The Hobby is Dead

[KingKuba]

Next high end set will have every card 1/1. Every base 1/1 and true rc's 1/1 with the sickest patches.

That should bring value back....lol

One pack.... $5000

Super Cup...

[Fred Bear]

You got my attention by saying the Hobby is dead. Then like so many others you then proceeded to talk about the money issue that is driven by the greed of the NHLPA, the card companies and con artists who merely pose as hobbyists. If you had said the Sportscard Business is dead I would not have chimed in on your thread, which seems to focus on making a buck off of the hobby. Despite the aforementioned, there will always be a hobby and collectors, and it might help grow a younger generation of collectors if all the card values were to bottom out. Cheers

I'm very interested to hear how a complete crash of card values would grow a younger generation of collectors. Please explain that one.

I agree, there will always be a hobby and there will always be collectors. Honestly, most of what I collect is the stuff guys throw out as they bust a box, so I'm not collecting big money cards by any stretch, but it's what I enjoy. I have some big money cards, though, and I don't believe it detracts from the hobby as a whole that I'm able to sell one or two to put more funds into what I do want to collect. Buying and selling is simply trading cash for cards - it's really not that evil, is it?

Our hobby competes with a lot of more flashy past times for kids/youngsters. How do you see them getting interested in a hobby where they will have to spend money on worthless cardboard (they have to get their initial cards for trading somewhere, right?) featuring players of a sport that they can't afford to watch in person (cheap seats for the NHL are in Phoenix, a collecting hotbed I know, at an avg of $75/ticket)?


To the OP: The hobby isn't dead or dying, in general. The hobby may be dead or dying to some collectors, it's a matter of personal taste, opinion, desire, etc. I'm having the most fun I've had in years. I haven't bought a box/case in nearly two full seasons. I've added a ton of older sets to my collection and, instead of boxes/cases, I've simply been buying the sets I want each season. I will echo what several others have said, trading is becoming more and more difficult. Both because of postal costs and because of my collecting focus on base sets. I don't want to trade a card that sells for $30+ for 6 cards that sell for $1 each just because the 'price guide' says both piles are 'worth' $50. I'm more than willing to trade my $50 card for a $50 Wings card I want or my pile of 6 $1 cards for your pile of 6 $1 cards I need for my set, but those situations are fewer and fewer. Personally, I worry that new collectors aren't coming to take our places in the hobby. It's easy for me to be excited about a hobby that I got into over 3 decades ago, but is there hope for my daughter? I had 3-7 card shops within short driving distance (45-60 min) that could all be hit on a single Saturday when I was a kid. Today, I have 1 located within a 100-mile radius and they don't focus on hockey (outside of a few Penguins). I know there are some positive stories from others that make me hopeful, but reading the constant spew of negativity on this site (and others) about how collectors are suckers or people who use ebay are evil or UD is killing the hobby or the million other reasons why if you don't collect like this person or that, you're an idiot does make it difficult to believe an answer is on the horizon.

[subban7677]

Next high end set will have every card 1/1. Every base 1/1 and true rc's 1/1 with the sickest patches.

That should bring value back....lol

One pack.... $5000


Super Cup...

Been done (sort of). Famous Fabrics has put out a set, or sets, where every card is a cut auto 1/1. Hardly lit the hobby on fire. Just an aside about that set that I find funny...I have one of the two Marc Tardif 1/1s in one of the particular sets and it is a cut auto...of an ITG sticker placed on a piece of white paper lol!

[ChuckNorrisFearsS]

...and Ron who will one day in the near future be showing off a card soooo amazing that you just might poop yourself, just the PM from him telling me he had it reserved on layaway made me fart. Can I say that here?

Shhhh...if people find out I've got a Jordan Staal Victory RC incoming my inbox is going to get crushed!

[ChuckNorrisFearsS]

...and it is a cut auto...of an ITG sticker placed on a piece of white paper lol!

That is shameful!

[japhi]

Well, you're right I should've kept it. Unfortunately some awful luck put me into a situation to selling it and other cards I held dear. I did have it at a BIN/BO and never got one single offer for over 10 days. Couldn't wait forever.

I think this is a situation that a lot of sellers are in, they really can't afford to buy high end product which means they can't afford to hold it. 10 days is by no means forever, I won't consider re-pricing a card for 3 months and the reality is everything will sell at some point, and the guys that can wait will get the highest returns. My guess is someone could sit on that card for a few months to a year and get over $150.

[KingKuba]

Group breaks fill every single day on CNC.
That's $5k-$10k everyday spent by "collectors".

Hardly dead but hardly healthy.

[habscards]

Group breaks fill every single day on CNC.
That's $5k-$10k everyday spent by "collectors".

Hardly dead but hardly healthy.

Well according to your 5-10k a day totals equals out to 1.8-3.6 million dollars a year. That is just one breaker. That does include other breakers whether it be big or small plus then big U.S. retaillers like Dave and Adams, Steelcity and Blowout. Plus other LCS. I would care to guess that the hockey card hobby is a ten million dollar a year hobby.

That at is a hell of a lot if money for a hobby.


Plus keep in mind that over in Europe they do create cards from other European leagues. Plus have you ever seen what high end KHL cards sell for?

[subban7677]

Group breaks fill every single day on CNC.
That's $5k-$10k everyday spent by "collectors".

Hardly dead but hardly healthy.

Maybe I'm the one not understanding this. By your count $5K-$10K is dropped every day at just one channel/location for the hobby on group breaks alone, and this is not healthy? Please explain, because that sounds like a lot of "brown bills" being thrown around, as Richard would say.

[JTPens58]

Been done (sort of). Famous Fabrics has put out a set, or sets, where every card is a cut auto 1/1. Hardly lit the hobby on fire. Just an aside about that set that I find funny...I have one of the two Marc Tardif 1/1s in one of the particular sets and it is a cut auto...of an ITG sticker placed on a piece of white paper lol!

Dito what Ron said, if that's really the case that's terrible.

Been an interesting read catching up on this thread - lots of things and factors to consider. The one I agree the most with was the shipping price increase doing damage to the hobby, but especially the trading scene.

And that's all I have to say about that.