Random Thoughts on this Hobby and its Future

Teamgluck · #1 02-21-2015, 05:24 PM

As probably the youngest person on net 54 (Im a 19yr old college sophomore) I think the industry is bright and does have a bright future but is held back among the younger generations for various reasons.
1. The Internet has killed many neighborhood style shops.
2. The economy still hasn't caught up to pre 2007 levels and that can really hold people back.
3. This might be the biggest reason of them all and that is the emergence of Football as the #1 sport and the allure of stars in basketball (I despise basketball). For example I have a close friend and for christmas he received a tom brady and peyton manning signed football while in past generations that would have most likely been a baseball related item.

As you grow older I think more and more of our generation will appreciate baseball and become attached to this hobby. Please don't forget how expensive college is and the loans young people have to take on today and if you go into grad or medical school then those bills become even greater. If lets say I try to become a doctor in a certain field it could take me up to age 28 to finish school and then I would have to repay loans which takes a while.

My last point is I think NFL Films under Ed and Steve Sabol has done a much better job than MLBs branch.

In the end collecting is not dying and I think will continue to grow into greater and greener pastures but give the younger generations time.

rats60 · #2 02-21-2015, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teamgluck

As probably the youngest person on net 54 (Im a 19yr old college sophomore) I think the industry is bright and does have a bright future but is held back among the younger generations for various reasons.
1. The Internet has killed many neighborhood style shops.
2. The economy still hasn't caught up to pre 2007 levels and that can really hold people back.
3. This might be the biggest reason of them all and that is the emergence of Football as the #1 sport and the allure of stars in basketball (I despise basketball). For example I have a close friend and for christmas he received a tom brady and peyton manning signed football while in past generations that would have most likely been a baseball related item.

As you grow older I think more and more of our generation will appreciate baseball and become attached to this hobby. Please don't forget how expensive college is and the loans young people have to take on today and if you go into grad or medical school then those bills become even greater. If lets say I try to become a doctor in a certain field it could take me up to age 28 to finish school and then I would have to repay loans which takes a while.

My last point is I think NFL Films under Ed and Steve Sabol has done a much better job than MLBs branch.

In the end collecting is not dying and I think will continue to grow into greater and greener pastures but give the younger generations time.

Football and Basketball have the bigger stars, but Baseball has history. Basketball begins with Jordan. People have already forgot Bird and Magic let alone Wilt and Russell. Football is all Manning and Brady, guys from the 60's and 70's are an afterthought.

The bottom line is people will always end up with what is collectible. Wagner and Cobb, Ruth and Gehrig, Williams and DiMaggio, Mantle, ect. Sports will always be popular. People will always collect. The hobby will survive, at least vintage will.

Klrdds · #3 02-21-2015, 07:01 PM

"The hobby will survive, at least vintage will."

I agree with you, but the lack of young people collecting has hurt the hobby.
Just for curiosity sake " vintage" is a relative term without any true definition as to year , what would your time frame for vintage be? Anyone care to share their time span for vintage?

rats60 · #4 02-21-2015, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klrdds

"The hobby will survive, at least vintage will."

I agree with you, but the lack of young people collecting has hurt the hobby.
Just for curiosity sake " vintage" is a relative term without any true definition as to year , what would your time frame for vintage be? Anyone care to share their time span for vintage?

I cut it off at 1967 because those high numbers are the last "scarce" issue. Pre war sets like T206 and 33 Goudey will always be collectible. Same for 1952 Topps. Same for autos of the greats, Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Wagner, etc. There may not be the numbers of young people now vs. those that collected in the 80's and 90's, but the same can be said of the 60's. You will still have the die hard collectors/fans who have disposable income and they will be drawn to the "staple" items of the hobby.

egri · #5 02-21-2015, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klrdds

"The hobby will survive, at least vintage will."

