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

[katieneack]

I miss Donruss/Leaf/Playoff and the 1990's Pacific products

 

[Mario1975]

Boblaw, you really think there hasn't been a significant increase in the amount of case breakers, especially amatuer case breakers, since the 80s? I would not be surprised if there are 4x the amount, or more, of people breaking cases to sell compared to the 80s. I think with the advent of eBay and places like Blowout Cards that case breakers have grown exponentially and demand simply isn't keeping up. I also think it would be a safe bet that there are a lot more younger case breakers as well. I think maybe you should do some research as well, although I must admit you probably have the superior intellect as you had the foresight to buy cards presale in the 80s at the age of 11.

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[mchenrycards]

You really need to do some research, Mario. Case breakers have been around since the early 80s.

I remember breaking vending cases in the early 80's with many people I know breaking cases in the 70's. As pointed out by the councelor, case breaking is not a recent idea.

 

[mchenrycards]

Boblaw, you really think there hasn't been a significant increase in the amount of case breakers, especially amatuer case breakers, since the 80s? I would not be surprised if there are 4x the amount, or more, of people breaking cases to sell compared to the 80s. I think with the advent of eBay and places like Blowout Cards that case breakers have grown exponentially and demand simply isn't keeping up. I also think it would be a safe bet that there are a lot more younger case breakers as well. I think maybe you should do some research as well, although I must admit you probably have the superior intellect as you had the foresight to buy cards presale in the 80s at the age of 11.

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Honestly, I think the number of case breakers has gone down. There are many breakers that get a good deal of attention but I can tell you back when I was cracking cases, there was a number of us that got together to meet the five case minumum Topps had in order to purchase case product from them. I know our order was at least 20 cases each year (as there was only one base product) and many many other groups that I was aware or were cracking almost of not more than we were. Back in the day you could get a vending case for 200 bucks and make 15 sets from the case. These were great resale opportunities and most of us did exactly that.

The late 80's early 90's brought huge dealers who would sell you "bricks" of any players card that you wanted. It was not unusual to be able to buy 1000 or 10,000 cards of whatever player you wanted if you had the cash, from one dealer. Hobby publications were filled with guys cracking cases and selling these bricks of cards and usually at a inflated price. As someone who was there during the boom of card collecting, I can tell you Mario that I feel there is only a fraction of the case breakers now as compared to the big rush back in the day. Cost is too prohibitive today to be able to equal the number of case breakers now, when compared to the 80's.

 

[Mario1975]

That is absolutely shocking to me. Maybe I was just too young then to realize what was going on. How the heck were you guys able to move sets and singles back then? I mean was eBay around then? Were the fluctuations in prices as big back then?

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[dp33]

Too hard to pick just one:

1) Photographs. Unique touched on it - nothing disappoints me more than non-action, uninteresting, or just plain wrong photos. This includes Topps new fascination with team pictures for individual players (Topps Chrome Trout/Goldschmidt), cards of pitchers pictured hitting or running the bases, players not pictured with their current teams (after a reasonable amount of time), etc. Heyward cards are a great example - love the 2010 Bowman, like the 2010 Draft, and not interested at all in the 2010 BC. So many cards picturing Heyward running or leading off - ugh.

2) VandyDan hit it pretty well on the head about casebreakers. Maybe they've been around for awhile, but not at the levels of "fame" they've reached now. I would say that probably $25 out of the $7900 in cards I've bought in the last year were from Brent or some of the larger breakers, so I definitely disagree that they are vital to providing the cards we want for our collection. Not to mention the instant flooding and price manipulations resulting from it.

3) And one of my own - youtube breaks. Not my thing at all. I understand it from the perspective of someone like Andrew, who is doing it for a specific reason. But not interested in watching you do it just for fun.

 

[MantMaris]

That is absolutely shocking to me. Maybe I was just too young then to realize what was going on. How the heck were you guys able to move sets and singles back then? I mean was eBay around then? Were the fluctuations in prices as big back then?

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Next time you are at the shop, ask Randy how many 1988 Topps Traded Nelson Santovenia RCs he picked up that year. Take a picture of his reaction on your phone too (he loves cell phones).

 

[mchenrycards]

That is absolutely shocking to me. Maybe I was just too young then to realize what was going on. How the heck were you guys able to move sets and singles back then? I mean was eBay around then? Were the fluctuations in prices as big back then?

