Dollar signs, mostly....
Many have already said it, but it feels like the "regular collector" is being left behind in the hobby culture more and more. It's all about the revenue to the companies in charge. Everything is more expensive, and the resources for cards seem to be dwindling for those of us that aren't wooed by a plastic prison with a number on it, or a Mojo box break.
Between my buddy Stuart in Michigan, and my knowledge of the local area here in PA, there are still several shops and shows we know that continue to have stock of single cards that aren't the big hype thing, and are reasonably priced for bulk purchasing. Online is a different story, though. I have been a regular customer of COMC for a few years, snagging around 100+ cards at a time. But now they have jacked up shipping costs, which negates much of the value pricing I was finding. A few years ago, SportLots was my other choice. There, I could find a few vendors who had decent stacks of things I need, and it was easy to pile up a nice order. Today, the site interface makes searching and browsing one dealer's inventory a maddening mess. Other sites are only baseball and are limited in their selections, especially when you're not interested in current flagship products. eBay is OK, but if you buy something expensive, they have to double check it for you, and if you're looking for singles lots, often each card is listed separately. The rest of the online dealers only carry (overpriced) boxes.
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For singles, anyway... |
The new innovations that were hinted at when Fanatics took over have not happened as far as I can tell. Anyone feel like they've done anything for us?
Sorry, I'm still not into rookies, many current players, expensive boxes, or high end mojo hits. I want to finish my sets and older player collections and still be able to set up my new house and garage too. I'm old enough to remember boxes of new product costing $50, and a box of sheets wasn't over $20. Not any more...
Jeremy summed it up well in a comment the other day:
... I feel like as long as there are rich people, companies can charge as much as they want. COMC might lose some customers due to long shipping times, but the scalpers and flippers that that can pay out the butt for expedited shipping will do just that and the collectors who can’t or won’t pony up the cost will just miss out on the cards from the site.
... It ticks me off that deep pocket collectors and scalpers can buy up all the products, charge over market value, leave nothing on the shelves or online, have tons of elite sets like Triple Theads, etc made for them, be the reason for 1,000’s of parallels, ruin shows by driving out dime and vintage boxes, make slabs popular, bash people’s knees at shows with their stupid briefcases, and be the only people that can shop on COMC because of shipping prices. The bubble has to burst, and I will gladly take a hit on card value if companies overproduce as long as these scalpers and flippers leave the hobby.
Rant over.
Jeremya1um January 3, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Thank goodness for TCDB trading. At least they haven't found a way to mess that up yet. I just have to get my act together and get back to trading!
I agree that sportlots redesign was not an improvement but I still muddle through to get base dodger singles fairly often. I am also lucky to have a LCS with nickel boxes to peruse when I make the trip to their shop.
ReplyDeleteI agree with GCRL, I muddle through SL for my braves and set build needs, but the new design (like ComC in general) SUCKS. Same goes for Fanatics. I do feel that Karma will bite them all by years' end. Seriously, I can feel it in the air tonight :)
ReplyDeleteOver the past decade or so, most of my card purchases came from COMC, eBay, card shows, and flea markets. COMC is now off the table. I still use eBay, but I've cut back a lot since the hobby boom. Not really sure if I'll make a huge effort to attend my local card shows as much as I used to. I mean, I'll still go every now and then to see friends. But I don't see dime boxes and quarter bins that much anymore. That leaves the flea market. 2025 was a great year for finds, but the guy I spent most of my money with moved out of state. Hopefully I'll still find some hidden treasures every now and then. If not... well... things will change for me. But I'll always collect.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... I thought that one day I'd start actively trading again when I retire. But I was blown away at how much I spent shipping out holiday packages. I might need to check out your postage post again to refresh my memory on how to send cards on the "cheap".