Sports Card Addiction Is Slowly Coming Out of the Shadows Article

[raulus]

Originally Posted by packs

I don't think browsing is a sign of addiction. People who like to watch Texas Hold Em aren't gambling because they're watching.

Allow me to suggest that if your mere browsing is interfering with your ability to enjoy and be present for every other aspect of your life, then it's probably gone too far.

[packs]

Originally Posted by raulus

Allow me to suggest that if your mere browsing is interfering with your ability to enjoy and be present for every other aspect of your life, then it's probably gone too far.

No disrespect but I think you're talking about having a phone at all and not baseball cards.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by packs

No disrespect but I think you're talking about having a phone at all and not baseball cards.

You're definitely right that smartphones are a big part of the problem.

[darwinbulldog]

Free markets are going to produce addictive products. That is, unfortunately, a reliable path to profits, and the addictiveness of the products on offer "improves" more with each successive year than the human brain's ability to resist them improves with each successive millennium. Baseball cards are one such product for a very small segment of the population, but there are thousands of others that have the same effect on the dopamine channels of much larger numbers of people.

[Orioles1954]

I remember getting a consignment from the family of a man who had accumulated over a million cards in his house. After his death, his children loaded up a couple of U-Hauls and brought his collection our way. One of them told me, "he didn't give a damn about his kids or family...he put every part of his life into these cards. I'm glad they're gone." Unfortunately, I have seen this happen multiple times.

[Snapolit1]

People can spend their hours/days/months/years doing whatever they want. Always worth keeping in mind that that obscure card you've been chasing for 11 years probably will mean very little if anything to folks 2 minutes after you die. Will be sold by someone who likely will have a small fraction, if any, of the feelings you have for said piece of cardboard. So if you are buy now to flip, or buying now to hoard until someone else eventually sells, I don't see the big difference. Fulfilling some kind of psychological need. I don't see one as being better or more impressive than the other. I hope my kids are impressed someday with the goodies I leave them. And I hope they turn around and sell it all and use it to travel and do cool stuff.

[hcv123]

It seemed like it was largely pointed at the ultra modern chase card gambling - buying and ripping packs looking for the big win similar to playing the state lottery or other game of chance. I can see the addiction overlay there. While I will not say "never", I see the probability as a lot lower for vintage collecting.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by hcv123

It seemed like it was largely pointed at the ultra modern chase card gambling - buying and ripping packs looking for the big win similar to playing the state lottery or other game of chance. I can see the addiction overlay there. While I will not say "never", I see the probability as a lot lower for vintage collecting.

I agree. Dealers sell unopened and do breaks because the odds favor the dealers; it is far more profitable to a dealer to sell boxes or break slots than to actually shuck the cards out of the packs themselves and sell the good ones at retail. If the opposite was true, the dealers would just do the latter. Yet people still spend a ton on breaks, despite empirically bad outcomes. Another example of magical thinking in the hobby.

[luciobar1980]

NEWS FLASH:

A person can be addicted to almost ANYTHING.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by luciobar1980

NEWS FLASH:

A person can be addicted to almost ANYTHING.

I am not addicted to posting on Net54.

Brian (says the man of 6387 posts)

[ValKehl]

Brian, while you may not be addicted to posting on Net54, I sense it is your real hobby, with card collecting merely being a disguise.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

I am not addicted to posting on Net54.

Brian (says the man of 6387 posts)

Me either says the guy who has averaged 2.46 posts a day for 10 years.

I have openly admitted to having a problem back when serial #ed cards came out. As mainly a Wade Boggs player collector I had to have every 1/1 along with the not as rare versions. I never spent more than I could afford but spent as much as I could afford.

I got lucky and decided one day it was stupid and sold all the super rare stuff. I feel the same about graded cards. A few years ago I went all in on graded. So happy that silly to me habit didn't last. Still can't figure out why I paid hundreds/thousands of dollars for cards I could buy for less than 1/10 the price.

[rjackson44]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

I am not addicted to posting on Net54.

Brian (says the man of 6387 posts)

Lol

[benge610]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

I am not addicted to posting on Net54.

Brian (says the man of 6387 posts)

... although my wife will tell you that I am addicted to,
consuming/digesting posts on net54.

( a good-natured, lol.)

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."