Category Archives: kids are not the problem or the answer

Arguing Against The Arguers

Posted on by
Reply

When it comes to normal people ranting about the state of hobby, its usually about a small group of topics that I cannot stand. Kids need to be brought back to the collecting ranks, the hobby needs to go back to the way it was, and box prices are too high for what is inside are the three I cant stand the most of any of them. There are other things like redemptions, and other crap, but the explanations of those are easy and short. These three I hate seem to pop up everywhere, and they burrow deep down inside my brain to ninja slice my patience gland.

The first one I want to address is the kids argument, mainly because I just got a long email blast from the Vegas summit who’s sole focus was on using kids as the solution to dwindling sales and numbers. My face was in my palm at just about every word in the email, mainly because I know that the stupidity they expressed is common in just about every corner of every nook in our favorite past time. Kids are not the answer, and personally, I think it’s a stupid idea to even focus on them as a target demographic. I realize that I have said this a million and a half times, but its completely the truth. First off, targeting male children to collect cards is going to lose out to video games and other entertainment providers almost every time. Cards arent relevant to them any more because the way they get their sports fix is through Madden and MLB the Show. Back 25-30 years ago, those mediums werent around, therefore other less technical hobbies were kind. Now that the technological age is here, technology like video games and television will have a ten fold advantage over tangible collecting like cards, stamps, or coins.

For the kids you do hook at a young age, due to their parents or by random luck, they arent going to want junk. They will want high end autographs and game used cards because that is the generally accepted collecting tendency around the hobby. Kids arent going to be want to be treated like kids, they are going to want the best cards and the highest cost product. Not only that, but most of them are going to find a way to get it. This means they will use eBay and the internet just like everyone else, and when they get on the internet and eBay, they are going to become more solidified in the tendencies of everyone else they see. Manufacturers need to stop trying to cater to them, because it wont work. Then, when the hobby media and manufacturers blow smoke up the ass of the people who are hurting in the industry, saying that they are the ones that will make the jump, those downtrodden people will latch on, because that is the way it was 30 years ago. 30 years ago, kids were the lifeblood of the hobby, today they are gum on the bottom of the shoe of the big market demographic: adults.

Adults are the people who have the money and they have the means to spend it on cards. The reason that numbers are down is not because of kids, its because of two other unrelated things. Obviously, the economy is one, as less disposable income means less people that are able to drop coin on cards. The second is because card design and concept have become stale and boring in most cases, something I was discussing yesterday. If a manufacturer is going to come out with the same shit year after year, people are going to get bored. I have become so bored with most of the releases, that even I can relate to people who have thrown up their hands and left. If manufacturers are going to sit on their laurels and expect people to buy no matter what, they will lose business. If those manufacturers continue to ignore ethical business practices, it will get worse, and Im not just talking about Upper Deck.

Don’t tell me that kids grow into adults either, because that is a shitty argument to begin with. Of course kids create longevity, but its become obvious that hooking them as kids is practically impossible. Hook them as younger adults when money and value start to mean stuff to them. Most young adults are casual sports fans, and casual sports fans are the gateway to bigger participation. If the manufacturers switched all their marketing focus to grasping what casual sports fans are looking for, it would bolster the ranks more effectively. This also means that Joe Shop Owner should not be the face of the hobby, nor should Beckett even be in the picture. Both present a completely unrealistic view of collecting itself, and the manufacturers should do everything in their power to overshadow the diarrhea they spew daily.

