[edescartes]

I still see a lot of the old traders around but there seem to be less interesting threads of cards for trade and I no longer see the action in the trade forum I was used to. I have made my visits more sporadic because of this fact. i have even stopped buying cards because I think the hobby is in a slump. what do you guys think?

[pingbling23]

ive made several trades in the past couple of weeks with new traders, but i havent bought as much since there hasnt been as many products released, which i like lol. the hobby is what we make it, dont be a stranger on here.

[edescartes]

I agree with the new products being kind of lame most of them. i hate the new upper deck products and panini keeps repeating the same designs (or at least they keep them very similar). Have the trades gone well with the new traders?

[ShaqEatsThat]

i think im one of them =) lol i made all my trades within the last 2 weeks, but yes this forum is DEAD for the most part, the problem is the only traders on here are the same people so unless they box break and you get to what you want right away theres just nothing to be traded between people.. we def need more volume in here

[briankort]

Well, it is the off season too. I think trading/interest starts to pick up again during the season. This year i am not sure because of the lockout. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

The football forum is jumping right now.

[jpleazme805]

The hobby costs way too much.. the average collectors can not keep up with today's hobby. I almost spent $2k since I returned from deployment.. this is way more than I planned on, $1,400 was on 3 packs of National City ($400ea) and 1 pack Gold Standards ($200ea). got a few good cards, but did not get my money worth that was spent, not even close. Besides these packs, I just picked up a few cards I need online from auctions.

Even cards online are not moving, at least the ones I've been watching.

I have looked at a few buckets online & been trying to look at people's "trade ORGs", but have not seen anything interesting. Most profiles I've looked at only have low dollar cards or B/C Players marked for trade. I would have to email them with a "need list" just so see if they have what I am looking for.

Been thinking of making a consolidated "need list" that I can post on this forum & the few others I check, which I haven't been doing.. for same reason.. not a lot of traders interest in basketball cards right now.. I do not have the code for Microsoft Word or excel on my laptop, so I can not change the lists I already have or make new ones. My old laptop has a cracked screen & it costs way too much to get it fixed.. was quoted $500-600 to replace a 17in screen on my Toshiba satelite. Wish I could find a code to get WORD activated. I'll wait until I go back to work in OCT.. Have to use some of my vacation days before end of SEP or I lose them..

I've gone to two LCS every other day since I returned back to the states from Deployment in South America.. and have only seen two guys that collect basketball, three that collect only baseball.. besides that.. only kids & a couple adults buying game cards. the bigger shop said that they do not sale basketball cards, except for a few regular customers that special order their wants.. the other shop in Chula Vista, Ca (PJ's Sportscards) only had a few basketball collectors, so the owner tries to get atleast two boxes of everything that comes out... which all sold out now, except for the open boxes.. which not too many people want to pick from after the first few packs are gone..

I am looking for other collectors in the San Diego area.. for possible trades or meet up at the LSC just to chat about cardboard.. wishing to go to a cardshow sometime soon..

http://photobucket.com/jpleazme
http://photobucket.com/farmar
http://facebook.com/jpleazme

[got watcha want]

I think that it is a combination of the off season (and lockout), the Beckett site migration, and the lesser product that we have to choose from in the licenced cards. Other forums seem to be doing just fine on traffic volume.

The older inserts are going up in value for a reason. It is because all of those guys that bought exquisite and the other high end products when they came out are now looking for something to throw money at other than what Panini is now coming out with.

The hobby has not stalled or anything. I just think that older UD, Topps, and Fleer stuff on the secondary market is filling the void from the loss of the UD and Topps licences.

[folkertino]

i'll be buying some 90's boxes next week, which is the only stuff I can buy and veel happy about and have a chance to pull my favorite players. ( I could buy one of them new boxes, but I don't know half of the players that's in there...)
That, for me, is the reason why I hardly buy anything, apart from the purchases off eBay that go directly into my PC....

[jpleazme805]

I too, have been going back & looking at older products.. early 90's Fleer & Ultra cello packs mainly.. also, looking at pre-88 Lakers cards online.. still trying debating on if I want to do 50 top Lakers autos or combination of AUTOS & RCs.. Don't think a lot of the older Lakers signed... Still have to make time search becketts checklists...

[xstreaminsanity]

Yeah, the basketball forum has always been considered slow, at least compared to other forums on here and on other sites, from what I've experienced. Even Basketball forums on other sites seem to be slower than the other sports, even Hockey at times. The last show I did I saw only 4 people in a 3 day period that were interested in buying basketball cards. Everyone else wanted baseball of football, and that was in Detroit. It still boggles me that on the bay under Sports Cards Basketball is the subject that has the most cards in it. I'm not sure if that's a default setting, or other people just don't put the sport, but it's funny to me. I was looking on there the other day for graded cards so that I can just start buying for the PC when I start buying. I haven't bought much, and don't plan on buying much, until the 2013 NSCC. I'm actually trying to get rid of all of my non-PC basketball cards for really really cheap, but with the lack of interest in basketball, I'm worried I'm stuck with them for now.