Observations on the current state of the hobby from a show this weekend

[nowiamsad]

this thread always exerting extreme boomer energy

[tconte]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

which Joe D playing days cards are "nice prices"? i will say that pre-war is a whole other animal for sure.

Not many. Wheaties premium, 1943 M.P. maybe very low grade 1939 & 1940
Playball.

Good luck with the chase TBP on the black! I hope you find it at a nice
price one day.

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

The rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer - the distance between the socioeconomic classes continues to widen.

It’s a good thing we are not competing against mark zuckerberg and Jeff bezos to buy our favorite sports cards.

Soon enough the Rupert Murdoch’s, Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos will own a even larger portion of the farmlands while the Bush family will own the majority of the water rights. We are just hoping for a slice of the sports card market but when food and water become even more controlled by the elite, that’s more money spent on needs.

[Twalk1975]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The Pokemon Company just gets it in a way that Fanatics, Panini, and all the other companies that have come and gone the last 30 years don’t. The sports card companies create chase out of scarcity, most of which is artificial. They make money by creating tiers of products designed around those chases. The tiers are progressively more expensive, and “expensive” becomes more outrageous over time.

Pokémon is straightforward. The cards are readily available. The structure of all releases is pretty much the same, and they’ll introduce new concepts every year or so. The best cards in any given set are cards you can reasonably pull, and at worst, readily buy or trade for. They do a lot of promos through different wax formats or events, but few are what a sports collector would consider to be rare.

The foundation has been built over the last 30 years, and TPC continues to attract new generations. But I suspect prices are exploding right now thanks to crypto.

What do you consider to be reasonable to pull? I can't really name any Pokemon besides Pikachu, Charizard, and Moonbreon. If I search pull rates for Moonbreon, I see 1:46 boxes, with maybe as high as 1:73, or as low as 1:240 packs. I've never opened a pack of Pokemon. How much is a box? Is there like one art variation per box?

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by Stifle

Soon enough the Rupert Murdoch’s, Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos will own a even larger portion of the farmlands while the Bush family will own the majority of the water rights. We are just hoping for a slice of the sports card market but when food and water become even more controlled by the elite, that’s more money spent on needs.

We can only blame ourselves for prioritizing sports cards over real estate and information technology.

[notfast]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

This 100%. If a poor person would Door Dash just 3 hours a night for one month they could make $1500 and pop it into an investment account. Do it for 6 months and they have 9K. Do it for a year and they have 18k. And even if they knew nothing about the stock market they could park it into an index fund at an average yearly return of 10% and double that every 10 years. 40 years from now they have 75k from "that one year they DoorDashed for 3 hours a night".

That doesn't even count the potential for retirement contributions or making a longer-term commitment to a side hustle. Do it for 5 years and you have 375k over 40 years.

Sans a felony, DUI, disability, etc., the average "poor" person is capable of far more than they realize.

This whole post is ridiculous and ungodly out of touch with reality

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by notfast

This whole post is ridiculous and ungodly out of touch with reality

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by Twalk1975

What do you consider to be reasonable to pull? I can't really name any Pokemon besides Pikachu, Charizard, and Moonbreon. If I search pull rates for Moonbreon, I see 1:46 boxes, with maybe as high as 1:73, or as low as 1:240 packs. I've never opened a pack of Pokemon. How much is a box? Is there like one art variation per box?

Consider how those odds stack up against your chance at hitting a BCA of whoever the top prospect is.

My point was more that sports products are now hyper focused on the lottery ticket pulls like the Skenes Debut, versus Pokemon which is focused on cards that aren’t easy pulls, but actually within reason. It’s a different feel for the wax which attracts and maintains a wider audience. People (especially kids) want to pull the BEST card from the set.

Many different wax formats for Pokemon, but retail is always going to be around $4 a pack.

[DR Murph]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

This 100%. If a poor person would Door Dash just 3 hours a night for one month they could make $1500 and pop it into an investment account. Do it for 6 months and they have 9K. Do it for a year and they have 18k. And even if they knew nothing about the stock market they could park it into an index fund at an average yearly return of 10% and double that every 10 years. 40 years from now they have 75k from "that one year they DoorDashed for 3 hours a night".

That doesn't even count the potential for retirement contributions or making a longer-term commitment to a side hustle. Do it for 5 years and you have 375k over 40 years.

Sans a felony, DUI, disability, etc., the average "poor" person is capable of far more than they realize.

