Trading Cards

[zekko]

I've been watching some YouTube videos lately of people opening trading card boxes. Most people are looking for the flashy insert cards or autograph cards. So they buy a box of cards for $174-$250 hoping to find one of these autograph cards. And maybe they get one, maybe they don't. Maybe they get one, but it's from a minor player or minor actor (one of the boxes I saw opened were Game of Thrones cards). No one seems to care much about the regular cards. So they blow $200 or whatever on one box in the hopes of finding one really good card. And some people sell them on eBay. But the whole thing seems like a colossal waste of money to me.

I remember back in the '90s there was a huge boom in trading cards, sports cards especially, I got sucked in to some extent. Everybody was collecting cards. There were card shops popping up everywhere. The whole thing went bust because there was no real intrinsic value to the cards, it was like the Beanie Baby craze, among other things. So the bottom dropped out of the hobby, but I understand they're making a bit of a comeback lately.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing more fun than cracking open a bunch of packs full of shiny cards and seeing what you get. But this dopamine hit is short lived, the feeling is fleeting. Once you've opened the packs, there's really nothing more to do with the cards. You can look at them, I guess, but how often are you going to do that? They're essentially useless. If you really are doing it to make money, to flip cards, the best thing to do is probably to buy a box, leave it sealed, and stick it in the closet for a bunch of years. Because nothing holds value like old unopened boxes. Maybe.

So what do you guys think? Anyone here enjoy collecting cards, or care to explain it? Is there some unknown virtue here that I am missing? Or do you agree that they are a very inefficient way of spending your money?

 

[Black Widow Void]

I can easily understand the enjoyment.
(though something I may regret revealing on this forum) In my youth, I was also a stamp collector.
Also in my younger days, I collected the below cards (among many other non-sports cards from that era) I did some card trading with friends back in that era - but in later years, I never threw or gave them away. Back then they had value to me and in later years, great sentimental value.

About five years ago, a friend offered his pair of Cizek Speakers (a rare and very high fidelity speaker) for my card collection. Because I knew that he'd appreciate the collection and the speakers would sound good with my vintage Sansui receiver, I made my last final card trade.

 

[zekko]

About five years ago, a friend offered his pair of Cizek Speakers (a rare and very high fidelity speaker) for my card collection. Because I knew that he'd appreciate the collection and the speakers would sound good with my vintage Sansui receiver, I made my last final card trade.

At least you got some value out of them. I'm not sure what that first group of cards is called, the ones that parody products, but I'm pretty certain that they still make those. That second bunch with the cars, I remember those from my childhood. If you got those back then and held onto them all those years, you have my kudos.

Back then the sets were more straightforward IIRC. With today's cards, most of the appeal seems to come from the rare insert cards, or chase cards, whatever you want to call them. Those are the ones people are after mainly, most people don't seem to care about the regular cards really. They want the flashy foil variant or the autograph. But they're so rare that you have to be a ton if you want to pull one from a pack. To a card collector, it's like winning the lottery. That's what I'm talking about when I say it's not a good value for your money. But those cards from the 60s and 70s, those probably have real value to them because people didn't know enough to take care of them back then.

 

[Black Widow Void]

The parody cards were called "Wacky Packages." The original series started in the early 70's and lasted until around the late 70's. There was usually 30 cards per series. And there was always one or two cards that were more difficult to obtain. In fact, there were a few cards that were quickly pulled due to lawsuits (these in particular fetch a good price on ebay). For five cents, you got two cards, a checklist card (and the other side of the check list card was a puzzle piece that would complete a parody product) and a horrible bland stick of bubble gum (which was never good enough to chew) . A few years later, they made a comeback and probably still produce them, but mine were considered the "first generation."

The other cards were called "Odd Rods." I had many of these, but I wasn't as obsessive about collecting them. In fact, I had other types of cards as well. I traded with kids in my neighborhood or at school. In fact, I think that one time, a school student actually paid me a whopping 25 cents for one of my rarer cards.

Even to this day, I still collect things like rare collectible LP's, older stereo electronics, old magazines and books.

At least you got some value out of them. I'm not sure what that first group of cards is called, the ones that parody products, but I'm pretty certain that they still make those. That second bunch with the cars, I remember those from my childhood. If you got those back then and held onto them all those years, you have my kudos.

Back then the sets were more straightforward IIRC. With today's cards, most of the appeal seems to come from the rare insert cards, or chase cards, whatever you want to call them. Those are the ones people are after mainly, most people don't seem to care about the regular cards really. They want the flashy foil variant or the autograph. But they're so rare that you have to be a ton if you want to pull one from a pack. To a card collector, it's like winning the lottery. That's what I'm talking about when I say it's not a good value for your money. But those cards from the 60s and 70s, those probably have real value to them because people didn't know enough to take care of them back then.

 

[Jack22]

Or do you agree that they are a very inefficient way of spending your money?

It's just escapism for people to keep their mind occupied and away from facing real life. Some people have profited from it, though.

 

[samspade]

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing more fun than cracking open a bunch of packs full of shiny cards and seeing what you get. But this dopamine hit is short lived, the feeling is fleeting. Once you've opened the packs, there's really nothing more to do with the cards.

When I was a teen I regularly shoplifted NBA Hoops. So there was a double dopamine hit. Unlike most NBA players, I quit while I was ahead.

 

[zekko]

The other cards were called "Odd Rods." I had many of these, but I wasn't as obsessive about collecting them.

Those really make me nostalgic looking at them. Something about the artwork and the subject matter just screams the '60s.

 

[Zimbabwe]

It's just escapism for people to keep their mind occupied and away from facing real life. Some people have profited from it, though.

Can you blame them though? Right now the west is a very boring dystopia.

That being said I used to collect Yu gi oh and pokemon cards as a kid, some cards i had sold for $150 each on ebay.