Football Cards, What Happened?

[James]

I don't know if this has been asked before. I'm kinda venting here. I started collecting FB cards in 1974 when I was seven years old. Bcak then Topps had a 528 card set. That lasted through 1982. In 1990 they brought it back again and then it went to 660. Today it's a 385 card set, using Peyton Manning as an example, Manning has a regular card and a Pro Bowl card. Also, players who are lineman, etc., don't have a whole lot of cards. You have rookie cards for players who haven't played yet, Calin Johnson and Joe Thomas rookies should be out in the 2008 FB, NOT the 2007. Why rookie cards when they haven't played yet, players don't need a regular card and Pro Bowl card, they can always put NFC/AFC Pro Bowl whichever Conference that player is in, and increase the number of cards to 528 or 660. Topps Total, while it's cool, I hate the fact that some cards have 2 or 3 players on them. I hate it, one player on one card only. I like building ssets, and it would be nice to see that again from Topps. Will that ever happen?

[God Quality]

supply & demand bro.....for every person who wants a card of Joe Smith 3rd string safety for the texans, theres 15 people who want as many peyton mannings or tom bradys that they can get their hands on

[James]

That seems to be true, but why don't people like to build sets anymore? We don't need a million Manning's or Brady's. I don't mind having safety Joe Smith's card as he represents the team he's on. I guess I'm "old school", my wife likes the "new" stuff, she especially loves the 2006 Donruss Classics. I wish FB Cards were still like Baseball Cards. Take Upper Deck, you have around 800-900 cards fro a set and it's fun to put one together, why can't FB Cards be like that again. It's frsutrating.

[God Quality]

it's pretty simple. The AVERAGE person knows every player on their favorite baseball team...by every I mean like every starting player plus maybe some bench guys

the average guy, however, CANNOT name every player on the field for their favorite football team. There wasnt a damn person I hung out with during the super bowl that could name the 5 offensive linemen for the giants, and they claimed to be die hard big blue fans.

baseball players are more accessible, and therefore their cards are too. If you dont even know who you're starting linemen are, why are you going to care about 2nd or 3rd string guys. Not to mention how much more volatile football is...you can pull a guys card and next day he got cut from his team.

all that translates into card sales

[James]

it's pretty simple. The AVERAGE person knows every player on their favorite baseball team...by every I mean like every starting player plus maybe some bench guys

the average guy, however, CANNOT name every player on the field for their favorite football team. There wasnt a damn person I hung out with during the super bowl that could name the 5 offensive linemen for the giants, and they claimed to be die hard big blue fans.

baseball players are more accessible, and therefore their cards are too. If you dont even know who you're starting linemen are, why are you going to care about 2nd or 3rd string guys. Not to mention how much more volatile football is...you can pull a guys card and next day he got cut from his team.

all that translates into card sales

Damn, you make a great argument. I want to know who the second or thrid string players are, because in the game today, it's good to know who the back-ups are if a player goes down. Do you think it's also because of the all these inserts and such, I mean I've seen guys here at my local card shop spend $100 on a couple of packs of cards, open them and if they don't pull anything they give the card shop owner the cards. What happened to the joy of collecting FB cards and building a set? Everyone seems to want these high dollar autographs, jersey cards, etc.