Why baseball cards versus other sports cards?
 

Besides love for the sport, what specific features of baseball and baseball cards makes it more appealing for you to collect/invest than other sports such as football, basketballl, hockey, ufc, non-sports, etc?

You can open wax, put sets together, and grade all other sports, what makes baseball unique for you?

How would you try to convince collectors of other sports to try baseball?

I love baseball more than any other sport /thread

[QUOTE=hermanotarjeta;18788134]What specific features of baseball and baseball cards makes it more appealing for you to collect/invest than other sports such as football, basketballl, hockey, ufc, non-sports, etc?

You can open wax, put sets together, and grade all other sports, what makes baseball unique for you?[/QUOTE]

I played the game for 30+ years in one form or another....can't skate, only played football and basketball for 3 or 4 years each.

But outside the love for the sport, what makes the sport unique to you from the collecting perspective?

Is it more frequent games? Minor league system? Topps?

Baseball is far and away my favorite sport. I also posses the “collector’s gene”, I just collect stuff. But over the years I’ve far over myself to really limit what I collect, so it’s just baseball cards right now. For me, I just enjoy seeing Marlins players and the players on my fantasy team play, and then shopping around eBay for cool cards.


[QUOTE=hermanotarjeta;18788146]But outside the love for the sport, what makes the sport unique to you from the collecting perspective?

Is it more frequent games? Minor league system? Topps?[/QUOTE]

To dig a little deeper into your question, I enjoy baseball cards because the average star player is in your life longer. In football, besides QBs, the average star player is gone within four years. So it’s more to have keep a PC collection going of a mid-level guy because the odds are good that even if he doesn’t make the HOF, he’ll still be around for a while and maybe even make the HoVG one day.

I love the long history of baseball cards compared to the other sports

[QUOTE=SupermanBrandon;18788140]I love baseball more than any other sport /thread[/QUOTE]

This is it ^

[QUOTE=NYBBFAN;18788156]This is it ^[/QUOTE]


+1 for me.


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simple nobody want's to collect Hockey/Basketball because they can't pronounce 95% of the players names. And the only players in Football that are collectible are QB's meaning 99% of the box is complete trash.

[QUOTE=REGGIE206;18788150]I love the long history of baseball cards compared to the other sports[/QUOTE]

This is also my reason.

[QUOTE=Jolten Joe;18788165]And the only players in Football that are collectible are QB's meaning 99% of the box is complete trash.[/QUOTE]

Poopnini ruined football.

The deeper dive for me it’s mixing collecting and gambling. The baseball card market ranges from penny stocks (new bowman releases) to blue chip stocks (vintage).

Because I read the backs of the cards.

I think for me, I've gravitated to baseball cards more than football and basketball because baseball still has products to open that aren't at ridiculous price points. Flagship, Stadium Club, Ginter X etc. Even some of the pricier options like Chrome Update Sapphire which was what $125 or so at release is wayyy cheaper than a similar product in football/basketball. $125 barely gets you a box of Hoops and I don't know what it gets it in you football. I haven't ripped Basketball/Football in a couple years because the prices are so ridiculous, nothing ever seems worth opening. Baseball just seems to have more offerings where you can still have chances at monster cards at a reasonable price

I love the ambiguity of not knowing what you’re pulling. The other sports make it way too easy. Is it a rookie? Is it a prospect? Is it a vet? Fun!

I'm born and raised in Toronto in a low-income community. Hockey is king here. I don't play hockey, I can't skate to save my life and my parents certainly couldn't afford the expanse. I grew up playing baseball because it was a cheap sport to play, it took me away from "the ghetto" for a few hours and it allowed me to forget the sh*t parts of my childhood.

I put sets of 1987, 1988 and 1989 Topps together and I've been hooked ever since. All of the card shows here from 1988 to 2010 were 95% hockey cards. Dealers became more intelligent from a money-making perspective and latched on to baseball and basketball (and to a lesser extent, football) and the gap has closed considerably in the last few years.

Baseball is my escape. It's cerebral and the "games within the game" has always intrigued me. Football is the same (where one move is used to counter another and is very cerebral), but baseball is what I love most. Baseball cards are unique because you have two shots at a player...their Bowman 1st and then their Rookie Season. No other sport offers that.

Great thread. It'll be fascinating to see what people say.

Pedigree.

it's why we argue so much about the continuity of Rookie Cards.

Football would be second in that conversation, as there was continuity from 1956 to 2015 with Topps NFL

Hockey and Basketball were not taken seriously as a card sport by Topps until the 1990s, with them taking years off at a time for each.

