My collection of Detroit Tigers cards, especially the 1968 set and my 1963 Bill Freehan rookie card, mean a lot to me.
Baseball cards have become very hard to to collect.
The price of packs have gotten out of hand, and special inserts have driven the cost of collecting up and up.
I saw this terrific ESPN short film today, on the most famous baseball card, the T-206 Honus Wagner.
The short story is well done, and I would recommend it to any baseball fans or card collectors.
Below is a link to the short story.
Honus Wagner Card/ESPN 30for30 Short Story
I also recommend the book, The Card, written by Michael O'Keefe and Teri Thompson.
I learned a lot about the card business from this book, and also suggest it as a must read for collectors.
Card collecting used to be just that, collecting, but not now.
Cards are bought and sold without regard to the fan, the collector, it's all for profit.
A pack of Topps baseball cards at Walmart is $1.99, and that's OK, but the same pack at a card shop is $3.00.
Why?
Because certain chase cards are inserted into Hobby Boxes, cards sold only at card shops.
The card shop has to survive, and that's fine, but Topps didn't have to allow Walmart, or Target, or anyone else sell their cards.
They went into those places because they make more money, that's the reason.
The collectors can't get inserts from Hobby Boxes at Walmart or Target, and the card shop packs cost more because the shops have to survive, thus the higher pack price, even though you may, or may not, get a certain insert.
The local card shop here in JAX does a great job for collectors, as many shops do.
It would be nice if collectors, not speculators, were the reason baseball cards still existed.
Play Ball!
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