What would it take to collect modern cards again?

[T206Collector]

I have been giving thought to what would incent me to collect modern cards again, and have decided that I would do it if we could go back to a large, annual, single series, single manufacturer set, that you had to compile by hand through pack purchases, and that was somewhat limited in number of each card issued, and that did not contain any parallels or inserts or other artificial chase cards.

Would that do it for you? What more would you need, if anything?

[vintagetoppsguy]

What more would you need, if anything?

Bubble gum :D

[campyfan39]

Agree completely with the OP

[Doug]

I agree with the first two posters as well. One big simple set without the insert cards, bubblegum and my other preference is that they go back to printing the cards on regular cardboard and not the shiny stuff. Basically something like the Topps Heritage set minus the insert/parallel cards would suit me just fine.

[Jcfowler6]

$.25 wax packs

[grundle20]

I totally agree with OP. It would have to be something that made buying the packs have a lasting effect. There is a major flaw when you can just buy the factory set for way cheaper than trying to compile through the sets. That's basically how the entire concept of "trading" has gone kaput.

From a top-level view, here's the problem. People are buying packs because it's like gambling. They might hit a (refractor) jackpot or something. Everyone's in it for the money, which usually translates to, very few people actually make money...it's a lottery. The entire concept needs to return to buying and trading for the sake of liking the sport of baseball and its players in and of itself.

[powderfinger]

Let's forget about the "short print" cards as well. The last set I tried to build was the 2002 Bowman Heritage set which contained 439 card, 110 of which were "short prints." Because of the other inserts in the series, there were probably around 25 packs in each box that contained one of the 110 "short print" cards that were part of the regular series. Granted, I haven't looked very hard in the ensuing nine years, but I still need four cards to complete that set.

Give me the old-fashioned cardboard, a lot of portraits and posed images, a nice powdery piece of bubble gum and a 50-cent pack, eliminate all the things mentioned in this thread, and I might give it another shot.

[steve B]

I actually like some of the newer sets. Allen and Ginter, and the Gypsy queen from this year. The cardboard isn't shiny, but is more like a T206. I think inserts are here to stay, and that's not so bad. We had them in the 60's and 70's, so it's not really anything new. Some memorabilia cards I could do without, but for current players I don't mind at all. All they have to do is have the player wear a Jersey for one game. Older stuff I'd like to see them give away the complete item, even if it's in rough shape.

The old cardboard while nostalgic is pretty bad, the acids in it will wreck most cards from the 70's and 80's eventually.

Short prints have always been with us as well. Any of the sets with redemptions -George C Millers, US caramels, And most multi series cards had high # series Goudey in 33, 34, ... Or just plain short prints like in 41 Goudey.

We're down to one licensed company for baseball. Multiple brands, but still only one license. From what the local card shop says business has been excellent. Less confusion about what's been issued, and customers are still buying, some buying more. We'll see how long that lasts.....

Anyone remember the pre 1981 days when a Topps set that didn't match what we liked or didn't have a particular player would make us wonder why nobody else could make cards? And how exciting it was when there was a regional set in your area. For me, Chilly Willie discs and Papa Ginos discs.


Steve B

[Ladder7]

A frontal lobotomy.

Although massive overproduction is an obvious factor., The ego's and the buying of cheap foreign talent (Instead of American kids) is a turn off to collecting and going to games, imo.

Even Jeter, whom I'd quietly idolized... Has been somewhat the doosh lately.

[rainier2004]

I could start again with the aboved mentioned changes, but at this point I dont even think of modern players for cards I want. Ive been a vegetarian for 10 years and my cravings have changed dramatically over time...cards are the same way and I only crave vintage irregardless.

[vintagecpa]

I think if I could go back to the early 80's where you only had to worry about Topps, Donruss and Fleer, I'd probably still find myself buying a couple of rack pack for the heck of it. Even back then, most collectors realized the cards didn't have much value. It was simply mindless entertainment, much like playing nickle slots.

Fast forward 30 years, paying $4-5 per pack for cards that are just as worthless is the equivalent to moving from the nickle slot machines to the dollar slot machines. They both provide the same level of entertainment, but it costs a whole lot more to reach the same conclusion.

