The new breed of collectors...
 

I thought it'd be fun to discuss the "new collector/investor" in the hobby and how their thoughts/preferences/expectations differ from older collectors such as myself.

In my opinion some of these "preferences" will either contribute to the demise of the hobby...OR...will become the new norms for the future.

I'll start!

Finish the phrase.

The new breed of collectors...worship the slab...not the card.

The new breed of collector grew up in a world of the Internet. You will see far few posts about putting cards in the spokes of a bike, trading with your friends in third grade, and flipping cards against a wall. Like everything else in the universe, time marches on and things become something else.

The new Collectors doesn't care about commons or set building.

The new collector has no concept of the history of card collecting and does not want to deal with the minutiae of the historical significance.

And they are more interested in pump and dump then the actual collecting of cards.

With apologies to George Phair...



How dear to my heart is the old-fashioned collector,
Who wrote to fellow collectors to see what they had.

They do not resemble today's collector/investor who puts cards
In plastic and never touches a card.

The new breed of collectors worship the slab, not the card.
Would letting go of pop reports and slabs be so hard?

The old fashioned collectors knew the players, their stories, and life,
They did not consider the cards as investments in such.

And those are the reasons I hanker and long for,
The old fashioned collector who would mentor the novices,
Who loved and knew the history of the game,
Who thought of a card as an historical connection to a player.



Who was George Phair, the fellow that wrote two of my favorite poems.

Where did I encounter his poetry, by reading The Glory Of Their Times.

What is The Glory Of Their Times, just about the best baseball book ever.


The new collectors are good for the old collectors who are selling their collections. And that's about the end of the 'good'. A fellow can invest in a stock, and depending on the stock he can maybe collect dividends while owning the stock. A ball card doesn't pay dividends. It might appreciate in value... but it isn't ever going to pay dividends.

Anyone ever lose a ball card, misplace one, have one stolen, or damaged from a spill, or from opening an envelope? Anyone ever lose ownership of a stock because it was stolen from them, or misplaced, or you spilled coffee on it? Some guys buy insurance for their collection... a brokerage account is covered by SIPC insurance, and if your holdings approach the $500k limit, then open another account, it'll have the same insurance and limit. Golly, stocks, bonds, mutual funds are better investments than ball cards.

Many new collectors don't seem to care about card altering as long as the card ends up in a slab...this is the most disconcerting to me!

My take:

New collectors will continue to drive the hobby even after we are all gone. Everything evolves or it dies. No one can expect a new collector in 2022 to act the same as a new collector in 1962, or even 1982. Old time collectors do not have to condone, respect, or appreciate the changes in the hobby, but change is inevitable.

was at a show recently everyone with cameras videos .thought i was at a hollywood premiere .omg lol

The new collector knows all comps.... and isn't afraid to say your prices are too high.

collector
 

I don't consider them "collectors' in any stretch of the imagination. They shouldn't be given that compliment

What he said!

Cheers,

B. T.

The new breed of collectors . . . have potential.

I was at the Hofstra Show with a friend a couple of weeks ago. My knees were aggravating me after standing and walking around for a couple of hours, so as we were leaving I sat on a bench outside while my friend went to get the car.

While sitting, there was a kid, maybe 15, also sitting on the bench, going through a case with cards in it.

Nearly 50 years his senior, we still had a very pleasant conversation.

I asked him if he had anything good, and what he collected.

He told me he had some Saddiq Bey basketball cards. (To be honest, at the time I had no idea who Saddiq Bey was) He collected him because they had the same last name. Yes, the cards were shiny and new, and some in slabs, but he had a genuine interest in the cards for a reason that was special to him.

We chatted a bit more, and then his mother arrived to pick him up. He said goodbye and wished me a good day.

He could not have been more polite, or more engaging in conversation about what he collected.

So if this hobby is about being interested in the cards, and sharing that interest with other collectors, then I believe that there is potential in the new breed of collectors.

Nice story. Seeing anything on the board these days that is not just gloom and doom is refreshing.

Bunch of old men sittin' around complaining. The game is dying. The hobby is dying. Kids today have no respect for anything. Bla bla bla.

From what I've seen that applies to many old collectors too. Sure, some may pay lip service to it, but they go right on buying with the same minimal or nonexistent due diligence.

The new breed of collectors ...

