Who is the biggest culprit?

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Why do we constantly feel the need to make sets attainable for kids when it's obvious that low-end products don't appeal to them.

I was gonna quote an earlier post of yours, but this one is just as good. Your earlier post stated that "Kids aren't dumb, they want the good cards and not the low end $1 packs". This is exactly the truth, kids aren't "dumb". There are still some kids into collecting, but like Orioles1954 says (James?) they aren't "dumb" they want the really good modern cards. Case in point, about a month ago, me and one of my local collecting buddies went to a local shop and we took along his 11 year old son, who seems pretty interested in collecting. His dad gave him $100 to spend at the card shop (I know, lucky kid). What did he want to buy? He wanted the $90 a pack Ultimate Collection Hockey, where you only get 4 or 5 cards in one pack. I even asked him, i said "Wouldn't you rather get 100 packs of the Upper Deck Victory, which sell for $1 a pack?". His reply was "Why? so i have a big pile of junk at the end?". The UD Ultimate packs were $90 each but they guaranteed 1 autograph, 1 jersey or patch card and one serial numbered rookie card per pack and thats what he told me he wanted. He even told me he'd have a lot more fun looking at the autograph and jersey card, then he would looking at the other 1200 "common cards" (as he said) combined.

As for the question, as i answered earlier its technology that has taken a lot of the younger kids out of card collecting, but as a whole i think the hobby is in pretty decent shape, it has just changed and evolved with the times. When we were kids we got involved in collecting at a very young age. Nowadays, i notice people are getting involved or re-involved in collecting at an older age, in their late teen years, 20's, 30's and older. A lot of people who are getting into collecting in their 20's/30's are getting interested from the flashy autograph/patch/refractor cards, but then after a few years of the modern stuff, many are then getting into the vintage and pre-war.

The hobby will never be as big as it was in the 80's and early 90s, but the hobby will survive and it is doing just fine (you only have to look on ebay and see how many people are buying and selling all the time. Or look on Freedom Card Board and this site at how many collectors are posting and lurking), it has just evolved into what it is today and it is what it is.