[alanu]

My main problem with modern cards is that while I still enjoy the game of baseball, there aren't that many players that I would like to collect and with players changing teams more often, there's not really a team I would like to collect.

About the newest cards I have much interest in are the 1989 Griffey cards and they are readily available.

[mawitzi]

I would buy modern cards if they had a simple set with an attractive set of on card autos. The last set I collected was the 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game.

[Bob Lemke]

I agree with Alan.

First I'd have to find a way to give a fat rat's ass about today's baseball and baseball players.

[thetruthisoutthere]

I usually don't comment on this side, but I thought I'd throw my two-cents in.

A few months ago I decided to sell (and I'm still in the process) all of my modern day cards, etc., and go back to collecting and adding to my Tom Tresh collection, and adding to my 1965 and 1953 Topps cards (those are my two favorite years of design).

I will keep my 2001 Upper Deck Decade set (love the design) and my 2000 Greats Of The Game set. The cards of today have absolutely no personality.

[chris6net]

I remember back in I think 1973 when Topps selling cards in individual series and as a kid that started to take some of the fun out of buying cards. I agree with most of the previous ways but I would also prefer that they be issued in series and after about 6 weeks they would go onto the next series and not produce the earlier series. I always enjoyed waiting for the next series so putting a set together lasted the whole season. CN

[mrvster]

Hello all,

before i became obsessed with t206 freaks, i used to love to collect bowman, bowman chrome (all the rookies) ......i also collected griffey and have a few 89 ud that i had bought off ebay....griffey jr was my fav player with that sweet swing!!....about 15 or so years ago i bought a few 89 upper deck packs from a local card shop (when we had one),on one of my bdays.... and asked my gma (who had passed away rest her soul around that time), to let me pull a pristine griffey out of one of those $15 packs, i DID:p, and still have the card...that card means alot to me....when i was a kid i would love to watch Sr griffey pops play ball....(don't get me wrong, i'm an east coast man and a die hard yankee fan, but i admired other players back in the 70's thru 90's......i liked bad vlad, pujols, jeter, and a few other "modern players" and a few others even when i was in my 20's).....as a kid watching yankee games , young adult and now, but it has changed for me.....




i agree with Bob and Alan.......players of today(there are a minute few humble players as an exception), are little bitches!! Ty cobb would've beat a spike into their wussie heads:o


baseball players of today are just money hungry , egotistical cry babies!!!

THERE!!!

i said it....:D


Please don't kick my axx c..c. sabathia:o



i wish baseball was played like baseball and unfortunately, we will never c the good ol' day but live it thru cardboard...



my 2 cents thanks for listening to me ramble....:D


Peace

[glchen]

I think modern needs fewer sets (like 1-3) with solid production qualities at a good value. I think maybe something like one affordable base set and one premium set with inserts. And of course, both of them should be issued with reasonable supply and not over-produced. I'm still a fan of factory sets, and I don't think they caused the downfall of cards. Factory sets were around in the 80s when the craze was still going on. I think it was the over supply and bubble issues. Right now as previous posters have said, buying a wax pack is too expensive. For the price of 2 wax packs, you can go see a movie . You can rent a video game at Redbox for a couple of bucks. Kids these days much prefer that option to cards. Regarding inserts, adult collectors still love these. You can see the pack ripping threads on other boards to see the popularity of these, so there is still demand. However, there can't be too many sets where you have no idea what the yearly checklist is and what sets are out there.

[Orioles1954]

I agree with the first two posters as well. One big simple set without the insert cards, bubblegum and my other preference is that they go back to printing the cards on regular cardboard and not the shiny stuff. Basically something like the Topps Heritage set minus the insert/parallel cards would suit me just fine.

There have been multiple sets produced over the past few years that do not have parallels or inserts or anything else.....they have all failed miserably. By the way, I don't collect modern cards but I do sell and open packs of modern products for fun.