Are fueling the much higher prices we are seeing nowadays - nice !

LOL remember the song Kids from Bye Bye Birdie, what was it, 1960?

Kids, they are disobedient, disrespectful oafs.

I resemble that remark. Excuse me sir, I'll be right back. :D

I'm an old-school all-buy no-sell 'who-cares-about-value' type, but I'm a youngin', so I've spent a lot of time in the Discords with the new collectors and hung out with a lot of them.

I don't think they are really collectors. It's 80% about money, they do tend to think the cards are cool. They don't know much about the cards, the slab is king. But then again, it's old collectors who will pay thousands for vintage commons in a PSA 10 slab, so slab is king generally among both groups.

They are very open about pumping, though they don't seem to have much of a real economic understanding about the dump part. It's pump, pump, pump. They'll organize specific pumps together, but don't seem to realize what exactly they are doing, it's 'adding value through awareness' and they aren't organizing a 'dump' after the pump, so it's a little weird. They've spent a lot of time listening to Gary Vee and motivational stuff, no time studying mathematics or economics.

What I would consider ethics appears to be non-existent among the Discords. The only rule seems to be seller must deliver card to buyer. That's it. They can lie about condition, cover up problems, ignore alteration, whatever. Not really different again, the older breed of collectors have also been scamming and lying for decades, but the difference is the relative openness about this. I suppose a lot of it is because many of these guys come from the sneaker hobby that makes ours look squeaky clean.

While they lack in ethics (I have found this problem among the older sellers just as much, just with more obfuscation), they are extremely easy to deal with. There's no long back and forth. They'll say you're price is too high and make their offer, and that's usually their price, not a negotiation step. They are much, much better at using data. They will use actual comps instead of fantasies, and come correct with it.

They're also pretty nice, in their own way. They are pretty open it's mostly about adding value and making money, but they see it as a fun side hustle as opposed to making the same money doing a job. There's definitely an enjoyment factor. They'll chat pretty openly about most everything. If someone gets ripped off, like a card they bought had its photo taken at an angle to hide damage, there is no huge fight or spat. It's a 'you win some, you lose some, fair play' shrug. They tend not to be affluent, they tend not to be poor. They're making extra side money, but most of them I've chilled with or talked too are working decent jobs.

I can't say I've really had any negative interactions; I just don't like the approach. It's not really much different from the older collectors in the main; it's largely about money, there is an enjoyment factor, it's not a job but it's some extra cash and the cardboard is always related to the paper. It's just a different style of the same classic format from a different generation. I'd prefer the hobby be like it was 80 years ago, with things worth almost nothing and it just being about fun, but it hasn't been that way for decades.

The only thing true about generalizations is that they are untrue, but that's my 2 cents on the recurring takeaways from my talks with these gents.

Not responding to or directed at anyone in particular, but IMO the notion that one can't care about value or even profit and be a "true" collector is both nonsense and offensive. :D

I don't think any of this breed even self identifies as a collector. They are investors, entrepreneurs, as they see it. Wall Street Bets with cardboard.

It's much worse at spots like "vintage baseball photos" groups on facebook. Those have basically just three subjects on a daily basis:

- Old is better than new

- Starting pitchers today throw fewer innings (what a fresh news bulletin eh)

- Nolan Ryan is the most amazing creation ever dropped into the universe

This is a fascinating discussion.

I'm wondering if the issue here–rather than any kind of generational/age difference–is money. As has been discussed in other threads, "true" collectors, in a sense, have been forced to reckon with their having become investors, whether they like it or not.

Cards I purchased two years ago with no intention of ever selling have gone up in value 2, 3 times or more. Obviously, many older collectors are experiencing this phenomenon even more strongly.

Were there pure "investors" (equivalent to those people today who don't even care what's inside the slab) in the hobby 30, 40, 50 years ago?

I don’t think it’s that different from 30 years ago. 30 years ago was about the time a card bubble burst, after a ton of people came in investing in rookies as the hype built and built and production increased to meet the demand. I think most of those investors are not too dissimilar from todays new batch. I think it’s very different from 50 years ago. 1972 is about when money first started to slowly creep in.

I'd say that wasn't happening back then, because most cards had such little value up until the '80s (and they weren't considered as much more than collectible novelties). But now that they've had a steady basis as substantial assets for the last 40 years, it's a totally different ballgame to consider them as investments.

