(02-04-2012, 08:59 AM)Sajman01 Wrote: I understand your sentiment but it's harsh and very unfair.
Football is the common man's sport of choice. It's for fat guys like me that like to get together on Sundays, cheer for our favorite teams, eat pizza and drink beer. The majority of this group doesn't have a high income and can't afford to fork out $275 for moderate level players.
Now, you're a Marino collector so I would assume you live in Florida and have a nice job. Your income is probably higher than 90% of us that post on here, are you out there dropping $275 on Marino jerseys? I doubt it.
Basketball (and Hockey) have always been the sports of rich, white men. Basketball is more predominant in the United States and Hockey is in Europe. The collectors of these sports simply make more money than the collectors of Football and thus have a larger disposable income.
It has absolutely nothing to do with scarcity or appreciation, and obviously I've taken offense to the fact that you think basketball collectors are more appreciative of the hobby than football collectors.
You would think for someone that posts regularly on a forum devoted to sport cards that he would understand that, but apparently not.
I think you misread my comment. It has nothing to do with rich, white men. In fact, I would say the sport of rich, white men is baseball. Nor did I state Basketball collectors appreciate the hobby more.
I stated Basketball and football are two very different markets. Basketball collectors actually collect cards and appreciate scarce, low numbered parallels.... football does not. When is the last time you saw someone in this forum provide a link to a parallel card /100 and EVERYONE drooled over it? That happens ALL the time in the basketball forum. Football collectors do not appreciate the /100 parallel. Why? It has more manufacturers producing the same type of cards making it less fun to pursue.
Basketball, baseball, and hockey have had spurts of only 2-4 manufacturers tops for the entire existence of cards. Football has been reduced to 5 manufacturers with 2 more manufacturers still producing cards of other former/current NFL players. Its a different market. Football collectors have been swamped with parallels from Pacific and Playoff/Donruss/Panini and Collector's Edge. It killed the desire for MANY people to collect who collected from 1996-2003. Therefore, a lot of those cool rare cards and not being collected because the people who stopped collecting dont care anymore.
Who did basketball have in those times? Fleer/Skybox, UD, and Topps. Who does basketball have now? Panini and UD, who is all college.
You see, there is only X amount of dollars available to buy cards. If everyone is collecting the same card, it becomes more valuable. If one is collecting one set, and another collects another set, it becomes cheaper as the money is spread out.
I have been on many forums, and to be honest, football collectors are the stingiest. When I can buy a Marino Jersey auto card /30 for less than the price of a pack, something is wrong. Even when Rodgers Autos and Brady Autos, QBs who are separating themselves from everyone, are getting $250, people are screaming thats too high. I then look at basketball and see Kevin Durant getting that price, no questions asked.
I think you missed another major aspect of your comment. Football is the sport people spend the most money on. The model of NFL football has created an atmosphere perfect for the American culture. One can be immersed in it, while still not focusing on it all through the week, like one does for baseball, basketball, and hockey. The weekend parties is what generates the most money for the NFL. The average football fan would rather spend $100 to drink beer, cook out, and play in the office pool than spend $100 on a box of cards. Less people spending money on cards means less money to be spread amongst the collectibles. How often does one have an NBA Finals party? The NBA collector now has more money to spend on NBA collectibles because they are not socializing the way football fans do. Its a different market.
I also feel you should refrain from making assumptions on open message boards about strangers. I understand that the comment was misread and a context was added to it that was nowhere in my original post, which caused you to react in anger, but it is never good to assume. I would not spend $275 on a Marino jersey, because I do not have to. Could I? Maybe, if it the market dictated a Marino jersey being worth $275. I actually have only spent over $275 three times in my Marino collection. $300 for my 97 Legends Update, $300 for my massive UD jersey number auto piece /13 (MSRP is $500 on it), and my wife and dad split $400 for my Marino 1/1 auto. I collect on a budget, and I have sold a lot of my collection I had growing up. I just collect Marino, being focused makes it much easier.