Michael Jordan doesnt even have anything close to a Topps Rookie Card (at least Brady was in Bowman)

Baseball is / probably will always be ‘the King’ of all Sports in the Sportscard Market. Maximizes options to buy / sell / trade with the largest number of fellow Collectors

Baseball is the only sport I follow / love. I like Hockey but haven't watched in years as I don't have a team. I hate basketball with a passion. Football is alright, but don't watch for a number of reasons and haven't for the past 10+ years.

Baseball is life.

I have bought all 4 sports in various quantities since the mid 90s as a pre-teen. To stick to the hobby focus of your question, it is not unique. I'm a unicorn the fact I've stared at all 4 for all these years because of the noted pessimist echoed above me who dislike 1-3 of the other leagues. The others sports have similarities that if you dislike them, it's nitpicking. Hockey has tobacco/pre-war. Basketball/football has 50/60s vintage. All 4 have decadent 90s sets that attract attention. Yes, they went their separate ways once exclusives took hold but Panini vs Topps vs UD is all relative imho.

Hooking a collector/buyer into baseball for the 1st time from the other 3 depends on the person. Point of their hobby? Investor/reseller? Cause if they do not have a team or player that can attach to in anyway with baseball, it will be tough to open a product and find something they can translate. We know buyers traversed the sports where 90's insert sets that were made in multiples. To come in today cold feet and firmly plant, you better give them an "angle" they can see when picking baseball cards to buy. Prospects or vets or rookie driven? Baseball team in the city they live? Better help them find it.

People have bought and then come here on BO and ask "is this any good?" Well that can vary/change also.

But for digressing opinion (which doesn't help the answer you're looking for) baseball is not unique in this hobby other than the Bowman prospects and it ends there. If your new friend can stare at minor leaguers card in MLB uniforms and figure out what to do with them, then that's a possibility. But for vets/rookies, the other 3 sports offer that already. Does Topps sets (alive now in Fanatics derivatives) find their attention changing lanes like you want them to do?

Need a dangle but what do they want/wish?

More info required of said newbies to "convince."

[QUOTE=hermanotarjeta;18788146]But outside the love for the sport, what makes the sport unique to you from the collecting perspective?

Is it more frequent games? Minor league system? Topps?[/QUOTE]

By all accounts, in terms of fan surveys, avg attendance and viewership ratings, Football is the most popular sport in the US. However Baseball cards still reign supreme in terms of popularity (compare the number of threads/posts on blowout in Baseball vs Football or basketball, or look at the number of listings in the ebay trading card singles category by sport: Baseball has about twice that of football, which is around tied with basketball, or go to random card show and compare offerings by sport).

So this demands an explanation.

It so happens that card collectors in the overall sense seem to gravitate towards baseball the most. I think there are reasons for this. Back in the day, 'trading cards' generally meant baseball cards. They have a richer, more consistent history, with Topps going back to 52. A lot of collectors now are in the >35 years old age range. They collected/grew up with cards in the 80s and early 90s, when baseball was dominating the market. It was common to be in little league baseball, collect baseball cards, etc. Yes other sports would cause sporadic hype sensations in cards, such as the 86 Fleer Jordan RC, 1980 Topps Bird/Johnson/Erving, 89 Score Barry Sanders, NBA hoops set was popular and common, but overall, print runs in baseball during this era dominated, and go to a card show, say in the early 90s and it was probably like 80-90% baseball*. Beckett Baseball was by far the leading sports card magazine.

I think a lot of the above is why card collectors seem to skew baseball over other sports, despite the discrepancy in popularity. There is no question the gap has closed some since the 80s and 90s (and prior eras)...football and basketball cards today are a lot bigger than they used to be. Go to a card show, or look at the Target retail shelf, and you'll see all kinds of basketball and football products.

There are other factors: The QB or nothing mentality in football, players on football cards being under a helmet, etc. In terms of aesthetic, I can see arguments for baseball- the sport seems conducive to the concept of a trading card- it is a classic look of a player swinging a bat on a card, or (back in the day more), posing with a bat in hand. In football Im not sure the action translates as well to a card, either just catching the ball, throwing the ball, or just a payer setting up to defend. In basketball yes slam dunking motion is neat to see on a card, but otherwise it's mostly just someone with a ball- either dribbling or in shooting motion. Baseball cards can be batting, running the base paths, in mid-pitching motion, fielding, etc, good variety.

*: however it was actually a Marvel set, of all sets, that was to be the top selling product in 1992- Marvel universe series 3, if accounts from Skybox are to be believed. Even beating out baseball giants like 1992 Topps and Upper Deck. If anyone did collect cards as a kid around that 1990-1995 era, they very well might have collected Marvel cards, since Impel/Skybox/Fleer were putting out such a stellar product during those years.

