What would it take to collect modern cards again?

[Ladder7]

A frontal lobotomy.

Although massive overproduction is an obvious factor., The ego's and the buying of cheap foreign talent (Instead of American kids) is a turn off to collecting and going to games, imo.

Even Jeter, whom I'd quietly idolized... Has been somewhat the doosh lately.

[rainier2004]

I could start again with the aboved mentioned changes, but at this point I dont even think of modern players for cards I want. Ive been a vegetarian for 10 years and my cravings have changed dramatically over time...cards are the same way and I only crave vintage irregardless.

[vintagecpa]

I think if I could go back to the early 80's where you only had to worry about Topps, Donruss and Fleer, I'd probably still find myself buying a couple of rack pack for the heck of it. Even back then, most collectors realized the cards didn't have much value. It was simply mindless entertainment, much like playing nickle slots.

Fast forward 30 years, paying $4-5 per pack for cards that are just as worthless is the equivalent to moving from the nickle slot machines to the dollar slot machines. They both provide the same level of entertainment, but it costs a whole lot more to reach the same conclusion.

[alanu]

My main problem with modern cards is that while I still enjoy the game of baseball, there aren't that many players that I would like to collect and with players changing teams more often, there's not really a team I would like to collect.

About the newest cards I have much interest in are the 1989 Griffey cards and they are readily available.

[mawitzi]

I would buy modern cards if they had a simple set with an attractive set of on card autos. The last set I collected was the 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game.

[Bob Lemke]

I agree with Alan.

First I'd have to find a way to give a fat rat's ass about today's baseball and baseball players.

[thetruthisoutthere]

I usually don't comment on this side, but I thought I'd throw my two-cents in.

A few months ago I decided to sell (and I'm still in the process) all of my modern day cards, etc., and go back to collecting and adding to my Tom Tresh collection, and adding to my 1965 and 1953 Topps cards (those are my two favorite years of design).

I will keep my 2001 Upper Deck Decade set (love the design) and my 2000 Greats Of The Game set. The cards of today have absolutely no personality.

[chris6net]

I remember back in I think 1973 when Topps selling cards in individual series and as a kid that started to take some of the fun out of buying cards. I agree with most of the previous ways but I would also prefer that they be issued in series and after about 6 weeks they would go onto the next series and not produce the earlier series. I always enjoyed waiting for the next series so putting a set together lasted the whole season. CN

[mrvster]

Hello all,

before i became obsessed with t206 freaks, i used to love to collect bowman, bowman chrome (all the rookies) ......i also collected griffey and have a few 89 ud that i had bought off ebay....griffey jr was my fav player with that sweet swing!!....about 15 or so years ago i bought a few 89 upper deck packs from a local card shop (when we had one),on one of my bdays.... and asked my gma (who had passed away rest her soul around that time), to let me pull a pristine griffey out of one of those $15 packs, i DID, and still have the card...that card means alot to me....when i was a kid i would love to watch Sr griffey pops play ball....(don't get me wrong, i'm an east coast man and a die hard yankee fan, but i admired other players back in the 70's thru 90's......i liked bad vlad, pujols, jeter, and a few other "modern players" and a few others even when i was in my 20's).....as a kid watching yankee games , young adult and now, but it has changed for me.....




i agree with Bob and Alan.......players of today(there are a minute few humble players as an exception), are little bitches!! Ty cobb would've beat a spike into their wussie heads


baseball players of today are just money hungry , egotistical cry babies!!!

THERE!!!

i said it....


Please don't kick my axx c..c. sabathia



i wish baseball was played like baseball and unfortunately, we will never c the good ol' day but live it thru cardboard...



my 2 cents thanks for listening to me ramble....


Peace

[glchen]

I think modern needs fewer sets (like 1-3) with solid production qualities at a good value. I think maybe something like one affordable base set and one premium set with inserts. And of course, both of them should be issued with reasonable supply and not over-produced. I'm still a fan of factory sets, and I don't think they caused the downfall of cards. Factory sets were around in the 80s when the craze was still going on. I think it was the over supply and bubble issues. Right now as previous posters have said, buying a wax pack is too expensive. For the price of 2 wax packs, you can go see a movie . You can rent a video game at Redbox for a couple of bucks. Kids these days much prefer that option to cards. Regarding inserts, adult collectors still love these. You can see the pack ripping threads on other boards to see the popularity of these, so there is still demand. However, there can't be too many sets where you have no idea what the yearly checklist is and what sets are out there.

[U240robert]

Originally Posted by vintagecpa

I think if I could go back to the early 80's where you only had to worry about Topps, Donruss and Fleer, I'd probably still find myself buying a couple of rack pack for the heck of it. Even back then, most collectors realized the cards didn't have much value. It was simply mindless entertainment, much like playing nickle slots.

Fast forward 30 years, paying $4-5 per pack for cards that are just as worthless is the equivalent to moving from the nickle slot machines to the dollar slot machines. They both provide the same level of entertainment, but it costs a whole lot more to reach the same conclusion.

Exactly. I haven't bought a modern card pack/set in ages.
I lost interest in the early 90's with the over population
of sets. The inserts are probably here to stay, which is too bad.
In the past we may have gotten inserts in cards but that
was a bonus. Now the inserts are the attraction, not the cards.
I've seen kids open up packs of cards just to comb through them for the inserts. Then dump the cards in the trash like it was yesterdays bubblegum.
I really think the card companies for the past 20 years have been pretty clueless. Too many people without any trading card background are now calling the shots.

[Jayworld]

I agree with the sentiment expressed by several that the MLB game of baseball today is not as appealing for various reasons, which impacts collectibility of modern baseball cards.

