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What is the ONE thing you hate most about the current state of the hobby?

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petMonster

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I hate the lack of local card shows. It was nice to walk around tables, window shop, built sets, and talk to fellow collectors. Now eBay is our place to window shop and USPS reaps the benefits of our collecting.

Ditto. And those old card shows used to be so set-builder friendly, too. I used to hover over boxes filled with thousands of commons and cross off players from my handwritten set-needs lists while talking favorite teams/players with everyone around me. I could spend 3 hours of good, fun digging and it would only cost me $10-$15 total. Now tables are so expensive that nobody can bring commons or lower-end stuff anymore and you can spend $10-15 in no time. It makes it seem more business-like to me and not so hobby-like.
 

AmishDave

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I'm also not a fan of just saying "Hey, you have so and so's rare insert, that I collect and I have so and so's rare insert, that you collect, so let's just swap them". There is a lot of generosity on the boards here and maybe elsewhere (I know on Youtube I've sent out dozen's of 'just because' packages without ever expecting nor wanting anything in return). Just seems like good vibes are gone when you get away from your comfort zone.
 

csmtampa

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Fake patch cards. I'm not a big patch collector but many are. Absolutely disgusting that someone would switch out a patch to make a few extra bucks. And what hurts the most is that the guy who actually pulls a nice patch card has it questioned if it's even real or not.
 

Bob Loblaw

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Right now I hate the fact that Felix Sterling Chrome Blue Refractor autos /150 are selling like hotcakes in the $20 - $30 range but I can not get a whiff on a lot of 6 Valiant Blue /99 auto cards for $19.99 on the lot, or the lot of 5 Orange /25 I have for $29.99... Nothin against LEAF or Valiant but the demand and value delta is just incredible.


Shameless plug, I'd sell both lots to anyone here for $40 right now :(


Tristar, Leaf, and Just are, and always will be, until they procure licenses, minor league issues. And the cost of the auto/difficulty to pull is at issue as well -- a Chrome auto costs you $65-75 to pull -- the cost of the box. THe Leaf cards cost you $6-10 per. As such, the fact that the leaf card is not 10x as cheap as the chrome card actually makes it a better investment.
 

jcmint

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gotta agree here. Its absolute crap whats going on

The one thing that irratates the XXXX out of me is presells.Wax has become the stock market.I refuse to pay inflated prices for product so I stopped breaking wax.
 

predatorkj

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Ditto. And those old card shows used to be so set-builder friendly, too. I used to hover over boxes filled with thousands of commons and cross off players from my handwritten set-needs lists while talking favorite teams/players with everyone around me. I could spend 3 hours of good, fun digging and it would only cost me $10-$15 total. Now tables are so expensive that nobody can bring commons or lower-end stuff anymore and you can spend $10-15 in no time. It makes it seem more business-like to me and not so hobby-like.

These people who do attend shows and set up a table get damn near every dime from me. I'm also prone to spending some coin at tables with cheap inserts and autos/gu. I have never purchased a big money card at any show ever. I'm looking for value. With a bunch of tables, give me something that can help me with my collection. I'm not looking for a Bryce Harper Superfractor. I want to fill my sets and collect my players.

One cool trend I have noticed is a few guys at the last tristar had about 30 boxes set up with base rookies and cheap inserts of star players all the way to guys you never heard of. And they had all sports. I spent a fortune of time and money there. Not a fortune by real standards. But most of the day and a good $100 bucks. And I was damn happy with my purchases! Filled a lot of set needs and holes in my football/baseball/basketball collections. I damn near completed Topps Chrome football 2009 and 2010 there because the guy had cards for 25 cents a pop and I was missing a lot that he had. I did damn good. Plus a slew of rookies I did not have. I love me some base topps rookies!
 

predatorkj

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Fake patch cards. I'm not a big patch collector but many are. Absolutely disgusting that someone would switch out a patch to make a few extra bucks. And what hurts the most is that the guy who actually pulls a nice patch card has it questioned if it's even real or not.

I'm angrier about companies possibly using fake gu items to put in the cards. That never should have been a problem. Just make less if you have to. Hell, that keeps the demand and secondary market price up anyways. Imagine if GU cards weren't as prevalent as they are? Sure you can say companies don't care what happens on the secondary market. But if the secondary market is strong, the wax will be too.
 

Casebusters

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These people who do attend shows and set up a table get damn near every dime from me. I'm also prone to spending some coin at tables with cheap inserts and autos/gu. I have never purchased a big money card at any show ever. I'm looking for value. With a bunch of tables, give me something that can help me with my collection. I'm not looking for a Bryce Harper Superfractor. I want to fill my sets and collect my players.

One cool trend I have noticed is a few guys at the last tristar had about 30 boxes set up with base rookies and cheap inserts of star players all the way to guys you never heard of. And they had all sports. I spent a fortune of time and money there. Not a fortune by real standards. But most of the day and a good $100 bucks. And I was damn happy with my purchases! Filled a lot of set needs and holes in my football/baseball/basketball collections. I damn near completed Topps Chrome football 2009 and 2010 there because the guy had cards for 25 cents a pop and I was missing a lot that he had. I did damn good. Plus a slew of rookies I did not have. I love me some base topps rookies!

Wish you would go to the shows I do, I basically set up with boxes of quarter cards, team boxes, and inventory of products in numerical order!!!
 

predatorkj

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Wish you would go to the shows I do, I basically set up with boxes of quarter cards, team boxes, and inventory of products in numerical order!!!

Oh, you'd get my money for sure. I mean honestly, I'd rather walk into a show and feel I got value for my money rather than walk out with one or two single cards that will probably be worth pennies on the dollar in a few months time. That's why I stick to what I like. Not to what's the hot thing. I don't feed the hype machine!

Btw, I'm trying to finish all kinds of sets, if you ever get the time, hit me up. I'm sure we can do some business.
 

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