[novakjr]

I still collect modern cards, but only rookie cards of guys I like(generally Chrome if possible) and Topps complete sets. That's it. I'd love to be able to collect the way I once did. Buying some packs here and there, piecing together some sets, so on and so on, but that day will never come again. Not that I'm a huge fan of factory sets or anything, BUT they do allow me to avoid the gambling theme that has become the modern hobby..

Intentional short prints as part of modern sets is one trend that I'd like to see disappear forever. I'd also like to see more baseball cards in the packs. Less presidential crap. Less strand of hair or historical document cards. less cards featuring random hollywood skanks and other assorted jerk-offs, just because they've been seen at a game once...

[T206Collector]

There have been multiple sets produced over the past few years that do not have parallels or inserts or anything else.....they have all failed miserably. By the way, I don't collect modern cards but I do sell and open packs of modern products for fun.

A set produced without parallels or inserts will always fail if there are other sets that have them in the same year. What I am thinking of is one set, that's it, produced like 1980 Topps. The year before the Donruss/Fleer era.

[Orioles1954]

That's just not going to happen anymore. With the proliferation of modern inserts and their driving of the hobby, most base cards are just filler.

[geor952]

My main complaint with modern sets is the fact that you pay $4.00 for a pack and the cards inside, stars or commons, or worth $0.10 each. I could do without the inserts. I don't want to spend $100.00 a box and only have $20.00 worth of cards once they are opened. I don't see the appeal at all! I love the idea of Heritage, but don't know why they need inserts, autos, and relics. The packs are way too expensive due the extras.

I want Topps Heritage for a buck a pack, with 10 base cards per pack!!!!!

[drc]

I buy a pack or two at the drug store once in a while and think the cards are okay, but haven't gotten into collecting them. The Topps Heritage cards are nice, the common cards are well done. Topps Chrome is nice too and you have a very good chance of pulling a shiny refractor.

I'm all for gum, and some of the older Heritage packs did have gum.

It's true you usually don't get close to your money's worth, and 95 percent of the cards are worth pennies.

[MacDice]

I will start collecting more modern cards when the card companies produce more cards of guys that I have coached. :D

[fkw]

Like the first few post mentioned...

If they actually still made "True Collector Cards" ie a card issued FREE with a product or service of some kind. None of this buy the cards w/o the product, in complete set form, etc. BS that ruined the hobby forever.

If they (Topps) would have just stuck with what got them there, bubblegum and cheap packs (under 50 cents each), more kids would collect and actually build set for a change...

[packs]

It would be awesome to see a manufacturer produce a set that is distributed over the course of say, 3 years, with all updates in the trade market made and released later in production.

Hell, bring back the cabinets too. Where is today's Carl Horner?

[Orioles1954]

Like the first few post mentioned...

If they actually still made "True Collector Cards" ie a card issued FREE with a product or service of some kind. None of this buy the cards w/o the product, in complete set form, etc. BS that ruined the hobby forever.

If they (Topps) would have just stuck with what got them there, bubblegum and cheap packs (under 50 cents each), more kids would collect and actually build set for a change...

I'm not sure that's true. There are plenty of kids who spend several dollars per pack on Magic or other gaming cards. Such cards are just more interactive and interesting. The $1 Topps Opening Day product with gum and several cards just sits on the shelf.

[T206Collector]

The $1 Topps Opening Day product with gum and several cards just sits on the shelf.

Because it is just filler. Again, if that was the only product, then the chase cards would be player-based, not insert-based.

[HOF Yankees]

I agree 100 percent with what was said already in this thread but hers my take. What is the point anymore on modern anything the stuff is all the same, same auto, same game used of the same players over and over again, seriously whats the point. I enjoy baseball and love watching the Yankees but again like Chris L said I don't care enough about the players to even think of collecting them. I think all players in the majors today are doing some type of illegal substance they just haven't gotten caught yet. Plus with the companies screwing over the collectors and giving their redeemed cards to the collector that paid his or her hard earned money and not get what they pulled. I would not even bother on modern anymore and will stick to Vintage Baseball Stuff.

