Do you worry about our hobby dying?

[glenv]

I agree with those that posted that we need cards that kids can afford. But it's hard for a kid to be happy with a 99 cent pack of plain cardboard when they see the shiny $5 pack. And what happened to the days of finding baseball cards in cereal boxes, on Hostess boxes, getting them from police officers, etc.? Are any national products still using cards as a promotion?

Like Pete said - : "Like at the very least all ballparks should give away cards to the kids at least one time/yr(giveaway day)."

[AMBST95]

The hobby will probably take a hit as the 20 and 30 somethings age and the older population dies off. Card collecting is less popular among kids for the last 10-20 years.

It will become more of a niche market but the market will be there. As mentioned earlier, card show attendance, brick and mortars, are all falling to the wayside. The business model just isn't good.

To judge the growth of the hobby though, how many new online venues are there for buying cards (ebay, auction houses, etc). There is definitely a market and that won't go away. It just is different now and the way to do business is different and will continue to change in the future.

Prices will probably hold steady but value will drop due to inflation. That's my prediction.