The difficulties of getting kids to collect

stevecarlton1972 · #1 07-10-2018, 05:05 PM

Obviously kids have so many more things to do then we did as kids (Ipad, Phones, video games, etc). But the one thing that got me into Baseball as a kid which eventually got me into collecting Baseball Cards was reading the Sports Section everyday and being obsessed with box scores.

Statistics/Tradition was the one thing that Baseball had over the other major sports, and that is sort of lost in the internet/post-Steroid era these days. I used to love getting cards of older players who had been in the league and you could look at their 15 year career of statistics on the back of the card. I loved comparing the backs of a Nolan Ryan with Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver in the early 80's when they were approaching 3,000 Strikeouts, 300 wins, etc.

Stuff like that just doesn't appeal to kids these days like it did when we were kids, and that is probably why the NFL is so appealing to them because it's all about THE moment. Keeping score at a baseball game, reading the box scores everyday in the newspaper, and following who may break Roger Maris HR record are all just gone now as the lore of the Baseball isn't the same. The advent of the Wildcard, interleague play, etc just cemented Baseball as just another sport. I think those things reflected in card collecting too and why we love them.

clydepepper · #2 07-10-2018, 08:00 PM

Well, I'm 62 and as long as there are plenty of 40-year-olds willing to purchase from me - I will try not to worry about how they will resell them.

brett 75 · #3 07-10-2018, 10:17 PM

For the most part kids have no interest in what we are doing with our baseball (sports cards) in general. 26 ,15 and 11 none of them collect. All I ever get is what are you going to do with all those cards? Most of the time I tell them they are going to have to deal with it when I'm gone! This is an old mans hobby and I'm reaching that age. I recently quoted my father

Enjoy what you collect and don't worry about it.
Brett

Slinger · #4 07-10-2018, 11:38 PM

I left in my teens.

I came back 7 months ago at 38.

I feel this is a common/usual cycle perhaps.

Not to worry.

savedfrommyspokes · #5 07-11-2018, 09:07 AM

My two boys have the same lack of interest in cards...my older son's interest peaked in 2014 when he got a Jeter auto, but since then, his interest has greatly declined. My younger son, loves baseball but could care less about cards....he would rather be playing baseball outside, or if that is not possible watching or gaming baseball inside. Two springs ago, I used the Topps website to generate cards for them....they could have cared less. They both went through a Pokeman phase, but that passed a year back.

AGuinness · #6 07-11-2018, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

My two boys have the same lack of interest in cards...my older son's interest peaked in 2014 when he got a Jeter auto, but since then, his interest has greatly declined. My younger son, loves baseball but could care less about cards....he would rather be playing baseball outside, or if that is not possible watching or gaming baseball inside. Two springs ago, I used the Topps website to generate cards for them....they could have cared less. They both went through a Pokeman phase, but that passed a year back.

Nice cards and a good idea on getting them interested, but certainly not every kid is going to catch the bug.

I've got two boys, 5 and 8, and we have a few traditions already with cards. We always open a box of Topps on Opening Day and I always give a blaster box of current year Topps and a handful of old cards from my collection to each on his birthday. Also do the birthday tradition with my nephews and my niece. My youngest son is into the cards - just last night instead of reading a bedtime book, we each broke out some of our cards and showed them to each other (my youngest is very into sports, too, in general).

My oldest is very into Pokemon, and I can see how that makes sense. The kids at his school trade them, even if few have played the game, basing their value on HP and attack damage. Even not playing the game, they get that the card can "do" something. And some kids, including a nephew who is also into Pokemon, are aware of the monetary value of the cards, which seems to pique their interest.

Cards are an opportunity to connect with kids (I bought a deck of Pokemon cards so I could play against my older son), but from my experience it is definitely a hit and miss proposition, baseball cards aren't for every kid.

glynparson · #7 07-12-2018, 06:33 AM

A ton of kids at my daughters school collect or collected cards. Less of them collected baseball but many collect football, or any number of gaming cards. I think that more collect than we seem to think. I also often see kids buying packs at the local target when I go there. It’s not as big as the 80s but neither is the production numbers of the cards

DHogan · #8 07-14-2018, 10:34 PM

A few years ago, I picked up about 20,000 different cards from the 80's thru about 2010. Including Sports Illustrated going back to the late 80's I picked out the cards I wanted. I recently gave them to a 10 yr old friends son. He loved them. His family sat around the kitchen table for days checking and sorting them out. Even his 16 yr old sister pitched into help. Then a few weeks ago, I gave him my Topps sets from the late 80's and 90's all in binders. About another 5,000 cards. He was on happy kid.

deweyinthehall · #9 07-21-2018, 08:04 PM

I just re-discovered this forum after looking for a place to talk about just this kind of subject.

I bought a few packs of Topps Big League today because part of what I read said it was aimed at getting kids into the hobby. It's a nice design, a decent feel, and relatively simple - but still a disappointment. Only 400 cards, limited stats, etc.

I'm 50, and a set builder. I've been buying cards since I first found a small uncut sample sheet of 1978s in a Dynamite magazine in 4th grade. I became a baseball fan because of the cards, rather than the other way around. In recent years, I've given up putting together anything current because of what's out there.