Edit: like Greg said, 30 years ago is entirely different than 50 in this case. I was referring just to <1980

Agree...I think collecting sets will likely decline - particularly as the prices of vintage increase. And probably those that appreciate collecting master sets and all the variations, as well.

Exactly, they are more investors or in some cases gamblers (or whatever you call someone who buys lottery tickets)

Yep.

A wise man once told me:

“The good old days weren’t really that good. They were just old”

Hmm. Never a good idea to generalize a demographic. Some of us are in it gor the long run…

New investors
 

The new "higher end" collector/investor is moving funds from the stock market, or low yield bonds, or out of crypocurrency into sports cards that are perceived to be a safer investment with more upside potential.

Cards of famous players selling for more than $1000 each are like gold nuggets the investor can store for a time, enjoy, show off, and then resell when the next hot investment comes along. The "Blue Chip" players like Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Mantle, and Jackie Robinson are easy for them to spend big bucks on.

These types of investors are used to buying at "market", which is the price it takes to win the auction no matter how high. The price to win is the current value, in that flawed logic.

I agree, that is what they're doing.


And for us old geezer collectors, it is what we did to the collectors of Cracker Jack prizes. Those folks were seeking rings, tops, puzzles, figurines, and then along comes those "Cracker Jack Ball Players" cards of 1914 and 1915. Those prizes were tough enough to find without baseball card collectors running up the price on all of those cards.

I agree with Waz here. Generalizing a demographic is not the best idea. I assume there are several new young collectors on this board that just don't post very often but are reading threads and learning about the hobby and it's history. It's the flashy investors that are running up prices and exploding the hobby right now. But there are many new collectors that aren't investors.



.

old young
 

I fully get it - old collectors getting older..young collectors are.....a.....young !

But whats tough to take is I see 75% pokemon stuff at shows....I get it ..its hot..like way back in the beany baby days....but feels that more comic/toy/non sports show stuff

great post, good insight... thanks!

One thing I don't care for, nowadays, is all of the fake names. I just denied a guy into the FB Net54baseball group because he used 3 different names. I called him and spoke to him and he was nonchalant telling me one was a FB name and so on. I told him that rubs me the wrong way and find another forum or group. Then I banned him from here also. He had never posted but registered 5 yrs ago.
**If anyone on this forum knows someone here, using a fictitious name, please PM me and they will be shown the door. I had one I was looking into but that email got lost.
Thanks for the help.
.

I've been thinking that throughout reading this thread. I, for example, am a 15 year old vintage set builder.

Well, as a 15 year old you just learned a very important lesson . . . avoid making generalizations across large groups of people.

Good luck with your sets!

The New collector is me...

I'm 32 years old, inherited some vintage baseball cards and have really dived into things. I have been dabbling in different areas, mixture of vintage and modern, set building, sealed, singles, etc. trying to find out what I enjoy.

I will say that it is a huge turn off for me when old school collectors gatekeep. There are a ton of helpful people on this forum, but as i can clearly see on this thread, there are some old timers who think that because they have been in the hobby for 40 years, that their opinion is sacred and that their way of collecting is the only way. All that does is push us away.

I'm not sure why it's a virtue not to care what the cards are worth. How many people collect art without regard to value? I agree there's a bit too much sanctimony sometimes.

I'm glad when I was a younger collector the older collectors didn't have so much disdain for me. Or at least didn't seem to.

Agreed. Unlike the older generation, I will not have a pension, I probably won't have social security, I have seen prices skyrocket and wages plateau (and I'm a banker with a good job. ) Unfortunately, the reality is that I do need to care about card values to an extent. I have a masters degree in History so the historical element is also important to me, but card profitability and price changes are something that weighs heavily on me when I consider my family's future.

I am sure in every collecting hobby there are people who act like the ultimate test of purity is to care less about what any of it’s worth. Really pretty silly as others have pointed out. At some point our collections will be sold buy us or others. Can’t take it with you as they say. Valuation is hardly beside the point. You can collect out of love of the game and love of collecting and also hope your stuff appreciates in value.

They did, but they didn't express it like most do today because of the internet/social media.

As us old farts are getting older, do you think that the younger collectors are really going to be into set building as we are now? Meaning do you think set building will eventually die out amongst the newer collectors entering our hobby?

