Virtual trading cards?
 

Am I so old that I am missing something here?

http://www.businessinsider.com/peopl...y-exist-2016-8

Does anyone in the group participate in these?

I really enjoy Topps Bunt, which sort of melds fantasy baseball with baseball card collecting. Well worth the effort. I would estimate, if I'm honest, $100 a year on it. There are folks who spend thousands. I would recommend it. The big advantage is that it gives you a reason to keep up with the modern game. I have enjoyed getting to know more about the Mookie Betts' and Jose Altuves than I would have left to my own. You can participate without spending anything but the temptation to drop a few dollars for an extra pack will be too great.

The only thing ur missing out on is losing money when this idiocy ends via hack or popping of a bubble for imaginary items. They will all eventually be worth zero so if u haven't monetized something you've bought you will be left holding the bag.

Since I can barely stand MLB today I am guessing it's not for me. Plus, I am not into virtual and fantasy stuff that much. But if it gets kids and others into collecting then I say it's great!! (just not for me)

Will they be graded with a virtual slab??:D

I'm sure you have your reasons but I think this could be a start of a good thread Leon.

Why can't you stand MLB today? I'm sure there can be a lot to discuss in that thread if you do decide to make it.

The thread is going on as it is. Just because I like of dislike something, if it is related to what we talk about, makes no difference in the forum threads though I don't want to start one about this subject:). And I really don't want to debate my reasoning but I lost a lot back in 1994 when the rest of the last of the season and playoffs were canceled-
and a blurb from wiki-
The rest of the season, including the World Series, was called off by Bud Selig on September 14.[14] Selig acknowledged that the strike had torn an irreparable hole in the game's fabric.[14] The move to cancel the rest of the season meant the loss of $580 million in ownership revenue and $230 million in player salaries. In 1994, the average MLB salary was an estimated $1.2 million.

I don't think most of today's players are good role models and are whiny overpaid athletes that should make a small percentage of what they do. (and this from a capitalist).....There are a few exceptions but overall those are my feelings since 22 yrs ago.... I still love the game though and love to watch minor league and college baseball. My feelings permeate most other professional sports too.

Oh my goodness, no. Please don't give them any ideas.

Every time a virtual card changes hands it should pick up an infinitesimal amount of digital "wear" unless you buy a digital penny sleeve and card saver to store it in...

Bitcoin sleeve

I have sold some Bunt, Huddle, Kick, and SWCT cards on eBay. The "signature" ones can go for $10 even though they don't actually exist. Tell people to collect something, and the OCD people will try to get every "card" made.

My biggest complaint about the apps is that they're data hogs, and usually crash when I buy packs or try to make a trade (you can't officially sell cards, but you can trade cards you have sold on eBay for a common to that buyer).

My biggest complaint about the process in general is that I have had probably 5 buyers use the "Buy-it-Now" and then I ask for their app username, and they go "WHY DON'T YOU MAIL IT TO ME!!!???!!!" Too many people on eBay buying things on their cellphones without reading the title or description... causing me to have to cancel their purchases.

I think a lot of us would tend to agree with some of what you just said. It's kind of hard to picture it liking players just because they "try hard" and they "seem to care". But that's what it's boiled down to for those of us who still follow MLB.

Selig did suck. I don't remember the 94 season as I'm a little too young for that. I believe I got serious about following MLB in 95. But I do remember the All-Star game that he called off. I know the season is a greater deal than an All-Star game though. Gwynn was batting .394 that year and had a real chance at batting .400
A lot of White Sox fans believed that the team that year had a good enough team to make a good run and go deep into the playoffs as well.

The All-Star game had me pissed off as a fan wondering how they could possibly have:

A. Used up all of the player already. (But it had already turned into a little league game; everyone gets to play)
B. The delay on wondering what to do and how it was handled.
C. The result of the game making it "count" for something
D. Just looking at Selig during the whole ordeal.

They already have...

The Star Wars app has a set of cards that are "slabbed" in grades of 2, 5, and 10. The 10 being a much rarer card and harder to pull. The pictures of the 2 and 5 are digitally aged to look warn.

I also quit watching baseball years ago. For different reasons than Leon. I quit because when I started collecting cards and watching baseball in the mid 80's I became a fan of 2 players. Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens was my reason for both.

I didn't just watch them I watched any game I could and went to several hundred games. Then when Wade quit I still had Roger to root for. After he retired I just quit watching. Another big thing was the closest stadium was a 600 mile round trip. I know most wont agree but I loved the Metrodome in Minnesota. Because of the long drive I knew no matter the weather outside I was watching a baseball game. Now I am not buying the tickets in advance and hoping to watch a game.

Although we can trade/sell our real cards and actually exchange something physical, there is not that great a difference between selling an electronic image as it would appear.

A lot of people share and showcase their collections by scanning them. Others can enjoy the collections without having to pay by viewing the scans and even saving them into an album. The next logical step is limiting the images and selling them.

One day, maybe most cards will be saved as online photos and will be available to everyone. I know the real physical cards won't go away, but the idea is not as crazy as it seems to most.

