Really enjoyed this Graig! I do not feel the hobby is dying at all! It's crazy! I think there are a lot of people that are just so underwater that they are struggling to financially get back what they put into it. I'm just gonna stay in my lane and enjoy😉
Great video Graig, the hobby is stronger than ever. Social media has made the hobby relevant again. As far as your question: My answer varies. I collect the card instead of the grade, especially rarer issues. More common available cards, the best card and grade I can afford.
Great question for this week, I personally feel like I’m guilty of buying the grade, but it’s not what you think. I identify a card that I want to buy, then I usually find one in a grade I would like to have. From there, I begin searching for cards a grade or two lower that look like they could easily have been the grade I desired. For example, I would find a 54 Ted Williams in a 3-4, then I look for that card in a 1-2 that has great eye appeal. I find that I can often get the card I want in a lower grade for cheaper, but I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing my card morals or standards just to get the card. The key is patience, if you can be patient, you can almost always find what you’re looking for in a lower grade, leaving money to get more cards.
Hi Graig, I really appreciate you bringing up this topic. The hobby is just fine and growing. What is out of control and is hurting the hobby is speculating and breakers hyping up certain new products. The vintage sector of the hobby is really healthy and growing. This is just my opinion and I don’t profess to know everything. It’s interesting to hear other peoples viewpoints. Thanks as usual for spiriting issues important to the hobby. Best Wishes, Peter
Hi Graig. Great topic with many wise comments. Always enjoy listening to many fellow senior collectors (not only age, but experience), give their opinions based on what they see, hear and feel. Thanks for sharing as always my friend, talk soon pal.
Graig, for todays question, and how I do it. First, it’s obvious everyone wants as nice of a card as they can. So I would say 90% buy the card, 10% grade. As a set builder I prefer raw cards. Star cards will be put into a holder or it’s already graded. I have many cards graded as a 3 or below but they are so rare or scarce I’m just glad to have them. I think most have nice eye appeal for the numeric grade. Sometimes a lower grade is all that’s affordable. Looking for raw cards also gives you more for less money. A collector can be much more picky on grade when it is a card you commonly see. But rare older cards, you might only ever have one shot at. Thanks for this forum, I really enjoy the thoughts of others.
Long term, I think there will always be popularity for the star players who played primarily for the popular big market teams (i.e.Giants, Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox, Phillies). For the less popular or smaller market teams, the players need to be among the best of all time to hold ongoing value (ie Clemente, Ryan, Ripken) or beloved player for that team (Yount, Bench, Brett). I have a hard time seeing even mid-level HOF players from the lesser teams having long term interest. As an example, I like Rod Carew but I am not sure if the Angels or Twins collector base will be interested long term.
For me I only collect vintage cards, nothing over 1994 except those HOF rc cards which I'm building on. As with everything in life, MONEY is tight right now. So, the hobby isn't dying, it's just slowing down. great video Graig, keep them coming.
I am 100% about the card. I have no graded cards. I have a small and very specific collection. Some of the old, beaten up (well loved) cards are my favorites. They tell a better story.
I fall in the mixed category of buying the card and buying the grade. I have sold off some higher grade vintage cards that no longer meet my eye appeal standards and used the money to buy lower grade copies with better eye appeal but I also still have a few registry sets where I am trying to maximize the grade in order to put together a high ranking set, where the grade is a primary factor. I also recently bought several Goodwin Champions cards that were graded Authentic that had amazing eye appeal, because for the rarer cards for me, the grade matters much less. I think most collectors are probably a combination of buying the grade and buying the card and for those of us with diverse interests and collections, sometimes it is situational and also buying at a good price (for the grade and the eye appeal of the card). At least some of my “favorite” cards in my collection are ones that have a solid grade for the era, great eye appeal, and that I purchased for a great price. Yet another great video, Graig. Keep em comin’ and thanks for all you do. 😎
I was at one of the major Chicago shows on Saturday. I’ve been going to this show for years and it was definitely busier than ever. It was constantly hard to walk in the aisles. I found a ‘54 Al Kaline in a recent PSA 2 that is honestly the best looking one I’ve ever seen.