I agree with your main point—small, but consistent good decisions add up to a lot in the long run. It’s less about how much you make and more about how you manage it.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by Rbradleigh

I’m going to punch a few holes into this example:
Do the “poor” have reliable transportation to deliver door dash?
Do the poor have enough reserves to allow $1500 a month to go into investment portfolios?
Do the poor have affordable childcare if needed to allow driving those additional 3 hrs a night?

I’ll go with 1. Education and 2. Birth control

Some may not be able, but the majority probably could. And he just gave a single example. His point remains true.

For any example one gives, you could come up with excuses why it wouldn't work. Or you could come up with ways to make it work. Again, proving the point of mindset. Success doesn't always fall into your lap, and the vast majority of people who have made something of themselves could have probably listed a few excuses like above and stayed where they were in life. I personally grew up with nothing, and never had any big breaks to put me into what I consider a successful place in life. But what I do have is a desire to give my family the best life possible and the work ethic to go with it. I would work 3 jobs if I needed to for my family. I wouldn't sit down and say "oh well, I don't have a car to do door dash, so I'll just sit here and do nothing instead". I'd find a way to get a beater and make it start happening. We don't live in the middle of the African desert where no opportunities exist. There are unlimited ways to make something of yourself in this country. Truly unlimited. I mean, dang, we are on a baseball card forum right now. You can buy a $10 baseball card and sell it for $20 probably within the same day if you try hard enough. Could you imagine explaining that opportunity to someone in a country that makes $20 a week or a month?

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by premium1981

That will never change. Communism doesn't work. Everyone does not get an equal share of everything. A post I made a few weeks ago sums up this difference perfectly. But it got shut down because the point that was being made turned into a bunch of political responses. But I will bring it up again to prove this point:

The "rich" bought Tesla when it bottomed out because it was such an incredible opportunity to get into the stock for massive discounts. It did a nose dive for absolutely no reason other human emotions. It was a guaranteed win. Some of the easiest and fastest money I have made this year.

The "poor" complained about how evil Elon Musk was and some went to the streets to waste their time protesting and even keying innocent peoples cars.

That is one example of why people stay poor. Yes, the above example has outliers on both ends. Not everyone with money bought it, and not everyone who keyed a Tesla is poor. But its an example of mindset. These type of examples can be given over and over. The machine is not keeping the poor people poor. Bad decisions (there are exceptions to every rule) are what keep people poor.

"The man" is not holding anyone down.

Hear Hear. I completely agree. One quote I often say that makes my wife roll her eyes: “You get out of life what you put into it.” So many people complain about “the rich” could also be successful if they’d just roll up their sleeves and get to work.

[PuddleMonkey]

Originally Posted by Chicosbailbonds

What set?

A boring '96 Leaf Extended. Don't plan on scanning the entire thing since there's about 200 commons but I'll hit the key cards.

[oldgoldy97]

Boot straps!

[oldgoldy97]

As Ray used to say “you can’t fix stupid”.

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Hear Hear. I completely agree. One quote I often say that makes my wife roll her eyes: “You get out of life what you put into it.” So many people complain about “the rich” could also be successful if they’d just roll up their sleeves and get to work.

When safety is supposedly the first priority of a business and the employees are held to a higher standard than those at the top who smirk and protect what’s really valuable. Safety is the number one goal for these people, but it’s not life or welfare of the people but the safety of the stock !

I’ve been around to multiple facilities and know of many people who know others. You start connecting the dots and you would be more enlightened by what is occurring. Do yourself a favor, HYPOTHETICALLY, check evil face on Upjohn Pond. Then hypothetically ask if is it true that hundreds of Swans flatlined on that pond for no specific reason. Then ask why 2 lower income elementary schools “Ramona & Pershing” were closed the same year for bussing when lower income was purposely bussed past 4 elementary schools that wouldn’t even equal the distance of Ramona if you combined them ? I can give you many more hypotheticals than that.

You might just want to start opening those eyes and realize that this world creates groups that don’t give two cents about anything but greed. Use their greatest strength and it will be their greatest weakness. They sure do love their spy ware. Let’s hope they put the same love into protecting those they enjoy spying on.

Back to cards, hoping the next show was as good as the last.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The Pokemon Company just gets it in a way that Fanatics, Panini, and all the other companies that have come and gone the last 30 years don’t. The sports card companies create chase out of scarcity, most of which is artificial. They make money by creating tiers of products designed around those chases. The tiers are progressively more expensive, and “expensive” becomes more outrageous over time.



