EX Baseball Cards Box - all of, hello, 1 pack per box

My dad, who is now 69 yrs. old, collected cards as kid. He still has a large box full of them in his attic.

 

Agreed. I talked to a 12 year old a few weeks ago, and he told me he doesn't really collect anything and neither do his friends. Card companies are going to die soon if they don't get some interest from the younger folk.

 

He might want to get that Mercedes out of the attic. Those cards are worth some money - even the no namers.

 

Getting packs of cards was teh only reason I would go with my mom to the grocery or drug store when I was a child. It was great to spend $.25-.35 and get 12-15 cords/pack. I still remember getting excited to find a Jim Rice, or Fernando Valenzuela card.
I still have tons of cards from the early 80's in my parents attic. One of the best presents I ever got was a Steve Garvey rookie card. Not worth much money now but at teh time I was a huge fan of his.

It's a shame it became a business so teh kids can't enjoy collecting cards anymore.

 

WTF do you guys want? We make products for every level of consumer. You DO know that not every pack is $500, right? RIGHT?

To take Topps as an example (because, well, it's what I know). You want old school collecting? Pick up Topps, Bowman, or Topps Total. You want kiddie stuff? Pick up Bazooka. You want high end? Buy a box of Finest, Bowman's Best, or Pristine. You want super high end? Buy a box of Clubhouse or Tribute. There's something for everyone.

A pack of Total or Topps will set you back 99 cents. Is that REALLY too much?

I don't understand this logic. Why can't kids enjoy cards? As I said before, a lot of our core brands are cheap. There are plenty of products out there that are easy to build a set with. Besides, kids enjoy collecting Pokemon, and, well, I hate to break it to you, but Pokemon is a "business," too. I don't see anyone complaining about that.

The problem is, you freaking people want your cake, too. You want a 99 cent pack with a guaranteed autograph or relic, and when you don't get it, you complain. You don't realize that we spend HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars on JUST autograph deals in EACH product. You can't expect us to lower a pack price. Jesus. We barely make a profit as it is (and we have shareholders to think of, too). You want to blame someone? Blame the athletes who want $100 a card to sign an autograph deal. Blame Comic Book Guy for demanding more autos and relics. Blame the consumers for treating this hobby as a business. YOU dictate the market, not US. If Upper Deck puts out "Super Hyper Ultra Rare 1/1 Athlete DNA" relic cards, and they make the secondary market light up like a pinball machine, you better believe we'll at least look into doing the same thing. Hey, that's just business.

Look, I apologize for my tone. I'm in a bad mood, and you're all pissing me off. Collect or DIE. I need my bonus.

BTW, if you guys have any innovative ideas for new card products you'd like to share, I'd LOVE to steal them and call them my own...

 

i have a couple hundred dream cards my best ones being

feel the game jersey card
ud legends floor
finest gold refractor
fleer rookie

and my favorite is a start 85 best of the best card where hakeem is sporting a jeri curl type hairdo

 

I just want them to bring back Kenner (Hasbro) Starting Lineup figures.

 

I understand the logic behind all of it Vescey, really I do. I was friends with all the local card merchants around here. I guess when I grew into adulthood there were better things to spend my money on. Sometimes I pass a rack full of cards and I have a slight urge to burst open a pack, there was no better feeling than that. I think the business is still a great thing for the collector and the distributors, but I wouldn't want to be a local dealer trying to make a living off it.

 

PSJ- In the past, because packs that contained autographs and relics were visibly thicker than other packs, dealers were able to hoard the autos and relics and sell off the crappier packs (scam!). That doesn't happen anymore. Card companies now place a relic decoy (in the form of a thicker base card, advertisement, etc.) in each pack to ensure that every pack has the same uniform thickness.