Another great video! I am collecting the card and not the grade. I have some PSA Authentic in my prewar collection. The PSA Registry guys are driving the high grade craze in many instances. I purposely have avoided the registry because I don’t want that to permeate any card buying decisions I make. I’m sure the registry is a fun thing for many and gives them a focus to help enjoy the hobby. It’s just not for me
Not dying. I feel like every six months this same trend on “is hobby dying” comes up for a week. All these channels need to keep pumping out volume to hit their video quota for the week. Most of it is recycled ideas over and over with a different thumbnail.
Great video Graig. I collect both the card and the grade. I will happily snatch up an under-graded high eye appeal vintage card. But, I also happily snatch up an over-graded vintage card with decent but not high eye appeal when I can get it at a discount for the grade. Just looking for opportunities!
Pokeman is killing it. Show in Pasadena was packed the day I was there. I didnt buy a thing other than a ticket, parking and a beer. I had enough to spend whatever I wanted. 100 people in the PSA line. No waiting for food/drinks or SGC.
I think the hobby is "pulling back". Like a stock when it goes from $10 to $100. And then pulls back to $80. A lot of people came back in 2020 to the hobby. Things were never going to continue that pace. It seems like we're in a lull, but it's just pulling back to me.
So many people got into the hobby and/or purchased cards during the pandemic when card values were through the roof. So now the values are coming back to earth to pre-pandemic levels so to many who have a short term outlook it seems that the hobby is "dying". It's not dying, its just experiencing a correction, especially modern cards.
For next week question I can only answer for myself and my train of thought . Yes I have to break myself from looking at the grade and sometimes it is hard to do that because my OCD gets in the way to keep everything the same slab wise and grade . One example all my 1970 Hall of Fame rookie cards are SGC 6.5 or 7 I just want to keep it uniformed lol
My example of grades don't matter...or do they. I PC Mookie Betts. Searched, what seems forever, for his 2014 Bowman Chrome blue. A PSA 8 shows up I thought, this is perfect! The card I want and "low" grade will save me some $. And it did, and it's now my fav pickup from this year.
I view the card collecting ecosystem a bit like the seasons. There are times that feel like spring and summer where everything is flourishing and more people feel like playing. Eventually winter comes and either forces dormancy or kills off parts of that ecosystem. Sometimes extreme conditions like sustained drought, natural or human caused disasters, may act as a catalyst and change the ecosystem more dramatically, which may be what we are approaching in “the hobby”. Experience tells us it should adapt and persist but may look and feel different. I do wish there was more diversity in card collecting, especially in the vintage space. I would feel better about the long term future if it didn’t feel so much like a good ol’ boy social club.
I collect graded vintage cards because I buy most of my cards on Ebay and thus can't tell the condition very well by just looking at a picture. If I had time to goto shows, I might be more inclined to buy raw vintage card. For my Buster Posey collection, I buy most of the cards raw because I am more concerned about the completeness of my collection than I am the grade (even though I get the card graded eventually). The difference is that there are thousands of Buster Posey cards and to worry about getting a PSA 10 for all of the cards would be too hard. For my Willie Mays collection, he only has base cards of which I will buy the best grade I can afford. With only 25-30 Bowman and Topps base cards, it is much easier to focus on getting the best grade possible
For most my collecting years once there was grading I wanted the highest number I could afford, I depended a little too much on the number once there was grading though I did try to judge the card myself. PSA developed a standard that was needed in the hobby as before they existed it was the wild west. My desire for a high grade has been tempered these days as I am buying mainly prewar and am happy to get a nice looking card even at a 1.5. Eye appeal has taken over the hobby but am happy with a card that may be off center but has great registration. I have had to allow flaws I would never have even considered because of the rise in prices. I still check the number but now decide first by the price and second a card with the fewest flaws I can tolerate. If you listen to You tube you would think the hobby desired a low number with good eye appeal being more important than getting a high graded card. If you follow the large auction houses, this is not the case. They have no problem selling tons of high numbered cards. If I had that kind of money I would be buying the highest number and lowest population available for sure. You're lying if you say that you're not checking the prices on your cards regularly.
