[rad_1205]

Ive receieved alot of responses talking about the Rainbow refractors. Yeah they are cool to a certain extent but now they have used every color across the board the refractor is DONE!!! Its going to be interesting to see what happens in the next 5 years. Let just hope we have another Pujos in the making or another Bryce Harper coming up. I dont see it happening. SAD SAD if you ask me....

[spazmatastic]

(02-21-2011 09:38 AM)juda7 Wrote:  In the past Finest didn't have a Rainbow of colors to hunt down. You were lucky to get a real refractor back then.

Exactly. I didn't even mind when there were 3 or 4 colors, but it has gotten ridiculous in the last couple of years. X-fractors are so ridiculous that Topps even stopped labeling them as such on the back. I would like to see them go back to a smaller variation list. My vote would be for this list: base card/refractor/green ref./blue ref./superfractor (or another color #'d to 25 or less). I am not a fan of 1/1's anymore, knowing that it may not be true!

[butchrecon72]

(02-21-2011 11:15 AM)spazmatastic Wrote:  I am not a fan of 1/1's anymore, knowing that it may not be true!

There are SOOOOO many 1/1 now that they are irrelevent. Each printing plate is a 1/1 then the superfractor 1/1. So 1 card can have 5 1/1 variations. WTFO???

Not exactly 1/1 any longer!

[srruss]

I remember the 'Good Old days' too. Many good points have been made here as to what happened with demand and who is at fault. I am probably just as guilty as the next collector for chasing the next hook card companies have baited. I remember buying 5 cent packs and getting fresh gum with it, putting the cards in our bike spokes or shooting them with BB guns, As for what the price of cards have climbed to...have you priced a bike lately? I bought my first Schwinn Sting-Ray new for under $70. I guess since adults ride bikes more than kids we have ruined that as well.

I collect for enjoyment and will continue to enjoy collecting and trading. I still chase the inserts of the 90's.

[hilfiger1975]

Ya, i been chasing a lot of 90's inserts of Jordan as of late and it's costing me a pretty penny. =<

There's very few traders here that trade for graded cards so once September hits i'm just gonna buy my Jordan 1986 Fleer BGS 8. I notice A LOT of people trade GU/Auto that's not graded. I have a hard time trading cards that are not graded since they could be altered. I guess i'm just paranoid. LOL

Sorry, i think i just ranted. ROFL

Jason

[bonds20001]

I have been collecting for over 20 years as a serious collector and wax buster.
30 years before that I was buying packs at the local grocery store at 5 cents and waiting for the last series of Topps to come out, they were the rarest and smallest.
I have seen my fair share of changes over these years, some bad and some good.
I think that the industry changed with the times and technology.

I still have fun chasing the cards I want and I still get exciting at opening new product the 1st pack of the year!!!

Now I have to wait too long for the next product due to the reduction in companies, it makes me feel like that 8 year old waiting for the next series of Topps!!! and then pulling an Aaron or Mays or Mantle!!!

The innocence is gone in the hobby, but the joy can remain if you look for the good in the collection and the collectors (great people 90% of the time!!) better odds that most hobbies I think!!!

I must be nuts, but I liked Pacific inserts and the Pinnacle museum collection cards!!!

[jofinn36]

I don't see anything wrong with the hobby these days. I bought cards in the 90s and enjoyed them. I wouldn't enjoy cards today if they were like the 90s. Now with Ebay you have tons of cards to choose from and many different ways of collecting. You can buy T206 cards for 10 dollars and 2010 Allen and Ginter jason heyward cards for under 5 dollars. You have many ways of collecting what ever you want to collect.

[arsenalgooner]

I think that we all bring up a lot of good points and it shows the variety that we have in the hobby. While many of us are frustrated that our 1991 Donruss or 1988 Topps have very little monetary value, each of us can find our niche/interests and work from there. It can be exciting and diverse, but we all must understand and adjust to changing situations and availability.

Personally, I find that there are WAY too many base sets, and the situation with inserts is even worse. I would like to see things condensed and see different brands evolve into something unique. For instance, is Bowman really much more than Topps Premium and Speculation? Does the hobby need both SP Authentic and SPX brands? It can become overwhelming, and frustrating, for many consumers and can turn away kids very quickly. I like to collect sets and take an occasional stab at a premium products just to see what happens. There are simply too many choices in the marketplace for me and I don't see a company looking at innovation with new ideas and products.

[johnxgodfree]

I collected from the timeframe of about 1987 until 1994 when i got out of baseball all together... I am nearing my one year mark back into things..albeit on a much more limited spending scale (being a kid vs being on a fixed income with a kid on the way!)

and I really do still enjoy it as much now as before... I traded living vicariously through friends whose parents either bought them tons of cards or collected with them to vicariously stalking box bust threads on here to see the new and coolest cards....i scrounge around on ebay sometimes waiting weeks to pick up the cards I want for the best price I can... but it keeps me on the hunt.... it keeps me looking out for good deals, and gives me something to do, and allows me to talk and trade with nice people which in the local sense is almost gone.

I'm 29 years old and I know one person within a 30 mile radius that collects cards, none of my friends do. my fiance humors me and listens to my baseball rambles even if most of the time it is to talk about leaving me for brian mccann or being married to two people haha so i escape here to ramble and read about baseball card stuff. I bust occasional wax when I can... and i pick up a few things via trading and what i pick up online.

I definitely liked the simplicity of the mid 90s inserts (as opposed to 10+ variations of the same card) and guess i really missed out on the heyday that was the late 90s (going back now and seeking out those inserts ...rules because it is all new territory for me!) I'm a sucker for acetate, die-cut, foil, shimmer and sheen, etc

[capncush]

(02-20-2011 09:33 AM)mikmouse24 Wrote:  I HEAR YOU!!!!!!!!
it is only a matter of time until it crashes like the housing market-
and then what

what? since we all sign high priced mortgages with zero down despite not earning enough income to pay it off... to buy baseball cards?