Problems in the hobby?

[angel0430]

I think it is becoming harder for people with not too much money. Almost every product now is expensive. Also, there are too many RC on each product.

[Glebe]

Donruss is/was by far the best. I never had a complaint about there product ever.

[marcus0202]

Here's a Sports Illustrated article (I believe it will be in their upcoming issue) that touches on some problems with the hobby:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1159241/index.htm

[sivjosh]

Here's a Sports Illustrated article (I believe it will be in their upcoming issue) that touches on some problems with the hobby:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1159241/index.htm

I read this article earlier today. The one thing that surprised me is the estimate of only 500 card shops left!?!?! I can think of three in the next town over. It does offer a nice estimate of the decline in money spent on cards since the peak whenever it was. That's clearly a problem for the leagues and the card companies. I'm not sure it is for hobbyists, though. Increasing aggregate demand will be a difficult job for the leagues and the card companies.

"The sales of cards peaked in 1991 at $1.2 billion, according to estimates by Sports Collector's Digest, but slid to $400 million by the turn of the century and to $200 million last year."

[vosen8832]

There seem to be a lot of problems with the hobby and they vary by what kind of collector you are. First there are way to many products out there. I pretty much only collect football and I think it would be awesome if the only products made were Topps and Bowman Chrome, Contenders, SPA, NT, and Exqusite. There would be less GU/Auto out there so demand would be higher and I would love to be albe to bust any one of those boxes year round. And then there are the problems with the card themselves my main ones are: sticker autos, manufactered patches, and card companies not doing anything to prevent fake patches.

[Glebe]

Like vosen said, theres to many products..old collectors who were use to just topps or maybe UD with it come back and are very confused and give it up..

[sivjosh]

I definitely agree about too many products. The card companies seem to be terrible with branding. Examples that I can think of include:

1. Donruss and their football sets. Why do we need Certified Materials, Gridiron Gear, AND Threads? Can't we take the best from each and have one brand that represents Donuss' (Panini now) game-used focus in football?

2. Did you know that Finest isn't the "finest" of Topps' 2008 football issues? Triple Threads and Lettermen both cost more. They must be finer. Mayo doesn't cost much less. That doesn't even take into consideration Bowman Sterling.

3. Why did the UD Philadelphia football set release almost two months before UD "FIRST EDITION" Football? The base UD set and SPx both also release before "First Edition"

These set names mean absolutely nothing so none of them stand out to collectors. I can pick any of the three Donruss sets for good jersey cards. If I want the best Topps football cards, I won't buy Finest. If I want Upper Deck's first football release of the year, I won't wait on First Edition.

These things drive me up the wall.

[Glebe]

they do gridiron gear, threads etc at dif times so they make more money, I wish theyd put it all into one product but theyd lose money cause if they only had 1 product a year people would get bored..people get hyped over new product.

[RichSlyFox14]

yeah man i was so mad when MLB signed that exclusive deal with topps. upper deck now cant make basketball or baseball cards!! thats horrible. escentially football is the only sport where multiple card companies can make cards still. i'm HOPING that it stays that way. idk why all these leagues are signing exclusive deals. it HURTS the hobby if you ask me. i like the variety that the different companies have to offer, and i like upper deck better than topps. upper deck has more innovative and interesting cards. i'm not saying UD should have an exclusive deal, but i'm saying that there shouldnt be one!! Topps and UD should make baseball cards, and i still dont see why the NBA would choose Panini as there exclusive partner. that seems like a desperation act to me. Panini never made a single NBA trading card in there lives. to me thats an insult to topps and upper deck. once again UD, Topps, and Panini should be allowed to make cards of all the major sports. thats what saddens me about the hobby is all the exclusive partnerships with leagues such as the MLB and NBA now

[vosen8832]

they do gridiron gear, threads etc at dif times so they make more money, I wish theyd put it all into one product but theyd lose money cause if they only had 1 product a year people would get bored..people get hyped over new product.

That's another thing I don't get I know Donruss was profitable in sports cards before Panini bought them and I'm sure they still are so why is there all this talk about the end of the hobby lately? I've heard it on PTI recently, I read the sports illustrated article and read about it in ESPN the magazine about a year ago.