Hi Vintage will always survive ...I think the modern cards are produced in mass , and overpriced which hurts the hobby Thnks for ALL your great videos , I cant begin to tell you what you do for the hobby , thank you so much
I think the hobby is very spread out over so many auction sites, social media sales, live selling, card shows, casino vending machines and so on. It’s difficult to get a handle on the whole of it and declare one segment is dying vs flourishing.
Question for next q&a.How do you feel about a player thats just a (Designated Hitter) to get into the hall of fame with out playing in the field their whole career?
Graig, I just got burned from buying a raw 1975 Bob Gibson last card off eBay that ended up having a crease and was not disclosed (of course asking for a refund). The corners were sharp and centering great though! So, I thought I was buying the “grade” not the card, haha. Lesson learned and think I should stick to graded vintage cards on eBay. I would have been fine with a PSA 5 there instead 😃. Thanks!!
Sorry to hear that. I would say when looking at raw cards on eBay. Ask the seller, if they can upload better quality scans. If they don't oblige, I wouldn't buy, from the seller.
ive been buying alot of cards lately /25 or less. high end vintage goin bonkers. you showed those psa 10 sales on commons. i think the grade assigned on the psa slab matters, basiclly low end vintage is gonna fall way off. The shinny stuff i be buying isnt dropping in value. shinny rare stuff goin up. non high grade vintage goin down
Hi, Graig. For your question. I have a soft spot in my heart, for raw vintage cards. They were what my Dad passed down to me when he stopped collecting. When I hear ''buy the card not the grade.'' The first thought that comes to my mind, is buying cards that do not have, a grade. When you buy graded cards, you think appear better than the assigned grade it, is still buying a graded card. I would assume most of your viewers do buy cards, already graded. However, it's not just about buying the card or buying the grade, though, but, does hobby need to have, grades? To me, having a 3rd party authenticator give their opinion, the item, is authentic. Should be enough. Just tell me the card is real I know however PSA 10 appeals to ultra modern card flippers so, if there were no PSA 10's. Maybe there would be less gambling and, exorbitant amounts of money being thrown around? Food for fought. Just my 2 cents. Before taxes.
Hello, I took a little TH-cam card vacation recently. I decided to wander back into the topic. I personally think one relevant thing to this topic wasn't addressed. The CV era was fueled by checks in the mail, and folks being locked down.. The economy now is vastly different.. Record amounts of credit card debt and deliqency of loans is crushing.. Average working class people just are not buying collectibles period. I would wager all across the spectrum of minor collectible types are struggling.
What’s dying is people collecting for collect not just the money which is hard if people or companies ETC keeps up with these bounties and keep up pumping up people with this idea that sports cards are a lottery tickets.
If someone says “buy the card not the grade” then essentially only buys graded cards I think this is pretty hypocritical. 99% of cards out there don’t require authentication. If someone truly ONLY cares about the card then they should study the cards they want and buy a beautiful raw copy at significantly reduced prices right???? In my opinion the grading industry relies heavily on the fact that there is a “hive mind” mind effect in the collecting community as a whole that grading is absolutely critical. I buy beautiful raw vintage 4’s thru 6’s all day at 40 to 60% of graded versions that look worse so the current state of the hobby benefits me. The key was taking the time to understand the sets and what to look for. And NOT buy into this grading hysteria.
Its the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the economy. And people were so dumb to buy into the hype of modern junk and can't miss prospects; we have been through this numerous times in the hobby. The very top shelf vintage stuff will never go down in price. The rule that never changes is its easy to buy and hard to sell.
I guess it depends on how you define dying. The hobby has a ton of collectors and the interest in sports card is very strong. And I don't see that changing. But if you are referring to the value of cards or cards as an investment, I think overall the card market is not in a great place. There are so many great cards and not enough collector dollars to sustain growth in value in all of them. That is why you are seeing more and more vintage cards of mid to low level Hall of Famers sell for discounted prices. This will only get worse with time. What is going to happen that will increase demand to make cards of guys like Al Kaline, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale, etc go up in value?
