The difficulties of getting kids to collect

[glynparson]

A ton of kids at my daughters school collect or collected cards. Less of them collected baseball but many collect football, or any number of gaming cards. I think that more collect than we seem to think. I also often see kids buying packs at the local target when I go there. It’s not as big as the 80s but neither is the production numbers of the cards

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

Hundreds of thousands of kids collect on the Topps apps. It may just be digital cards instead of cardboard moving forward.

Arthur

[Rookiemonster]

My son is 6, he likes cards and looking at them. I collects Chipper Jones. He enjoys opening packs and messing up my organized box of cards. I would not say he has a passion for it. But I didn’t have a passion for years even after I was a collector. Packs and cheap boxes seem to get his attention.

[Neal]

Fortnight

nuff said

[albrshbr]

My 9 year old is certainly into Fortnite.

But he also collects cards. He started with Pokémon but has moved into football and basketball cards. He really enjoys doing case breaks on-line. We are both looking forward to spending 5 days at the National. He wants autos from Earl Campbell and Steve Largent (yes, not any of the new guys!). Look for us in the case break pavilion and digging in the 5000 count boxes.

I've also taken a few of his friends to our LCS and some shows.

Maybe there is still some hope.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Neal

Fortnight

nuff said

Is something happening in a couple weeks?

[Neal]

Originally Posted by steve B

Is something happening in a couple weeks?

No idea
Just seems that everything is fortnight lol

My oldest (13) used to love collecting. Still plays ball and talks cards every now and then so there is hope ...

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[ronniehatesjazz]

Originally Posted by glynparson

A ton of kids at my daughters school collect or collected cards. Less of them collected baseball but many collect football, or any number of gaming cards. I think that more collect than we seem to think. I also often see kids buying packs at the local target when I go there. It’s not as big as the 80s but neither is the production numbers of the cards

This is totally true. I think a lot of collectors don't quite understand how kids have been priced out of shops/shows. I remember going to shops when I was young and maybe you had a card or two above $100 but the vast majority of singles topped out at $20 or so... putting just about any card in reach for kids. Most shops I got into now have very few cards below $50 and most are north of $100. With packs it's the same story... most kids aren't going to be able to plunk down $50 for a pack of Tribute of Topps Museum. The shows are a totally different animal also than they were in the mid to late 90's where you'll see, almost exclusively, dealer after dealer with either expensive prewar and early postwar or insanely priced quad patch auto cards. A good chunk of kids still collect, they just do it at WalMart/Target or online. Nothing like the 80's but still most kids who play sports at least have a few hundred cards if not many more.

[steve B]

That's a big part of it.

I collected as a kid, mostly started in late 73, and the Hank Aaron cards showing all his earlier cards got me interested in older cards. Moved in late 77 to a place with a card shop.
T206s were 1.50 each for commons. And by the time I was working were maybe 2-3.00 That seemed pricy, as I only made a bit over 3 an hour.

Compared to now where a kid might make 7-8, but a vg common will usually be around 40. And other than the more common sets most prewar cards are pretty much untouchable (There's a bunch I still can't afford)

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by ronniehatesjazz

This is totally true. I think a lot of collectors don't quite understand how kids have been priced out of shops/shows. I remember going to shops when I was young and maybe you had a card or two above $100 but the vast majority of singles topped out at $20 or so... putting just about any card in reach for kids. Most shops I got into now have very few cards below $50 and most are north of $100. With packs it's the same story... most kids aren't going to be able to plunk down $50 for a pack of Tribute of Topps Museum. The shows are a totally different animal also than they were in the mid to late 90's where you'll see, almost exclusively, dealer after dealer with either expensive prewar and early postwar or insanely priced quad patch auto cards. A good chunk of kids still collect, they just do it at WalMart/Target or online. Nothing like the 80's but still most kids who play sports at least have a few hundred cards if not many more.

I'll disagree about shows -- because that may be true for the big shows and the large costs to attend but at my local show (40 tables or so) let me assure you we have many very affordable cards and very few expensive cards. And the dealer to dealer action is not as large as some shows.