Has anyone ever got to a point in their collecting where they thought, why even collect all this cardboard because in the end you can’t take it with you! So why collect? Just curious to everyone’s thoughts on this.

Let’s not forget there was a point in time not too long ago where a lot of old-time collectors were predicting a market crash and the death of the hobby due to a lack of young blood. Now we have that young blood and everyone is complaining about what they are doing. To borrow from the Stones, the hobby might not have gotten what it wanted, but it got what it needed. Even if 80% of the newcomers go by the wayside at the first sight of the next shiny thing, the last few years have brought in a lot new guys who really do love it. We need to give some time for the dust to settle.

I work for an auction house that is connected with a card shop. I normally stay on the auction house side of the building but do go over to the shop from time to time. The new generation of collector is generally much more focused on singles and can care less about complete sets, team sets, building a set, etc.
I've noticed a dramatic increase in diversity and even some women have gotten into the game. While most don't know a thing about vintage, they do have a healthy appreciation for the history. I find they are much more open and respectful than the older hobby veterans are towards them. I also notice that foreign and alternative sports are gaining much more traction - Formula One, Soccer, WWE, etc.

I've collected since the mid 1980's. My collecting habits have changed greatly over time. Initially I focused on building sets and collecting Cubs cards. As a result I had boxes upon boxes of commons. I was able to offload a bunch of them many years ago. I held onto a number of the sets.

Now I just collect Cubs cards and random things I find fun. I like to build small subsets that I create for myself. I finished up an Orbit gum (PR3) pin set not too long ago and it hangs nicely in a shadowbox on my office wall. That was 60 pin backs and still took me ~7 years to finish. I don't think I would even entertained that 30 years ago.

Right now I am collecting PSA slabbed Randy Hundley Topps base cards. And still looking for some 2016 A&G Cubs mini parallels. I also snag fun (for me) cards and they end up in binders for me to pull out now and again to enjoy. At some point, I think I am going to work on a 33 Goudey Cubs card set. Again, just something fun for me to enjoy.

I'm not interested in chasing the rookies or building sets like I did back in the Junk Wax era. I don't begrudge anyone from doing that now. I've been there and done that. I suspect many of the older collectors here were as well. I am comfortable in what I want to collect and I'll enjoy it accordingly. Seasons change and so do we. It's supposed to be fun, it doesn't have to stay the same.

+1

Man, that logic could lead one to a dangerous place in life, where nothing was worth doing.

I still enjoy the hunt of rare pre-war type cards. I never get bored. Plus I then collect whatever I want to. I am very sporadic. This came in the mail a few days ago...

True, but think about it where do all these binders and boxes of top loader cards go too eventually. Someone else selling them for pennies on the dollar? The wife’s new boyfriend? Some card dealer that like , nope this babe Ruth card isn’t worth much because it isn’t graded. I’ll give you $10 for it! Hopefully it will go to someone that is knowledgeable about prices and would appreciate it. What is the end game in collecting? Just something to think about.

As a newer collector, one pre-war set I really think is neat and would be interested in collecting is the R326 and R342 1938 movie flip books. Not sure how big the print run was though and if it would even be viable.

The same reason I do anything in life: I think it is right, I think it is practically necessary, or I think it is enjoyable. Obviously cards falls under #3. There’s no point and we all die, but that doesn’t seem a reason to me not to enjoy my life while I’m here. I enjoy the cards, so why not? I can’t take money with me either. Might as well do the harmless things that give me joy and enjoy the one brief life I get before it’s time to scoop me six feet under soon.

Old or young, this is a fun hobby and hopefully with a little profit. Whatever makes it fun to whatever age should all be considered good as it keeps our hobby thriving. Sets, no sets, singles, vintage, modern, long term, short term flippers, it all contributes to the fun. Things change, go with the flow, don't get too stuck in the mud. Do what you like, don't knock the next guy. Appreciate the fact the hobby is alive and well.

Some of them expressed it in person, while trying to rip you off to boot! Any kid who explored the local card shops of Anytown, USA with allowance or lawn mowing money in hand during the 1990s knows the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (from whence my user name originates) is only barely a fictional creation.

