What did card companies do differently after the strike of 1994?

If anything, please comment. I was off to college and was out of card collecting until 2003. I been reading old Beckett magazines and it seemed business went on normally.

They massively cut (for the time) production on most late-season 1994 and early-season 1995 products.

And judging by the designs, Fleer's team also spent the winter of 1994 dropping acid

JoshHamilton said:

And judging by the designs, Fleer's team also spent the winter of 1994 dropping acid

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I would have to agree with this. Surely, some Jimmy Hendrix was being listened to as well.

1) Cut production
2) Emphasized new premium brands with better quality production (Finest, SPX, Donruss Preferred)
3) Improved packaging
4) Expanded number of sets released annually
5) Sent the players care packages of steroids and GNC gift certificates, and prayed each night for a home run chase that would revitalize the fan base.

JoshHamilton said:

They massively cut (for the time) production on most late-season 1994 and early-season 1995 products.

And judging by the designs, Fleer's team also spent the winter of 1994 dropping acid

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Right? Very traditional designs, then BOOM 1995. 1996 they went to rehab, because that was extremely dull and boring, and WAY too soon to pull the retro card.

1994-1995, the insert/parallel market expanded... except for Topps, who really didn't jump on that train until 1996-1997.

goobmcnasty said:

1994-1995, the insert/parallel market expanded... except for Topps, who really didn't jump on that train until 1996-1997.

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Except that Topps started the parallel craze in 1992 . 1996 was the first time in 4 years they didn't have a parallel, and they broke new ground with the Mantle reprint inserts. Donruss/Leaf definitely best them to he punch with numbered inserts though.

gpenko826 said:

Except that Topps started the parallel craze in 1992 . 1996 was the first time in 4 years they didn't have a parallel, and they broke new ground with the Mantle reprint inserts. Donruss/Leaf definitely best them to he punch with numbered inserts though.

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Topps Gold (and Leaf Black Gold) in 1992 definitely opened everyone's eyes to the opportunity of parallels. Then Finest made parallels a lot cooler. I was more referring to the insert market when talking about Topps. It seemed like in 1994-1996, every brand had several cool insert sets. I don't remember Topps having any cool/tough inserts until 1996ish.

Ok, all I can say is from 1994-1998, the hobby was in a dark period. Nobody I even knew collected anymore except two guys I played high school baseball with. I think this is sad considering some of the neatest cards were released at this time. It was also a time when you could buy a pack for $1.49 at K-Mart and pull a $60 card because it's not like it is now. By that, I mean, autos and gu weren't the only big hits and retail had wasn't considered the scourge of the hobby( like it feels now). Now hobby shops and hobby shop purchasing customers are treated to all the high end goodies along with high end prices.



Suffice it to say, if you were collecting in the mid 90's, you were in the minority. I think the home run chase brought some people back though.

I haven't personally known anybody (aside from Internet acquaintances) who actively collected cards since 1991. My nephews are slightly into football now though


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Ironically, the strike got me BACK into cards!

Sometime late that year or really early '95, Toys R Us was clearing out some '94 Collector's Choice and I picked up some packs and got hooked again.

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They realized that their markets were very fickle and vulnerable. All the things gracecollector lists are right on in trying to maximize the value per pack (for them, not necessarily us). "Don't sell 12 crappy cards for $1, sell 5 somewhat nice cards for $5," seemed to be the philosophy. And it worked, leading to higher and higher ceilings on pack prices, with the floor also rising and becoming a lot smaller. This was a great example in human nature. Once the $5/5-card packs were available, people didn't want the $1/12 cards nearly as much. As much as people might hope for a return, as at least a couple times a year there's a thread about bringing back a "pure" card set with minimal or no inserts for a low price, it will probably never happen, and if it does it will likely go over like Opening Day, a "kids" product. Before the strike, things were just starting to move towards better cards, better materials, etc., and the idea of being able to regularly get extremely positive EV from a box of cards was still new. But it was more about design. If a set had a nice design, it would sell. I think about sets like 1992 Ultra or 1993 Leaf. Yeah, they had $20 cards in there if you got the Griffey or Ripken in the 1-per-box insert set, but people just really loved ripping the packs because the designs were so sweet. Or at least that's my recollection. After the strike, there was still an appreciation of aesthetics, but rookies came to the fore even more then, and higher-end inserts took over. And once GU cards hit, it was all over, and the lottery became the thing.

I started collecting in 1990. Around 1995 I started building older sets. It got to be too much of the shiny cards. The new stuff was nice to look at. It just wasn't for me. It seems these days it would be impossible to complete any kind of set with the 1/1's and what ever number of different color cards for the same players. Not to mention the cost of a pack or box of cards.