I think that I have finally been priced out of the pack and box collecting. I can no longer afford to buy the normal 10 or so packs of each card set I find or the box of the ones I really like. At $4-$5 a pack for cards I am going to have to step back and think about what I collect. I can get everything I need on ebay for so much less and that makes me sad in a way. I really like opening packs but I am sick of buying pack and getting no hits.

Is anyone else felling the same way or am I just in a funk?

I was actually going to start a similar thread about "is the hobby dying" because to me it certainly feels that way. I myself have definitely scaled back. I sold off quite a bit of my collection throughout this year and don't know what direction to head next. I'm not satisfied with certain techniques and gimmicks that a lot of the companies use now. They're desperately trying to find new ways to rejuvenate the collector base and to me all it's doing is making our beloved hobby more and more resemble modern sports cards. I can see a time coming when the only sets being made are Star Wars, Star Trek, possibly James Bond, and Marvel. That's it. No other properties would be worth it. I also get sad when I look at how little Card Talk is being used anymore. I get nostalgic going back and reading the topics here from years ago. I see all the user names with high post #'s who have vanished. "Where did they all go?" I think to myself. It's like slowly but surely everyone is dropping out. Plus with Bill's passing and the Tosers selling the magazine it certainly feels like an era is coming to an end. Blowout is highly active but the majority of users there seem to be more interested in turning a profit than actually collecting. More of that sports card mentality creeping in.

Am I being too negative here or does anybody else feel like the hobby is in it's death throes? Maybe we're all just a bit burnt out.

You are in a funk. You're in the middle of a losing streak and it's no fun when you are spending money and getting nothing you like. Been there, done that.

Lay low, pick up individual cards in the usual places, pear down your focus to a couple of core titles, bust discount packs and come back when you feel good about it.

That's my best advice, as it is what I have done. I love card collecting, but everybody needs a break and a make over sometime. Look at the collection you have put together and cheer up. There's always more to come.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Cline:

I think that I have finally been priced out of the pack and box collecting. At $4-$5 a pack for cards I am going to have to step back

The problem there is America has allways had it too good and too cheap. The UK had these pack prices 10 years ago and worse since. Instead of being happy with what they had collectors have demanded more and more be included in the packs and boxes and so the prices have gone up and up until here we are and i doubt there is a way back.
In the UK Topps do packs of sports and non sports cards at £1 per pack and loads of people collect them, no autographs etc, just nice cards and foil inserts which are easy to collect.
It's easy to blame the hobby for the current situation but i feel the hobbyists have a lot to answer for aswell.

I'm with you. I'm done collecting. I'm in the process of getting rid of my entire collection now. I will, of course, be keeping my Xena and Witchblade (TV), but other than that I am liquidating.

It's sad, really, but I've been burned too many times and I'm tired. Really really tired. I just don't have the joy anymore when I look at my collection. And I'm tired of spending $60-$80 for a box and getting a $10 card out of it. And the card companies don't care. It happens too often now.

I'm sure I'll upset people by saying this, but I long for the Glory Days of non sports, circa 1992-1997, before the autos, sketches, costume cards, etc.

Prior to Inkworks and the Skybox Star Trek TOS, for the most part, you had sets with 1 or 2 autos. Yes, I know there were exceptions

I guess all of this craziness started in the early 2000s with Buffy, Lord of the Rings, etc.

Now it's just totally out of control !

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
It's easy to blame the hobby for the current situation but i feel the hobbyists have a lot to answer for as well.

Absolutely, as a collective we have made the choices and supported the changes that brought us here and its not like it should be a surprise that things went too far. Dissenting voices were drowned out as being too negative or too old fashioned.

So it is what it is, but it's still only a hobby and you can collect what you want and reject what you don't, regardless of what anyone else says. If your collection still gives you pleasure and you've done it for the last 20 years, you don't chuck it all in unless you need the money. Otherwise you just sit it out until something you like comes along.

We are fortunate in that there are so many non-sport card sets out there. There is a way back, turn to the old stuff. Turn to the cards that have gone soft. Fill the holes in your books. By all means keep up with new releases, but only if they make sense to you and let other collectors do as they please.

It's fun folks. If you're aggravating don't stop collecting, stop the way you are collecting.