Then you have the people who say that the hobby needs to go back to the way it was and everything will be peachy keen again. That is complete crap, especially when you consider what it meant to have 4 sets a year back then versus having a similar calendar now. The hobby was a niche area back then, and it was easy to use existing resources in order to keep that smaller amount of people happy. When the collecting boom of the late 80s and 90s hit, more products needed to be produced for more people. Then, when the jersey and memorabilia cards were released, it brought a ton of new people who wanted to be closer to the athletes they root for. Autographs furthered that obsession, and it continues to this day. People say that we need to go back to the cardboard dark ages, but to strike the progress made would be a death blow to a struggling industry. Nothing would be fixed, nothing would be okay, it would be worse than it is now. Then, when media sources say that fewer cards would be less confusing to kids, we circle back to the original argument. People arent stupid, and variety is exactly what is needed. Plus, when you add in the amount of dud products to the amount of good products, there is nothing in my mind that suggests that manufacturers would be successful only releasing one to four products per year. This is a different era, and it’s a result of a bigger demand for cards. Sacrificing variety will not create more demand, bolstering design and creativity will do more than any of that.

Lastly is this argument that people are touting box prices and their relation to content as a reason why things need to change. The main argument centers around the amount of scrubs and junk cards in products that cost a lot of money as a reason why it’s a bad idea to continue down that path. I agree that having products filled with Adrian Peterson, LeBron James, and Albert Pujols would be great, however, I don’t think people understand the cost of what it takes to get those players into a product. We hate pulling scrubs as a box hit, I get that, but there is no way around it due to the amount of money everyone charges for their signature. Players at the top of the ranks charge so much money, that it sometimes prices them out of a product. Pujols, Peterson, Emmitt Smith, Montana, all are notorious for the cost of their inclusion, especially when you factor in the astronomical licensing costs. Even the rookies charge a complete shit ton for their autos, as evidenced by the Football Jesus, Tim Tebow’s, recent signing in Florida. If you think their autographs are easy to pay for, you are sadly mistaken. We complain that our box of Exquisite didn’t return our investment, but that has been the way it is since forever. Boxes have always been a gamble, but now its easy to see that they have taken that gambling to people who can afford to spend more money. If you don’t like the high end products, don’t buy them, its that simple. You have the choice over what you buy, so stop complaining when the manufacturers want to market to the people with a ton of money to spend.

In all reality, if all products looked good, there would be less complaining over box content. Ill give you the example of Topps and Bowman Chrome. The amount of money usually returned on a box of Chrome is much less than the cost of the box itself. People don’t complain as much because the cards they do get look great, and there is enough to keep them interested in the bust. If Panini actually took the time to think out their products the way Top
ps does with their low end releases, I can tell you that I would not blast them as much as I do. Instead they charge 120 dollars for boxes like Elite and Prestige which look like donkey poop and hold their value like an AMC Pacer. If those sets looked much better, delivered on card content like we know is possible, not as many people would complain. Design is the gateway, not price. Instead we get foilboard bore-fests with those idiotic signed cloth patches, and I walk away wondering who would actually want that junk.

Guys, the main factor here is that the mainstream media wants you to think its everyone’s fault but their own, and are directing your gaze away from the laziness and corrupt practices that every company deals with. Stop falling for their “LOOK OVER THERE!” technique and actually get on the right track in terms of how you feel. Its not the kids, its not the changes from thirty years ago, its them. Its our job as consumers to let them know that, and I expect that when the doors at the plant are being locked for the final time, they will finally start to see exactly what the fuck I am talking about.

The Wrong Face For The Public

Posted on by
Reply

Ladies and gents, we need to advocate a change. A change in perception. Its time for the manufacturers to stop marketing the hobby as an investment and start building on its EXISTING strengths rather than its previous ones. After watching a recent episode of Pawn Stars as well as Cal Ripken’s recent media tour, it becomes offensive that the only thing anyone cares about is the investment potential of their favorite cards. Don’t get me wrong, money will always be an aspect of this hobby, but it cannot be the ONLY aspect. There is fun in it, and its up to the manufacturers to rethink their strategies.

First off, let me say that I love watching shows like Pawn Stars and Antiques Roadshow because of the items that get brought before the cameras. Whether it’s a collectible or a family heirloom, the shows interest me because of the appraisal aspect of the program. Yesterday, I was finally able to watch my marathon of Pawn Stars that was stored up on my DVR, and I was shocked to see that one of the episodes featured a guy with Pete Rose cards. That’s where the fireworks started.

