What’s the deal with baseball cards?

[JackNicholson1974]

When I was a kid, in the 80s, baseball cards were my LIFE. from about 1984-1993 it was an obsession. Everyone of those cards is worthless, even the gems I had back then, and I have since given away boxes and boxes of thousands of cards. I’ve kept some, but only a fraction of what I had.

 

I have enjoyed buying my boys a box or two of general wal-mart topps every year when the baseball season starts. I encourage them to play with the cards, bend them, stick them on their wall - don’t do what I did which is put them all behind sheets and stare at them - because baseball cards are worthless relics.

 

Anyway, I go to Walmart and target as their birthdays are coming up, as I like to get them each a box, and the baseball card section in each is CLEANED OUT. I mean nothing. And there is a sign limiting purchases. What the heck? Topps 202- Series 1 baseball cards - a non hobby box - are worthless, are they not?

 

Why the heck is there no supply?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

When I was a kid, in the 80s, baseball cards were my LIFE. from about 1984-1993 it was an obsession. Everyone of those cards is worthless, even the gems I had back then, and I have since given away boxes and boxes of thousands of cards. I’ve kept some, but only a fraction of what I had.

 

I have enjoyed buying my boys a box or two of general wal-mart topps every year when the baseball season starts. I encourage them to play with the cards, bend them, stick them on their wall - don’t do what I did which is put them all behind sheets and stare at them - because baseball cards are worthless relics.

 

Anyway, I go to Walmart and target as their birthdays are coming up, as I like to get them each a box, and the baseball card section in each is CLEANED OUT. I mean nothing. And there is a sign limiting purchases. What the heck? Topps 202- Series 1 baseball cards - a non hobby box - are worthless, are they not?

 

Why the heck is there no supply?

 

I think it is one of those hobbies that has skyrocketed due to the pandemic. Card collecting is something easy to do from the comfort of your home, for the most part.

[nodakfan17]

That’s pretty much it - they are enjoying a pandemic inspired renaissance.

 

Most cards are still worthless (even the ones you buy brand new), but the market has never been stronger for high-quality rookies, serial numbered cards, and other rare variants.

[JackNicholson1974]

As some of you know, I was looking to get some junk baseball cards for my boys to rip some packs on their birthdays. I finally found out that despite the shelves being completely empty, that Target had regular run of the mill Topps packs behind the service desk. They allowed me to purchase one pack. As usual, I opted for the cheapest, highest volume pack - which was a box of 11 packs of Topps Opening Day cards, so 77 cards total. Cost me $9.99. I was pleased. I was planning on getting them each another box on their birthdays, which are coming up. But alas, it has been ruined by folks in of all places, Wisconsin.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/target-halts-all-sports-trading-card-sales-at-stores-after-fight-breaks-out/ar-BB1gGf8T?li=BB15ms5q

 

What the heck is going on? I always thought there would be a tree shortage before there would be a baseball card shortage, since the mass produce them so much. I honestly still do not understand why regular run-of-the-mill Topps cards are being hoarded.

 

Is it like toilet paper and gasoline? Just a bunch of people have decided, both collectively but no coordinated that we are going to buy EVERYTHING and then make a huge secondary market? That only works if you are willing to continue to go to the store every Friday and buy out the entire stock...and someone else is doing that too...at every Wal Mart and every Target across the country.

 

I. Don't. Get. It.

[MrTPlush]

While some of it is pandemic related, a lot of it is also a few popular people hyping it up as an investment opportunity. Gary V has been trying to hype sports cards for years. Then someone else decided to remind people of old pokemon card value. The interest in the vintage stuff pushed those same people to try and gobble up new stuff to make an investment out of it. Once people hear it through the media or find out the stuff sells out like hotcakes people want in themselves making it a bigger craze than it really should.