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Wen you looked at Beckett show listings back in the day it was not unusual to see 50 to 100 card shows in a week here in the Chicago area. I know it was the same way in other areas as well and with that many shows it was easy to break cases and sell the sets. The emphasis wasnt so much on singles when I started out as set collectors ruled the hobby but as time went on it was so easy to sell large bricks of the same card of the same player for nice premiums to those coming into the shows. Hobby publications would also have hundreds of ads, selling large bricks of cards and many times you had to be quick or else the player you wanted would be sold out. There was a huge market back in the day because everyone was reading about how popular and lucrative sportscards were that even non-collectors were jumping in to absorb the production of these cards.......until the card companies let the presses roll. Suddenly there was overproduction, cards lost their value, investors were dumping cards where they could and the bottom dropped out. To quote a famous novel.......The 80's and early 90's were the best of times, they were the worst of times!!

 

[ThoseBackPages]

lack of collectors

 

[mchenrycards]

Next time you are at the shop, ask Randy how many 1988 Topps Traded Nelson Santovenia RCs he picked up that year. Take a picture of his reaction on your phone too (he loves cell phones).

Everyone has a story like this. Mine was Scott Erickson!

I have a friend who picked up 100 card bricks of Sosa, Thomas and Griffey from the 90 Leaf set when it first came out. He got an unbelievable price on them by calling (not going online lol) a case breaker who shipped them to his home. His mother, who was in the early stages of Alzheimers refused the package when it was delivered and when he caled the seller to have him re-ship, refused and refunded his money because those cards had skyrocketed almost overnight.

Anyone need some Topps traded Scott Erickson rookies? I have them real cheap!

 

[wolfmanalfredo]

I don't like how people swear by bv like its still an applicable variable

 

[MansGame]

Has anyone mentioned the overabundance of redemptions?!?!?! I also like Topps-opoly but seriusly, redemptions are like the national debt... the hobby is handing out IOUs :benson:

 

[Mario1975]

lol! Hey MantMaris yeah Randy already told me the story. Too funny. Randy's the best. What a great guy. One of the very few honest hobby shop owners with reasonable prices I've found in NJ. He's the only guy I buy from. How long have you been going to him?

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[madbull34]

I know it's all about business and logistics but I hate redemptions and sticker autos.

 

[Casebusters]

Too hard to pick just one:

VandyDan hit it pretty well on the head about casebreakers. Maybe they've been around for awhile, but not at the levels of "fame" they've reached now. I would say that probably $25 out of the $7900 in cards I've bought in the last year were from Brent or some of the larger breakers, so I definitely disagree that they are vital to providing the cards we want for our collection. Not to mention the instant flooding and price manipulations resulting from it.

Casebreakers are not manipulating the system, Like you said, you don't buy a lot from the big breakers, so it must be the regular collectors who are flooding the market, (There are a lot more people listing 1-5 boxes on ebay than sellers listing 10-50 cases on ebay), they buy boxes to get a few cards they want and then dump the rest on ebay not caring what they get for them, because something is better than a bunch of cards they don't want.. Others see that and want to pay less because of that... I would rather see that being sold off ebay instead of a million eyes seeing it on ebay. Most times, the big case breakers have buyers for a majority of their breaks and don't list much quantity on ebay.

If everyone who sells, needs a business license, pay sales tax & income tax, then you would see a lot less sellers on ebay and less product being sold and the value of cards would go up..

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

If everyone who sells, needs a business license, pay sales tax & income tax, then you would see a lot less sellers on ebay and less product being sold and the value of cards would go up..

Without all the extra sellers, there'd also be fewer people buying cards to sell/resell/flip thereby lowering the value of cards.

So while manufacturers would create fewer cards in order to accommodate lesser demand, there'd still be less demand - and a much more stable and predictable marketplace from which to buy cards.

 

[MantMaris]

lol! Hey MantMaris yeah Randy already told me the story. Too funny. Randy's the best. What a great guy. One of the very few honest hobby shop owners with reasonable prices I've found in NJ. He's the only guy I buy from. How long have you been going to him?

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Randy is a one-of-a-kind all around, no doubt. I have been dealing with Randy for probably 15 years or more and go nowhere else. I see no need to shop around when I know where the best prices are.

 

[Mario1975]

Exactly. Not only his prices but just the service and the person too. Sometimes I could maybe get a box of cards a few dollars cheaper online or from someone else but I'd rather pay him the extra few dollars because of his service, his honesty and he's such a good guy. Besides, for the most part, it all evens out in the end because he might have something for a few dollars more one week but then another product a few dollars cheaper another week.

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[predatorkj]

I just find it weird that there are so many people who buy simply to flip. I've heard various reasons so I get those. Still seems kinda weird.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Lack of good looking broads