The new, young collectors aren't an issue, or a problem, they just come from a different place and perspective. Baby Boomers are pretty much the ones who started and have fueled the sports card collecting craze, till these more recent years. And Baby Boomers did so primarily based on a unique experience that has ceased to exist for decades now. It was a happy coincidence that the Baby Boomer generation pretty much exactly coincided with the rise of Topps (and Bowman) baseball cards, and their availability and relatively cheap cost to Baby Boomers as kids. And the fact that these companies have been around so long, issuing new cards and sets consistently year after year on a national level, was heretofore virtually unheard of. Old Judge cards are likely the next closest example, having lasted five years from 1886-1890. Zeenuts were strictly a regional, minor league issue. And though Exhibit cards alone showed the kind of longevity Topps and Bowman have experienced, they were sold in primarily a much different method, not in packs, and certainly not in a numbered set that was fully changed, updated, and somewhat unique from year to year. Also the size difference played a huge role. You would much more easily be able to find a kid hauling round a rubber banded stack of regular baseball cards to school or the playground, than you ever would expect to see them hauling around a stack of Exhibit cards. Virtually every dime, drug, or other local store you'd walk into back in the 50s and 60s would always have packs of baseball (and other) cards for sale right on the counters for sale next to the register. Certainly not so today, or for many decades now.

And combine that with the Baby Boomer generation coinciding with the long overdue integration of baseball, MLB finally extending all the way to the West coast, the beginning of expansion in the number of MLB teams, and maybe most importantly of all, the post-war advent of television and the bringing of games/teams on a national level right into our living rooms. These elements and their timing all added up to create the perfect storm that vaulted us into the sports card collecting rise and surge that started in the 1980's, and has carried us for the most part till today. And that was all primarily due to baseball cards as the initiating genesis for all this.

So, the "old-timers" among us approach the fascination and attraction to the sports card collecting hobby as a somewhat shared, but pretty much unique collective background and experience that will never be duplicated. It is certainly different from the backgrounds and experiences that have led younger generations to the hobby now as well. And the Baby Boomers are lucky that younger generations are embracing and picking up the hobby so as to bolster prices for some who can then use that potential cash, if needed, as they get older and move into retirement. For many who started out collecting cards for fun and/or as reliving youthful memories, it is akin to finding a $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of jeans they pulled out of the dryer.

And there was never any guarantee that future generations would hold and look at sports cards, especially vintage cards, in the same overall esteem and value as the Baby Boomers do. Just look at stamp or train collecting today. Though both hobbies are still active and out there, the overall acceptance, following, and of course value associated with such items, have experienced nothing like the continued surge and growth to the sports card hobby and market. We have experienced additional good fortune on at least some factors of our hobby attracting new, fresh and younger faces to the fore.

Bob, I always enjoy reading your well-thoughtout and detailed posts. Tony

Very awesome responses guys!!!

I have been collecting for over 40 years! So I’ll be a collector until the very end.

I collect vintage. I would much rather have a mays, mantle, koufax and bench instead of a tatis jr, Juan sori, Guerrero jr or acuna jr. I don’t knock what others s like or want. Vintage is my preference but the great thing about this hobby is that there is room for everyone to collect what they want.

I collect because it has been my passion for 40+ years! I asked the questions why do we collect or what is our end game because I see the set collecting threads where people have 50 year runs of topps complete sets and while I think that is very cool (and something I’m doing) my mind wanders and I think wow! What do we do with all of these binders if sets or boxes of cards one day!

Thanks Tony, appreciate that. But you are likely in a very small minority. LOL

Could also add that another reason for the "old-timers" always seeming to complain about these younger collectors, and how they collect and view the hobby, is that seeing these changes and differences reminds and reinforces the fact that they are getting older and not going to be around forever. And along with that, they may no longer be the main driving force behind the hobby anymore, and thus they don't as often see the hobby industry as worried about or catering much to their collecting needs and desires. And human nature and instinct is such that most all people, whether they'll admit it or not, have and harbor some instinctual and/or inherent fear, or at least a disdain, for change and things they are not familiar with.