Vintage Is King and always will be

[iwantitiwinit]

1. Topps as the only card manufacturer;
2. No factory sets;
3. Cards sold in series with checklists;
4. 10 ct wax packs and Xmas cello specials;
5. Inserts including only posters, deckle edge, scratch-off's and game cards;
6. Time machine set to April 1967
7. Living home with my Dad.

[7nohitter]

i want topps heritage for a buck a pack, with 10 base cards per pack!!!!!

exactly!

[abothebear]

I just found out that a girl at my church has a summer job for the printing company that prints for Topps. When she realized I knew something about the hobby she asked me in a very perplexed manner, "I don't get it, we print SO many, how can they be worth anything?"

I was saddened by how easy it was to answer her. I said, "they aren't worth anything. They are worthless filler cards that come with the gamblers' chance of finding a slightly less worthless "special" insert card."

I didn't get a chance to tell her that I collect cards from a different era so I bet she left the conversation wondering why I opened with, "I was trying to get to Chicago this week to go to the national card show..."

[the Rock]

I agree with much that has been said here. It's not just the cards, their value, or lack of, cardboard type, or distribution. Unless I could look at the cards somewhat like I did as a child, the pursuit is worthless. Sports is so overexposed now that you almost can't get away from it. Nothing is left to the imagination. Now you know everything and too much about every player. I miss things like " Ned runs a Standard Oil station in the off season too" or "Al also spends part of his year doing TV repair". Real people that you could relate to.
In other words, we know too much to make modern player collecting fun again.

[DixieBaseball]

As Frank mentioned if a company would make a collectible that I could snag in a box of cereal or on the back of a Hostess Cake box, etc. then that would peak my interest. I have fond memories of collecting Kelloggs 3-D's in the 70's. I also remember going down to my local Kwik Sak and snagging a wax box for about $6-$8 as well. What a treat... When cards were .35cents to .50cents it was fun.... Bottom line for me, Kelloggs needs to get back into baseball and do a 75 player 3-D set and only offer them in boxes of cereal. Make it a collectible again... :)

[Brendan]

I agree with much that has been said here. It's not just the cards, their value, or lack of, cardboard type, or distribution. Unless I could look at the cards somewhat like I did as a child, the pursuit is worthless. Sports is so overexposed now that you almost can't get away from it. Nothing is left to the imagination. Now you know everything and too much about every player. I miss things like " Ned runs a Standard Oil station in the off season too" or "Al also spends part of his year doing TV repair". Real people that you could relate to.
In other words, we know too much to make modern player collecting fun again.

There is definitely a point to this. When asking people who collected 50's and 60's Topps cards as a kid why they collected them, the answer was often for the stats and the rest of the info. Nowadays we can find just about anything we want about a player.

Inserting cards into products like in the past would work fine, though now there are licensing issues that didn't exist back then. When the baseball card companies took the gum out of the packs, they took the fun out of collecting and turned it into a serious business. Good for them, but not for the collector.

[ls7plus]

It would be an extremely difficult feat to accomplish, for me. I like rarer cards of stars and HOF'ers to be, and therefore am inclined to at least take a look at such cards as Joe Mauer's Chrome Gold Refractor rookie, for example, with only 50 printed. But with that limited production comes rampant speculation, along with a lot of purely transient demand (ie., making itself felt only while the player is still not only active, but on the upside, rather than the downhill slide of his career), artificially raising the prices to rather ridiculous levels. The last time I checked, such a Mauer "rookie" was booking at around $1500 or so, which, considering the fact that he probably has around 100+ other rookie cards and that one form of disaster or another can still derail his career, seems patently absurd. Compare this price to a '68 Topps Bench, in PSA 9, at around $900, and of which there were about 90 the last time I checked the pop report. So, while I would like to keep the rarer cards, the prevailing hobby economics in this sector pretty much preclude their purchase until many years after they are initially printed, after the player has established himself as a near-certain HOF'er, and the speculative and transient demand has long since departed in favor of newer stars on the rise.

Foregoing such rarer inserts and merely printing to meet expected demand, on the other hand, pretty much insures low values in the near and distant future, which is an important factor to me, though perhaps not to others.

