Century Old Baseball Hobby in Jeopardy?

I haven't been interested at all in baseball cards since I was a kid. I do find the single licensee platform to be the way the major sports, ultra especially, MLB have operated. It seems to me, this is just more of the same MLB policy. Short term gains without any vision at all costs.

There has been a magnificent decline in baseball card brands over the past couple of decades.

https://www.bbonly.com/baseball-cards-by-year-and-brand.php

• 2008 - 49 brands
• 2009 - 36 brands
• 2010 - 19 brands
• 2011 - 16 brands
• 2012 - 12 brands
• 2015 - 11 brands
• 2017 - 17 brands
• 2018 - 19 brands
• 2019 - 13 brands
• 2020 - 9 brands
• 2021 - 2 brands

We've seen the same move in regards to television, etc. It's not without similarities across other sports or product lines, either. With the decline in market competition, gaining sole access to an entire marketplace (monopoly) has been pursued at length. Apple's iPhone was originally exclusive to AT&T and Palm's Pre was exclusive to Sprint, for example. The big names no longer do this as it's proven to be a disaster, but I suppose MLB's ability to offer a double monopoly (product market and product together) is enticing. Kinda like cable companies owning not only the lines that go to your house, but also the content you receive. 

It is sad and I am sorry to see this move.  I loved my cards as a child and adult.  Topps was tops and I liked it when Upper Deck pushed the envelop, but this just pushes cards to a new level that I do not want to be part of. 

I watch this market through the eyes of my ten year old that really likes the idea of cards, but there are big parts of the market that exceed a ten year old’s budget.

I’m not sure what to think about cards in that context - there is not the ubiquity there once was, and it’s interesting that cards become a digital currency in games like MLB The Show. What is probably my biggest concern is all of this concentration of brands under the umbrella of the Fanatics company. They already seem to control much of the merchandising and all of the online presence of MLB and others; it’s not the best experience for fans and seemingly not for teams. The Twins online store is a Fanatics site that has far fewer products available than you can find in person at Target Field for instance - and that retail arm of the Twins has no online presence.

I’m curious what that experience will translate to for card collectors. I’m not confident that a one source for all things baseball will be a good thing.

Many of my 1950's New York Yankee Topps and Bowman cards were defaced by me, due to my deep dislike for the Yankees,, which began as a boy, and continues today, decades later.  Nobody told me that a 1954 Mickey Mantle  card with an inked moustache, would years later devalue my card hundreds of dollars. Who knew?

my ‘60s experience was somewhat different, ashbury. it was ALL about ripping open that 5-cent pack and rifling through the five minty-fresh cards in hope of finding killebrew, oliva, tovar or the ever-elusive mudcat grant — and the unique thrill when it actually happened. i do agree that it had nothing to do with asset appreciation. but i’d like to think that today’s 10-year-old kid can still find total satisfaction in seeking a similar needle-in-a-haystack thrill.

I always got Ted Lepcio

Cards make very little sense in a digital era. Develop an app that appeals to the 8-14 age range.

45 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

Cards make very little sense in a digital era. Develop an app that appeals to the 8-14 age range.

On 9/7/2021 at 10:36 AM, Ted Schwerzler said:

As someone that actively participates in buying cards now, and as a 31 year old, I don't understand this at all. Cards are a commodity I want to own tangibly, not in a digital sense. I don't get NFT's at all though, and feel old thinking about them.

I also don't think digital cards make much sense. But I think MLB needs something for new tech that appeals to the audience the way that cards once did. 

Few people born after 2000 care about physical collections.

As a kid, here's what I liked about cards:

- collecting

- trivia/stats

- pictures

- bonding with friends

You can get stats/trivia and pictures everywhere now. But I see a void now for the bonding/community aspect, as well as a modern form of collection.

I'm not saying cards should go digital -- simply changing the medium and not the product is a recipe for failure. But something new that creates that enthusiasm.

On 9/4/2021 at 8:18 PM, Scott51104 said:

I always got Ted Lepcio

I always got Don Moss or Clay Dalrymple.