CBS Morning Segment - Baseball Cards down 75 %...

[noaskiecards]

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403170n

Anyone watch this segment...Makes some good points about how the internet hurt card values and how no kids are really in the hobby...And I am sure Topps/UD are making a lot less money now that they can't just produce 1989 donruss by the billion and have to spend millions on card designs, insert designs, autographs, jerseys, etc...

 

[MOFNY]

I haven't watched it yet but I assume it's the same old story we have all heard for years. I did read Dave's book and it was terrific. And why are they all mentioning video games and computers as a factor for kids not collecting? Consoles have been around since the 70s. The problem is the high prices and Ebay. The landscape has changed. Cards are still cool, kids haven't changed that much. I have been preaching the low-end-but-awesome box for a long time. Don't spend the production budget on a ton of autograph contracts or GU or whatever. Work on the design, give us some awesome inserts, and show us cards are still cool. The current time frame doesn't have an identity, unless one counts the same old GU and autograph rehashed sets as an identity. Give 2012 an identity, i.e. something new! Oh and fix the stupid RC logo shenanigans. RCs will always be extremely important. Rookie card is MUCH more ingrained into the popular lexicon than GU.

 

[P_Manning 18]

Very good segment.

 

[sportscardtheory]

That was AWFUL. Complete ***** piece full of inaccuracies. It literally seemed like it was made in 1995. You go to a tiny crap show with three people there, ask them doom and gloom questions, and that means the hobby is going to die? lol Look at eBay. Go to the National and other big shows. Go talk to Dave and Adam's and other huge wholesalers and see how close they are to bankruptcy. Talk to PSA and BGS about how no one is sending in cards anymore. What a joke of a "report" or whatever that was. Complete inaccurate BS.

You could learn more about this hobby by searching completed trading card listings on eBay by highest price than that awful segment.

 

[noaskiecards]

That was AWFUL. Complete ***** piece full of inaccuracies. It literally seemed like it was made in 1995. You go to a tiny crap show with three people there, ask them doom and gloom questions, and that means the hobby is going to die? lol Look at eBay. Go to the National and other big shows. Go talk to Dave and Adam's and other huge wholesalers and see how close they are to bankruptcy. Talk to PSA about how no one is sending in cards anymore. What a joke of a "report" or whatever that was. Complete inaccurate BS.

You could learn more about this hobby by searching baseball cards on eBay by highest price than that awful segment.

I definitely agree that it does have quite a few inaccuracies and some BS...Unfortunately to the majority of America, this show is how they see the baseball card industry...

I think it is better to note from this segment that card shows have been really hurt badly by the internet...The fact that people can buy and trade cards from the comfort of their homes with millions of people around the world make the card shows almost obsolete...Whereas before the internet, it was the only option to buy and trade from multiple dealers in one setting...I was talking with JEA at the county center show in White Plains, NY and he made a good point as we saw this major NY show have hardly anyone walking around, even though it was a Sunday...

Also it is noteworthy that a lot less kids are involved in the hobby, mostly I think due to the price....Premium packs go from $50 - $1,500 per pack...

 

[MOFNY]

That was AWFUL. Complete ***** piece full of inaccuracies. It literally seemed like it was made in 1995. You go to a tiny crap show with three people there, ask them doom and gloom questions, and that means the hobby is going to die? lol Look at eBay. Go to the National and other big shows. Go talk to Dave and Adam's and other huge wholesalers and see how close they are to bankruptcy. Talk to PSA about how no one is sending in cards anymore. What a joke of a "report" or whatever that was. Complete inaccurate BS.

You could learn more about this hobby by searching baseball cards completed listings on eBay by highest price than that awful segment.

Ye I agree, there wasn't an effort to add anything of value in the report. We have seen the same "report" for years.