From the first frame showing the cards, it was obvious they were fake. Not only did the guy have five vintage rose cards, but they looked in perfect shape and were without cases. Red flag number one. As if the look of the guy wasn’t suspect enough, the first words out of his mouth were about the (assumed) authenticity of the cards. Red flag number 2. Lastly, his story and storage concepts were like nothing anyone had ever heard of before, which signalled to me that this guy was a bad liar. Red flag number 3, you are out. The owner of the pawn shop immediately recognized the cards as fake, and the guy swore at him and walked out after arguing about how they “sat in his garage for years!” Really, he had no chance, but he was going to try to go sell them elsewhere. Good luck, douche.

My issue was not with the cards themselves, but the way the guy presented the hobby on TV. Again, baseball cards make it onto TV in a national setting, and again, its someone that is trying to peddle his wares without knowing a single bit about the culture of the hobby. Because there are so many people out there who have collected cards at one point, there is an untapped resource of community building outside the net that should be focused on. What this will lead to is a new rise in culture that isnt sparked by someone like Cal Ripken going on FOX news. This is the face of a company going on national TV and saying his second year card is worth “a couple hundred bucks” while throwing around a 52 mantle like a ragdoll. I get that he is a player and not a collector, but it looks like he has enough of a vested interest that he should have been educated on the matter.

What people’s perceptions stem from is what they see on TV, and with the way Baseball cards are presented, its rare that collectors receive positive attention outside of worth. Even after coverage of the National Convention, the face of the hobby was regularly smeared with egg thanks to a few people who just werent educated enough to make worth while commentary. This is more because of a national perception that cards are to only be thought of as an investment rather than commuinty of people striving for the best cards. I blame Beckett some of this, because their price guides are so far off and so out of touch, that when people look for information, they get it all wrong. Then when something like the Million Card giveaway gains national attention, it always becomes more about the value of the cards than about the fun of collecting.

If the manufacturers really wanted to build new customer bases, they start trying to appeal to the sports fans that like autographs and getting closer to the players. Instead of constantly going after the long lost young demographic, they should instead go after the people who like signatures of their favorite players. I havent met a lot of sports fans that wouldn’t like to have a signed piece of memorabilia from their guy. That’s where I think the gain is to be made. Forget about how much the cards are worth and start marketing as to the GUARANTEED authenticity of the cards. Once you create demand, values will automatically go up.

On top of all of that, the autograph and memorabilia industry is already a thriving business/community, and if they were tapped by the manufacturers as a target demographic, they should get more penetration. Right now the companies are spending too much time trying to recapture a group of kids that are NEVER coming back. They just arent, and no one seems to get that they have been gone for years without a problem. Instead of worrying, they should be dedicating time and resources to garnering interest in the greatest national pasttime – watching sports. Those fans are the unlimited resource, and getting your products in front of them should be item number one on the agenda. Because there are also so many fans out there that love the memorabilia aspect to the game, they are the cow that needs milking more than any other group.

People often cite the fact that kids will help to renew the hobby, but really, that’s a pipe dream. It becomes even more of a pipe dream when 99% of the TV coverage out there talks about the investment and money aspect of the hobby. Its time to get educated spokespeople into different markets and give up on this idea that money will bring whales.

High End From The Horse’s Mouth

Posted on by
Reply


Every time a super high end product comes out, many of the blogs tend to focus on how terrible it is solely because of the cost. Not because of design, not because of content, but because of how much you spend for the amount you get. The problem is, many of the bloggers are one sport baseball collectors, who have grown up collecting cards in a vastly different fashion. So, rather than hear about the evils of high end from people who dont really collect it, I think its time to see some different opinions from someone who is a part of this hobby because of how great it is.