This does go both ways though, as younger generations, overall, do not seem to carry and hold the older generation in at least the same/similar level of esteem, respect, and appreciation as Baby Boomers do/did for their parents and grandparents. They can often look to Baby Boomers and lay blame to them for a lot of the problems and issues of today. All while seeming to forget all the things they have to thank the Baby Boomers, and preceding generation, for that they simply take for granted. With the advent and advances in technology involved in travel and the media, especially social media, the world is literally getting smaller every single day. And yet, personal connections and direct interactions among people appear to be going the opposite direction. Plus the internet emboldens people to say and do what they want to others, without having to actually say/do something to someone's face so there is no potential threat of a direct reprisal? That could only serve to desensitize at least some people from fearing they'll hurt/harm others, and care and ever being apologetic or remorseful about having done so. And by extension, if such people over time become so desensitized to treating and acting so horribly towards others online, you know it is only a matter of time before some become so emboldened that they start doing the same demeaning and defaming things in real life, to real people. And it will likely only get worse.

I'll end with this. When I was in school, I was taught to respect my elders, not go talking back, and disobeying. If I got in trouble in school and ended up getting a swat from a teacher, I was even more afraid my parents would find out, and I'd get greeted by my Dad, with a belt and an additional whupping, when he got home from work. Nowadays, you accidently touch a school age child, or say or do something they may take in the wrong way or context, and you end up with screaming parents at the school, wanting the teacher immediately fired, and threatening to sue the school, and everything front and center on the internet and social media for all the world to see. My how times have changed, and we have only ourselves to blame!

Here's the only way to reply to this thread these days:

"When people are throwing shade at younger collectors, I take that very personally, because I identify as a 14-year-old female collector, so that's racist...and cardboard is responsible for global warming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I have had a front-row seat to the recent hobby evolution as I have been setting up at local card shows just about every weekend for the past 25 years. I have been attending card shows since 1978.

I really have no issues with the new breed of sports card hobbyists. I find them very intelligent, extremely knowledgeable about modern cards, friendly, passionate and interesting.

Some of my observations: basketball is king. They want rookie cards, not necessarily slabbed cards. They all have a personal collection or "PC." Each PC seems to be unique to that collector. They vlog about everything and post regularly to Instagram. They have taken trading to new levels. They are masters at negotiating. They all have some sort of briefcase. Many have some of the worst hairdos I have ever seen... which is really saying something since I grew up in the 1970's.

Used to be that I could set up at any card show with my post-War commons and have flocks of set builders at my tables -- not anymore. I really have to pick and choose which shows I attend because the set builders only go to a handful of shows these days.

The new breed will stop and marvel at my stuff but they rarely purchase anything. I am starting to feel like an outcast, a relic. But I still enjoy it and regularly sell and buy enough cards to make it worth my while.

The thing I enjoy most about the new breed are their vlogs. I spend countless hours on YouTube watching vlogs from card shows. I just love it and can always spot my bald head in a few of the vlogs.

Many of these vloggers are great characters and have created their own culture around their vlogs. For example, there is a modern collector/dealer/vlogger out of Ohio, he looks to be in his late-20's. He goes to shows all over the country each weekend. At each show, in each vlog, he is met by other new-age collectors who give him cards and other memorabilia for his Ohio State PC. I mean, he can't go five minutes at a show, no matter where that show is located, without some random person walking up to him and giving him a card depicting an athlete who played college ball at Ohio State. It is remarkable to watch.

Yes, the hobby has evolved. I recommend you just go with it and enjoy it. I'm still having a lot of fun. I'm setting up at two shows this weekend!

It would be much easier to respect the older generation if so many of them at shows didn't act like I was easy pickings! LOL On here, there are many people like you who are more fatherly and willing to share their expertise.

In the real world, I tend to have much better experiences with younger dealers. A lot of the old guys get dollar signs in their eyes when they find out I'm new with valuable cards. It's just evident in their body language and it makes me distrustful. Most of the younger guard is far more transparent about why they will offer a certain dollar amount for a card or lot and act less like used car salesmen. That's how it has been in my, admittedly limited, experience at least.

I agree, and, Bob, one other factor has been the greatest generational transfer of wealth ever to current baby boomers, putting them in the ideal position to chase those'52 Topps Mantle cards.

I consider myself a "new breed" of collector.

I'm on these boards because part of my collecting focus is post-war vintage HOF keys, and Topps Venezuelans.

I was into collecting in the 90's from age 10 - 16, then stopped. I picked it back up again in late 2018, and it's been my number 1 hobby since then.

I consider myself new breed because I've only been a "serious" collector since 2019, and I own lots of shiny cards. In addition to what I mentioned above, I also collect Griffey late 90's inserts/parallels, Ichiro, and Minnie Minoso (luckily before he got into the Hall).