 

[PujolsCollector]

Cards are not as popular with kids because it is no longer just a hobby. Baseball cards are a business, if companies marketed to kids more they would sell to kids. When I go into card shops for the first time most of them look at me like I am an inconvienence for them. Most of them drop what they are doing to watch me as I walk through as if I am going to steal from them. I asked an older guy working at a shop one time how much an Albert Pujols card was he poped back with "More than you can afford" I had $350 (right after my birthday) dollars in my pocket and it was probably a $75 card. I did not buy anything from him and I hope his shop is out of business. Baseball cards are for adults now, and people looking to make a buck. I talk to my friends about my Descalso collection and the most popular question is Why collect a guy whos cards are going to be worthless? Why is that the question? Why not collect for the love of collecting, which is why I do it. I know my collection is worthless to most but I have worked hard for it so I appreciate it.
Also I don't understand why companies keep making serial numbered cards. When they put out products like finest and its the same guys over and over these cards will be just as worthless as cards from the 80s. It is a fun hobby for me but it is crazy how much people will pay for cards of guys who have never been in the MLB. People spend 600+ on certified Bryce Harper autos but Albert Pujols autos sell for $450 certified at most. Pujols is probably the greatest player of my time and yet Bryce Harper who has yet to wear an MLB uniform sells for more and I know that Pujols has signed a ton but Harper is supposedly going to be around awhile so it is basically like buying in the stock market in the 1930s prices were inflated because of everyone buying in and then boom great depression. Is it going to be like that with Harper autographs with everyone losing money on them? I know I went of subject but still it is crazy.

 

[ChasHawk]

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403170n

Anyone watch this segment...Makes some good points about how the internet hurt card values and how no kids are really in the hobby...And I am sure Topps/UD are making a lot less money now that they can't just produce 1989 donruss by the billion and have to spend millions on card designs, insert designs, autographs, jerseys, etc...

The internet created a free market for ACTUAL card values to be realized.

So now the show sellers can no longer overinflate their prices and rip people off with their made up card values.

 

[blanning71]

Many of my local shows have seen a considerable rise in traffic and participation due to the fact that people are fed up with rising ebay costs, shipping costs, and the intangibles of negative feedback, slow shipping, fees, chargebacks, etc. Lots of the folks I have talked to have said they are now transforming their habits to include more shows and fewer hours spent on ebay, COMC, etc. While the audience is smaller at a show, they feel that they are making headway in moving their stuff and making trades.

 

[ChasHawk]

Many of my local shows have seen a considerable rise in traffic and participation due to the fact that people are fed up with rising ebay costs, shipping costs, and the intangibles of negative feedback, slow shipping, fees, chargebacks, etc. Lots of the folks I have talked to have said they are now transforming their habits to include more shows and fewer hours spent on ebay, COMC, etc. While the audience is smaller at a show, they feel that they are making headway in moving their stuff and making trades.

I also guarantee you that small local show wasn't even open when they filmed there.

edit: just saw the end of the vid. They were there on a Tuesday night... :benson: :benson: :benson: :benson: :benson:

 

[BBCgalaxee]

Wow what a shock, mainstream media doing a kill piece on cards.

not only did they compare cards from TWENTY YEARS AGO to today, also a great move going to a tuesday night show.
.....a tuesday night show.

Where were they this weekend in white plains where it was very crowded ....again!

They mentioned cards from two decades ago are worthless due to mass production but amazing they didn't say how valuable todays stuff is due to very limited production.

Mr mint only deals in vintage, why would he say anything pos about modern cards, its not his business & we all know his ways.

And there was NO SHORTAGE of kids the last 3 days at white plains.

 

[fkw]

a good start would be going back to the basics, what Topps did for their first 35 years or so...

Selling "True Baseball Cards" as per the description in the ACC "a collector card is always issued FREE with a product or service of some kind"... they need to package them with gum or candy, and price them for kids ie under $1 a pack of 15-20 cards.

when I was a kid, not that long ago, we used to save our silver coins (or take them from the fountains), and go to 7-11 and buy a few packs and maybe a Slurpee, or play a video game or 2. then we would ride our BMX bikes over to the "jumps" and sit and trade cards. Some kids didnt care what they traded (and the dumb one bought Star Wars or Wacky Packs), I always had my list and was trying to complete that years baseball set.

they need to make one type of card a year, change the design every year...
Do they even make sets anymore? I never hear of anyone trying to build a 728 or 660 +- card set anymore. That was the fun of the hobby back then we kept our cards in rubber bands and in old lunch boxes or shoe boxes.

if you dont hook the kids on "cards for fun" its not easy to get them addicted to the hobby as an adult. sure some Adults jump in all hogwild and try their game at it as an investment but they usually move on to other stuff when they take a bighit....

 

[TBTwinsFan]

A few points here...

1. Mantle's RC was in 1951
2. I love how they kept referring to it as a "hobby."
3. I have an xbox, an xbox live membership, and I still collect cards.
4. The internet helped my "hobby." It didn't hurt it.

