Future of the Hobby/ Responses needed

[wazoo]

For me, I will never drop this hobby. I love vintage baseball cards and I hope future generations to come do as well. I am 16 now, and will be 17 in less than two months. I've been collecting vintage for 4 years now, it was the best decision I ever made. I just feel that people need to spread the news about vintage. Nobody I know collects vintage, let alone baseball cards themselves. It's a great hobby and I hope to see an increase of collectors.

[campyfan39]

How did you get into vintage so young?

Originally Posted by wazoo

For me, I will never drop this hobby. I love vintage baseball cards and I hope future generations to come do as well. I am 16 now, and will be 17 in less than two months. I've been collecting vintage for 4 years now, it was the best decision I ever made. I just feel that people need to spread the news about vintage. Nobody I know collects vintage, let alone baseball cards themselves. It's a great hobby and I hope to see an increase of collectors.

[wazoo]

I did a random Ebay search. I had always bought modern cards from eBay, but never anything vintage. I hadn't even known they existed to be honest. Then one day, I don't even know why, the idea of "t206 Wagner" popped into my mind after I read an article about him, and I just searched t206 on eBay. From there, I bought my first t206, Fred Parent, raw, for $30. I had it graded and it came back as a four, along with a few other raw cards I purchased within my first few months of t206 collecting. I became hooked with the set and it's been like that for years after. I'm at about 100 t206 cards now, and I love the set. The colors, misprints, stories, variations, etc. I've educated myself about the set, and overall, it's been an amazing experience. I just got back from a Shriner's show in Wilmington, MA, and added a few more to my set.

[JoeyF1981]

Originally Posted by campyfan39

How did you get into vintage so young?

When I started collecting cards in the late 80's early 90's I used to always buy the new beckett every month and I remember seeing hank aaron's rc for the first time. I wanted to own one so bad. It was the look of the card and knowing how old it was that made me want it. I would go into this local card shop I always went to and talk to the owner about vintage players and it got me really interested. Also watching the movie "when it was a game" had me hooked. I was fascinated with the history and the way people used to live back then. It was a totally different feel and culture than today. I always wanted to own a mantle or aaron when I got older, but as I got more into the hobby I learned about tons of other players I had never heard of and I was hooked.

[MuddyMules]

I have had a passion for cards for a very long time and have shared this with my kids. I have two teenage boys and we collect cards together. This is one hobby that keeps my boys involved with me, even as an old embarrassing dad. Yes, my kids are xbox playing, iphone texting, facebook, instagram, tweeting kids like most youth of today. If you want our youth involved in vintage collecting, my advise is this for the future of our hobby: Take them to Cooperstown and spend the weekend visiting the HOF and the memorabilia shops. We did this last summer and had the best time of our lives. Stay at the KOA campground north of town, turn off the TV and video games, by a box or two of cards (regardless of the years), open the packs, enjoy going through the cards, build a fire, cook a hot dog, go to sleep and repeat it all the next day. The future is our kids, teach them what we know.

[pcoz]

Just to add a few other points relating to how card shops have shrunk and people in the future interested in the hobby shrinking I'd say this.... everything in life changes and evolves all the time. Like the stock exchanges not having floor brokers anymore with things being done electronically, we don't have card shops but have auction houses and the internet to quickly interact and see/buy/sell cards. There are 87 million "Millenials" coming out of college in 2-3 yrs, bigger than the baby boomer population, that will pump money into various areas of the economy. I can't imagine with the increasing prices in the vintage card market, and baseball at least in the area I live still quite popular, people in the future not being interested and driving this market for many years to come. We all have a right to our opinions, but I think its like saying the stock market won't continue to grow in the future which is silly. Just enjoy the ride, evolution, and look forward to the future.