Tag Archives: thing

ARE BASEBALL CARDS STILL A THING

Leave a reply

Baseball cards have been a part of the sport since the late 1880s when companies first started printing images of players on cards to promote their tobacco products. The hobby gained massive popularity in the late 1980s during the “junk wax era” when flea markets and corner stores were flooded with cheap commons from brands like Donruss, Fleer and Topps. Since then, the collecting landscape has changed dramatically.

While the junk wax era burst the economic bubble in the 1990s, baseball cards have remained a viable collectible. The main brands like Topps, Bowman and Panini still release new flagship sets every year featuring today’s top MLB players. The era of opening 35 cards per pack is over. Nowadays, collectors are lucky to find more than 5-6 cards in a pack as brands focus more on paring down to the best rookies and stars to preserve scarcity and value.

Gone are the days when children by the millions collected random commons only to let them gather dust in shoeboxes in the attic. Today’s baseball card collectors tend to be more targeted in their approach, focusing on specific players, teams or subsets to build higher-end collections. Raw rookie cards of emerging stars still hold value and excitement for collectors chasing the next big thing. Industry leaders release elaborate inserts featuring unique photography, memorabilia or autograph cards to cater to these high-end collectors.

While print runs are smaller than the junk wax era, baseball cards remain widely available through mainstream retailers. Much of the hobby has migrated online. E-commerce has flourished with the rise of websites specializing in cards, breaking (group openings), singles sales and auctions. Major online auction giants like eBay also host huge volumes of card sales daily. Subscription membership programs have also become popular, such as the Topps Million Card Giveaway which mails fans a random card daily.

As a business, the baseball card industry remains sizable. Annual revenue estimates hover around $500-700 million across physical card sales and licensing deals between the major brands and MLB. The profit margins are far tighter compared to the industry’s peak in the late 80s/early 90s. Companies must invest heavily in creative new inserts and chase parallel and autograph versions to drive excitement. The sports card market also faces pressures from other collectible industries like Funko Pop! and trading cards for games like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering that draw collectors and investors.

While mass production of commons is gone, baseball cards remain a dynamic and lucrative industry catering to generations of life-long collectors. Increased digital accessibility through online platforms has opened new avenues for fans to engage with the hobby beyond just retail boxes and packs. By focusing on scarcity and experience over quantity, today’s card brands strive to preserve the collectible nature that has attracted baseball enthusiasts since the late 19th century. As long as the sport itself endures, baseball cards seem poised to stay relevant well into the future.

REDDIT ARE BASEBALL CARDS STILL A THING

Leave a reply

Baseball cards have been an integral part of baseball culture for over a century. During the late 19th century, cards featuring baseball players began to be included in cigarette and candy packs as a marketing gimmick. By the 20th century, baseball cards had evolved into a serious hobby and collection item for both children and adults alike. With the rise of digital technologies and other entertainment mediums competing for people’s attention, some have wondered if traditional baseball cards remain relevant or popular today.

While the market for baseball cards may have declined from its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, cards certainly still serve an important function within the baseball community. There continues to be a dedicated community of card collectors, both casual and serious, who seek to find, trade, and add to their collections. Popular modern platforms like eBay allow collectors to easily buy, sell, and appraise the value of their cards. According to official industry sales reports, over $800 million worth of sports cards were sold commercially in the United States in 2021. While somewhat lower than decades past, this figure demonstrates baseball cards retain significant economic value.

Within the collecting community, certain modern stars command as much buzz on the market as the legends of yesteryear did in their time. Top rookie cards for stars like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatis Jr., and others routinely fetch thousands of dollars each from passionate collectors seeking to own a piece of history. Vintage cards featuring iconic players like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and others remain enormously valuable as well, with the highest graded editions of their cards selling at auction for sums that sometimes reach into the millions. The chase for rare vintage gems or contemporary star rookies seems as exciting as ever for serious card collectors.

While the commercial market value of cards has declined since the 1990s “baseball card bubble”, thisdecrease can at least partially be attributed to wider distribution and print runs back then making individual cards less scarce in the marketplace. A secondary factor behind any decreases is simply the natural aging out of the generation that grew up with cards as a central childhood hobby in the 70s-90s. Younger collectors today may pursue cards differently, often focusing on specific stars or teams instead of building full mainstream sets like in the past. Renewed interest in nostalgia and retro collecting means baseball cards remain a popular gateway for younger fans to learn the history of the game and iconic players from eras before their time.

Many local card shops, shows, and conventions still see enthusiastic crowds. While attending primarily by dedicated older hobbyists rather than children en masse as in the past, these events demonstrate how communities of collectors remain active and help introduce newcomers. Some shops have noted periodic spikes in interest among new and returning collectors coinciding with milestones like a World Series win for a local team or the retirement of an all-time favorite player. Such events remind casual fans of the fun memories and history tied to card collecting. Resurgences in the popularity of vintage sports and memorabilia collectingstyles in recent decades attract those simply seeking authentic artifacts from seminal baseball eras over the last century. Cards still hold iconic status in this respect.