When I want a card of a favorite current player or players, such as one of our Tigers who are currently overperforming, I tend to go with regional cards, such as the Detroit News/Free Press issues of 2006, or the Fatheads of
2010.

I think it can be done, but it would take a very delicate balance that's not yet on the horizon. At a minimum, I think there would have to be only one or at most two licensed sets per year.

Great, thought provoking post, and one for which I certainly have no answer.

Larry

[Rich Klein]

is that we are all dinosaurs to some extent and the world has changed.

For many reasons, some of which should be self-evident such as the tecnology explosion of recent years, the ability to watch baseball on a cable baseball network and some economic reasons, the dream of having a simple base set will no longer come true.

I ran into a fomrer compatroit of mine from Beckett at Walmart yesterday and during the course of our conversation he explained to me the simple exonomic reality of the sets we all want are economic losers and the only winners for the companies are the expensive sets built around the collector/investor (My term ther) getting "Hits" from the box

We can talk all we want, but as James said earlier, unless WE actively support the products of the world such as Topps Total (I loved that product for everyone was in that product) and Upper Deck tried with something titled like Upper Deck 40 which featured every player on the 40 man rosters. They both sat on shelves and did not sell as well as we would have hoped.

Regards
Rich

[DixieBaseball]

Perhaps, if the collecting numbers are down and have been going down, the cycle is being accomplished for rarer supply in the future. Meaning, we may look back in 10-20 years searching for great ball player's cards and find it may be more difficult than in the 80's or 90's, etc. If the demand keeps going down, and the companies keep producing less, we essentially are going to have low numbers of cards available from this era, so in a way, the problem may be resolving itself. We shall see in the futre when we all reach for today's stars and their "rookie" cards... We may also be another 5-10 years away from the production numbers hitting rock bottom as well.

[Leon]

Wow, I have been on this board since inception, which is around 10 yrs. I have always thought I was one of the only ones with my view of baseball today. I don't care for it at all. As I have always said (for the last 25 yrs anyway) there are no baseball players I really like. And if there is "one" (I can't think of one right now) then it's not enough for me to go back to watching today's major league baseball. I can't stand the way the players are overpaid, whining babies. That is at the heart of it. If you don't like the players on the cards, or the MLB itself, it makes you less likely to collect them.

I guess if I could change the rules and make it where I might collect again, I might make 1 set of TOPPS, with 750'ish cards, 10 cards to a pack for a dollar...with a piece of gum in it and issued in 3 series. Not gum that tastes any good but gum that won't make you sick and has some white sugary powder on it. Make mine kind of brittle, like it used to be. But then again I am probably just being nostalgic, longing for those summers in Houston, of the late 1960's, listening to the Astros on the radio in my front yard with the next door neighbor; Spitting sunflower seed shells into the green grass, with nary a worry in the world. Oh those days of summer....Fond memories.

[Exhibitman]

3-D nude pix of Anne Hathaway would be a start...schwinnggg!

Seriously, I agree with most of what's been written above and would add that the main ingredient missing today is fun. The various gimmicks that have developed have raised the financial stakes of busting packs so much that it is not about fun, just about gambling. If I was card-god I would insert 3-D cards or coins or Topps super type cards or a paper poster [one item per pack--none of this chase BS] in a small (under 100 cards) issue, no more glossy regular cards on fancy shmancy paper--just regular card stock, no more thick cards, no more parallel sets, no more factory sets. Autographed insert cards as true chases representing only the most elite player or two-perhaps the MVP or Cy Young award winners or he new HOF class--but on 2500 or so cards per player. The good old pink bubblegum in the pack. Smaller sets with fewer players and no manufactured SPs, so it isn't as much of a commitment to go after it. Used to be a couple of boxes would pretty much do it, plus a few acqusitions or trades, and that's enough to be fun. Much lower price points--no more three-figure boxes. I really wanted to bust a box of Topps A & G at the National but the price point deterred me.

[novakjr]

3-D nude pix of Anne Hathaway would be a start...schwinnggg!