I very much welcome the “new breed”, even if they are investors and they only invest in new/modern/shiny. They are the future of the “hobby” and will be what bridges the gap from one generation to the next. Welcome! And, I do believe all investors in cards have the collector gene (you reading the post of one).

Admittedly, I don’t really understand, and certainly do not collect, modern. But that’s on me; in fact, I consider anything after WWII to be “modern”, with the new stuff ultra modern

CardCollector2

I watch his videos all the time, too.

He seems to have a very successful store in Ohio besides all the online dealing he does.

Is that a Deanie beanie? Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

I don't think the hobby/industry has really changed much over the years. What has changed is technology.

I was collecting as a kid in the 70's. Research had to be done at the library or buying price guides, shopping was done at card shows and the local card shop.

And trading was done with a handful of friends who also collected.

Collectors have always done research, shopping and trading. We've always collected cards because we liked them, or because they were rookies, or because they were rare. We have always tried to trade for, or buy, cards we felt were going to go up in value.

It's just that the internet has made all those things easier and more interesting. Instead of a few friends from school we have N54. Instead of the local card shop we have online auctions.

My prized card as a kid was a 1969 Jackson Rookie. I have kept that card for 40 years and protected it. Last year I sent it to PSA for grading just for fun. It came back as trimmed and they wouldn't grade it. I had no idea. But that trimming wasn't done by any of the people well known to be altering cards in recent years.

It was done by an 'old timer.' I acquired that card at a card shop around 1980.

So, there's always been people altering cards.

I think this is a great industry/hobby. If someone wants to invest in cards, great. If someone wants to collect raw, great. To each their own.

There have always been new people coming into the hobby with different interests. Some collect for fun, some for investment and some for nostalgia. Nothing new there.

Any changes to the hobby that bring in more people and allow for the sharing of info the better.

I also welcome grading, vault storage and more auctions. They are all optional services. If you don't like 'em, don't use 'em. Maybe those innovations don't last. But innovation and new ideas generally are positive.

I think the whole industry is moving in the right direction.

A few thoughts on prices for vintage cards: they will go up forever. I don't own modern but I would expect the scarce modern will go up in price forever, too.

Any asset that is scare and high quality and desirable will go up in price. Waterfront real estate, Art, high quality companies... scarce and desirable cards.

This has been happening far longer than 2 years.

It's been going on for 100 years and will go on for another 100 years

Well then let's call BLM (Baseball collectors lives matter)!!!

Well then let's call BLM - Baseball (collectors) Lives Matter!!!

One way to look at it for me is, the more young modern card collectors that enter the hobby the better my vintage collection grows! What I mean by that is I can sell modern shiny cards like wander Franco, Pete Alonso, mike trout, Vladimir Guerrero jr, Soto, acuna jr, tatis jr, ohtani and Buster Posey! And flip that money to buy more vintage. An example is I sold some ohtani, Guerrero jr, Juan Soto and tatis jr cards and took that money and bought some 1950’s and 1960’s topps cards! 2022 Modern cards are red hot sellers right now on eBay! The new generation are buying them up lightning fast. So, now is a perfect time to flip modern cards for vintage! I could not build my vintage collection as fast without the new generation of collectors buying modern cards from me!

The thing about the scarce modern stuff is that it's not actually scarce. Yeah, a 1/1 is cool, but there are thousands of other 1/1s. It's manufactured scarcity, and most of it will go down in value eventually.

I collect all eras. There's actually cool ways to collect modern that are more similar to pre-war than you would think. Trying to complete a color run of a modern card is just like trying to complete a back run of a T206 card in my opinion. There's a lot of new collectors (not the investors) who actually do collect in interesting ways like that. I've seen guys who collect the first or last #'d in a print run like 1/25, 50/50, etc. or only cards #'d with the players uniform number so the only collect Trout cards #'d like 27/50, 27/200, etc. There's guys collecting cards where the color of the refractor has to match the color of team uniform so red refractors for Cardinals, blue for Cubs, etc. Not all of this "new breed" buys just the PSA 10's of flavor of the week rookie/prospect. There's a new crop of kids out there with the same collector's gene (or addiction or whatever you want to call it) that we all have and they'll keep the hobby going. Even after the next bubble bursts and the investors realize there's no difference between their shiny PSA 10 and the thousands of PSA 9's (or even 8's really) and find a new way to waste their money. Here's some card pics for this thread:

Same thing happens with Old Judges. So many are rare that rarity is the norm. I'm trying to sell a 1/3 in the $300-range – I'd like to find something a little better, if more common, for my type set – and it seems to be shelf turd-ing away. AITA?