 

I remember when Kylie Jenner cosmetics first started. She basically used fake low quantities to make it sell out fast and have those special launches. It quickly made people think it was the greatest thing on earth and had to feel like they needed it since it sold out in 30 seconds. If it sells out in 30 seconds it has to be good, right? I remember making hundreds flipping the products in my spare time on eBay. My friends laughed at me for buying/selling women's cosmetics, but I didn't mind when I was selling the stuff for like 200% profit. That is probably what most of the card craze is, people wanting to flip it and then people suddenly think they need it more because it is hard to find. In reality most of the demand is people wanting to sell it to you on eBay for profit.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

While some of it is pandemic related, a lot of it is also a few popular people hyping it up as an investment opportunity. Gary V has been trying to hype sports cards for years. Then someone else decided to remind people of old pokemon card value. The interest in the vintage stuff pushed those same people to try and gobble up new stuff to make an investment out of it. Once people hear it through the media or find out the stuff sells out like hotcakes people want in themselves making it a bigger craze than it really should.

 

I remember when Kylie Jenner cosmetics first started. She basically used fake low quantities to make it sell out fast and have those special launches. It quickly made people think it was the greatest thing on earth and had to feel like they needed it since it sold out in 30 seconds. If it sells out in 30 seconds it has to be good, right? I remember making hundreds flipping the products in my spare time on eBay. My friends laughed at me for buying/selling women's cosmetics, but I didn't mind when I was selling the stuff for like 200% profit. That is probably what most of the card craze is, people wanting to flip it and then people suddenly think they need it more because it is hard to find. In reality most of the demand is people wanting to sell it to you on eBay for profit.

 

Ding ding ding. It's a craze, heavily inspired by social media influencers. There are Walmart employees who buy up the boxes as soon as they are shipped in. There's a bit of a trading card bubble going on right now. It's become the new thing to flip for profit.

[GAME05]

So basically Beanie Babies 2.0?

[nodakfan17]

I just read that Target will stop selling sports cards and Pokémon cards due to concern for the safety of their employees and guests.

[remfire]

In my opinion, it's people prospecting rookies and grading them, hoping for a gem mint PSA 10. Let's just take Juan Soto for example. Nice, young ballplayer with his whole career ahead of him. He's "on the right path" for possible enshrinement for the Hall of Fame. His rookie card was in 2018. He was arguably the 4th best rookie that year in terms of baseball card value. Acuna Jr, Ohtani, and Torres being the other 3 big ones.

 

A Soto BASE Topps Update rookie card sold today on ebay for $60.00. A Graded PSA 10 of the same card sold today for $232.50

 

A Soto 2018 Topps Chrome Update (Target Exclusive) UNGRADED card sold for $170 on ebay. That's a nice investment for a $20 box of cards. A GRADED PSA 10 of the same card has sold on ebay for $687.80. That's huge.

 

That's just Soto for example. There are plenty of others. Everyone is prospecting for the next Trout....whose PSA 10 2011 Topps Update card just sold for $4000..........

 

Not to mention Target, Meijer, Walgreens, Walmart, etc have special color variations (Yellow, Red, Blue, etc) of each of the base set cards in Topps. These colored variations of these rookies go for a premium.

 

For example, a 2019 Topps Update Hiura Walgreens Yellow Border just sold for $35. His normal base card for 2019 Topps Update sells for a few bucks.

 

 

My best advice if your looking to get some cards for your kids would be to go to an actual card shop or online. I used to recommend any Topps Jumbo box as you most often get a complete set. They used to cost $100-$150 2-3+ years ago, but now cost in excess of $250.....it's just crazy.

[rwa12]

Grading is driving the new market. It’s really no different than the last big surge in the early 90s. People think they are investing, most will be worthless.

 

I sold 4 cards, that I had a net $10 investment in, for $1300 in February. I almost felt bad about it.

[nodakfan17]

I also wonder if the stimulus has helped drive the recent boom.

 

Presumably, if a person has been fortunate to have maintained a steady income the last 15 months, the stimulus has allowed for more discretionary spending. And since opportunities to watch live sports have been limited, sports cards seem like a natural outlet for some fans.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I also wonder if the stimulus has helped drive the recent boom.

 

Presumably, if a person has been fortunate to have maintained a steady income the last 15 months, the stimulus has allowed for more discretionary spending. And since opportunities to watch live sports have been limited, sports cards seem like a natural outlet for some fans.