I think a lot of us hit on different feeling that has position us to change our buying habits.
As I have mentioned before, I have a son that will be going to college in around 18 months. That means we have been traveling looking at colleges which means less money for cards. We are going to leave Meridian when he goes to college relocating will mean less money for cards.
My card budget has effectively been reduced to what I sell on Ebay and trading which has caused me to focus on the sets that I would like the finish and to say "no" to a lot of new releases that just a few years ago I would have jumped on.

Since I joined this site 15 years ago so many of my crowd has left for their own reasons but the past few years with the departure of Mike T., the loss of Bill D. and the selling of the magazine by the Toser family my need to come everyday has waned to maybe a few times a week. Since I have little to offer on new products my posts have dropped ten-fold.

It also does not help that international postage has gone sky high. I used to trade regularly outside of the US but now the postage cost more then the card!

I still love cards but it has taken a backburner in my life right now.

Mike T departed ? I did not see that announcement

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
I'm sure I'll upset people by saying this, but I long for the Glory Days of non sports, circa 1992-1997, before the autos, sketches, costume cards, etc.

Haha! Gotta love the perspective of Glory Days! Yours was the rise of the specialty store, insert foil card, the dollar pack and massive over production while mine was the local beer store, an unsanitary stick of gum, uneven card cuts and a sticker set. :-P

But I totally feel what everyone is saying. It costs too much, too many gimmicks, too many releases of the same title in short intervals. We are collecting probably some of the smallest production numbers in non-sport history but Ebay gives the perception that product is rampant. Inserts numbered in the low 100s can sell for as little as $40 or $50. I have not purchased unopened product in over two years.

I guess if I had any advice, don't be in a hurry to sell unless you have to. A few years down the road you decide to get back into it and all you can think of is what you used to have. Other than that, if you aren't happy with it.....move on. Life is full of other cool stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Mike T departed ? I did not see that announcement

He sold his entire collection and moved on. I see that he is happy from his facebook posts.

I'm still collecting, but at about 10% of what I used to do. I feel the same as you do, no hits from expensive boxes that I simply can't afford to take chances on anymore.

On the plus side, I recently bought an IRON MAN 3 box for $35 and pulled a four panel sketch card.

But I am so behind on my major likes (Star Trek, James Bond, Game of Thrones, etc.) that I see no possible way to catch up.

When I started buying boxes, I was in a relatively good position. The Euro stood firm above the dollar and that made boxes affordable to me. Money has changed since then and I had to drastically scale down my buying habits. The passion to get new series ebbed along with that.
My last boxes were The Man Who Fell To Earth.
I was looking forward to Topps' Doctor Who, but felt disappointed by the cards. And after that I wanted to buy the second series of American Horror Story, but those had really high box-prices.
I feel less and less enticed to buy more boxes. Some day, I'll but some again. For now, I find myself regularly reading all of your posts and looking forward to that magical new set, that'll fan the passion back.

I don't think the manufacturers are listening. I remember Pokemon cards where their catch phrase (probably paraphrased) was "Gotta get them all"

Simple isn't it? - for thats the aim of all collectors - whats the point of incomplete sets? but thats the problem, the make up of sets these days include 1/1 which means you cannot obtain a full set, no one can, so its not surprising that collectors are leaving in their droves. They cannot reach their goals.

So in conclusion - Cryptozoic - OKish!
Topps - NOT OK! . Rittenhouse OK! except for cut signatures

To me Inkworks had the best policy - I was gutted when they left the marketplace. Their sets were all achievable. So were early Topps sets for that matter.

My favourite set - Star Wars Finest - the quest for the parallels gave me the greatest thrill I have got out of the hobby - never to be repeated sadly.

My collecting has been cut back severely for several reasons...

- less disposable income
- higher cost of boxes and shipping
- fewer retailers carrying boxes in my area
- too many sets for properties I like coming out too close together
- boxes not including at least a full base set anymore
- too many chase cards, parallels, etc.
- lame hits like medallions, patches, sketches, etc. littering the product
- interesting cards coming out with ridiculous odds (1/1, multi-case incentives, etc.)

It's all too much and now I only pick up the odd box here and there of the things I really like.

I have not stopped collecting. In the last year, I have gone from a buying a box here and there and planning to order a case of something I really want to basically only buying the individual cards I really want.

Part of it is the economy. I work IT in a school district. Government / education always lags behind in a down economy. Just the way it is.

Part of it is a change in the market / the way product is packaged - box sets with a couple of hits or limited releases.

Part of it is fewer sets that I am interested in are being released. I might be getting old, which is my problem, not the industry / hobby.