I agree with you, but the lack of young people collecting has hurt the hobby.
Just for curiosity sake " vintage" is a relative term without any true definition as to year , what would your time frame for vintage be? Anyone care to share their time span for vintage?

I've always thought of 1980 as the cutoff, but the stuff from the 1960's as being the last of the 'mom threw out my cards' generation. I heard someone define it as 25+ years old, but the thought of those shiny chrome refractor parallel serial-numbered thingymabober 1990's cards ever becoming vintage just never made sense to me.

Another thing that I think hurts the hobby aside from the demise of card stores is that drugstores and the like don't carry cards anymore. I was in Walmart today, and their baseball cards were kept with the cigarettes--behind a counter where your average kid would never go.

I really think the card companies have lost their way, with all the inserts and chase cards and whatnot. Buying a pack of baseball cards should not be 'gambling-for-kids'; the cards themselves should be the point. I'd like to see Topps come up with some creative original designs for a change. No more ripping off Allen & Ginter designs, or the old sets of the 1930's-60's. Back in the 1950's, once Sy Berger had whittled his designs down to three or four, he would go to the elementary school that was a few blocks from Topps headquarters, show his designs to the kids and go with what they liked best. We haven't seen that level of care from Topps in a long time, really since they bought out Bowman.

theshleps · #6 02-22-2015, 12:37 PM

I collect as a hobby not an investment or to flip and slab and resell. Back in the 60's I used to buy autographs from a guy named Max who some of you old timers knew. Ruth for $35, guys like Jimmy Collins and other rare HOFers. Unfortunately I also sold them all in the 1960's. I now see certain trends. There are a limited number of set collectors of the older sets from the 1950's (except maybe 52 topps). I used to collect the 55 Bowman set but about 2 years ago I decided to just collect HOFers and Jewish players. I sold off most of the set but held the umps. When I say someone sell off about 20 of the umps on ebay for over $20,000 I decided to let mine go and use the $ for more HOFers. The $20000 was because 2 guys with deep pockets had a bidding war. When I listed mine there was no bidding war and I got maybe $3500 as did a similar lot that sold by legendary. The younger collectors won't have an interest in this material other than select players in the set.
I think the # of collectors willing to pay lots of $ for obscure players to complete older sets is limited and will decrease even more with time. Same with specialized collectors like I collect every Jewish player. All I need now are cup of coffee guys from the 1920's or regular players from before then. If some come up tho I won't pay exhorbitant prices and neither will anyone else tho in the past a few people might have. Rare HOFers will do well. Easy to get deceased one have taken a hit but I don' think they will go down any further.
I can't imagine these "rare" modern insert cards of mediocre players will hold their value at all. It is more like gambling and it is hard to say about guys like Miguel Cabrera etc who go for a few hundred dollars and will be around 70 more years to sign.
As an IP collector I still see young kids getting autographs tho alot of them are sent by their dads who want the autograph and know the kid has a better chance of getting it. These kids push and shove in front of you and it is a farce. there are some young collectors who are serious and respectful too but most of the people you see are post 30 years old and most of those are post 50.
The # of fakes being authenticated- balls and vintage cards has been very disturbing recently- anywhere from 33 Goudeys to awful examples of Koufax etc. This makes me want to get out of the hobby at times as I want to buy them and trust the slabber but just can't. It is a great hobby but a tough one and with young people getting into more high tech stuff the hobby will continue to take a hit but continue to exist. Most kids that love baseball don't know history and would rather have a current scrub players autograph than Satchel Paige.
My son batboyed for team USA when Frank Robinson was manager. Players included Wainwright, Mauer, etc- a high % made the majors. Alot of the players on the team didn't know that Frank ever played ball.
Collect for pleasure and for the hunt and for meeting some great folks along the way

Klrdds · #7 02-22-2015, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theshleps

Collect for pleasure and for the hunt and for meeting some great folks along the way

I agree a 100%. You will meet some great people with interesting stories along the way, and there is no deadline on collecting.

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