I collect the card and not the grade. I could NOT care less what arbitrary number some overworked minimum wage stooge puts on it. I always try to find a nice (typically “EX”) version of the card in raw state. And if the only appropriately priced example I can find is slabbed, I will crack it out. Especially if it’s in a PSA or Beckett holder. If it’s in an SGC slab (and looks nice) I will often leave it as-is. I’ve been around long enough to see how grading has corrupted the hobby.
The hobby IS dying. Dying in a good way. Tons of people are at shows, but they are walking around with 30 bucks in their pocket. Just because tons of people are going to shows means nothing. If those people had tons of money, that would be good for the hobby. I want all cards to go to zero, so I can buy it all. Money spent needs to be the gauge and not just people at shows……..
I'm a Nolan Ryan super collector. When I decided to send off my entire Ryan collection for grading I told myself as long as they receive a minimum grade of 5, I'd be happy. Fast forward a couple of years and now I'm "upgrading" my 7's to 9's due to centering. I can honestly say the Number grade has influenced the way I covet cards. Sometimes, I have purchased a card for the number, when I really should be OK with a fine looking lower grade. The way we collect cards is always in flux!
TH-cam content creators need to move past this subject matter. This narrative of doom and gloom is a false narrative. TH-cam is becoming CNN. How about a new fresh outlook on the hobby. This hobby is supposed to be fun and a reflection of our childhood days.
0:35 not you too. What’s the deal with all the Card guys being chicken little acting like their hobbies is going to fucking die and go off to never Neverland
Really enjoyed this Graig! I do not feel the hobby is dying at all! It's crazy! I think there are a lot of people that are just so underwater that they are struggling to financially get back what they put into it. I'm just gonna stay in my lane and enjoy😉
Great video Graig, the hobby is stronger than ever. Social media has made the hobby relevant again. As far as your question: My answer varies. I collect the card instead of the grade, especially rarer issues. More common available cards, the best card and grade I can afford.
So true and such great advice Orlando!!
Great question for this week, I personally feel like I’m guilty of buying the grade, but it’s not what you think. I identify a card that I want to buy, then I usually find one in a grade I would like to have. From there, I begin searching for cards a grade or two lower that look like they could easily have been the grade I desired. For example, I would find a 54 Ted Williams in a 3-4, then I look for that card in a 1-2 that has great eye appeal. I find that I can often get the card I want in a lower grade for cheaper, but I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing my card morals or standards just to get the card. The key is patience, if you can be patient, you can almost always find what you’re looking for in a lower grade, leaving money to get more cards.
Hi Graig,
I really appreciate you bringing up this topic. The hobby is just fine and growing. What is out of control and is hurting the hobby is speculating and breakers hyping up certain new products. The vintage sector of the hobby is really healthy and growing. This is just my opinion and I don’t profess to know everything. It’s interesting to hear other peoples viewpoints.
Thanks as usual for spiriting issues important to the hobby.
Best Wishes,
Peter
Hi Graig. Great topic with many wise comments. Always enjoy listening to many fellow senior collectors (not only age, but experience), give their opinions based on what they see, hear and feel. Thanks for sharing as always my friend, talk soon pal.
Graig, for todays question, and how I do it. First, it’s obvious everyone wants as nice of a card as they can. So I would say 90% buy the card, 10% grade. As a set builder I prefer raw cards. Star cards will be put into a holder or it’s already graded. I have many cards graded as a 3 or below but they are so rare or scarce I’m just glad to have them. I think most have nice eye appeal for the numeric grade. Sometimes a lower grade is all that’s affordable. Looking for raw cards also gives you more for less money. A collector can be much more picky on grade when it is a card you commonly see. But rare older cards, you might only ever have one shot at.
Thanks for this forum, I really enjoy the thoughts of others.
Long term, I think there will always be popularity for the star players who played primarily for the popular big market teams (i.e.Giants, Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox, Phillies). For the less popular or smaller market teams, the players need to be among the best of all time to hold ongoing value (ie Clemente, Ryan, Ripken) or beloved player for that team (Yount, Bench, Brett). I have a hard time seeing even mid-level HOF players from the lesser teams having long term interest. As an example, I like Rod Carew but I am not sure if the Angels or Twins collector base will be interested long term.
