The early '90's was the frenzied period just before the bubble burst. Despite the fact that the period ushered in the era of precedence setting, premium quality cards, aimed at adults (and investors,) manufacturer, dealer, and collector greed led it into the hobbies decline. Gone for ever are the HSN guest HOF'er signing shows, the weekly card conventions, and local card shops at every corner. The hobby has contracted greatly since the three decade build up to the early '90's.
Their was simply too much production, by too many companies, of products that were carefully stored by too many buyers for it to ever be of much value. Still can't understand how so many investors didn't see it that way from the start.
Perhaps a more important question is the future of the hobby. The vital hobby element of human interaction has largely been removed. The demographics point to further fading in the future. The average age of subscribers to Becketts magazine is 38. Young peoples interest in the hobby has been trending ever lower since the strike of '94. How many of the next generation's descretionary income will be spent on a hobby void of any childhood attachments?
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