Ten Things That Are Killing the Sports Card Hobby

[startingover37]

totally agree really like low-end products for sets and ttm lol also agree when its 99.99 for a box with one rc auto and one gu you get one of those 45 guys your out a 100 bucks cause that gu aint gonna get you 5 bucks back really sad about all the 1/1's those should be gems but they arent great thread and agree 100% also about ebay lol its so stupid sometimes take care guys happy collecting

[themanishere]

10: No doubt. I love simply collecting base/base RCs and such of my teams. Now, if it is not a GU or Auto, it is worthless.

9: Yeah, blasters have terrible odds in comparison to hobby, and they further water down the GU/Auto supply.

8: I am not such a big anti-sticker auto person. I mean, I generally agree an on-card auto is nicer (I suppose it is the whole thing about the actual card being signed), but an auto is still an auto. It is a bit of a semantic/aesthetic argument for me.

7: I hate these. There are too many distinctions now - event worn, player worn, game worn, practice worn, etc. Who knows where these pieces of jersey come from any more...

6: Too many parallels has diluted the chase for rainbows (which I like to do) and such. Although many parallels look nice, they just need to be simplified and stream-lined.

5: The sheer quantity of GU and Autos has turned collecting into a pissing contest to see who has deeper pockets.

4: Means lower prices if no hit guarantees. Goes along with cutting back on production, as well as inserts and RCs again being considered hits.

3: Just the luck of the draw. Every obtained rookie should have a "hit" IMO

2: Simply an abominable business practice - companies should not place IOU's in any product. On top of that, if the card is not made, you do not even get to exchange it for something you would want.

1: A microcosm of lifestyle - many people will always want what has the highest price tag

Many of these are tied together. The prevalence of/preference for high-end products has killed off many low-end stuff because there is more profit to be had. The introduction of manufactured cards (and similar cards) was simply to try to disguise the overproduction of GU's/Autos through telling us these are new types of cards. Hits are now guaranteed to make up for the overproduction, in that we feel we are getting enough of something to overcome the decreased value of it.

There are obviously many things wrong with the industry right now. However, this is not to say there are also many things better now than before. The problem is the bad aspects are definitely hampering the fun to be had with the good parts. You just have to try to enjoy the parts that matter to you most while realistically challenging the bad parts in your own capacity. After all, this is (or should be) a hobby.

[bosoulja82]

well said bro.....it seems you hit every area... the manufactured patch thing is ridiculous...sometime i hear people complaining about fake patches on ebay....i feel thats all the card companies are given us now....but all in all i remember it was a chase to pull a star player card....whether it was base or insert.....now when i join group breaks on the tube...if i didnt get a patch or auto...i feel like i was hitless..i dont even think the single game used or rookie is worth paying for postage

[spuds1961]

Everyone's making good points.Themanishere said it best find the good things you like about the hobby and stick to them.Take care Steve

[Edwards2Evans]

I agree strongly with everything you've said. I love this hobby and I'm so tight on money I've never even bought a hobby box! Good thing I got $90 for X-mas and am going to a hobby shop on Saturday. : )

[whalechaser]

Good post! =)

10. Disappearance of low-end products
Definitely makes the hobby harder for those without deep pockets and discourages kids. Interestingly there have been more low-end products for basketball coming out this year. Topps Tip Off (99 cents a pack!), Upper Deck MVP, Fleer, etc. etc. The problem is that low end products sometime give no hits at all, they should do hits at 1:2098704 packs for low end a la the Star Rubies / Precious metal gems in the 90's so it makes the low end cards more desirable and more purchased.

9. Retail blaster boxes
These are not so bad now. Also starting this year, the hits have been better. The one bad thing is the " Guarantted GU" per blaster. Especially the blaster exclusive GU's. It completely drives down what little value GU's had left.

8. Sticker autographs
On card autos look beautiful, sticker autos are ugly often times, but it's not that bad, this is not the worst of the problems.

7. Manufactured patches
I hate these, but some of them are kind of neat, I sort of like the manufactured team logos they did for Premiere basketball last year.

6. Too many parallel sets
Rainbows are fun to collect, but too many makes it less fun.

5. Overproduction of memorabilia/autograph cards
Yup horrible thing.

4. Hit guarantees
Basically meaningless, because if the "hits" you pull are crap they aren't really "hits".


3. Rookie mania
They really need to reduce the amount of RC's produced each year to make them collectible again.

2. Redemption cards
Hate these two. I had pulled two redemptions that have been expired. =\

1. Ultra high-end products
Another sad sad thing that will not be remedied anytime soon. But if us lower class untouchables are lucky, we can pick up an Exquisite Auto patch for $20 somtimes.

[tennisdevils]

especially non worn letterman... but that goes under manufactured patches. i agree with everything else on there!

[Edwards2Evans]

especially non worn letterman... but that goes under manufactured patches. i agree with everything else on there!

I hate that so much!

[51CardDeck]

Awesome article, totally agree with everything, and this hobby has turned into a money making hobby, rather than just collecting for fun.
OK, I do sell cards, but mainly at shows, haven't sold on Ebay in over 6 years and only to spend on more cards.

One thing that I truly like are autographed cards, where back in the days, you either had to go to the ballpark or shows to obtain them.
Although I have some sticker auto's in my PC, I'm looking to replace them with on-card autos.

Cut autos, yes, some are nice, but the amount available nowadays is just ridiculous. As for cut autos, I prefer ones that are bank checks.

GU Patches, I remember pulling a Jordan Patch card and back then it was seeded 1:10000 packs and was extremely rare, now you can find a patch card in any product and it's not as rare, and not as valuable as they once were.

How many different products does each card company have to make per sport? I understand they are trying to make mid-end and high-end for the various types of collectors out there, but the high-end products are getting out of hand.

Another rant for me is the quality of the pictures. I thought there were plenty of good photographers out there. I hate seeing cards with studio portrait photos, they should all be action photos.

[HIJACK12]

Another issue as far as sticker autos is that what if one day down the road, maybe 20 years from now, they all start to fall off of the cards?