Another GREAT watch. Thanks for the videos.
For me I only collect vintage cards, nothing over 1994 except those HOF rc cards which I'm building on. As with everything in life, MONEY is tight right now. So, the hobby isn't dying, it's just slowing down. great video Graig, keep them coming.
👊I think the PSA 10 premium and buying the grade is peaking now and will come back down to Earth in the future.
I am 100% about the card. I have no graded cards. I have a small and very specific collection. Some of the old, beaten up (well loved) cards are my favorites. They tell a better story.
I fall in the mixed category of buying the card and buying the grade. I have sold off some higher grade vintage cards that no longer meet my eye appeal standards and used the money to buy lower grade copies with better eye appeal but I also still have a few registry sets where I am trying to maximize the grade in order to put together a high ranking set, where the grade is a primary factor. I also recently bought several Goodwin Champions cards that were graded Authentic that had amazing eye appeal, because for the rarer cards for me, the grade matters much less. I think most collectors are probably a combination of buying the grade and buying the card and for those of us with diverse interests and collections, sometimes it is situational and also buying at a good price (for the grade and the eye appeal of the card). At least some of my “favorite” cards in my collection are ones that have a solid grade for the era, great eye appeal, and that I purchased for a great price. Yet another great video, Graig. Keep em comin’ and thanks for all you do. 😎
I was at one of the major Chicago shows on Saturday. I’ve been going to this show for years and it was definitely busier than ever. It was constantly hard to walk in the aisles. I found a ‘54 Al Kaline in a recent PSA 2 that is honestly the best looking one I’ve ever seen.
Vintage cards on sale! Yeah I'm all in!😊
I don’t get any indication that the hobby is not alive and well just look
At attendance at shows. And eBay sales for vintage cards. Great show
I am bidding to the moon on certain items and have never finished 2nd so many times since the pandemic
Another great video! I am collecting the card and not the grade. I have some PSA Authentic in my prewar collection. The PSA Registry guys are driving the high grade craze in many instances. I purposely have avoided the registry because I don’t want that to permeate any card buying decisions I make. I’m sure the registry is a fun thing for many and gives them a focus to help enjoy the hobby. It’s just not for me
Not dying. I feel like every six months this same trend on “is hobby dying” comes up for a week. All these channels need to keep pumping out volume to hit their video quota for the week. Most of it is recycled ideas over and over with a different thumbnail.
I absolutely can’t disagree with you.
Great video Graig. I collect both the card and the grade. I will happily snatch up an under-graded high eye appeal vintage card. But, I also happily snatch up an over-graded vintage card with decent but not high eye appeal when I can get it at a discount for the grade. Just looking for opportunities!
Pokeman is killing it. Show in Pasadena was packed the day I was there. I didnt buy a thing other than a ticket, parking and a beer. I had enough to spend whatever I wanted. 100 people in the PSA line. No waiting for food/drinks or SGC.
I think the hobby is "pulling back". Like a stock when it goes from $10 to $100. And then pulls back to $80. A lot of people came back in 2020 to the hobby. Things were never going to continue that pace. It seems like we're in a lull, but it's just pulling back to me.
So many people got into the hobby and/or purchased cards during the pandemic when card values were through the roof. So now the values are coming back to earth to pre-pandemic levels so to many who have a short term outlook it seems that the hobby is "dying". It's not dying, its just experiencing a correction, especially modern cards.
For next week question I can only answer for myself and my train of thought . Yes I have to break myself from looking at the grade and sometimes it is hard to do that because my OCD gets in the way to keep everything the same slab wise and grade . One example all my 1970 Hall of Fame rookie cards are SGC 6.5 or 7 I just want to keep it uniformed lol
My example of grades don't matter...or do they. I PC Mookie Betts. Searched, what seems forever, for his 2014 Bowman Chrome blue. A PSA 8 shows up I thought, this is perfect! The card I want and "low" grade will save me some $. And it did, and it's now my fav pickup from this year.
I view the card collecting ecosystem a bit like the seasons. There are times that feel like spring and summer where everything is flourishing and more people feel like playing. Eventually winter comes and either forces dormancy or kills off parts of that ecosystem.