 

If this helped prevent retailers from laying off staff, which it almost certainly did, then it worked as intended. For now.

[homer]

I should find the 2 dozen or so cards that I had that were "valuable" 20 years ago and see if they are worth anything. Probably not as none are mint.

[CheezWizHed]

If the outcome of the stimulus package(s) is that people are buying more baseball cards, we are doing it wrong...

[TURBO]

If the outcome of the stimulus package(s) is that people are buying more baseball cards, we are doing it wrong...

 

EXACTLY!

[JimH5]

If the outcome of the stimulus package(s) is that people are buying more baseball cards, we are doing it wrong...

 

The world has drastically cut travel and public forms of entertainment from its spending. Months after their release, people still can't get the new XBox or Playstation. We've largely not been able to go to gyms.

 

If people are able to find some fun collecting and trading sports cards, that's ok.

[nate82]

 

The world has drastically cut travel and public forms of entertainment from its spending. Months after their release, people still can't get the new XBox or Playstation. We've largely not been able to go to gyms.

 

If people are able to find some fun collecting and trading sports cards, that's ok.

 

There is a supply chain issue with semiconductors that started around the beginning of the pandemic. The automakers during the beginning of the pandemic reduced their orders of semiconductors while the consumer electronics industry increased. What happened after the first few months the auto industry had to pivot and reorder and order more semiconductors causing an increase in demand. Intel seems to be the only company not hit by the supply chain shortage as they manufacture all of their chips unlike other companies in the semiconductor industry.

 

It was kind of a perfect storm that hit for electronic devices between the trade war and the pandemic. Normal supply probably would have been disrupted anyways with or without the pandemic. Probably wouldn't have been as bad as it is now which doesn't look like the shortage is going to go away until at least 2022 or later. Supply should be back to normal around mid 2023 is the current guess.

[JimH5]

 

The world has drastically cut travel and public forms of entertainment from its spending. Months after their release, people still can't get the new XBox or Playstation. We've largely not been able to go to gyms.

 

If people are able to find some fun collecting and trading sports cards, that's ok.

 

There is a supply chain issue with semiconductors that started around the beginning of the pandemic. The automakers during the beginning of the pandemic reduced their orders of semiconductors while the consumer electronics industry increased. What happened after the first few months the auto industry had to pivot and reorder and order more semiconductors causing an increase in demand. Intel seems to be the only company not hit by the supply chain shortage as they manufacture all of their chips unlike other companies in the semiconductor industry.

 

It was kind of a perfect storm that hit for electronic devices between the trade war and the pandemic. Normal supply probably would have been disrupted anyways with or without the pandemic. Probably wouldn't have been as bad as it is now which doesn't look like the shortage is going to go away until at least 2022 or later. Supply should be back to normal around mid 2023 is the current guess.

 

That's remarkable. It's wild that the shortage is going to be so long lasting.

[homer]

If the outcome of the stimulus package(s) is that people are buying more baseball cards, we are doing it wrong...

 

EXACTLY!

 

I look at it a little differently. They are putting money out into the economy by buying something that someone else is selling. The seller can then use that money to buy other things.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

If the outcome of the stimulus package(s) is that people are buying more baseball cards, we are doing it wrong...

 

EXACTLY!

 

Except...no. Its purpose is consumer spending. About half the population seems to think it was intended to feed the hungry or something, when it wasn't. They want people out there buying canoes, baseball cards, and new TVs to keep consumer spending regular and the retail cycle healthy. It was never intended to be a charity. Its purpose is to stimulate spending and temporarily hold up a hobbling economy.

 

There is always a portion of the population using it stay afloat but the reason the income cutoff is fairly high is to distribute money to people not using it for that reason, folks will "blow it" on a splurge purchase they otherwise wouldn't have.

 

If people aren't buying baseball cards, or new clothes, retail spending is down, retailers lay people off. I work for a fortune 500 retailer and I can tell you firsthand that the stimulus payments directly correlated with better sales. There would have been more problems for my company without the stimulus. And we don't sell anything that people truly "need."