Is it just me or are baseball cards ridiculous now?

Think about how awesome it would be if there were a ton of inserts in the 50's. We could all have "base" Mantle, Maris, Aaron rookies stockpiled!

I have no problem with how many parallels and minis Topps makes. I guess it sucks for people building rainbows, but oh well. If you're a player collector completist in this day and age, you're a moron. There is NO WAY to collect everything.

As a Stanton and Trout player collector, I love having options. I know damn well I won't be able to collect everything, but its nice having a bunch of options to choose from. For example, I'm collecting Stanton minis. I don't bother with the different backs or the 1/1's, only different designs

JoshHamilton said:

If you're a player collector completist in this day and age, you're a moron.

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What an *******.

linuxabuser said:

What an *******.

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I think he meant it's just not feasible...

predatorkj said:

I think he meant it's just not feasible...

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Correct.

I dont mind different colors, but there is definitely too many today. I think proof is that often Blue Refractors #'d to /99 or even /150 often sell for more than Green /75 or the waves /50.

DaveH said:

I dont mind different colors, but there is definitely too many today. I think proof is that often Blue Refractors #'d to /99 or even /150 often sell for more than Green /75 or the waves /50.

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I'd say that's more proof that blue is a preferred color over other colors. Nothing pops like a blue refractor. But I personally like green(it's my favorite color) so I'd be the fool paying more for one no matter how it's numbered. And if it's a green x-fractor or something of the like, I'm a huge sucker! I might be one of the only people on earth that likes x-fractors.

eh i dont know. Point I was trying to make is that the old stalwarts [blue, gold] seem to be holding their popularity very well compared to the newer colors that are all getting lost in the shuffle/ losing value

DaveH said:

eh i dont know. Point I was trying to make is that the old stalwarts [blue, gold] seem to be holding their popularity very well compared to the newer colors that are all getting lost in the shuffle/ losing value

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Oh, I agree.

I once tried to put together a list of all the cards I'd need for a complete rainbow of the 2013 Jacoby Ellsbury card. This is what I got :
Opening Day
Opening Day Purple
Opening Day Blue Edition #/2013
Opening Day Magenta Printing Plate
Opening Day Cyan Printing Plate
Opening Day Yellow Printing Plate
Opening Day Black Printing Plate
Base
Emerald
Walmart Blue
Target Red
Toys R Us Purple
Gold Foil #/2013
Desert Camo Foil #/99
Black #/62
Pink #/50
Platinum 1/1
Silk #/50
Magenta Printing Plate
Cyan Printing Plate
Yellow Printing Plate
Black Printing Plate
Silver Slate Wrapper Redemption Emerald Blue Sparkle
Silver Slate Wrapper Redemption Blue #/25 (?)
Silver Slate Wrapper Redemption Silver #/10
Topps Chrome
Topps Chrome Refractor
Topps Chrome Orange Refractor
Topps Chrome Purple Refractor
Topps Chrome X-fractor
Topps Chrome Blue Refractor #/199
Topps Chrome Black Refractor #/100
Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor #/75
Topps Chrome Gold Refractor #/50
Topps Chrome Red Refractor #/25
Topps Chrome Camo Refractor #/15
Topps Chrome Atomic Refractor #/10
Topps Chrome Pink Refractor #/5
Topps Chrome Superfractor 1/1
Topps Chrome Magenta Printing Plate
Topps Chrome Black Printing Plate
Topps Chrome Cyan Printing Plate
Topps Chrome Yellow Printing Plate
Topps Mini
Topps Mini Gold #/62
Topps Mini Pink #/25
Topps Mini Black #/5
Topps Mini Platinum 1/1
Topps Mini Magenta Printing Plate
Topps Mini Yellow Printing Plate
Topps Mini Black Printing Plate
Topps Mini Cyan Printing Plate
Card from Team Set (in this case #BOS2 )
I don't know if they had it in 2013 , but I've seen 2011 cards marked " factory set limited edition"

And those are just the cards with the photo from S1. (So Topps update isn't included)

cgilmo said:

The good news for those of you that don't like the new stuff, there is alway old stuff to chase.

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Amen!
However, I do love the Topps Archives, Heritage, Fan Favorites and all of the other retro-style sets Topps make.
I just stay away from the parallels. I've always been a base set collector anyway.

It seems the people who are most annoyed by today's countless parallels are player collectors. When I stopped being such a completist player collector a couple of years ago, it took away all of the stress of collecting and this hobby became much more fun, like when I used to collect. Now I just casually buy the Rickey and Ethier cards I like instead of being stressed searching eBay all of the time.