I hear you Brandon, that is why I said it goes both ways. There is good, and not so good on both sides. And trust me, when I was younger, I had older dealers treat me basically the same as you described. LOL Still get treated the same occasionally from some dealers online who can't tell how young or old you are. They just assume they are a dealer, and therefore they figure they know more than you. I just try to ignore them. Most people are good, young and old, but the younger generations are being brought up and taught much differently than Baby Boomers and older generations were.

There will always be a fan base for the major US sports, which should be enough to keep the sports card hobby around and going strong for longer than either of us can likely imagine. It has changed a lot over the past few decades, and will continue to do in the decades to come. But the vintage side will be okay. Regardless of how newer generations are brought up, people are people, and many people like to collect, and have that collecting bug that infects so many of us on this forum. When you combine all the history of the game and the stories behind the players, there should be more than enough to entice a sufficient number of the younger generations to carry things on.

Good luck, and good collecting to you.

Thanks John, LOL. I just wish I had gone for some of the bigger cards, like a '52 Topps Mantle, much earlier in my collecting days. I'll likely never complete a '52 Topps set now because I can't justify in my own mind to spend what it would take to buy that Mantle now. Just like there's a lot of other sets I'll probably never finish as well now because I didn't get the Jackson/Cobb/Wagner/Ruth/etc. card before the recent price surge during the pandemic.

I am a Baby Boomer, and fully understand (and appreciate) the economic growth that has come to my generation. But in all fairness, most of us did tend to work our asses off to get to where we are today. Could always be better off, but most certainly could be a heck of a lot worse off as well. Having collected some rare, as well as many, many, many more common items, gives one the appreciation for what one has and collected over the years. I still enjoy occasionally opening an old box or binder and going through it, and rediscovering something I forgot I even had. Keeps the joy of collecting alive, at least for me.

Cool item Leon. You ever see the individual triangular fabric patches with various ballplayers on them out there in the hobby, like the Dizzy Dean one on that beanie you got? They were used to make beanies like that one you have.

I think that is so cool when you come across things that were made with, or incorporated, sports related collectibles and items. Like pillows made with S74 silks, or a blanket/quilt made from B18 felts.

The new breed of collectors are...enviably unabashed at discussing the money issues that we've all thought of for as long as there's been collecting. Look, for as far back as I can remember, whether you got a good deal has always been important. Yet we (older collectors) all pretend it wasn't so. The only differences are modality and style. Fifty years ago it was whether you got a good deal in a trade and whether you knew something your counterparty did not. No guides, no web sites, no data, really, except what you picked up. Now, it is cash and data based. The new collectors are overloaded with data. Stylistically, they don't 'shucky-darn' their way through a deal, acting embarrassed about the commercial element of it, they own it.

Money has been part of this ever since the first card shows appeared in the 1970s. Don't pretend otherwise and deride the new breed of collector for being up-front about it. The simple act of deciding what to sell and what to charge for it makes it about money. I learned how to negotiate a deal through collecting. I was wheeling and dealing as a ten year old, trying to grow my collection and flip cards for a profit to pay for it. We roamed all over looking into second-hand stores, junk stores and antique stores looking for cards. When we found a place with good stuff we jealously guarded it. I used to buy cards at this antique store 12 for a buck and flip many of them at $0.25-$0.50 each. It was a profitable enterprise. My daughter does the same thing with fashion. She goes to thrift stores and flea markets in search of designer stuff she can resell. The other day she tripled her money on a blouse. I told her that she now knows how I feel when i flip a deal.

The only negative I have about the newbs is that they haven't lived through a boom-bust cycle and have no idea what it is like to watch values implode. Many are in for a very rude awakening when they finally receive their bulk order of shiny stuff back from PSA

The new collector of anything not ultra modern knows very little about the player whose card he or she is purchasing and doesn't believe a card today can be rare or scarce as it is, or will be, available on the internet soon.

Remember the days of searching for years for the cards you wanted or needed and then paying asking price to finally get it/them? Don't get me going on mail order purchases sight unseen!