Who is the biggest culprit?

pitchernut · #1 01-20-2012, 10:53 AM

Imo the decline of bb card hobby was when people started collecting cardboard instead of players.

novakjr · #2 01-20-2012, 11:09 AM

In the overall scheme of things, has there really been a decline in the hobby? Or does it just seem that way because of the boom in the late 80's-early-90's? And honestly, was that a boom of collectors, or investors?

I'm leaning towards investors, which really means as far as us collector's go, nothing has changed. This industry has always been for the collectors. Now why constantly compare the current state of things to a time when everything was inflated due the amount of people who viewed the hobby as just another gimmicky get rich scheme, as opposed to seeing it for what it really is, just hobby?

teetwoohsix · #3 01-20-2012, 11:13 AM

This is a great thread with too many great posts to quote, and I agree with many of you, but I don't look at it as the hobby is in decline. I probably live in a small world

but IMO it seems that there is always an increasing amount of people getting into collecting- you see it here on Net54 even.

Anyhow, this is a great conversation- I love all of the different points of view, thanks !!

Sincerely, Clayton

vintagetoppsguy · #4 01-20-2012, 11:41 AM

If anybody doesn't believe that the hobby is in decline, then I invite them down to Houston for the weekend. We'll head over to the TriStar show and I won't say a word. The adult to kid ratio will tell you everything you need to know.

With fewer and fewer kids getting into the hobby, YES it's in decline.

Touch'EmAll · #5 01-20-2012, 12:43 PM

I tend to agree - yes - kids into this hobby are on the decline. And kids are more likely to pursue current modern cards.

However, adults that are into this hobby may be on the upswing. Adults have more money to spend, and adults are more likely to go after vintage cards. Vintage card sales are very healthy.

Decades ago, it was a kid driven hobby, and adults more or less scoffed at collecting. Now, the demographics have changed.

Look at coin collecting. Kids play virtually no factor in the hobby. Yet it is the biggest hobby industry in this country - adult driven.

Conclusion - go after quality vintage cards, preferrably upper tier HOFers, and don't worry - great investment - and very healthy segment of our hobby.

vintagetoppsguy · #6 01-20-2012, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

I tend to agree - yes - kids into this hobby are on the decline. And kids are more likely to pursue current modern cards.

However, adults that are into this hobby may be on the upswing. Adults have more money to spend, and adults are more likely to go after vintage cards. Vintage card sales are very healthy.

Decades ago, it was a kid driven hobby, and adults more or less scoffed at collecting. Now, the demographics have changed.

Look at coin collecting. Kids play virtually no factor in the hobby. Yet it is the biggest hobby industry in this country - adult driven.

Conclusion - go after quality vintage cards, preferrably upper tier HOFers, and don't worry - great investment - and very healthy segment of our hobby.

I understand what you're saying and agree that it has become an adult driven hobby. However, w/o kids coming into the hobby, it is a declining hobby as there will nobody to take our place when us adults quit collecting. Most of us adults in the hobby collected when we were kids and something sparked our interests again as an adult (or if you're like me you just never stopped collecting in the first place). In other words, if one doesn't collect as a kid, it's very unlikely they're going to collect as an adult.

Orioles1954 · #7 01-20-2012, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I understand what you're saying and agree that it has become an adult driven hobby. However, w/o kids coming into the hobby, it is a declining hobby as there will nobody to take our place when us adults quit collecting. Most of us adults in the hobby collected when we were kids and something sparked our interests again as an adult (or if you're like me you just never stopped collecting in the first place). In other words, if one doesn't collect as a kid, it's very unlikely they're going to collect as an adult.

I don't agree. There will always be people filtering in and out of the hobby and the majority I know start in their late teens. Heck, many on this board started in their 30s once they got some disposable income.

glchen · #8 01-20-2012, 02:11 PM

I think the reason people are worrying about the kids is that's how most of us started. I started collecting in middle school and the beginning of high school, and I was really into it during that time when I was trying cards like crazy with my friends and buying cheap packs from the corner drugstore. Kids didn't care about bent corners then. Then the prices of cards started exploding, and it was the Rookie card boom. I only had one card ever that I put into a top loader at that time, which was a real luxury then. It was a 84 Donruss Mattingly which was the crown of my collection. I didn't pull it from a pack, but actually saved up my allowance and got it from a card shop. I'm thinking I spent ~$40 on it, but my memory is pretty foggy on this. I had it graded last year and it came back a PSA 7, probably not worth the plastic around it, but still with a lot of sentimental value.

So even now when I got back into the hobby in my 30s like a lot of others, I had this memory of collecting as a kid to drive me. I think many others have had similar experiences. Their concern is that sure, I got back into this hobby in my 30s, but that's because I always had a latent interest in cards that I developed when I was a kid. However, I think it's simply a different time now, and we can't compare how things were when we grew up to how kids are now. People will get into collecting at different points of their lives now than how it happened in the past. There's always an inherent interest in many of us to collect (or hoard for others). The long history of cards and the story behind them will always drive people to be interested in them and eventually collect them.

Leon · #9 01-20-2012, 02:20 PM

Great conversations and everyone makes good points.

Just as a point of reference, I collected as a kid in the late 1960s. I wasn't passionate it was just something to do with my friends, sort of like riding bicycles. Then, when I was around 33-34 yrs old I got hooked on vintage cards and have loved it since then. Maybe we are looking at it mostly the wrong way. Maybe the kids aren't the absolute answer for longevity of the hobby but more the 20 somethings through 30 somethings that get back into it, along with the old timers like Dan McKee, who never stopped doing it from when they were young tykes and are now in their later 40s. Maybe it has changed from mostly a hobby for kids to a hobby for adults? That is certainly the case for the pre-war stuff. No doubt due to the cost of some of the cards. Great thread and not one major argument.............yet

.

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