Sometimes extreme conditions like sustained drought, natural or human caused disasters, may act as a catalyst and change the ecosystem more dramatically, which may be what we are approaching in “the hobby”. Experience tells us it should adapt and persist but may look and feel different.
I do wish there was more diversity in card collecting, especially in the vintage space. I would feel better about the long term future if it didn’t feel so much like a good ol’ boy social club.
Graig I love that you called us 40 somes young guns 😂😂 I can agree with that 😜👊💪🏻
I collect graded vintage cards because I buy most of my cards on Ebay and thus can't tell the condition very well by just looking at a picture. If I had time to goto shows, I might be more inclined to buy raw vintage card. For my Buster Posey collection, I buy most of the cards raw because I am more concerned about the completeness of my collection than I am the grade (even though I get the card graded eventually). The difference is that there are thousands of Buster Posey cards and to worry about getting a PSA 10 for all of the cards would be too hard. For my Willie Mays collection, he only has base cards of which I will buy the best grade I can afford. With only 25-30 Bowman and Topps base cards, it is much easier to focus on getting the best grade possible
For most my collecting years once there was grading I wanted the highest number I could afford, I depended a little too much on the number once there was grading though I did try to judge the card myself. PSA developed a standard that was needed in the hobby as before they existed it was the wild west. My desire for a high grade has been tempered these days as I am buying mainly prewar and am happy to get a nice looking card even at a 1.5. Eye appeal has taken over the hobby but am happy with a card that may be off center but has great registration. I have had to allow flaws I would never have even considered because of the rise in prices. I still check the number but now decide first by the price and second a card with the fewest flaws I can tolerate.
If you listen to You tube you would think the hobby desired a low number with good eye appeal being more important than getting a high graded card. If you follow the large auction houses, this is not the case. They have no problem selling tons of high numbered cards. If I had that kind of money I would be buying the highest number and lowest population available for sure. You're lying if you say that you're not checking the prices on your cards regularly.
Hi
Vintage will always survive ...I think the modern cards are produced in mass , and overpriced which hurts the hobby
Thnks for ALL your great videos , I cant begin to tell you what you do for the hobby , thank you so much
I think the hobby is very spread out over so many auction sites, social media sales, live selling, card shows, casino vending machines and so on. It’s difficult to get a handle on the whole of it and declare one segment is dying vs flourishing.
Baseball 1980’s thru present I’m aiming for the grade…PSA 10’s only, I find myself bidding way over comp’s just to get that 11.0 Registry rating.
Question for next q&a.How do you feel about a player thats just a (Designated Hitter) to get into the hall of fame with out playing in the field their whole career?
Graig,
I just got burned from buying a raw 1975 Bob Gibson last card off eBay that ended up having a crease and was not disclosed (of course asking for a refund). The corners were sharp and centering great though!
So, I thought I was buying the “grade” not the card, haha. Lesson learned and think I should stick to graded vintage cards on eBay.
I would have been fine with a PSA 5 there instead 😃. Thanks!!
Sorry to hear that. I would say when looking at raw cards on eBay. Ask the seller, if they can upload better quality scans. If they don't oblige, I wouldn't buy, from the seller.
ive been buying alot of cards lately /25 or less. high end vintage goin bonkers. you showed those psa 10 sales on commons. i think the grade assigned on the psa slab matters, basiclly low end vintage is gonna fall way off. The shinny stuff i be buying isnt dropping in value. shinny rare stuff goin up. non high grade vintage goin down
Hi, Graig. For your question. I have a soft spot in my heart, for raw vintage cards. They were what my Dad passed down to me when he stopped collecting. When I hear ''buy the card not the grade.'' The first thought that comes to my mind, is buying cards that do not have, a grade. When you buy graded cards, you think appear better than the assigned grade it, is still buying a graded card. I would assume most of your viewers do buy cards, already graded.