Carry on.

 

[FromKoufaxtoEdwin]

That was just the same lazy, regurgitated journalism on the subject that we've seen over the last decade. Go to a dimly lit room posing as a "card show" during the middle of the week with some creepy looking old dudes, bemoan the lack of kids, and get Mr. Mint for an interview stating how his business isnt as good as it used to be instead of focusing on how vintage is hotter than ever, how ebay has completely changed the way the hobby is, or maybe even visiting a thriving card shop. Yes, the industry has changed, but it is still popular, and from what i see at my store in Los Angeles, kids are starting to get back into it. We probably won't see anything like the late 80's and early 90's again, but the hobby is still alive and kicking.

 

[noaskiecards]

Seems the consensus is it's a pretty BS documentary...I guess I agree there...However, to anyone who doesn't know cards, they will view this documentary as an accurate depiction of the card industry...same as those who view "Ball Boys" as a "reality show"...

I just thought I'd post it as a very nationalized television Sunday's morning program depiction of cards...Definitely an interesting view, even if mostly incorrect..

 

[TBTwinsFan]

I partly agree with it because I think the hobby isn't as popular as it used to be, but saying it's dieing is completely false.

I've been to shows smaller than that one with more people at them, and I live in a "dead" area as far as the hobby is concerned.

 

[gpenko826]

Some of my favorite "reports" from the segment:

"Kids these days are too distracted by computers and girls" Al "Mr. Mint" Rosen comes off sounding like a guy who's yelling about the damn kids on his lawn. Also - pretty sure they had girls and computers in the "glory days" of the 80's and 90's.

For the love of pete - THE 1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE IS NOT HIS ROOKIE CARD!! I think every single news outlet that does a piece on cards makes this mistake. It's lazy reporting and bad fact-checking.

I see kids buying card at shows all the time still. As a matter of fact, just as many now as I did back in the 80's and 90's when I was a kid.

The only people they asked for opinions are Mr. Mint (old curmudgeon), some random senior citizen at a show, and a guy who wrote a book about the plight of the industry they're reporting on. Not exactly unbiased reporting. Maybe they could have actually spent time at the Sun-Times show during the weekend instead of a VA Hall on a Tuesday evening and seen the true state of the industry.

The god-awful "falling house of cards" graphic.

The fact they showed presses running for 1987 Topps, 1990 Upper Deck, and 1995 Collectors Choice. Way to use some up-to-date footage, guys. Maybe they could have mentioned how 2011 Topps was the biggest selling base issue for the company in YEARS? Or the reason Playoff (MLBPA greed), Upper Deck (outright fraud), and Fleer (mismanagement and questionable side purchases) are out of business have NOTHING to do with the "sorry state of the hobby"?

All around bad piece by CBS, which should surprise no one.

Greg

 

[AK11]

While I don't think (I hope not) that the industry will die, I do at times believe I was a part of the last true generation of collectors. I just turned 27 and have been collecting cards since I was 8 and never took a break. Yes, video games really took off in that time, going from NES and Sega to what we have now, but the kids I grew up with in the mid 90s stopped collecting cards they thought they needed to grow up and actually play sports or do something else. My lcs has been open as long as I have been collecting and I have to be one of his longest tenured customers because of lack of interest by adults or kids growing up. He of course has kids come through his shop today, but prefers the parents right behind them to help drum up business. I was one of those kids who started with just buying a few packs at a time through the 90s and appreciating every card you get and all the cool inserts to be found. I agree the industry is ruined by greedy lcs owners and dealers at shows who believe they know what cards are better because they are older and the internet doesn't give "true value." Most collectors I see are much older than me, but don't bust the 4 major sports like I do. I don't care how they change the hobby to keep it going, but whatever keeps younger generations coming back will be fine with me, even if it is one set and no gu or autos.

 

[ChasHawk]

Alan Rosen is a giant ******...

...that is all

 

[egon8]

I was at the Tinley Park, IL show today and a couple guys were talking about this.
There were still guys and some gals at the show who were doling out a$10 here and a $20 there.
Maybe not buying a 2/9 high end card, but buying stacks of 25 cent cards for their PCs.
That is what will keep the hobby going as long as Topps doesn't flood the market with over-high end stuff.
Get rid of GU cards and stck to autos and numbered inserts. The common folk like that stuff and will chase those faster than they will the $200 card.