[robyoung0516]

In the 1950's, I bought cards from a grocery store a block from our house and traded with kids on my block but mostly just used the cards for sound effects clipped by a clothes pin to my bicycle spokes.
Time passed.
In the 1980's and 90's, I purchased cards from our local hobby shop only a 1/2 mile from our home with my two kids, and we traded within the family. The hobby blended nicely as I helped coach T-Ball and Little League for my son.
Time passed.
In the year 2020 with the pandemic raging, I rediscovered the hobby (my collection had been well stored in a cabinet) and mostly purchased catch-up and keep-up sets on Amazon and more specialized cards from Burbank on Beckett's marketplace.
In the year 2023, with Topps alone and 'downsized' and the fun of finding so many different kinds of cards gone, I began to only purchase single very special cards (autographs, memorabilia, serial numbers, minor league cards) from Burbank and ebay.  
I wonder what my future experience with the hobby will look like?

[dogger99]

I started in the early 70's. Much like yourself, I bought my baseball packs from the convience store in the neighborhood for a whopping 10 cents a pack (a lot for an 8-year old). I still remember one of my big trades. A friend gave me 100 cards for the 1972 (or 1973) Sal Bando that he needed to finish his set. That was a tough one since I pulled for the A's back then (lived in Sacremento). My first baseball game was in 1973 when my dad (coach of our Reds team) took the team to the A's/Redsox game. Of course, at that age I didn't realize all of the future HOF's I was watching.

[kerryandbeth]

As I slowly age, not only do my wants decrease but good options of hobby product have decreased, so I am reluctant to jump at busting boxes even though I have the funds.

'Good options' mean reasonable prices for aesthetic cards of good players. Not enough of that out there anymore.

[rjcj2017]

I miss how it used to be.

I guess I'm a dinosaur.

[akaus]

I just focus on cards that I enjoy for my collection which is getting tougher and tougher to find. I did a good job of clearing out quite a few cards last year and hoping to do more of the same this year.

[kerryandbeth]

I really wonder if the hobby will be any different in 10 years. I retire in 6 or 7 and need something to do without blowing through my nest egg.

[chevy man 22]

I have always said and will continue to stand by my thinking that The Internet was the greatest and absolute worst thing to ever happen to collectibles be it Cards, Action Figures, Hot Wheels etc....

From a trading card perspective yes it made it easier to find unique cards of players not from your local teams but it also made people greedy and disgruntled. The amount of people that just toss base cards in the trash or go into a deep depression if they pull an auto /25 of anyone not one of the top 2 or 3 Rc's that particular season makes me crack up and sad at the same time. For instance prime example are the Halloween and Easter Themed cards everyone poo poo's on because they can't sell them for 100x profit but I think they are actually cool. I remember when the Easter parallels were first announced people crapped on them and how they didn't need pastel colors yadda yadda yadda but somehow were totally fine with the neon themed base cards and now that they are out and kinda bland they complain they don't stand out enough and are boring.

I would be really interested in the number of collectors that commit suicide or get divorced each year over financial debt because of trading cards. Guys/Gals who spend their whole paychecks on cases upon cases hoping to pull something good that they can brag about on a message board like BO then flip on Ebay in which most cases even the best 1/1 card in a particular set will just barely break even on what they spent in total or yet still come out in the hole. Most will say something like " Wow look at this $10,000 card I pulled " but won't tell you they spent $20,000 to pull that $10,000 card and actually lost $10,000. We have become a society of keeping up with the Jones's and trying to prove we belong in a niche group of like minded collector's who if we are really honest are in the same financial distress.

[kerryandbeth]

Honestly, I have not seen any of what you just described, but I agree it is out there because gambling will mess you up.

[jbissell]

Ive seen a little of what Chevy Man is talking about on Twitter. I tend to agree with his sentiment.

[rjcj2017]

Very, very well said by Chevy Man.

I mentioned this on the football boards but there is a Facebook group called Sportscard Nonsense that hits on a lot of these points.

Case in point - Prizm football. Almost every single post either shows the latest greatest CJ Stroud pull or that the break was "trash" ... particularly troubling for me to see because most posters pulled several cards that I would absolutely love to have for my Lions PC.

They compound the negative vibes by showing off the 25 mega boxes they cleared out at Walmart ($1,000+), and then a flame war starts when the "leave some for us" versus "dog eat dog world" crowds start arguing.

Plus, you get these fads started where suddenly hundreds of people who never had an interest in Donruss football are now chasing Downtown inserts for no reason except that other people are chasing them.

So the average collector like me who just wants to pick up a couple blasters can't find a certain product for weeks, months or at all because of these fake bubbles.

Yes, agreed, I have bought, sold and traded for some great cards courtesy of the Internet, but I was just as happy in pre-Internet days as a kid getting a box of Topps baseball for $10 at Price Club and spending all night sorting the 36 packs into my favorite players and teams.

If I had to vote, I would go back to those days in a second and would never look back.