The hobby is doomed...

[Manny]

This hobby has a cycle like everything else.
It was booming in the 90s, on the decline since, and it will pick back up at some point.

I think the biggest risk to the hobby is the NHL closing down. No more hockey, why bother collecting hockey? right?

[30ranfordfan]

What? I don't think I understand the post.....

Do you believe there is a possibility of the NHL folding in the next decade or three?

This hobby has a cycle like everything else.
It was booming in the 90s, on the decline since, and it will pick back up at some point.

I think the biggest risk to the hobby is the NHL closing down. No more hockey, why bother collecting hockey? right?

[Manny]

No I don't think it's going to happen, but if it did, that's the sort of event that would destroy hobby.

Cheers

What? I don't think I understand the post.....

Do you believe there is a possibility of the NHL folding in the next decade or three?

[Leafsman]

I'm going to throw a couple log onto the fire for this debate - which is spirited!

One of the common refrains that is out there is people only want a licensed product. So for Hockey, you are left with Upper Deck, for Football/Basketball you have Panini for Baseball you have Topps (and Panini for the MLBPA - no logos). I believe this is big problem because there really is stifles competition for your dollar or the ability to be have some products and limits what collectors will potential purchase.

In addition, the leaders in the hobby (manufacturers) seeming do not want to work together to help promote the hobby to generate that next generation, they would rather work alone. For example, Topps does their own promotion for National Baseball Card Day, UD does their own with NHCD, etc. At the Industry Summit last year, Leaf promoted the idea of a National Hobby Card Day, which as of my knowledge has gone no where (this was as of the Toronto Expo in November).

Something that is on my goal list (which I need to post in the next week) is to be a better promoter of events. I know @FrankToronto, @great8, @mundaym23 are posting their shows but SCF needs to be better to alert you all when events are happening in your location and working with promoters. To @Leafsman point, if there is a show that is going to be in an area and he has advanced notice, even though the distance might be 2 hours away, he could make a plan to potentially attend.

What am I saying? The hobby is not dead, far from it IMO, but there are problems that if are not corrected, will lead the hobby down that path.


I'm going to tag @LeafGregg and @bprice to this discussion as I would love to get their take overall on this thread (and I know they login occasionally )

@scottkoz20 There's a big reason why I won't attend shows three hours away - lack of disposable income and lack of transportation. I live on $400 US per month. $125 of that goes for bills and roughly $200 more goes to groceries (I have been diagnosed as diabetic and am on a certain diet. That's not cheap). I do not drive, and a taxi to the nearest card expo costs roughly $65 US. Given the cost of singles/boxes, that wouldn't leave much for buying anything at a show, even low-end stuff like MVP, etc. so product cost is a factor as well.

My situation is unique, to say the least. But somehow I still manage to enjoy the hobby and collect graded cards. It does mean I have to save up to buy the cards I want and it does take a while, but I have managed to build a solid collection over the years.

[FrankToronto]

Scott, you make a lot of valid points. The hobby is not dead but it certainly is in a state of flux and its future is uncertain.

Appreciate the comments on promoting events. It ain't easy putting on a card show but its essential for fellow collectors to congregate in person just as its essential to break local boundaries online. As for planning a 2 hour drive ahead of time, especially since many lack a LCS, its definitely worth supporting the shows out there. If anyone needs a heads up on either the Newmarket Card & Comics Show or the Toronto Card Show, click on the red 'Alert Me' button at www.TorontoCardShow.com and join our email list and we'll notify you ahead of time plus our entire year's schedule is on our web sites.

[YoungGuns1988]

Without diving too deeply into the economics of this debate, I will focus on the notion that "kids" or a younger generation are required to keep the hobby alive. That simply isn't true. Many people don't get into the hobby at all until they are an adult, and I am an example of this. Interest in hockey itself will never die and for a great deal of collectors, their interest in hockey itself will lead them to collect cards, be it for a short or long time and age doesn't really impact this. Some people who love hockey want some way to be a part of it or interact with it, and collecting cards is one way to do so.

In terms of already being dead, if it were, this thread wouldn't even exist. The fact that there is enough people who care to comment in a thread, passionately from both sides of the arguments, shows that the hobby is alive and well. The day the hobby is dead is the day no one bothers making this thread.

[KingKuba]

Most kids get their money from their parents. Everyone is a "millionaire" now thanks to cheap interest rates and real estate.
So a lot of kids have money and don't want "cheap" cards.

When I was a kid we never wanted pro set, it was already a joke then, we wanted OPC Premier and/or whatever was unaffordable.
We want what we can't have.

The hobby might be dead in a 100 years for demographic reasons but not the ones in this topic.

[Taxi]

It's shocking to me how much prices of upper and middle end boxes have gone up... And that people are still buying them. The price of certain rookie cards also suggests demand. When McDavid YGs are available for under $20, that's when we know the hobby is dead.

Sent from my Le X820 using Sports Card Forum mobile app

[piper1]

It's shocking to me how much prices of upper and middle end boxes have gone up... And that people are still buying them. The price of certain rookie cards also suggests demand. When McDavid YGs are available for under $20, that's when we know the hobby is dead.

Sent from my Le X820 using Sports Card Forum mobile app

That will occur when the investors who call themselves hobbyists move on to bitcoins. I can then look forward to owning a copy of every McDavid RC.

[creasecollector]

I don't think the hobby is doomed, not anytime soon at least.

We can't all see what the future holds, but current collectors, buyers, flippers, etc all keep the hobby alive in one way or another today.

And as for the future generation, I don't think the interest in cards will totally be gone, either. When I was handing out hockey cards to kids on Halloween, the look on these kids was priceless. They knew what these cards were and were stoked to receive them. So to write-off the next generation and determine what they will/won't collect is too soon I think.

Though the price is another huge factor, and I'll agree with that. The increase in box prices over the years, plus a diminishing return has done some damage. However, as long as these collectors have the ability to pickup singles on the secondary market, collectors can still have access to those same cards at a fraction of the cost if/when these future products are busted.

Also, when looking at the collectors of today via social media (Not all are on forums), I do see the interest is still there today. Sure, maybe we'll have less super collectors or master set builders due to the increase in living cost, real estate, groceries, etc etc, but the collectors are still around and I think will be around for quite some time. Their collecting habits and time in the hobby may fluctuate, but they are still collectors.