles residents the lack of an actual MLB team in our city, all contribute to my disinterest.

You can still collect just as you used to; just focus. I have started trading in my high grade slabbed cards for presentable midgrade cards and find that my enjoyment of owning the cards has returned. I store them in albums, don't fret over a dinged corner, and don't worry about my investment in them. I just enjoy sitting down with an album and getting lost for a while. In short, they have returned to their rightful place as a pleasant diversion for me.

[theseeker]

Jay sent me on a mixed emotions trip down memory lane. I happen to agree with everything he said. Those brown and yellow (and they were yellow, definately not gold) Padre's uniforms were ugly in a good way. Not unlike Rottweilers. And God do I hate the pants down to the soles of the spikes look. They look like pajama footies. What a generation.

With Arod and Puljos over 30, where is the next-in-line genuine superstar? Please note I didn't use uber instead of super and won't use sans in the place of without, another of my generation gap hot buttons. It's now somehow become chic to replace common, simple words with German and French equivalants to an established language already strongly influenced by both? Errrrrr.

As for the lack of a true superstar in his twenties, doesn't really matter on a card collecting website as there is clearly no longer any collector interest in new material. Anyone who takes issue with this can point me to a forum devoted to new card issues. A stark contrast to the card collecting bubble of 1988-1992, where greed dictated and cases of new cards and promising RC's sold in lots became investments in an industry where any card scarcity was a manufaturer's creation. The tail was waging the dog. MLB licencing was as much at fault as anyone. They're now down to only Topps, but it's way too late. The card collecting age of childhood innocence is lost for good and with it the future of the hobby.

While the reason for the increased interest in the hobby was all wrong back then, I do have to admit to missing the mainstream interest that came with it.

Ironically, it wouldn't take much for Jay to now fill in all those years with NrMt sets from ALL those manufacturers. Fittingly, they're practically giving them away. And still nobodies buying. When talking of the hobby's good-ole-day, you have to begin before this period, period.

[theseeker]

Oh, one last thing....as for slabbed cards, I probably wouldn't mind so much if the undeserving PSA didn't dominate and bring higher ROI. And for what? Their registry. Tells me the hobby's mindset still isn't where it should be.

Let me get this straight, you acquire a high grade card, with bright colors, sharp corners, and perfect centering. So the next step should be to sent it to PSA so they can carelessly slap it into a scratched up slab. If the fit isn't right, they'll fix it with wrinkled mylar. I don't get it and never will.