I used to prospect a little from 2002-2005, and it was much easier when there were just Chrome base, Refractor and X-Fractor cards.

The great thing about this hobby is you can buy what you like and ignore the rest.

Austin said:

The great thing about this hobby is you can buy what you like and ignore the rest.

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Truth. If you think nothing good is coming out, go back to stuff you like. If you think too many parallels is overkill, just do the ones you like. Hate GU? Do base sets. Hate everything?? Make customs!

I love all the parallels, tons of options for IP autographs, makes prospecting fun and collecting a challenge.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Freedom Card Board mobile app

I agree. I just ignore the parallels and chase the base cards and certain SP and SSP variations. I also buy the occasional high-end Yankees auto card if it well-designed and catches my eye.

The one element of the hobby and cards which is lacking today are oddballs...food issues, local issues, team issues, etc. I just don't see many of these mini-sets being released, I think it reflects the lack of interest for baseball cards in the general public. The amount of oddballs in past mirrored the interest in cards, and now with that dwindling, corporations can't justify creating cards as an incentive to sell a product.

nevermore said:

The one element of the hobby and cards which is lacking today are oddballs...food issues, local issues, team issues, etc. I just don't see many of these mini-sets being released, I think it reflects the lack of interest for baseball cards in the general public. The amount of oddballs in past mirrored the interest in cards, and now with that dwindling, corporations can't justify creating cards as an incentive to sell a product.

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Man, I really miss cards that came in food products and other oddballs.
The '80s had some incredibly cool sets, although many had the airbrushed logos.

Cards in cereal boxes like Kellogg's, Post and General Mills, on the back of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese boxes, inside Quaker Granola Bar boxes, in Drakes cakes boxes, inside sunflower seed and Big League Chew packages and on and on...

Cards in so many different food packages and it made kids like me beg their parents to buy food in mass quantities to complete their sets.
It's sad that food companies stopped doing it, but kids don't get excited about baseball cards anymore.

You know, I wonder if in the near future...some of these parallel sets will be worth a nice chunk. We've all pretty much confessed they are a pain for player collectors and it's hard enough and hardly worth it to build a regular base set with all insert sets. Which is why a lot of people are building just base sets. So I wonder what some of these parallel sets may end up being worth? If I had the time and money, I'd build some of them just for the challenge. But you've got to wonder what a true master set of any of the newer releases is worth. Hell, with all the inserts and base set, you're looking at well over 1,000 cards just for base topps series1-update. Add in full parallel sets and it's going to be more cards than the YSL set.

1998 Topps Tek anyone? Love-em.

bobthewondercat77 said:

Truth. If you think nothing good is coming out, go back to stuff you like. If you think too many parallels is overkill, just do the ones you like. Hate GU? Do base sets. Hate everything?? Make customs!

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Couldn't agree more. I actually like that there's more than I can ever possibly have - keeps the chase going on, rather than just getting everything and then being done with the collection. That being said, I'd like to see that "more" come from more than just one company, but that's a whole different argument.

As long as you can get over that completist mentality (which, trust me, I know, is pretty hard), it's nice that we have so many choices.

nkdbacks said:

Couldn't agree more. I actually like that there's more than I can ever possibly have - keeps the chase going on, rather than just getting everything and then being done with the collection. That being said, I'd like to see that "more" come from more than just one company, but that's a whole different argument.

As long as you can get over that completist mentality (which, trust me, I know, is pretty hard), it's nice that we have so many choices.

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Is it wrong to want to be a completist? It used to be doable and now the card companies have made it impossible. Not only for player collectors but for set builders and master set builders. As it stands now, it would cost you at least a couple of grand one way or the other to piece together a somewhat master set of base topps with inserts and parallels. And that's not including any gu or autos or 1/1's which I think only the really hardcore guys even try. But I just don't think a lot of people can do it anymore. It would cost way too much, and you'd be chasing the cards well into the next years releases. That's kind of why I wondered what those parallel sets would be worth to collectors if you had complete sets of them.

But it still doesn't negate the fact that it is crazy and the very type of people these cards appeal to are hard pressed to nail them down. What good is that? I don't even know if they're aimed at those collectors or if they are aimed at "added value" for wax busters. If it's the latter...I'll just say it's my opinion that any time a kind of card is made solely for resale potential, and not collectible potential, it'll eventually fail. Especially if the collectors are overwhelmed by them.