Seriously, I agree with most of what's been written above and would add that the main ingredient missing today is fun. The various gimmicks that have developed have raised the financial stakes of busting packs so much that it is not about fun, just about gambling. If I was card-god I would insert 3-D cards or coins or Topps super type cards or a paper poster [one item per pack--none of this chase BS] in a small (under 100 cards) issue, no more glossy regular cards on fancy shmancy paper--just regular card stock, no more thick cards, no more parallel sets, no more factory sets. Autographed insert cards as true chases representing only the most elite player or two-perhaps the MVP or Cy Young award winners or he new HOF class--but on 2500 or so cards per player. The good old pink bubblegum in the pack. Smaller sets with fewer players and no manufactured SPs, so it isn't as much of a commitment to go after it. Used to be a couple of boxes would pretty much do it, plus a few acqusitions or trades, and that's enough to be fun. Much lower price points--no more three-figure boxes. I really wanted to bust a box of Topps A & G at the National but the price point deterred me.

Hmmmm! For a minute there, you had me thinking about the original Donruss Elite's... I'll second the sentiment about the nude pix of Anne Hathaway...

[arexcrooke]

A frontal lobotomy.

Although massive overproduction is an obvious factor., The ego's and the buying of cheap foreign talent (Instead of American kids) is a turn off to collecting and going to games, imo.

Even Jeter, whom I'd quietly idolized... Has been somewhat the doosh lately.

So would you rather have the best player play or would you rather have just Americans play?
that is perilously close to thinking before a certain #42 showed up on the scence.

[novakjr]

So would you rather have the best player play or would you rather have just Americans play?
that is perilously close to thinking before a certain #42 showed up on the scence.

I understand both sentiments here. It's not a racist thing...I don't believe he has anything against hispanics(I could be wrong though). BUT there is MAJOR damage being done to this country's financial structure, and to an extent, the fact that WE are paying WAY TOO MUCH for "foreign entertainment" isn't helping matters. Now I'm not saying that foreign players shouldn't be worth as much as American players, but I'd feel more comfortable knowing that the money I'm giving these guys will continue to stay in the US, rather than be funneled to some other country, and diminishing the total amount of US dollars circulating throughout the US. Baseball has almost become "high dollar foreign aid"..

Personally, baseball wise, I'm fine with things the way that they are now. But economically speaking, we have to understand that there are ramifications for this country in the long run.

[tachyonbb]

When I started collecting as a kid in the 1950's I never thought of future value for the cards I enjoyed. I collected St. Louis Cardinal cards as the Omaha Cardinals played a few blocks from our apartment house. TV was just starting and the game of the week was in fuzzy black and white. To actually see a picture of the player was part of the enjoyment. To have their stats at your fingertips was cool. The core of most teams stayed together for years. I followed the National League and there were 8 teams. Cozy enough for even a kid to know the key players on every team. Today there are as many teams in the National League as there were in all of major league baseball in the 50's. Few players stay with one team for very long.

This week I walked into a local card store for the first time in 20 years. There were a couple of junior high age kids in there opening packs of cards. Their only interest was in getting a "hit" on an insert card. It was more like gambling than collecting. They opened 20 packs and left all of the common cards on the counter. I asked the owner if I could have them. As we talked I asked about early cards. Early to him was 1960. He did not even know about Goudey or T cards.

All that being said my daughter and I are trying to complete a 2002 topps t206 mini set. There are "old" players in the set and modern ones also. It is more family time and the collecting is simply an excuse to get together.

[marcdelpercio]

I collect and enjoy modern cards as well. I feel that some of the modern sets are very well done and extremely interesting. I think that a lot of responses reflect the way cards were when that person first started collecting so there will of course be that nostalgic feeling of wanting things to be like they were in the good old days.

The biggest difference to me is that collecting used to be player-based. Even during my childhood in the 80s, I bought packs hoping to get a Cal Ripken or George Brett or Nolan Ryan card. There were no inserts or chase cards so it was all about getting my favorite players and completing sets. Now, collecting is mostly product-based. Your pack or box is only a success if you hit a high-dollar, low-numbered chase card. My favorite modern set is always Bowman Chrome, I think because it is still very player-based with all the rookies.