By the way, I tried bunt when it was relatively new but got tired of logging on daily. I was tempted to buy more coins, much the same way I was tempted to buy more packs, but kicked that habit so buying coins was never an issue. I did buy 3 digital cards, each for around $1 each. All three were Steve Garvey. I have not looked at the application or bought any additional items is well over a year now. I see there are now some additional Garvey digital cards, but I won't be buying any.

Is this a prank?

No, it's real and it's spectacular.

Let me see if I understand this. If you have a Topps Bunt card you don't have an actual physical card - and you're never, ever going to have a physical card - but you own the "rights" to that card?

Yes. You get the card in the app on your phone. There are only so many copies of every card, and you can trade those cards to other people with the app. There are no hardcopies, although there are some cards that come in packs that you can redeem for cards in the app.

But they're just images. Jpegs. Bits. How does Topps keep those bits from multiplying?

Virtual trading cards?
 

I will add that even though digital cards' print runs are infinite, they are still less than '88 Donruss.

Well, you buy "packs" which sell specific cards. When those packs sell out that sold specific insert cards, they mark those cards "Sold Out" and lock in the cards count. Some cards have 50, some have 5000, and some base cards (available all season long) amount to the millions. Normally packs with "autographs" are only available for a few hours, like those old ceramic plates with Elvis on them ("fired for only 24 hours!!!")

You could easily make hard copies if you want them. I have done it with custom cards I liked that people make/design and post pictures of.

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

I'm waiting for the first Virtual Monthly Pickup thread to show mine.

I agree that there is no security in owning digital cards, the app/company could fold at any time. However, most of the people under 20 have had a cellphone in their hands most of their life. Candy Crush and Angry Birds are as real a game to this age group as Monopoly and Risk are to those of us that are older. Digital is the new reality and will probably only become a larger part of our everyday life as we get older. Personally I am 39 and I don't buy physical books anymore, why should cards be any different?

I know that I'm old school, but I view collecting baseball cards as similar to collecting stamps or coins.

Maybe the USPS should look into creating "virtual" stamps for collectors. The stamp doesn't actually exist (except in cyberspace), so you wouldn't be able to actually hold it or mail a letter with it, but hey; it will generate revenue for the USPS. (I wish that there was a font for sarcasm.)

:rolleyes:

I don't get this at all. People spending real money on virtual cards? If I want to see a virtual collection I'll just click on a few of the other member's collector focus pages.

Actually this trend started years ago with online pc games. There was a game where you could play the game at home on your PC and advance your character in levels making him/her stronger. Along the way, a player could find equipment to aid their character. This equipment could be traded with other gamers online as well. Someone along the way got the brilliant idea to sell their virtual equipment on Ebay. Other gamers caught on to the idea and began buying this virtual equipment to equip on their character and make them stronger.

This equipment was put under a dummy account, "mule" account in the gaming world and when a gamer paid for the virtual equipment, the Ebay seller would send the buyer the passwords to get into the mule account and transfer the equipment to his/her character.

Gamers were paying up to $100 or more in real money for a computer generated piece of equipment.

A new version came out of this game years later and all the virtual equipment in the former game was basically useless. The new version of the game had an actual auction prompt where you could sell computer generated items for real money. So now instead of selling the items you found on Ebay, a gamer could sell them inside the game itself for real money. A gamer in Japan once paid $1500 for a piece of computer generated equipment so that he could advance further in the game.

The game is still active and there are leader boards, much like a registry board where players are ranked by how strong their characters are, but the auction part of the game is gone.

Believe it or not, before they shut down the auction part of the game, a gamer could sit at home and play the game, find a few strong items, sell them in the auction and make a second income. Is anyone shaking their heads yet?

In a recent thread, a board member asked if any other members flipped cards to buy more cards. Nope, I sold a computer generated sword to supplement my card collecting. (That wasn't a joke!)

Well said, Jesse.

Jantz that I actually understand more. I think my step brother received a Christmas gift one year of $100 worth of virtual currency in world of war craft. Or some game along those lines. I've never played such a game but from what I understand part of the allure is escaping in an alternate reality of sorts. Certainly it's quite a bit different than the real world.

But real baseball cards exist. I appreciate your thorough response. But it doesn't help me understand this at all.

Je.sse

The same company that made World of Warcraft also made the other game that I was referring to. Not sure about today, but years ago, I believe people had to pay a monthly fee to play World of Warcraft. It was only a few dollars a month, but millions of people around the world played that game daily. That was probably what your step brother's gift was for.

I don't get it as well, buying virtual items I mean, but I guess people could be doing worse things with their time and money.

Jantz

I tried to like the whole BUNT thing but to me it's just a game. If I'm going to play a game on my phone I'd rather be playing something else, you know? I grew up with video games but I suppose I just don't need my cards to be that.

Yea fair enough Jantz. Just because I don't get it doesn't mean others can't enjoy it. I will save my money for cards that actually exist though.

Edit: I don't get bitcoins either but someone certainly made a lot of money off of them.

Right, that's what I don't get. What good is "owning" the virtual cards if you can see them any time you want without having to actually have them in your virtual collection? :confused:

Virtual???
 

I am in the late stages of research and development of a "VIRTUAL POGS COMPANY." Looking for a few qualified investors. CASH ONLY! NO VIRTUAL MONEY! ;) ;) ;) Sam Majors