General Forum

I refuse to buy new product packs or whatever form of packaging they sell them in yet I have completed several sets and Insert sets in this new era of card production.  Someone asked what box breakers do with all the base common cards they get? They sell them for dirt cheap on selling sites. I have picked up several large lots of thousands of cards for next to nothing. Through this, I was able to put together over 90% of the base sets.  Then through trading here on this site and through minor buys on a local auction site (not ebay where the flippers live), I have been able to pick up most of the remaining cards to complete several sets or get the set down to one or two cards that I will eventually find at reasonable prices once dealers realize that they are not rare (just like the 1989 Griffey Jr. RC cards). As an example, I have just Accepted a trade that will bring me the last card I need in the 2019 Topps Opening Day set, completed in the method I described. If you wish to see all of the other sets that are inching closer to completion by this method, see my Lists on my profile page.

Those who complain about the high prices yet continue to buy at those very prices, have you stopped to think that maybe you are feeding the problem? Same as those who participate in Box Breaks where you gamble in the hope of getting the high value card (some box breaks I have seen are not about high $$$; they are for fun and I can acept those). The only reason prices keep going up on new product as well as obscure RC / SP / SSP (dumb in my mind) / parallels / inserts is because some "collectors" are willing to buy. If the mass of collectors stopped buying, the market would crash sooner than later.  It will eventually crash but the timing is delayed as long as you keep buying.

I am encouraged by those of you who have stated you will not buy and have found other places for your hobby $$.  I have been doing this since I started collecting and have enjoyed completing many sets throughout the 70+ years of Topps and Bowman (and all the other card companies). This week I completed 2 more sets, 1983 Fleer and 1994 Leaf Studio in a trade on this site. And I added 2 more cards to my 1952 Topps set. I got more pleasure in this than opening any new product could have ever brought me.

This thread is interesting in the fact that I had just returned to the world of trading card collecting. It's definitely a bummer to see specific cards go for sky high prices, so my focus will be to get the cards that aren't high and affordable (edit: or trade with others on this site) and go from there. Reading that MLB approved the deal with Fanatics so that they could have a "stake" definitely hurts and I hope like others have said that the market comes crashing down to normal levels. 

I definitey don't want to do this for investment purpose and I hope that if I ever fall in that trap that I would have the sense to step back and re-focus; if I can't I hope that I would step away completely. That being said I did luck out back in the day, when they were first released, with a Topps Traded Rookie Certified Autograph Miguel Cabrera card. I am shocked to see what that card has sold far graded. While it would be nice to be able to sell it for that price I know it would only continue the problem of overpriced cards. I know for a fact that getting that autograph card hooked me on being a Miguel Cabrera fan early on and it may better to use that as a cornerstone in building an M.C. player collection.

I am glad that by not being a collector in the last 10-15 years that I have given myself the option to go after the old stuff. I don't know what I'll do when I decide it's time for the new stuff; I definitely wish anyone that is getting the new stuff, the best of luck in getting cards at reasonable prices or even better being able to trade them like the the name suggest "trading cards" with fellow collectors.

EXfreakinACTLY!!

There is no urgency to plunk down big $$ for any 1 card or cards unless they have a proven history of being scarce and extremely difficult to obtain. 

Unless you think you have the next Tom Brady (or insert your Michael Jordan esque type athlete here)no way is ANY card deserving of a price tag of 50 or 100$ especially when they have likely yet to take an NFL snap/ put up astronomical statistics.

We do not open very much new product especially lately, and that is dictated by the greed that works its way into a hobby where many of us are just collectors that DO NOT focus on value and check the guide for every card we come across.

New product often arrives in acquisitions we do regularly much like Bruno has mentioned, some of us find fun in sorting through larger batches of cards. 

If that isn't your thing there are several on-line sites that cater towards specific cards you seek, but as always weed out those whom vend with greed and those who do it because they enjoy the hobby and keep it as affordable as possible.

The next company/monopoly (fanatics) is on the verge of taking over the market(let's see what they're going to do) 

Would it be nice to see cards in the corner stores again or is that just a totally gone possibility?

Is Panini jacking prices because they may soon be run out of the biz?

There certainly is lots to not like about the hobby, but if you can be patient(I suck at being patient) just like cards from the 50's are still available so will 2021's a year or 10 or 50 from now too.

Of course if you can afford any price by all means go for it, kids are never priced out of this hobby, their parents can buy them a 5000 count box for $30 or for more than double that a 2021 Topps "mega box" with a mega 256 cards.

That's why we have so many cards from the 90's because prices were reasonable and nobody said no, now as life is exponentially more expensive, and all aspects more than ever the time to say no is now!

Be positive!

Have a great weekend! 

PS. Those cards from the 5K ct boxes all cost the same whether it's a Topps traded Griffey RC or a 90-91 Score Dave Mcllwain

This is a wonderful thread and so Spot On!  It gives much encouragement to We who are strictly Sports Trading Card Collectors and Aficionados !!   Appreciate everyones thoughts here a whole bunch . . .

Yours in The Hobby - Felix

Sorry if this adds more salt to the wounds, but came across this story:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dealmaker-beat-topps-baseball-cards-130142851.html

One of my recent success stories with regards to collecting something that interests me in today's market. A couple months ago I was able to purchase about 20,000 cards for $60. It's commons and minor stars but they were from the 70's and early 80's and in pretty solid shape. With my schedule I will still be sorting these for a few months but that is great value for my collecting dollar for me. Deals can be had if you think about what you enjoy and keep on the lookout. I know a lot of the current investors dump off everything they don't want rather cheaply at times.

I've pretty much given up on new product. I used to get excited going into my local Wal-Mart and Walgreens. Now? Shelves are empty or if anything is there I feel disgusted or depressed because of recent actions from local shop owners buying everything. Last new product I bought was 2 hangers of 2021 Topps from Walgreens. I love color parallels and I wasn't even happy with the yellow parallels. I knew then there was a problem. I've collected for over 30 years and the prices and flippers disgust me. So I went backwards, focusing more on older sets. I'm close on the mlb 2018 Donruss set, missing maybe 30-40. I'm getting more enjoyment focusing on the past sets now and until these greedy jerks fall on their face I'll continue this method.