I think the combination of the product-based sets and the lack of connection to today's players that Leon and others mentioned, has caused countless longtime collectors to abandon the modern sets and look backwards to the vintage. I don't think there really is a solution to this. The game and the cards will continue to evolve in ways that will draw some people in and alienate others. Me...I love pretty much all cards so will continue to collect everything. But I completely understand why others feel differently.

[tbob]

The temperature in Hades falling below 32 degrees farenheit.

[rdixon1208]

I like to buy a few packs here and there. I'll even build a set every once in a while. But when I open up a new pack of cards now it's not much different than it was when I was a kid. I just want to get my favorite players. Or maybe an up and coming rookie.

I don't care how many there are. I don't care what they're worth, or what they'll be worth down the road. I don't collect them as an investment. I just like baseball, and I like baseball cards.

[ALR-bishop]

My Topps set and pack run goes 1948 to 2011 so I still collect the modern stuff. I never reeally stopped collecting since a kid.

I also enjoy putting together the Topps Heritage sets in master form.

It has always been and still is just a hobby for me, though I did become a little obsessed with the Topps insert and test issues, both issued and not. But, my pursuits have never involved any money my family will ever need, so that I could be sure it would remain just a hobby

[Ejm1]

The Pirates winning in all,the return of wool uniforms and less teams in the major leagues. I would start to buy modern when these demands are met.

[Brendan]

It would be an extremely difficult feat to accomplish, for me. I like rarer cards of stars and HOF'ers to be, and therefore am inclined to at least take a look at such cards as Joe Mauer's Chrome Gold Refractor rookie, for example, with only 50 printed. But with that limited production comes rampant speculation, along with a lot of purely transient demand (ie., making itself felt only while the player is still not only active, but on the upside, rather than the downhill slide of his career), artificially raising the prices to rather ridiculous levels. Larry

Here's my opinion on this matter.

Let's take some anonymous player and let's see the number autographs of him in a given set. (note: I don't actually know any of these counts and I'm sure the corresponding refractors to numbering is off)

Base auto: 800
Refractor auto: 500 (numbered to 500)
xfractor auto: 250
green refactor auto: 100
blue refractor auto: 50
orange refractor auto: 25
gold refractor auto: 10
red refractor auto: 5
superfractor auto: 1

So it may seem rare when it's numbered to ten, but it's just the same as the rest of the 1,741 autographs except the border is a different color or it's shinier. I can understand why people like modern cards, as autographs and game used pieces can be interesting. However, the pull towards an artificially scarce card makes it easy to shy away.

[Iwantmorecards77]

Hey Al, I noticed you stated you like to assemble Heritage sets. Were you the one who just recently purchased my 2009 Neftali Feliz variation?

Back on topic...I do purchase modern here and there, though vintage has taken up most of my budget. I recently sold off some modern cards to fill in some holes in my rookie card collection from the 1970's - 1990's. Besides that, my card purchasing has stopped due to losing my job in June. The only way I can buy cards is to sell some. lol

[mintacular]

From a positive point of view, modern cards and the reasons I don't like them has increased my interest/collecting of vintage cards...Also, I do hope modern collecting increases as it could be a gateway drug to vintage collecting and in my book the more collectors the better...

[brob28]

I put together a 2005 Cracker Jack set when my first son was born in 2005 with the idea I would give it to him someday. I can see collecting a modern set for something like that, but I have to admit, #2 was born last year and I have not put anything together for him, poor kid!

[U240robert]

I think if I could go back to the early 80's where you only had to worry about Topps, Donruss and Fleer, I'd probably still find myself buying a couple of rack pack for the heck of it. Even back then, most collectors realized the cards didn't have much value. It was simply mindless entertainment, much like playing nickle slots.

Fast forward 30 years, paying $4-5 per pack for cards that are just as worthless is the equivalent to moving from the nickle slot machines to the dollar slot machines. They both provide the same level of entertainment, but it costs a whole lot more to reach the same conclusion.




