Ten Things That Are Killing the Sports Card Hobby

[garnett_21]

I agree 100%! I really do enjoy #8 though - "Voila! A Jordan auto'd ruptured can of beans!"

[Ukiah10]

Maybe this is too simplistic but a couple of things....

1. Stop buying. Don't chase the goofy stuff. They won't produce what won't sell. I know...easier said than done.

2. Would the old marketing line come into play here...."Keep it simple stupid". Which means focus on the basics. Could the companies make more money by selling more of a lesser priced product that people like you still enjoy? Don't know. But with my business...yeah small as it is....It's "Keep it Simple Stupid". I'm not smart enough to overthink things.

[madyankees]

Someone should start an online petition of this thread and send it to UD and Topps. My God, AWESOME.

I came back to the hobby after more than 10 yrs and so far the hobby has brought me some joy but mostly it also made me feel that it is a rich man's hobby....

[MNwild10]

I didn't read all the posts, I'm sure someone has hit on it. This is a BUSINESS! When it was just base and crappy inserts their sales sucked. With autos and patches and parallels, etc their sales are higher than they've ever been. We keep buying, they keep making. That is the business cycle.

[xelloss1012]

As much as anyone would like to see the sticker autos go, I don't think it's possible to ditch that simply due to the inconvenience to the athlete to sign a large volume of cards at once or even over several times during a year and the scheduling do this.

Also, can anyone tell me how many successful replacements that anyone has gotten from UD for anything w/ a hard-signed auto on it?

Hockey is a business and so is cards. However some things could still be fixed like quality problems.

[WilyWestbrook0]

With autos and patches and parallels, etc their sales are higher than they've ever been.

I'd like to see some numbers, because I am not sure the companies are making more than they are putting in right now. They usually don't, but I wonder if the discrepancy is really less now than it was in the previous decades.

[Shinino]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Beckett in this.

BTw, Blasters are good for set collectors. $20 for (in some cases) almost the same amount of cards in a hobby box that costs $80+.

[xelloss1012]

About blasters, there may be variants of it as well. For UD hockey, there is two types:
1. One w/ 12 retail packs (only get two YGs usually and that's it) --> crap
2. One w/ 8 retail packs + Oversized YG card (two YGs, inserts, and maybe a jersey). --> can be good, the much better deal, but does not sound like this is widely distributed as the other...

[win_or_go_home]

I agree with everything you have said. along with most of what everyone posting has said. I have taken a proactive stance on this issue. I beleive it is up to those of us around in the hobby to draw in the younger kids. You would not believe the amount of kids in the middle school I teach at who are drawn to trading sportscards. They don't even care about jersey cards or autos. They still think it is awesome to get a jersey card in a retail box!!! I have taken it upon myself to start a monthly trade night with the kids and their parents. It has done extremely well and the turnout keeps growing. These are the types of things that I think we as collectors should do for our youth.

[xelloss1012]

I'll have to agree to some extent that kids will help along the hobby. Most kids probably wouldn't care jerseys/autos unless it's their favourite player.

Still only one thing that needs fixing is companies (esp. UD) actually trying to do a little more thorough quality-checking (esp. in high-end stuff) so defective cards are not distributed. Found damaged cards in almost every UD hockey product this year, including Ronnie Ronnies.

I agree with everything you have said. along with most of what everyone posting has said. I have taken a proactive stance on this issue. I beleive it is up to those of us around in the hobby to draw in the younger kids. You would not believe the amount of kids in the middle school I teach at who are drawn to trading sportscards. They don't even care about jersey cards or autos. They still think it is awesome to get a jersey card in a retail box!!! I have taken it upon myself to start a monthly trade night with the kids and their parents. It has done extremely well and the turnout keeps growing. These are the types of things that I think we as collectors should do for our youth.