[AGuinness]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

I'll disagree about shows -- because that may be true for the big shows and the large costs to attend but at my local show (40 tables or so) let me assure you we have many very affordable cards and very few expensive cards. And the dealer to dealer action is not as large as some shows.

The one local show in Portland seems to have pretty decent turnout when I get the chance to go. Decent selection of mostly post war cards.

While some people have mentioned having a kid not into collecting or into collecting, I think it's good to note that in a number of big box stores by me that the latest issue of Topps doesn't seem to hang around for long before being sold out. And other venues for collecting (COMC comes to mind) seem to be flourishing (granted, COMC is also a marketplace for gaming cards, comics, etc.).

There's another thread on the board about the 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout at PSA 10 hitting $600, and what worries me more than kids losing interest is kids being priced out of what was a base card sold in packs. It seems crazy to think that if my 8-year-old was a big Trout fan, his "rookie" card would already be priced out for him - raw versions of this card are going for hundreds of dollars, including this example that has a wrinkle (!!!) (doesn't go directly to the card with a wrinkle, but you can still click on the link to access the original listing):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-TOPPS-...p2047675.l2557

[Jayworld]

I think Neal's post is spot-on; I have two boys as well, and neither are really baseball fans. The older is a "casual" at best fan, and really neither are interested in baseball cards really. The older one has a complete 1987 Topps baseball set he purchased for $15 at a local show, and I bought a box of Topps Opening Day for them last year to split (interesting that there were no duplicates, so the collation has greatly improved since I was collecting from packs from 1975-82).

Although both have gone with me to local card shows (hi Rich!), neither are really interested; the older likes vintage WW1 and 2 art cards and history stuff, and the younger likes Pokemon cards. I also don't see any young "kids" when I go into the local card shop, either; most are around my age or older, and many drop a "bundle" (at least from my perspective...heck, I spend less than $100 each year on cards) of $150+ on unopened boxes to get that "special" pull, autograph, or relic card. That seems to be driving the current, modern hobby, and as discussed elsewhere in this folder on the forum, new common cards are basically "worthless" or "junk wax" as was the case from 1986ish to 1995.

By the time I was 12, I already had completed the Topps 1976, 1977, and 1978 sets and was placing my order to buy a complete 1979 Topps set from a mail-order dealer for the first time rather than buying and completing by the pack.

[commishbob]

The talk about the cost of shows struck a chord with me. I went to the latest TriStar show here in Houston. $12 to park and $15 to get in. I'm down $27 before I even see a table. I used to take my two sons to the big shows in town and even with the prices slightly lower in those days I was out $40 or so before walking in the door. Kids are scarce at the big shows, at least in my view.

OTOH I hit the hotel shows that a local dealer puts on once or twice a month (Hi Darryl) and all it costs me is gas money. I see young kids at those shows. In fact, I stood at a table and overheard a dealer practically give a graded card of the kid's favorite player to him. The youngster (and his hobby-novice Dad) were pretty excited. That dealer may have lost a few bucks on the card but he almost certainly made hobbyists out of that young family.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by commishbob

The talk about the cost of shows struck a chord with me. I went to the latest TriStar show here in Houston. $12 to park and $15 to get in. I'm down $27 before I even see a table. I used to take my two sons to the big shows in town and even with the prices slightly lower in those days I was out $40 or so before walking in the door. Kids are scarce at the big shows, at least in my view.

OTOH I hit the hotel shows that a local dealer puts on once or twice a month (Hi Darryl) and all it costs me is gas money. I see young kids at those shows. In fact, I stood at a table and overheard a dealer practically give a graded card of the kid's favorite player to him. The youngster (and his hobby-novice Dad) were pretty excited. That dealer may have lost a few bucks on the card but he almost certainly made hobbyists out of that young family.

Darryl has come up to do Kyle's Frisco shows the last couple of months and he is a good guy -- and what Tri Star does is good for their business. Thankfully there is room for both types of promoters in the hobby. I could go into a long-winded version of why Dallas is not as good for Autograph shows as Houston, but that's better done on a long-form email or on a phone call.

Rich