A common sentiment is that high end is killing the hobby. Why? I dont see how offering a product for a HUGE part of the collecting base is bad. Does it create a situation that puts a burden on other collectors? No, Base Topps is still around, Ginter is as popular as ever, and the Heritage products have not been axed from any calendar. In fact, more and more low end products, especially in baseball, are being added to the releases for the year. So, if that is the case, what difference does it make? Why not give everyone what they want when you have the ability to do so?
To that, most people say that kids are being driven away by the pricing structure of the industry. Why is that such a big deal? Kids didnt drive the collecting boom of the 90s, adults did. Kids dont drive current revenue for the industry, adults do. Why arent we focusing on adding more people who have disposable income to the demographic? The kid friendly rallying cry makes no sense, because kids dont produce the revenue any more. There are too many other sources of entertainment that are becoming more readily available, and non-interactive mediums are falling by the wayside. The card industry will never be able to compete with video games or the internet, and when the landscape is dominated by adults, kids find other ways to get involved in products and businesses they can access in a more widely supported industry.

Now, a lot of people seem to think that subtracting products and adding extreme low end products for kids will solve a lot of problems. I cant tell you how frustrating that way of thinking is. So, you would rather take away the products that thousands love for a demographic that is non-existant? What business would do that? Also, this industry thrives of the value of its products, and a extreme low end product would hold no value. Do you think kids are that stupid? No, they would still buy all the products they buy right now, only then, they would have less of them to buy. Great.
High end products provide access to wonderful looking cards with autographs and jerseys that appeal to even the most casual of sports fans. Autographs are worldwide collection pieces that span more than sports, and people find prestige in having them. That means when you offer amazingly designed pieces that are accessible to many adults who want autographs of their favorite sports players, you draw people into your demographic. Thats why adults populate the collecting pool, and why the industry has changed to cater to them, not people who collect sets.
Plus, when you bring adults into the market, you also have direct marketing access to their kids. The best advertisement for a product is word of mouth, and when kids have parents who are hardcore collectors, they are much more likely to stumble upon the hobby, or have it bred into their early life. Considering that many parents will collect the autograph part of the hobby, the kids will too. Autograph cards are also more valuable, especially from high cost products, meaning that kids will want those more. Thanks to parents who are collectors, they can have them.
Lastly, a lot of people seem to think that high end is a rip off. When you buy a product that costs six hundred, and only get five cards, they think its the worst thing in the world. Well, in terms of quantity over quality, that is definitely true. However, most of the time, the quality is so high, that a price tag of 600 seems reasonable to the people that can afford it. Mario may tell you what you can buy for the price of a box, but the reality is that those things arent of interest to people with massive amounts of disposable income. Yes, there may be people who buy and cannot afford it, its not the fault of the manufacturer that these people make poor decisions.
Does this justify someone being disappointed when they dont get back their money? Yes, because anyone who has spent their money on any chance will tell you that human emotions dictate their response, not the price of the item they bought. Just like when you buy a 50 dollar product and get nothing, the feelings are similar when you buy a 500 dollar product. Disappointment in your pulls comes with the wax busting territory. The tangent to this feeling is that the experience of the thrill is what drives many people in all gambling industries, just like with cards. People need to understand that the only sure thing in busting wax is that you are going to end up with some cards, not that you are going to end up with your money back. If you are looking to make money on a break, regardless of price, you are going at your investments the wrong way.

Bottom line is this, you dont have to buy any product you dont want to, but its unfair to address the merits of a product just because it costs more than you personally are willing to spend. Feel free to comment on design, player content or whatever, but cost should not damn a product. The fact of the matter is that there are many people who love spending their money on high end stuff, and many of them dont shit on the way low enders function anywhere close to the way certain people act with unwarranted disdain for the high enders. If you dont like high end, thats fine, but dont use unrelated and outdated reasons to justify your points. At least frame your argument in the correct reference range, while not exploiting paradigms that havent been true for 20 years.