To my mind, here are some things Topps could do to appeal to young, and old, collectors alike:

1) Have a comprehensive set that includes star outfielders, but also back-up catchers and long relief men. That's how I, and I suspect many others, really started to learn about MLB - the teams, the players, etc.
2) Include lifetime stats, with minor league records where they fit - at first glance, it looks like Joey Votto has been around only as long as Khris Davis.
3) Give all teams a roughly equal amount of cards - with some recent issues, it's hard to imagine kids in San Diego or Baltimore getting very excited about what they have to chose from.
4) Have a nice, non-flashy, cardboard-ish stock with no foil printing - this is something Heritage and Big League get right. Some recent Topps base cards had to be held at just the right angle to read the player's name.
5) Have absolutely no computer generated "paint jobs" - leave those guys that switch teams for the update issue;
6) Don't make it impossible to easily build a base set - I'm looking at you, Heritage - no better way to discourage kids than to make it hard to complete a set.
7) Sell cards at someplace other than just Wal-Mart or Target. Make them ubiquitous.
8) Insert sets are fine, but if you want parallels, autos, relics and such, keep it very simple and make them slightly easier to find than Amelia Earhart. It might help keep the guys who loiter around Targets at opening to snatch up cases of product away, and that would be wonderful.

I know it sounds like an old man yelling at people to get off his lawn, but I just can't imagine it being that hard. Kids are either going to buy cards or they're not.

I suppose the one good thing about younger people staying out of the hobby means that eventually I'll be able to pick up some 1960s sets for a few hundred dollars. Seriously - can these sets still go for thousands if no new blood comes into the hobby?

Anyway, glad to get that off my chest - happy collecting!

Rich Klein · #10 07-22-2018, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

I just re-discovered this forum after looking for a place to talk about just this kind of subject.

1) Have a comprehensive set that includes star outfielders, but also back-up catchers and long relief men. That's how I, and I suspect many others, really started to learn about MLB - the teams, the players, etc.
2) Include lifetime stats, with minor league records where they fit - at first glance, it looks like Joey Votto has been around only as long as Khris Davis.
3) Give all teams a roughly equal amount of cards - with some recent issues, it's hard to imagine kids in San Diego or Baltimore getting very excited about what they have to chose from.
4) Have a nice, non-flashy, cardboard-ish stock with no foil printing - this is something Heritage and Big League get right. Some recent Topps base cards had to be held at just the right angle to read the player's name.
5) Have absolutely no computer generated "paint jobs" - leave those guys that switch teams for the update issue;
6) Don't make it impossible to easily build a base set - I'm looking at you, Heritage - no better way to discourage kids than to make it hard to complete a set.
7) Sell cards at someplace other than just Wal-Mart or Target. Make them ubiquitous.
8) Insert sets are fine, but if you want parallels, autos, relics and such, keep it very simple and make them slightly easier to find than Amelia Earhart. It might help keep the guys who loiter around Targets at opening to snatch up cases of product away, and that would be wonderful.

I know it sounds like an old man yelling at people to get off his lawn, but I just can't imagine it being that hard. Kids are either going to buy cards or they're not.

I suppose the one good thing about younger people staying out of the hobby means that eventually I'll be able to pick up some 1960s sets for a few hundred dollars. Seriously - can these sets still go for thousands if no new blood comes into the hobby?

Anyway, glad to get that off my chest - happy collecting!

1) Your basic Topps set issued in series 1, 2 and update pretty much covers all that. Yes there are 2-3 cards of the stars but you are just as likely to have a Chance Sisco card as a Mike Trout card. This one is covered

3) See comment about Topps 1. 2 and update. Yes, all teams are covered

6) I get your frustration about Heritage and the SP's but,,,, the original sets those cards are based on had SP''s and tough cards to find. Guess what, that's actually being somewhat true to the original. I can live with the SP's especially when Topps returned as they did this year to having common players as SP's. What had been going on the past few years with the stars almost all being SP's was terrible. This year is fine.

7) I'm sure Topps and Panini would love to sell cards at more than those just the places you mentioned. That is what caused some of the "junk wax" issues of the 1980's and 90's when cards were everywhere. But I get it, the wider audience does need more places for cards.

8) I could explain in long detail why the card companies do parallel sets but the simplest answer is that this makes sense for them and Topps does a pretty good job in their basic set of mostly affordable insert cards with a few better ones tossed in.

I get your rant, but as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

Rich

ronniehatesjazz · #11 07-14-2018, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slinger

I left in my teens.

I came back 7 months ago at 38.

I feel this is a common/usual cycle perhaps.

Not to worry.

This is very common! I collected up until I was 14 and didn't come back to it until I hit 29 a few years ago. All my friends who collected when we were kids pretty much have done the same thing. The difference between now and then is that we all have a decent amount of disposable income that allows us to buy all the cards that we wanted when we were kids and couldn't afford it. One of the first cards I bought when I got back into it was a beat up Ruth Goudey card. When I received it in the mail it was like I was a kid again... awesome feeling and full of nostalgia! I think a lot of people get back into it for the same reasons.

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