My Card Show Experience at RMU in Pittsburgh

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by bsuttonosu

$20 to get in + $50 for an autograph + $15 for an inscription + $7 for authentication...and that's if you want to wait in line and not buy the "VIP" pass.

If you're a kid, next thing you know you've spent 5 weeks allowance and you haven't even looked at a card (not that you could figure out if it was rookie or not anyway with all the new "rules").

The industry today is set up for adults. Why go to a show where a player is signing an autograph you can't afford? And why pay $100 when you can buy it on eBay for $35? To "meet" a guy that won't look at you or shake your hand or let you take a picture unless you spend another $50? (I realize this is an unfair generalization to the many great signers out there, but it's reality for many others.) When you look at a pricing structure that charges different amounts based on the potential future value of what is being signed (e.g., a picture costs less to autograph than a jersey) then you know you have a real problem.

I don't have the answer, but I know what it isn't. And I fear for the future of the hobby. I don't care if my cards hold their "value", that's never why I collected. But I'd hate to see our hobby disappear because of money.

Wow, you nailed it on the autographs! I didn’t even think of that aspect. Just for example, Evan Longoria (he’s someone a lot of young kids can relate to) will be signing autographs at the TriStar show in Houston next month. Autograph tickets are $89, inscriptions are $39 and photo opportunities are $89 as well. To a young kid that is a Longoria fan, that is a lot of money. A lot of kids don’t have that kind of money, so they can’t obtain an autograph of their favorite player and lose interest - not only in the hobby, but in the sport as well. They don’t understand that it’s greedy promoters charging those prices and not the players themselves. Can you blame them? And people wonder why there is no fresh blood in this hobby. Yes, it is an industry that is set up for adults. What a shame.