[mattpogo]

Ive been going to shows and shops and don't see many kids like when I was a kid. Has the hobby given up on getting kids involved?

[superynaldo]

Pretty much... The insane pricing on packs and boxes these days are not for the faint of heart... My son is getting into it quite a bit, but I have to cap him somewhat collecting RGIII... But we have been finding some pretty nice cards for cheap overall...

[collinsfanatic]

My son is only 5 and is just getting into collecting he really doesn't have a fav player or team yet but he does like the refractors and other shiny inserts and he does like the jersey cards. So far we have been to an lcs 2 or 3 times but just a few inserts here and there and 1 auto but he wasn't too impressed with it, he asked why someone wrote on his card and I tried to explain it to him but he does not like it.

[pbean]

well ..... speaking from "personal experience" ..... there are still a few kids collecting, and there's some great families here that collect together

pbeanjr and myself took up the hobby in about 2008 and it's been a blast

now, reality sets in ..... kid's play video games, live on computers and a digital world. You can collect cards to play role playing games, and even in your video games.

problem, we really don't have "sports heroes" like we had when I was a kid ..... "game day" used to be a family event, now kids play games on one TV while Dad watches the game on another

plus the demise of the "true RC" imho has killed a lot of the hobby ..... pulling a base RC of your favorite player and getting a refractor of a player was a downright miracle ..... now it's all about autos, and mem cards.

we used to study the stats on the back of a card, now you can look them up online ..... times have changed, and the hobby has evolved.

Manufacturers have addressed this, blasters are prevalent around the cash registers of Walmart, Target, etc ..... trying to get exposure to kids (and big kids) around the globe to get them back into the game.

Most important thing we can do is introduce a kid to the game if we want our love to continue on

[ugameck]

My kid adores Michael Palmer (back up TE for Falcons) - he went to her elementary school and has been back 3 consecutive years either reading to them or visiting.

She's got a little Panini collection of him - auto cards, and a personalized auto'd IP poster. He doesn't have anymore cards produced outside of his RC year, but she digs it. She asks me if she can have some of my commons and stores them in a 2007 Leaf Limited box.

But - yeah - this hobby got expensive. I'm fearful that the base Score might got that route, but happy to see cheap packs at...flame me....big box stores.

[roostersclassics11]

I sell at flea markets almost every weekend and i was surprised how many kids came up and looked through the common box for their favorite team Had 2 girls around 10-12 arguing about whethet peyton would overtake Elway as the best broncos qb ever and knew alot about all kinds of players and were throwing stats I have a great time and i usually give them some freebies but i think the internet and video games are more important now

[jheringa09]

well ..... speaking from "personal experience" ..... there are still a few kids collecting, and there's some great families here that collect together

pbeanjr and myself took up the hobby in about 2008 and it's been a blast

now, reality sets in ..... kid's play video games, live on computers and a digital world. You can collect cards to play role playing games, and even in your video games.

problem, we really don't have "sports heroes" like we had when I was a kid ..... "game day" used to be a family event, now kids play games on one TV while Dad watches the game on another

plus the demise of the "true RC" imho has killed a lot of the hobby ..... pulling a base RC of your favorite player and getting a refractor of a player was a downright miracle ..... now it's all about autos, and mem cards.

we used to study the stats on the back of a card, now you can look them up online ..... times have changed, and the hobby has evolved.

Manufacturers have addressed this, blasters are prevalent around the cash registers of Walmart, Target, etc ..... trying to get exposure to kids (and big kids) around the globe to get them back into the game.

Most important thing we can do is introduce a kid to the game if we want our love to continue on

Well said my friend.

---

My kid adores Michael Palmer (back up TE for Falcons) - he went to her elementary school and has been back 3 consecutive years either reading to them or visiting.

She's got a little Panini collection of him - auto cards, and a personalized auto'd IP poster. He doesn't have anymore cards produced outside of his RC year, but she digs it. She asks me if she can have some of my commons and stores them in a 2007 Leaf Limited box.

But - yeah - this hobby got expensive. I'm fearful that the base Score might got that route, but happy to see cheap packs at...flame me....big box stores.

Well said my friend.

---

And I agree. Score used to be a cheap product with nice "lucky if you find them" autos when they revamped.
This year looks like a mid range product instead of a cheaper kid easy product with all the autos and patches and variations I've seen so far.
I wonder if regular Topps will go this route also...

[pudge27t]

I believe its being overran by greedy ppl.. yet thats just what i see online as i don't really have a LCS i can go to really close! Just my opinion.

[butterworth1326]

What it boils down to, is the pricing. I've been in the hobby for 15 years and have seen the same thing. When I was 10 at LCS's, I saw other kids. Now at 25, there's only adults. There are so many more cards now then 15 years ago with millions of parallels (brands, serial #, jersey, autos, plates). My father told me 15 years ago that then there were too many brands and things to collect even from his time collecting. The only cards worth a dime are low serial autos and patches, or /1's. so set building is almost extinct, bc they are not worth anything. That's why I became a super collector of a few players, so instead of wasting 100 on elite to get 3 no name rookies, ill spend 30 and get a card I want. I used to stock up rookie cards and buy boxes hoping for a pay off, never comes in this hobby. Take it for what it's worth and do what makes you happy!

[s1020]

Packs and boxes are so expensive these days that its priced most kids out of the hobby. Not many "kids" can afford to spend over $100 for a box of cards. Plus I don't think many people put sets together anymore which is what I did as a kid. Now everone is looking for that HUGE pull and could care less about base cards. I just feel like with the prices of everything its more of an adult hobby now which is bad because if kids cant afford to get into it then there won't be as many "future" collectors.