Is Ticket Collecting Dead

[tachyonbb]

This spring, as my wife and I have done since the mid 70's we planned a trip to the Phoenix area to catch a few Cactus League games. We made it a family trip with my two daughters and families coming also. We acquired tickets to a Cubs game at HoHoKam, a Diamondbacks game at Salt River, a Giants game at Scottsdale and an Arizona State game. A great vacation.
The down side is all of our tickets were "e-tickets", printed on an inkjet printer at home on ordinary paper. We plan on attending a Cardinals, Royals and perhaps a Twins game this year and they have all moved to eTickets. Even the local "AAA" Storm Chasers are using eTickets. (at least I can do a will call there and get a real ticket).
Is ticket collecting dead? What will we have to remember in 100 years. Even our photographs are bits in cyber space. How will historians do research?

[jerseygary]

I know what you mean. I'm a graphic designer and designed much of the graphics for Camden Yards, including the first opening day and season tickets. I had a big fight to get the ticket people to make nice tickets printed on a classic uncoated (not shiny) cardstock that you would be proud to carry to a game. I won the battle, but not the war because now all you seem to get are the real sterile computer tickets that look like concert tickets that look like theater tickets, etc. Who would be proud to put a 2008 ticketmaster LA Dodgers ticket next to one that came out of Ebbets Field in the 1940's? It's a shame, but at least the season tickets are still a little colorful for most teams.

[mcgwirecom]

Hi, I like to collect tickets from a players whole career. I started in 1998 collecting McGwire homeruns that year. Then I expanded into all of his homers. Then I started Jim Thome homers. Recently I decided to try and collect all Mike Trout and Bryce Harper homeruns. I thought it would be much easier to collect someone from the start. Last year I managed to make connections and get all the tickets. But this year I found out that the Nationals are moving toward ticketless sales. They have no season tickets. The guys I had gotten them from last year have no hard tickets. I did find one guy who managed to get the team to print him out box office type tickets so that is the best I can do for them. I have heard that other teams are heading this way also. I did send an email to the Nats explaining that no tickets was a bad idea as they are keepsakes and wanted by collectors. Hopefully others will speak up.

[tachyonbb]

Wow, Gary your designs are classics. The Camden Yards opening day ticket ranks up there as one of the best ever. Thank you for your great work. I just wish professional baseball would wake up and see that they are killing part of the memories we have of the game. My ticket collection is a catalyst for my memory banks.

[jerseygary]

Hey thanks! That means an awful lot to me. When I worked on the ballpark there was no rules or idea how a new stadium should look. I just did things the way I always wanted a ballpark to look like, from the scoreboard clock down to the usher uniforms and tickets. Fortunately the O's had the foresight to have hired as VP Janet Marie Smith as the driving force behind the whole thing. None of it, and I mean NONE of it could have been accomplished without Janet Marie, an unbelievable baseball fan and class act. Even if they named the ballpark after her it wouldn't have been a big enough tribute.

[Scott Garner]

Hi Bruce,

I too am a long time collector of baseball tickets. I have pondered this exact question because of the current trend towards the use of e-tickets.

I'm quite certain of one thing. VINTAGE tickets related to historical events will always remain very collectible. As with anything in this hobby, scarcity drives desirability. Condition is certainly also a consideration when looking at possible value.

More people are collecting baseball tickets than ever today. The number of collectors in this portion of the hobby has grown tremendously since 1998, the year that Randall mentioned that he began collecting McGwire HR tickets.

IMHO, collecting modern tickets is a different matter altogether. For one thing, the e-ticket phenomenon has created a situation where many season ticket holders and ticket brokers no longer use their traditional "hard tickets" in favor of the e-ticket. This creates a situation where there is a huge supply of perfect, full, unused season tickets. Scarcity and condition are no longer an issue...
Full disclosure: As a collector, I still collect full, unused season tickets to ticket collecting themes that I collect.

FWIW, I do not foresee e-tickets becoming desirable collectibles for the future.