As a kid of the 1970s, I enjoyed watching MLB tremendously and collected baseball cards, too. I loved the teams, the uniforms, the colors, the players, and by collecting, I knew virtually every player on each team in the majors. I liked how the players wore their uniforms, the flapless batting helmets, the fact that Jim Sundberg of the Rangers ushered in a new type of catcher's helmet (he did not use the "traditional" cap turned around or flapless batting helmet turned around, the "rainbow" uniforms of the Astros, the fact that when you went to a Rangers game and they played Oakland - you did not know exactly which jersey the A's would wear (gold or green), etc.

Because most of the teams are the same to me, appearance-wise (am I watching Seattle, Milwaukee, San Diego?), the "pajama" pants, the lack of stirrups, the unfriendliness of players generally, the cost of going to a game, etc., I just don't have the interest in modern cards depicting the modern game. I've tried to collect some over the past 4-5 years, but I find the typical players' cards "meaningless" (as brought up by others) and the impact is on finding that relic card.

The latest modern set that has appealed to me is the Topps Fan Favorites cards, which were basically re-dos of players I grew up with (and older) in different poses on the card designs of the past. When I walk into a local card shop, I ask, "are there any new sets featuring players from the past?"

The last modern card I purchased with semi-regularity (two boxes) was the Topps Allen Ginter set of 2008. I liked the artwork and design, and the fact that cards of non-baseball players were represented....

I, too, agree with the sentiment of bringing back wax packs of 10 card counts with gum, 25 cent packs, no relic, autograph, etc. cards, and perhaps issuing a card set in 3-4 series over a season.... That would help a lot.

[pgellis]

I was thinking about how T206s were distributed and that led me back to this question. I was wondering how hard it must have been to try to put together a "set" of T206 back in 1909-11. Since you only received 1 card in each pack of tobacco, then you only had 1 chance to add to your set with each purchase. I assume cigarettes & tobacco were not cheap back in those days.......probably relatively in line with a pack of cigarettes today (allowing for inflation).

So, that led me to think about this question again............

What if a modern set was distributed in a pack with a single card. You would have to make it "fairly expensive", otherwise you could just buy 50 packs.

So, let's take a set of let's say 300 cards. No "insert cards". No short prints. Distributed in 1 card packs for $5.00 per pack. I know $1500 is a lot for a modern set, but if not mass-produced, then each card should hold it's value of $5.00 at a minimum.

I think this would lead to people getting back into trading. You pay $5.00 for a pack and you get an Adrian Gonzalez card, but you already have one. So, now let's trade him for a Joe Mauer.

I think that would be a great idea.

[tachyonbb]

From what I know the price of a pack of cigarettes was about 5 cents to 10 cents (price plus tax) for a pack of 20 in 1910. About fifteen states outlawed the sale of cigarettes and many communities had laws against women smoking in public.

25% of all cigarette sales was in New York City.

Allowing for inflation based on the consumer price index a 5 cent pack of cigarettes in 1910 would cost $1.15 today and the more expensive dime pack would cost about $2.30. Federal and state tobacco are much higher today than in 1910.

A two pack a day smoker would spend $36.50 a year if he smoked the cheap stuff and acquire about 700 cards a year. I have read that kids would mingle outside smoke shops trying to score cards from smokers who did not collect.

[fkw]

Like the first few post mentioned...

If they actually still made "True Collector Cards" ie a card issued FREE with a product or service of some kind. None of this buy the cards w/o the product, in complete set form, etc. BS that ruined the hobby forever.

If they (Topps) would have just stuck with what got them there, bubblegum and cheap packs (under 50 cents each), more kids would collect and actually build set for a change...

[packs]

It would be awesome to see a manufacturer produce a set that is distributed over the course of say, 3 years, with all updates in the trade market made and released later in production.

Hell, bring back the cabinets too. Where is today's Carl Horner?

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by fkw

Like the first few post mentioned...

If they actually still made "True Collector Cards" ie a card issued FREE with a product or service of some kind. None of this buy the cards w/o the product, in complete set form, etc. BS that ruined the hobby forever.

If they (Topps) would have just stuck with what got them there, bubblegum and cheap packs (under 50 cents each), more kids would collect and actually build set for a change...

I'm not sure that's true. There are plenty of kids who spend several dollars per pack on Magic or other gaming cards. Such cards are just more interactive and interesting. The $1 Topps Opening Day product with gum and several cards just sits on the shelf.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

The $1 Topps Opening Day product with gum and several cards just sits on the shelf.

Because it is just filler. Again, if that was the only product, then the chase cards would be player-based, not insert-based.

[arexcrooke]

Originally Posted by Ladder7

A frontal lobotomy.

Although massive overproduction is an obvious factor., The ego's and the buying of cheap foreign talent (Instead of American kids) is a turn off to collecting and going to games, imo.

Even Jeter, whom I'd quietly idolized... Has been somewhat the doosh lately.

So would you rather have the best player play or would you rather have just Americans play?
that is perilously close to thinking before a certain #42 showed up on the scence.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by arexcrooke

So would you rather have the best player play or would you rather have just Americans play?
that is perilously close to thinking before a certain #42 showed up on the scence.

I understand both sentiments here. It's not a racist thing...I don't believe he has anything against hispanics(I could be wrong though). BUT there is MAJOR damage being done to this country's financial structure, and to an extent, the fact that WE are paying WAY TOO MUCH for "foreign entertainment" isn't helping matters. Now I'm not saying that foreign players shouldn't be worth as much as American players, but I'd feel more comfortable knowing that the money I'm giving these guys will continue to stay in the US, rather than be funneled to some other country, and diminishing the total amount of US dollars circulating throughout the US. Baseball has almost become "high dollar foreign aid"..

Personally, baseball wise, I'm fine with things the way that they are now. But economically speaking, we have to understand that there are ramifications for this country in the long run.