Results 21 to 30 of 33
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12-09-2012, 06:12 PM #21
Basically this seems like a very misdirected rant at the price guide business, not so much the hobby. Some people can't seem to separate the two. Until the late 1970s, the idea of cards having any value beyond the sentimental was foreign to probably 90% of collectors. In other words, for some 80 or so years, collectors were just that, COLLECTORS, not investors and speculators. Sports cards and related items were used by companies as a way to sell OTHER products. The cards were not the goal, they were just an enticement to get people to buy a particular brand of cigarettes or bread or candy. You know why Topps sold gum with their cards for so long? Because Topps was a gum company! They were selling gum, not cards.
It's like Cracker Jack. The prize was always just a way to draw kids attention to the product by advertisng a free surprise inside. However, with Cracker Jack, the opposite trend occurred. The prizes be came less and less interesting (downright worthless these days), and people only buy it for the actual stale carmel coated popcorn and peanuts. Topps went the other direction and the cards became the actual product, while the gum got smaller and smaller, cheaper and cheaper. In 1992, Topps FINALLY abandoned the pretense that they were a gum company first and foremost, and removed the gum from packs altogether.
Bubble gum and cards were so intertwined in the mind of the public, that it didn't occur to Fleer (also a candy company) and Donruss to NOT include gum with their cards, which resulted in a lawsuit by Topps, who claimed that only they had the right to issue baseball cards with bubble gum. That was basically their last gasp attempt to prevent competition from entering the baseball card market. Fleer went with stickers and Donruss with puzzle pieces.
It wasn't until the mid-late 1980s and 1990s that companies thought to introduce rarity or other gimmicks into their product with the sole intent of making them seem more "valuable" and this they began to charge a lot more. The fact that you fell for that hook, line and sinker, in no way points to anything more than effective marketing on the part of the card companies. As with stocks or any other market where you might decide to invest your time and money, there is not, nor has there ever been, any guarantee of a positive return on investment. How you manage your "portfolio" of sports cards into a net gain is entirely on you. If you choose the simple strategy of accumulation over intelligent, discriminating acquisition, that's nothing you can blame on the "hobby". There are, and have been for decades, a multitude of resources for people to research both the hobby and the associated sports, and from those, make informed decisions and investments.
As many have said here already, for most of us, we're just happy to be here. Don't go dragging our hobby through the mud because of your own fundamental misunderstanding of how it works.Last edited by DaClyde; 12-11-2012 at 10:14 AM.
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12-13-2012, 07:09 PM #22
I do understand I guess what he is trying to say,but like what others have said its a hobby. Its an option you have,if you want to spend money on something that might make you money in the future then buy gold like I do. I buy broken gold instead of hobby boxes. I buy singles but dont pay too much on them. I buy lots of autos and gameused to trade towards my pc needs for the year. My favorite thing to collect is Topps Chrome Refractors. I do buy Rack Packs because of the Three Orange Refractors you get as a bonus. I know I may not get what I want for my collection but just looking and showing my collection to people,is a really good feeling and something else I can be proud of having.
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12-14-2012, 12:57 AM #23
i agree with most this hobby is what you make it. I love my cards but only about 25 to 30 % of my cards have any value to me emotionally or monetarily and that only because i haven't found good homes and collectors for the cards i have that i don't want. i know i will never make what i put into it but i don't care because i enjoy ripping packs and breaking boxes just to feel like i did when i was 8 or so when i first go into cards
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12-14-2012, 01:33 AM #24
Like everyone here, you just have to figure out what exactly you will do with the hobby. Me, I thought it was all about BV but now I realize that with different online sites, people can buy cards cheaper than BV. The internet has changed collecting in a big way. On one hand you sell your cards cheaper but that is the gamble of selling online anymore. On the other hand, you are connected to millions of people who may be looking for this player or that player and you may have a card that they need. The two options you have is to try and sell to them or make a personal collection of your favorite teams and/or players. I learned to let go of value, grow up, and love collecting as a hobby. You can't expect to make money off of much anymore unless you invent a new item that would make peoples lives better. A hobby just gets your mind off thing. Yeah you spend money but guess what, people spend money at where you work and do they really get their moneys worth? Maybe maybe not. Nothing like someone ranting about something they don't understand anymore.