However, it's not just about buying the card or buying the grade, though, but, does hobby need to have, grades? To me, having a 3rd party authenticator give their opinion, the item, is authentic. Should be enough. Just tell me the card is real I know however PSA 10 appeals to ultra modern card flippers so, if there were no PSA 10's. Maybe there would be less gambling and, exorbitant amounts of money being thrown around? Food for fought. Just my 2 cents. Before taxes.
I echo Tony's sentiment as per usual.
$5 a pack ...$10 a pack ... $15 a pack ... $20 a pack .... baseball cards are more expensive than FOOD !! ... yeah, its dead
Hello, I took a little TH-cam card vacation recently. I decided to wander back into the topic. I personally think one relevant thing to this topic wasn't addressed. The CV era was fueled by checks in the mail, and folks being locked down.. The economy now is vastly different.. Record amounts of credit card debt and deliqency of loans is crushing.. Average working class people just are not buying collectibles period. I would wager all across the spectrum of minor collectible types are struggling.
What’s dying is people collecting for collect not just the money which is hard if people or companies ETC keeps up with these bounties and keep up pumping up people with this idea that sports cards are a lottery tickets.
True
If someone says “buy the card not the grade” then essentially only buys graded cards I think this is pretty hypocritical. 99% of cards out there don’t require authentication. If someone truly ONLY cares about the card then they should study the cards they want and buy a beautiful raw copy at significantly reduced prices right???? In my opinion the grading industry relies heavily on the fact that there is a “hive mind” mind effect in the collecting community as a whole that grading is absolutely critical. I buy beautiful raw vintage 4’s thru 6’s all day at 40 to 60% of graded versions that look worse so the current state of the hobby benefits me. The key was taking the time to understand the sets and what to look for. And NOT buy into this grading hysteria.
Its the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the economy. And people were so dumb to buy into the hype of modern junk and can't miss prospects; we have been through this numerous times in the hobby. The very top shelf vintage stuff will never go down in price. The rule that never changes is its easy to buy and hard to sell.
not the people that CAME BACK IN THE HOBBY IN 2019, LOL. People have very short memories for things .
I guess it depends on how you define dying. The hobby has a ton of collectors and the interest in sports card is very strong. And I don't see that changing. But if you are referring to the value of cards or cards as an investment, I think overall the card market is not in a great place. There are so many great cards and not enough collector dollars to sustain growth in value in all of them. That is why you are seeing more and more vintage cards of mid to low level Hall of Famers sell for discounted prices. This will only get worse with time. What is going to happen that will increase demand to make cards of guys like Al Kaline, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale, etc go up in value?
Horrible market right now just horrible
I collect the card and not the grade. I could NOT care less what arbitrary number some overworked minimum wage stooge puts on it. I always try to find a nice (typically “EX”) version of the card in raw state. And if the only appropriately priced example I can find is slabbed, I will crack it out. Especially if it’s in a PSA or Beckett holder. If it’s in an SGC slab (and looks nice) I will often leave it as-is. I’ve been around long enough to see how grading has corrupted the hobby.
It's dead. Selling all my cards to Craig at VCC TODAY
The hobby IS dying. Dying in a good way. Tons of people are at shows, but they are walking around with 30 bucks in their pocket. Just because tons of people are going to shows means nothing. If those people had tons of money, that would be good for the hobby. I want all cards to go to zero, so I can buy it all. Money spent needs to be the gauge and not just people at shows……..
I'm a Nolan Ryan super collector. When I decided to send off my entire Ryan collection for grading I told myself as long as they receive a minimum grade of 5, I'd be happy. Fast forward a couple of years and now I'm "upgrading" my 7's to 9's due to centering. I can honestly say the Number grade has influenced the way I covet cards. Sometimes, I have purchased a card for the number, when I really should be OK with a fine looking lower grade.
The way we collect cards is always in flux!
quit the register and you'll see things different, IMHO. As long as you enjoy it is all that really matter in the long run.
TH-cam content creators need to move past this subject matter. This narrative of doom and gloom is a false narrative. TH-cam is becoming CNN. How about a new fresh outlook on the hobby. This hobby is supposed to be fun and a reflection of our childhood days.
0:35 not you too. What’s the deal with all the Card guys being chicken little acting like their hobbies is going to fucking die and go off to never Neverland