Convince Topps and Upper Deck and any other companies with distribution in Walmarts and Targets to produce $1 packs for kids. They've got the big franchises and that stuff would sell. We have to get the kiddies to buy cards so when they are older and have the disposable income they may find the nostalgia in cards like so many of us did. Got to plat those seeds in order to reap.

Having affordable cards for the kids would be great! Builds on those memories of fun times opening packs just to see the cards
Just hopefully the people that set up lawn chairs in the card sections don’t buy them up before the kids

Topps do this in the UK, with football, star wars, marvel etc and the kids collect them ( and some adults, cough cough. )

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Topps do this in the UK

I wonder why they don't do that here? Seems to me like it would be a good thing.

Why do you think that cheaper packs would appeal to kids?

Pokemon packs are way more than a buck and kids buy tons of 'em.

I personally don't think that there is a pricing issue that is preventing kids from collecting cards. . .

quote:

Originally posted by pcetodd:

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Topps do this in the UK

I wonder why they don't do that here? Seems to me like it would be a good thing.

I may be wrong, but a LOT of these are stickers, and stickers have never taken off in the US.

Also, there is still placement at newstands and other retail outlets. We lack a lot of that here. You'd be better off figuring out how to get into convenience stores than Wal-Mart. Less competition for dollars.

And Jon is right, $1 isn't necessarily the magic number anymore. But we need to find something kids WANT to find in packs. Pokemon has powerful cards for the game and holofoils that are either valuable or again good in game play.

I used to get asked at comic cons and small shows "what do you do with them?" And if you don't collect, there's not much of a good answer for that question. It's not like the old days where you were reliving a movie you might not ever see again. Kids now stream or own the movie any time they want. They don't need cards to remember with.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

I may be wrong, but a LOT of these are stickers, and stickers have never taken off in the US.

Ed

Ed we have sticker sets and card sets, they are all for sale in the supermarkets and shops at less than $1 per pack in most cases. These are cards that kids buy and fill their binder with. The packs do not contain cards that are worth loads of money, they are aimed at the kids who just enjoy putting the set together.

Certainly accessibility is a huge issue, but I think Ed nailed it with "But we need to find something kids WANT to find in packs."

There used to be sticker books and sticker packs at retail, but I haven't seen those in a long time. I'm guessing they didn't do well. There have been releases aimed at kids as well -- but those don't seem to exist anymore either. Also guessing those didn't sell.

If a manufacturer could find an app/game that is popular with kids that you could find chase cards in the packs that gave you in app/game upgrades through a QR code or something those might appeal to kids.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:

"But we need to find something kids WANT to find in packs."

Well in this case i am mentioning not only here but right across europe the cards are the things they want to find. In the case of the card sets what you tend to get in a pack is 4 or 5 cards and a foil card, the foil card is the special card and there is one in every pack. Some of the foils done by Topps for these sets put so called hobby hits to shame and for a fraction of the price.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
Why do you think that cheaper packs would appeal to kids? .

I think the price would be more appealing to parents. Whats a buck? Like when we were kids, what was a quarter? Or 50 cents? Seems a better alternative to a candy bar when kids are in the grocery line whining for something.

And do ones for little little kids. There's lots of PBS shows that you could do things with. Interactive stuff. Online code what nots. Make it on the cheap. Got to hook em when they're young.

quote:

Originally posted by pcetodd:

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
Why do you think that cheaper packs would appeal to kids? .

I think the price would be more appealing to parents. Whats a buck? Like when we were kids, what was a quarter? Or 50 cents? Seems a better alternative to a candy bar when kids are in the grocery line whining for something.

And do ones for little little kids. There's lots of PBS shows that you could do things with. Interactive stuff. Online code what nots. Make it on the cheap. Got to hook em when they're young.

You may be right if you are looking at cards as an impulse purchase.

Unfortunately I don't know anywhere anymore where cards of any kind are on/at the counter as an impulse purchase.

Yeah, I'm afraid the reason that you don't see cards at the register with the candy in the U.S. is because they stopped selling as well as candy a long time ago. At Targets in my area there have been sports cards, Walking Dead dog tags and some Star Wars cards but they were in an aisle next to the registers. There's usually nobody in that aisle when I look to see if they have any interesting cards.

Pokemon and Magic are popular games so people have more than one reason to keep the cards. It's not just for the cards. People these days don't accumulate stuff like we used to. Yes, Mom threw out some stuff back them - the old joke - but we hung onto some things too. My youngest niece came closest to having a card collection. She had some in a binder (Pokemon and cards/stickers from cereal) but she was looking to unload them a few years ago to buy materials to make "slime."

It's an uphill battle to get anyone to want cards. People get all the entertainment they want on their phones. They think of cards, magazines, toys, and other things we have all collected as clutter/junk. A higher percentage of people think of collectibles as junk than in previous decades. They would rather have photos of a vacation on their phones than buy/keep any souvenirs of the trip. People are throwing away great stuff in dumpsters.

I think the best strategy is to start over with kids. If Topps did a cheaper set for The Mandolorian with a flashy-type card in every pack and with some of the other cards making a puzzle on the back plus uncommon prize cards for a t-shirt or beanie or a download, that might have a chance. Make it a smaller set and make the shirts and beanies available in all sizes so some adults want the cards too. Try to get kids collecting something again.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
Certainly accessibility is a huge issue, but I think Ed nailed it with "But we need to find something kids WANT to find in packs."

There used to be sticker books and sticker packs at retail, but I haven't seen those in a long time. I'm guessing they didn't do well. There have been releases aimed at kids as well -- but those don't seem to exist anymore either. Also guessing those didn't sell.

If a manufacturer could find an app/game that is popular with kids that you could find chase cards in the packs that gave you in app/game upgrades through a QR code or something those might appeal to kids.