Exactly. I haven't bought a modern card pack/set in ages.
I lost interest in the early 90's with the over population
of sets. The inserts are probably here to stay, which is too bad.
In the past we may have gotten inserts in cards but that
was a bonus. Now the inserts are the attraction, not the cards.
I've seen kids open up packs of cards just to comb through them for the inserts. Then dump the cards in the trash like it was yesterdays bubblegum.
I really think the card companies for the past 20 years have been pretty clueless. Too many people without any trading card background are now calling the shots.

[Jayworld]

I agree with the sentiment expressed by several that the MLB game of baseball today is not as appealing for various reasons, which impacts collectibility of modern baseball cards.

As a kid of the 1970s, I enjoyed watching MLB tremendously and collected baseball cards, too. I loved the teams, the uniforms, the colors, the players, and by collecting, I knew virtually every player on each team in the majors. I liked how the players wore their uniforms, the flapless batting helmets, the fact that Jim Sundberg of the Rangers ushered in a new type of catcher's helmet (he did not use the "traditional" cap turned around or flapless batting helmet turned around, the "rainbow" uniforms of the Astros, the fact that when you went to a Rangers game and they played Oakland - you did not know exactly which jersey the A's would wear (gold or green), etc.

Because most of the teams are the same to me, appearance-wise (am I watching Seattle, Milwaukee, San Diego?), the "pajama" pants, the lack of stirrups, the unfriendliness of players generally, the cost of going to a game, etc., I just don't have the interest in modern cards depicting the modern game. I've tried to collect some over the past 4-5 years, but I find the typical players' cards "meaningless" (as brought up by others) and the impact is on finding that relic card.

The latest modern set that has appealed to me is the Topps Fan Favorites cards, which were basically re-dos of players I grew up with (and older) in different poses on the card designs of the past. When I walk into a local card shop, I ask, "are there any new sets featuring players from the past?"

The last modern card I purchased with semi-regularity (two boxes) was the Topps Allen Ginter set of 2008. I liked the artwork and design, and the fact that cards of non-baseball players were represented....

I, too, agree with the sentiment of bringing back wax packs of 10 card counts with gum, 25 cent packs, no relic, autograph, etc. cards, and perhaps issuing a card set in 3-4 series over a season.... That would help a lot.

[pgellis]

I was thinking about how T206s were distributed and that led me back to this question. I was wondering how hard it must have been to try to put together a "set" of T206 back in 1909-11. Since you only received 1 card in each pack of tobacco, then you only had 1 chance to add to your set with each purchase. I assume cigarettes & tobacco were not cheap back in those days.......probably relatively in line with a pack of cigarettes today (allowing for inflation).

So, that led me to think about this question again............

What if a modern set was distributed in a pack with a single card. You would have to make it "fairly expensive", otherwise you could just buy 50 packs.

So, let's take a set of let's say 300 cards. No "insert cards". No short prints. Distributed in 1 card packs for $5.00 per pack. I know $1500 is a lot for a modern set, but if not mass-produced, then each card should hold it's value of $5.00 at a minimum.

I think this would lead to people getting back into trading. You pay $5.00 for a pack and you get an Adrian Gonzalez card, but you already have one. So, now let's trade him for a Joe Mauer.

I think that would be a great idea.

[tachyonbb]

From what I know the price of a pack of cigarettes was about 5 cents to 10 cents (price plus tax) for a pack of 20 in 1910. About fifteen states outlawed the sale of cigarettes and many communities had laws against women smoking in public.

25% of all cigarette sales was in New York City.

Allowing for inflation based on the consumer price index a 5 cent pack of cigarettes in 1910 would cost $1.15 today and the more expensive dime pack would cost about $2.30. Federal and state tobacco are much higher today than in 1910.

A two pack a day smoker would spend $36.50 a year if he smoked the cheap stuff and acquire about 700 cards a year. I have read that kids would mingle outside smoke shops trying to score cards from smokers who did not collect.

[martyogelvie]

Aside from the already stated fewer cards/companies and brands. I would like to see the traditional card board paper vs the shiny rigid paper used today.