For sports fans seeking memorabilia, there remain few affordable and plentiful avenues to own authentic pieces of their favorite players and teams quite like baseball cards. While mass-produced, cards feature official logos, photos and statistics recognizably linking each player depicted to their major league accomplishments. Their small size and relatively low cost compared to autographed items or game-used gear also make cards practical for most budget-conscious collectors. As with any vintage hobby, the coronavirus pandemic led to renewed local interest in collecting as fans sought safe entertainment close to home. This helped boost LCS business and reintroduced cards to some casual collectors during lockdowns.

Traditional paper cards now compete with an array of digital collecting platforms as well. Apps and websites catering to the hobby, such as Topps BUNT and MLB Tap Sports Baseball, have proliferated in recent years. They allow fans to assemble virtual teams and compete online using roster lineups composed of cards depicting today’s and yesterday’s stars. While a different experience than physical cards, digital platforms expose new generations to collecting and serve as a supplementary format for existing hobbyists. They further tap into fans’ competitive instincts and drive new interest. Industry analysts argue such mobile experiences can foster greater fan engagement with the sport and individual players, potentially driving newer collectors to also pursue physical cardboard at some point.

While the market size and ubiquity of baseball cards among general youth culture may have declined significantly from peak periods in the 1970s-90s, the hobby remains vibrant within dedicated collecting communities. Serious and casual collectors continue pursuing and deriving enjoyment from building sets and seeking rare finds showcasing the history of America’s pastime. Cards linking each generation of ballplayers to statistics and accomplishments retain strong nostalgic appeal. As long as baseball retains its cherished place within American sports fandom, cards seem poised to stay relevant on some level as an affordable link to the game’s legends and today’s rising stars for years to come. Whether in physical or digital form, or among children just learning the sport or adults revisiting memories, baseball cards seem they will continue serving an important function within baseball culture and collectability.

BASEBALL CARDS STILL A THING

Leave a reply

Baseball cards have been around for over 150 years and were once one of the most popular collectibles for both children and adults alike. In recent decades, the baseball card industry has seen ups and downs. With the rise of digital entertainment and more options for how people spend their leisure time and money, many have wondered if traditional baseball cards are still relevant or if they have become a thing of the past. So the question remains – are baseball cards still a thing?

To understand the current state of the baseball card industry, it’s helpful to look at its history and how it has evolved over time. The earliest known baseball cards date back to the late 1800s when cigarette and tobacco companies began including small cardboard cards with images of baseball players in their products as a marketing tactic. This helped popularize baseball and build interest in the relatively new professional sport. Throughout the early and mid-20th century, baseball cards boomed in popularity as a fun hobby for kids and a way to collect and learn about their favorite players and teams.

Starting in the late 1980s and 1990s, the baseball card market began to experience a major decline. Several factors contributed to this downturn, including an overproduction of cards that led to a surplus and lower resale values. The rise of video games, streaming services, and other digital entertainment pulled recreational time and dollars away from traditional collecting hobbies. Many stores stopped carrying baseball cards and the bubble seemed to have burst for the once lucrative industry.

While baseball cards declined significantly through the 1990s and 2000s, the hobby has shown signs of a resurgence in recent years. Several developments have helped renew interest among both casual and serious collectors. Firstly, the increased use of memorabilia cards that include game-used pieces of uniforms, signed swatches of jerseys, and other one-of-a-kind authentic items has made collecting more interesting and valuable. Secondly, a wave of nostalgia has drawn many back to their childhood pastime of collecting and brought in new generations of fans. Iconic rookie cards of stars like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper have also captured attention.

The growth of online selling platforms like eBay has made buying, selling and trading baseball cards more accessible globally. Websites and phone apps dedicated to tracking card prices and releases have also engaged more collectors. The rise of YouTube unboxing videos where people open fresh packs on camera has introduced baseball cards to a new digital audience as well. Some studies have found that around 12.5 million Americans collected sports cards in recent years. While not at the peak levels of the 1980s, this shows the hobby maintains a solid fanbase.

From a financial perspective, the values of vintage and rare baseball cards have soared in recent auction sales. In 2021, a rare 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card sold for a record $5.2 million, showing significant demand remains for iconic pieces of sports history and memorabilia. Prices for modern rookie cards of stars like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Juan Soto have also risen sharply. This uptick in values has drawn new collectors and investors who view cards as an alternative asset class.

Despite signs of life, it’s hard to say if baseball cards will ever regain their mainstream popularity of the past. Younger generations have many more options to engage with their favorite sports and players online, through video games, live streaming of games, and social media platforms. The traditional hobby of collecting cardboard still faces an uphill battle to attract new fans. On the other hand, for those who grew up with baseball cards, the nostalgia remains strong and the market will likely continue catering to devoted collectors.

While the golden age for baseball cards may have passed, the hobby is far from dead. A dedicated fanbase and recent developments have helped baseball cards remain relevant, even if they don’t have the mass appeal of decades past. Whether cards can continue to innovate, engage new audiences digitally, and hold value long-term will determine if they retain their status as a collectible staple of sports culture or continue their slow decline into niche status. For now, baseball cards appear they will stay a thing, even if not quite in the same way as before. The future of this longtime pastime remains uncertain but its history and nostalgia ensure it will always have its supporters.