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12-14-2012, 02:11 AM #25
I felt like Vike-king when I started trading here. I thought it was a sham. I didn't like the fact that when people traded it was for BV but if they wanted to buy it was valued based off of Ebay or other such sites. That's a part of being in an age where technology changes the way we buy things. Technology has changed the value of cards yes, but if you are a true collector then you should understand the meaning of true value. True value is what your personal collection means to you, not what a guide tells you. Besides, guides are just that, guides. It isn't something that is written in stone with a chisel, it is printed on a piece of paper with ink. And something else to think about as well. How do the guides know what is worth what anyway? They sure don't put the value from online auctions or classifieds in there. You want a good guide go to www.sportslizard.com and see how they value cards and other memorabilia. I use that more than anything to put monetary value on my cards. Hate it all you want, you won't convince me to get rid of my cards. Too much time and effort has gone into my collection for that.
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12-15-2012, 04:02 AM #26
It is possible to make money in the hobby for starters, you just need to take the time to do it and any idiot can do it. I am believer that if you are in the hobby JUST to make money, you should quit the hobby, but I am realizing that it is a smart way to have fun and make some money on the side as well.
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12-17-2012, 01:50 AM #27
I get every card with the intention of keeping it or passing it down, not selling it. Avoid this whole problem that way. Also get far more quantity (don't own any jersey cards or patches though but maybe I'll pick up some cheap ones of my favourite hockey players). Also designing customs is frustrating/fun.
Too much of a headache for me to sell stuff. I'd have to buy higher end products to begin with because it's even more of a hassle selling commons. More fun to just look at them, put them together, look at a complete set down the road to see what a team looked like years ago, etc.
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12-17-2012, 07:24 AM #28
Maybe that's why I'm trying to get out. I haven't bought any cards in several months. Even those I'd think to myself, I'm not getting my moneys worth. Just a bunch of base-I was buying blaster boxes to feed the need to get cards. But now, I literally will sell anything. Even PC stuff. I figure it's better to have $ than boxes of cards laying around. While my whole collection amasses like 21,000 or so cards. It's not much to some I'd say. But just too time consuming and a pain to deal with. It also seems if you don't have the latest and greatest than nobody wants to deal. Makes me wonder how some people live their lives when they are dropping lots of $ on cards weekly or how ever frequently they buy. I know I would be out on the street if I was buying $100+ boxes of cards. I'm just making it as it is and that's without buying cards. And I have a fairly decent rate of pay. I've always wondered how those who make less can get by while maintaining an expensive hobby.
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12-17-2012, 11:38 AM #29
Roaddogg I have one store I get my cards from: Walmart. Cheaper than the closest hobby shop. Plus it's like gambling, as long as you reign yourself in and limit yourself, it's doesn't get that expensive. If there is a certain card type you want, save up for it so you don't bounce the check book.
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12-17-2012, 11:49 AM #30
"It also seems if you don't have the latest and greatest than nobody wants to deal." I had said this on an earlier post. Years ago (1990's) there was a Walt "Clyde" Frazier signing at a department store and there was virtually no one there. A few weeks later John Starks was there and the line was out the door and around the corner. Starks was a halfway decent player but in my eyes nowhere near the stature of a HOF'er like Clyde. The same thing happened with nobody showing up when Gaylord Perry appeared a few weeks apart from the other two. I believe the younger kids in the last decade or two do not have the appreciation of the history of the game whether it be baseball, football, hockey, basketball or whatever.
"I've always wondered how those who make less can get by while maintaining an expensive hobby." My guess is credit. I highly doubt many could get by without it. I also see many post's where people are wanting to sell cards just to buy something else.
...Rick
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