In lieu of buying boxes, I have found some fun times buying world coins. They're fun / interesting and my kids are into it too.

I'd like to get my kids into cards, but we need some kid friendly titles for that. Muppets, Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, etc. Talk about some fun opportunities for sketch cards. I also love voice actor autos. I'd love to have a Grey Griffin autograph. She's the best Daphne Blake.

Forgot to mention Be Cool, Scooby Doo, which is a fine incarnation of the Scoobster.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fuchaldream,

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
I'm sure I'll upset people by saying this, but I long for the Glory Days of non sports, circa 1992-1997, before the autos, sketches, costume cards, etc.

You don't upset me, I agree with you.

quote:

Originally posted by fuchaldream:
I'd like to get my kids into cards, but we need some kid friendly titles for that. Muppets, Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, etc. Talk about some fun opportunities for sketch cards. I also love voice actor autos. I'd love to have a Grey Griffin autograph. She's the best Daphne Blake.

Forgot to mention Be Cool, Scooby Doo, which is a fine incarnation of the Scoobster.

There are lots of kid friendly sets produced in the UK, such as Frozen, Minions and Trolls which you could order.

Thanks for the input everyone! I think I will try and fill in some of my holes in the older stuff until I get the itch again.

Yeah, I hear everybody here. Star Wars Widevision had 10 chase cards and several promos and that seemed like too few at the time. If it came out today, there'd be 30 autographs, at least two levels of parallels, and at least one impossible card. Maybe being happy with a nice base set and some foil inserts is too much of a backlash but I can see why others would see it as a tonic.

For me Rogue One: Mission Briefing is exactly what you're talking about with the "same title in short intervals." It's just another Star Wars retread I don't want.

I had to cut back on box-buying years ago. The last one I got was Topps 75th Anniversary which I still think is the most fun set in years. I drifted from the hobby myself in mid-2000's but got back into it a few years ago.

I collect promos mostly without feeling like I have to hunt down everything. In fact, I have to admit to jumping onto Promoking's bandwagon of concentrating on pre-2009 promos - the approximate cut-off when companies started going nuts with super-limited ones and/or ones you could get only if you bought some product you wouldn't buy otherwise. Now, you have promos in name only - cards dealers have printed by manufacturers and say "promo" on them but are not given away at any level (not by the manufacturer, not by the dealer) - just another item for sale.

The collector mentality is to always be looking for another thing you don't have - always something in the pipeline barring an "outbid" notice or two. I've taken a break from cards a couple of times in my life with years between purchases. I've sold some of my collection before, and many of my $10-20 sets of the past are probably not worth what it would cost to mail to Canada but I want to keep what I have now. The cards I buy now seem like good deals to me but if they're valued in a guide even less in the future, that's fine. Completing some old sets will be just that much easier.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tommy C:

But I totally feel what everyone is saying. It costs too much, too many gimmicks, too many releases of the same title in short intervals. We are collecting probably some of the smallest production numbers in non-sport history but Ebay gives the perception that product is rampant. Inserts numbered in the low 100s can sell for as little as $40 or $50. I have not purchased unopened product in over two years.

I guess if I had any advice, don't be in a hurry to sell unless you have to. A few years down the road you decide to get back into it and all you can think of is what you used to have. Other than that, if you aren't happy with it.....move on. Life is full of other cool stuff.

Yeah, you can't frustrate any collector too much. It becomes easier to think about collecting something else or just go back to reading or just go buy an aquarium (or just a DVD of aquarium footage).

I liked Star Wars Finest too though I sold my set in the binder years ago (didn't have all of the refractor parallels). I did end up keeping one (Obi-Wan Kenobi) because it was too cool.

quote:

Originally posted by steve j:

Simple isn't it? - for thats the aim of all collectors - whats the point of incomplete sets? but thats the problem, the make up of sets these days include 1/1 which means you cannot obtain a full set, no one can, so its not surprising that collectors are leaving in their droves. They cannot reach their goals.

So in conclusion - Cryptozoic - OKish!
Topps - NOT OK! . Rittenhouse OK! except for cut signatures

To me Inkworks had the best policy - I was gutted when they left the marketplace. Their sets were all achievable. So were early Topps sets for that matter.

My favourite set - Star Wars Finest - the quest for the parallels gave me the greatest thrill I have got out of the hobby - never to be repeated sadly.