Jude 2

The Baseball Card Industry is in a Serious Slump
http://onthescene.blogs.foxnews.com/200 ... ous-slump/

Industry experts say card sales have dropped 80% from over a billion dollars in the early 90’s to about $200-million dollars last year. The trend has caused most card makers to shut down, and where there were once 5-thousand card shops in the u-s, today there are fewer than 500. I spoke to industry insiders, retailers, distributors, and collectors to try to figure out what is causing the slide, and lots of factors play into it. Traditional collectors got into the hobby for love of the game, then, over the years, came those who saw it purely as an investment which drove up demand and prices.

On top of that, industry analysts say the future looks bleak because of competition from other card-based games. My son bypasses the sports cards and heads directly for the “magic” and “Pokemon” cards. If he’s interested in knowing more about the giants or a’s or a particular player’s stats – he goes online.

As one collector told me, “I think we’re going to see the cards fade away. I hate to say that, but 20 years from now, people may not know what a baseball card is.”


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Sad news for a once great industry.

Some are predicting that comic books will eventually go the same way - totally online and in collected editions.

When I was my boys' age, I love getting a pack of cards. The smell, the gum, the anticipation of getting someone I liked. I didnt get cards often. My best cards, I reserved for the spokes of my bike. The more favorite of a player, they better he'd make my bike sound. I guess I had absolutely no clue what a "collector" was.

Today, while my boys like baseball (not as much as I), they just dont get into card thing.

DeWayneTN wrote:Some are predicting that comic books will eventually go the same way - totally online and in collected editions.

Interesting you said that. I finally pulled my trunk out of my storage room last night to show my son. He has been asking and asking.. so I cracked open the time capsule to smell the nose burning pages explore the small room.

Most of mine are from the mid 70s up. I seen some cool pristine Cap'n America, Iron Man, Avengers from 1978 up to Marvel Secret Wars, to Jean Grey must Die #137 of the X-men. (plus tons of other DC and Marvel titles form that era)

I really doubt they will be worth anything.. but I never kept them for that reason. I did it because I wanted to keep them safe and for my future. I had dreamed as a kid to find an old trunk in the attic full of comics only for it to never happen. So I created my own for my own kids... and yes it's extremely fun to see the faces light up and see the old comic dates.

That full circle effect was worth it for me.

I closed my card shop in 1998 after three years. Even then you could see the shift in the direction of the hobby. Most kids just couldn't afford the $6 - $10 per pack prices, much less the higher prices today.

My most profitable transaction was the sale of a rare and autographed Michael Jordan card for over $4k.

I still own some really nice memorabilia. My favorite piece is a "Home Run Club" signed poster, autographed by every member with exception of a couple of the most recent additions to the club.

pa