As for boxes, if you buy one, make sure it's sealed. Don't buy an open box from a dealer (if you can help it). The box packaging will tell you how many packs are in that box (plus if there are any guaranteed insert cards). Also (at least with us), if you look at the bottom of the box, you'll find the autograph/relic groupings. Without opening the box, you can find out which players have signed cards in that product. Kind of helpful, if you ask me. One more thing: Be sure to check out the odds stated on any pack wrapping. We'll tell you exactly what the odds are for pulling rare cards. Most companies don't do that. (Instead, they'll write "Randomly Inserted" in favor of printing the actual odds.)

As for your scam accusation, I don't know what to say, other than don't buy an open box. Like you said, the packaging actually tells you the amount of packs and cards per pack in each box. How is that confusing?

Since I have your attention, let me tell you guys a little about Bazooka (since Bazooka Football just came out). It's a great brand for kids with colorful base cards, a piece of Bazooka gum in every pack, randomly inserted stickers and temporary tattoos, Bazooka comics specific to certain players, and guaranteed relic cards. It really is a nice product.

Also, for anyone into card games, we put a game element into Topps Total this year. Collect enough cards, build a team, and play against someone else. It's surprisingly fun (I had to test it over and over and over again).

(OK. No more product plugs. )

 

Excellent thread. The card-collecting peaked back around late 92- early-93. Like you guys were discussing, the hottest card on the market was that damn Shaq Beam Team card. I remember hanging out at the local card shop and buying a pack of Fleer Ultra, and finding some limited edition Harold Miner card. A friend of mine was also in the store and offered me his Fleer Ultra Shaq, for which I obliged. Thought I got a good deal, but today both cards are basically worthless.

It's a shame though, as 4chuckie pointed out that you can't go into the store and pick up a pack of regular Topps baseball cards for $0.25 or $0.50. The trading card companies got caught up in their own crapped and totally ruined what was a very popular phenomenon in the 80's. I also miss that nice hard piece of bubble gum that came with the Topps pack. Good times.

 

VS-
Like I said when I was younger I could go with mom to the store and with a buck buy 3-4 packages with 30-50 cards total. That was fun for a kid.

Now all the packages I see at the stores are $2 and you get 5 cards. I don't know if the sets have all teh players but if you're trying to get 700 cards (~25 players/team) that's at least $280 assuming you get no duplicates.

Maybe teh places I see them are just the wrong cards (I haven't saw the $.99 cards). How many cards come in the $1 packs?

 

You can get a decent box on ebay for $1 per pack or less. If you want to old school you can get a box of 36 for less than $10. Kids still collect any card of their favorite players, but most want the relics and autos. I've unfortunately spoiled my kids and if it's not a multicolored jersey or auto, the make a face.

I just got an Elvis leather jacket card the other day. Don't ask me why, I just had to get it. The King is alive!

 

Try Walmart. Dealers WANT you to buy the expensive stuff. Therefore, you don't see the 99 cent packs anywhere in their store. In fact, they may only sell the cheap stuff by the box. (BTW, I think you get around 10 cards per pack in regular Topps.)

As for spending $280 to complete a set, well... that depends on the product. I've been able to build entire base sets in only 2 boxes. But maybe that's just me...

The days of $.25 packs are over. Deal with it.

 

Scratch & sniff?

 

This would be sweet for sports families (Mannings, Boones, Griffeys etc. etc.)

 

how about a card with real Brian Cox spit or Najeh Davenport closet feces.

 

Do these 99-cent packs contain EVERY player? Is there an equal chance of getting ANY card/player?

What is this autograph insert crap? What happened to just regular cards?

Why can't you get cheap cards in a convenience store anymore? I used to get mine at 7-11 in the 80s. I realize it may not be your fault, but I'd just like to know the answer. I appreciate your expertise.

 

I lost interest in cards when you had to start putting them in plastic sleeves instead of playing leansies.

Somewhere in my parents house, there are boxes of hockey cards from the seventies -- but i guarantee none of them are in 'mint' condition .

I had a ton of fun playing with them though.