Pokémon is straightforward. The cards are readily available. The structure of all releases is pretty much the same, and they’ll introduce new concepts every year or so. The best cards in any given set are cards you can reasonably pull, and at worst, readily buy or trade for. They do a lot of promos through different wax formats or events, but few are what a sports collector would consider to be rare.



The foundation has been built over the last 30 years, and TPC continues to attract new generations. But I suspect prices are exploding right now thanks to crypto.

Sounds eerily similar to junk wax baseball. Appears a crash is imminent with zero long term value.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Sounds eerily similar to junk wax baseball. Appears a crash is imminent with zero long term value.

LOL. You’re killing it this weekend.

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by nowiamsad

this thread always exerting extreme boomer energy

100%. They go crazy in this thread.

[anusinha]

If you really wanted to do something, you'd find a way to make it happen. If you want to come up with excuses, well, there's an unlimited amount of excuses.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by anusinha

If you really wanted to do something, you'd find a way to make it happen.

That's a very simplistic viewpoint that ignores the very real economic hurdles many people face. If becoming rich was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Yes, most people could manage their money more wisely, but given the lack of financial education/literacy in the US, many don't know how to.

And depending on which article or study you cite, anywhere from 30-60% of all Americans are (or believe themselves to be) living paycheck to paycheck, i.e. with no money available to save or invest, and no savings to fall back on if they are hit with a negative life event.

[PuddleMonkey]

Sounds like people really are financing burritos with Klarna.

[anusinha]

Originally Posted by mfw13

That's a very simplistic viewpoint that ignores the very real economic hurdles many people face. If becoming rich was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Yes, most people could manage their money more wisely, but given the lack of financial education/literacy in the US, many don't know how to.

And depending on which article or study you cite, anywhere from 30-60% of all Americans are (or believe themselves to be) living paycheck to paycheck, i.e. with no money available to save or invest, and no savings to fall back on if they are hit with a negative life event.

You could always try working more. I went from farm in a third world country to USA 1%er. Didn't get there by staring at the wall complaining.

[hermanotarjeta]

Sounds like one needs to be at least a top 30%er to be collecting cards.

[whitmm]

So anyways, I had a good time at the show I went to this weekend. Picked up a bunch of cards for my 2025 blBowman set and a few cards for my Braves collection. Was a little slow while I was there, but it was during the last hour ish of the show.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by mfw13

That's a very simplistic viewpoint that ignores the very real economic hurdles many people face. If becoming rich was easy, everyone would be doing it.

No one said becoming successful was easy. Being fit isn't easy either, but most people don't have to stay fat and out of shape. Its a choice too. Because people don't want to put in the effort to feel better.

Originally Posted by mfw13

Yes, most people could manage their money more wisely, but given the lack of financial education/literacy in the US, many don't know how to.

Don't blame the system. Thats nothing more than a cop out. I wasn't taught financial literacy either. But its easier today than ever before. Instead of doom scrolling, pull up some videos on personal finance on youtube. Lack of education is an easy excuse that a lot of people choose to use to stay uneducated.

Originally Posted by mfw13

And depending on which article or study you cite, anywhere from 30-60% of all Americans are (or believe themselves to be) living paycheck to paycheck, i.e. with no money available to save or invest, and no savings to fall back on if they are hit with a negative life event.

This has more to do with way of life and how people choose to spend the money they do have. Eating out constantly, buying Starbucks coffee, car wash memberships, having 8 streaming subscriptions, buying cars they can't afford, buying houses they can't afford, renting places bigger than they need, buy boxes of Topps baseball cards, buying Jordan's instead of payless shoes, smoking, drinking, buying a 60" tv instead of 32" tv, charging all of this stuff and paying more in interest every month than the item cost originally, expensive nails and hair cuts, name brand cereal instead of generic. I could list things all day long. Again, the vast majority people are broke by choice. You can list all the studies and excuses you wish. That doesn't change that the "American Way" is being broke. And all of the examples I just gave is on the spending side. Get another job and work some extra shifts to get somewhere faster.

I cannot fathom myself having this mindset of excuses. But its the exact reason this type of conversation exists in the first place. Its also the exact reason why there will always be a wealth gap. You can give some people a step by step guide and they will refuse to use it. They prefer to maintain their grip on victim mentality. Its everyone else's fault.