a tv station in my area did this story and i thought it was interesting........
there is a video at this link but story follows
http://www.wbtv.com/home/8939387.html
The Slump in the Sports Card Industry
Fans who have a Bonds rookie baseball card in mint condition could get about 15 hundred bucksm, but as kids grow more technology savvy, baseball card sales have hit a slump.
WBTV's John Carter tells us how companies and collectors are fighting to keep the old hobby alive.
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When I was a kid i use to love collecting sports cards from players like Sandy Cofax, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. But this is so low tech. Kids of today have the internet, television, and video games. And that is in part caused a real slump in the sport card industry.
"In their hay day a guy could survive on just selling cards," says
Ronnie Crisp who owns a retail sports shop at the Galleria Mall in Rock Hill.
He sells cards, but now, most of his business comes from other memorabilia. " Mostly flags and pennants..."
Larry Pierce has to do most of his sports card business at trade shows. "It's kind of like the stock market it fluctuates up and down," he says.
An example of fluctuation, in the 90's the trading card business was a $1.2 billiion industry. Last year, sales squeaked out $270 million.
A Jose Canseco Rookie Card would have been worth around $150 now is about six bucks.
However, the classics like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron's are still worth some big money. So why don't kids today try to cash in and trade baseball cards?
Both Crisp and Pierce agree, video games have a lot to do with it.
But Nick sees it another way. "I don't know any of the players," he says.
He does like to buy cards of his favorite football team, but his friends "don't really collect'em."
But card dealers think it's another problem. Many of them point out the fact that the price of packs have gone up significantly to where a lot of kids just can't afford them any more.
To combat the decline of trading cards, companies like DonRuss, are giving cards away for free to spark kids into collecting cards again.
"If we don't get the kids back interested in this hobby then it's going to eventually die away."
Of course, with the controversy that surrounds so many athletes today it is no wonder that kids really don't go after cards, because there's really no hero out there.
What ever happened to the Sandy Cofax's, Hank Aaron's and the Willie Mays'? Perhaps it's time that someone stepped up to the plate.
The card sales slump has gotten so bad that formerly dominant card company, Topps, is now up for sale.
there is a video at this link but story follows
http://www.wbtv.com/home/8939387.html
The Slump in the Sports Card Industry
Fans who have a Bonds rookie baseball card in mint condition could get about 15 hundred bucksm, but as kids grow more technology savvy, baseball card sales have hit a slump.
WBTV's John Carter tells us how companies and collectors are fighting to keep the old hobby alive.
-------
When I was a kid i use to love collecting sports cards from players like Sandy Cofax, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. But this is so low tech. Kids of today have the internet, television, and video games. And that is in part caused a real slump in the sport card industry.
"In their hay day a guy could survive on just selling cards," says
Ronnie Crisp who owns a retail sports shop at the Galleria Mall in Rock Hill.
He sells cards, but now, most of his business comes from other memorabilia. " Mostly flags and pennants..."
Larry Pierce has to do most of his sports card business at trade shows. "It's kind of like the stock market it fluctuates up and down," he says.
An example of fluctuation, in the 90's the trading card business was a $1.2 billiion industry. Last year, sales squeaked out $270 million.
A Jose Canseco Rookie Card would have been worth around $150 now is about six bucks.
However, the classics like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron's are still worth some big money. So why don't kids today try to cash in and trade baseball cards?
Both Crisp and Pierce agree, video games have a lot to do with it.
But Nick sees it another way. "I don't know any of the players," he says.
He does like to buy cards of his favorite football team, but his friends "don't really collect'em."
But card dealers think it's another problem. Many of them point out the fact that the price of packs have gone up significantly to where a lot of kids just can't afford them any more.
To combat the decline of trading cards, companies like DonRuss, are giving cards away for free to spark kids into collecting cards again.
"If we don't get the kids back interested in this hobby then it's going to eventually die away."
Of course, with the controversy that surrounds so many athletes today it is no wonder that kids really don't go after cards, because there's really no hero out there.
What ever happened to the Sandy Cofax's, Hank Aaron's and the Willie Mays'? Perhaps it's time that someone stepped up to the plate.
The card sales slump has gotten so bad that formerly dominant card company, Topps, is now up for sale.
