Collecting in the First Decade of the 2000s

[BoofBonser26]

Originally Posted by mfw13

The early 2000's were a great period for COLLECTORS.....there was lots of competition since there were multiple companies/brands producing cards....Topps Heritage revitalized interest in vintage designs....and wax was nice and cheap. Many of my favorite products and designs were from the 1999-2005 era.

The hobby started to die in 2009/10 when Upper Deck was banished and Topps gained the baseball monopoly. It's been downhill ever since.

You have the same brands being released every year, most with indistinguishable designs from year to year (i.e. Ginter, Museum, GQ, all the super high-end products, etc.).

The only real innovations of the past decade have been the creation of the super-rare SSSP case hit and a few Panini basketball/soccer inserts (Kaboom, Downtown, Color Blast, etc.).

I'll second this as all being exactly correct. Competition bred diversity of offerings. Yeah, some sucked, but some rocked. When the competition died, the hobby began backsliding from a collector's standpoint.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Originally Posted by BoofBonser26

I'll second this as all being exactly correct. Competition bred diversity of offerings. Yeah, some sucked, but some rocked. When the competition died, the hobby began backsliding from a collector's standpoint.

It’s truly unfortunate that almost all the manufacturers were unable to afford to compete against one another and stay in business…cards have narrow profit margins.

[DMK]

Originally Posted by MoreToppsPlease

It’s truly unfortunate that almost all the manufacturers were unable to afford to compete against one another and stay in business…cards have narrow profit margins.

Are there any good books/articles analyzing Topps/Upper Deck/etc business models throughout the history of the hobby?

[SearchPatrol]

Originally Posted by dev6015

I have heard from a few people that the 2000s - more or less from post-Ichiro / Pujols RC year in 2001 until Trout really burst onto the scene in 2011 - were kind of the "Dark Ages" in collecting. This somewhat makes sense, as you don't see the same kind of interest in cards from this era, all other things being considered.

For those that were around and collecting in the 2000s, my questions are:

1) is this characterization accurate?
2) why was collecting in the Dark Ages in the 2000s? Everyone burned by the 90's, poor RC classes, no innovation, sticker autos, etc.?
3) how readily available were cards at retail locations or hobby stores at the time?
4) what were the big sets, inserts / parallels, and RC's that people were chasing during those times?
5) was baseball taking a distinct back seat to football and basketball during this time period?

1) Yes - A few thing you have to consider. Just had 9/11 and Nobody had an idea what was going to happen next. People weren't going to spend money on cards.
Also, we were only a decade away from the great junk Wax era. Parents, family and friends NEVER pushed young people into collecting cards. WAY to many people lost money, and had nothing to show for it. You went to show as it was 85-90% Adults.

2) cards were FABULOUS. Just SO Much product. Even with Pinnacle and Pacific going belly UP. Upper Deck - Topps - Leaf/Donruss still made some truly great cards.

Big shift to Vintage High end Products. think Topps Tribute - Fleer Greats - UD Legends. Also Heritage and Archives.

3) Retail some but a huge drop off from the 90's. Hobby Shops PACKED with products.

4) Wax was so hard to move that some of the Box Toppers were better than the cards. Think 2001-2001 Absolute - and my favorite 2003 Upper Deck Classic Portraits Busts.

5)This is also when ESPN & Fox stopped covering baseball, and went to Football-Basketball Full-time. Basketball was strong with Kobe - Shaq with the Lakers.

[cardsin47]

Delete - commented on the wrong decade

[mcholke]

I was active collecting rookie cards from that 2000s era driven initially by Ichiro and Pujols (glad to have picked up some of those back then). There were a lot of fun prospects and key contributors that debuted then. I have put together a PSA showcase of those cards for those interested in a trip down memory lane or at least a visual representation of the card variations and designs.

https://www.psacard.com/psasetregist...gegallery/1121

[bear0555]

Originally Posted by mcholke

I was active collecting rookie cards from that 2000s era driven initially by Ichiro and Pujols (glad to have picked up some of those back then). There were a lot of fun prospects and key contributors that debuted then. I have put together a PSA showcase of those cards for those interested in a trip down memory lane or at least a visual representation of the card variations and designs.

https://www.psacard.com/psasetregist...gegallery/1121

Never seen a lot of those before. Ben Weber and Scott Shields? HELL YEAH!!!

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by MoreToppsPlease

It’s truly unfortunate that almost all the manufacturers were unable to afford to compete against one another and stay in business…cards have narrow profit margins.

Yes and No.

Upper Deck shot themselves in the foot by violating Topps copyrights which got them banished in 2010.

That's what led to Topps getting the first exclusive.....