[QUOTE=REGGIE206;18788150]I love the long history of baseball cards compared to the other sports[/QUOTE]

this! my first love was baseball. i played baseball, watched baseball, played baseball video games, and collected baseball cards. i grew up in that golden age of baseball, MY golden age at least. :)

i'm talking about:

Jose Canseco was a GOD in baseball. it was Canseco, and then everybody else. people who didn't grow up with Canseco will never realize just how monster of a ballplayer he was. he was iconic. he was bigger than the game. he was a pop culture icon. he was mentioned in movies, dated Madonna, had the badass forearm Bash Brothers thing with McGwire. my goodness, Canseco was awesome.

and then The Kid was coming up, and he was the "new generation" player that MLB needed. everybody wanted to be the kid. hit like him, swing a bat like him, play defense like him, wear the eye black and have an earing like he did, and wear their hat backwards like he did. he was cool. i still have Ken Griffey Jr baseball for the SNES. he was the face of Upper Deck. Griffey was the Jordan of baseball. he brought in the kids.

then we had The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, one of the best nicknames in all of baseball.

the 90's were so much fun for baseball. the players and the teams. Nolan Ryan beating up Robin Ventura. Nolan bleeding on the mound and still pitching...he embodied everything Texas. :flex:

i grew up a Braves fan because they were on TBS all the time.

but it wasn't just that. think about how iconic baseball was at the time.

Major League 1 and 2. Rookie of the Year. The Sandlot. Little Big League. A League of Their Own. Field of Dreams. The Scout.

and it wasn't just that. there was the baseball scenes from Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Naked Gun, Richie Rich, Casper having the autographed Don Drysdale baseball, and the Jim Carey movie where the kid wants to be Hideo Nomo and his dad be Jose Canseco. there was was the movie The Fan with DeNiro and Snipes.

yes....baseball was king.

[QUOTE=SupermanBrandon;18788140]I love baseball more than any other sport /thread[/QUOTE]

This...

Also, the fact that because baseball has the longest history and all positions are equal means that you have a lot more retired player content.

[QUOTE=oplum29;18788427]this! my first love was baseball. i played baseball, watched baseball, played baseball video games, and collected baseball cards. i grew up in that golden age of baseball, MY golden age at least. :)

i'm talking about:

Jose Canseco was a GOD in baseball. it was Canseco, and then everybody else. people who didn't grow up with Canseco will never realize just how monster of a ballplayer he was. he was iconic. he was bigger than the game. he was a pop culture icon. he was mentioned in movies, dated Madonna, had the badass forearm Bash Brothers thing with McGwire. my goodness, Canseco was awesome.

and then The Kid was coming up, and he was the "new generation" player that MLB needed. everybody wanted to be the kid. hit like him, swing a bat like him, play defense like him, wear the eye black and have an earing like he did, and wear their hat backwards like he did. he was cool. i still have Ken Griffey Jr baseball for the SNES. he was the face of Upper Deck. Griffey was the Jordan of baseball. he brought in the kids.

then we had The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, one of the best nicknames in all of baseball.

the 90's were so much fun for baseball. the players and the teams. Nolan Ryan beating up Robin Ventura. Nolan bleeding on the mound and still pitching...he embodied everything Texas. :flex:

i grew up a Braves fan because they were on TBS all the time.

but it wasn't just that. think about how iconic baseball was at the time.

Major League 1 and 2. Rookie of the Year. The Sandlot. Little Big League. A League of Their Own. Field of Dreams. The Scout.

and it wasn't just that. there was the baseball scenes from Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Naked Gun, Richie Rich, Casper having the autographed Don Drysdale baseball, and the Jim Carey movie where the kid wants to be Hideo Nomo and his dad be Jose Canseco. there was was the movie The Fan with DeNiro and Snipes.

yes....baseball was king.[/QUOTE]

I do remember watching a lot of Braves (TBS) and Cubs (WGN) baseball, even on the west coast.

For someone my age, THE card from my early days of collecting was the 89 UD Griffey. No other card from those years, including football and basketball had the same significance at that time. Is an 86 Jordan worth more today? Yes, but back then nobody wanted it like they did the Griffey. It's always been baseball for me...

one more thing i forgot to mention about the "golden age" of baseball that i grew up in.

if anybody remembers this, do you all recall the battle for who was the best SS in baseball?

ARod
Jeter
Nomar

man....those were awesome debates. i still remember getting the old sports card magazines from Steiner and they used to have a special page just for these guys. all autographed cards. those were awesome.

One other thing that kind of goes under the radar is just how [i]numbers inclined[/i] baseball is compared to most other sports. As a kid I spent days looking at the stats on the back of baseball player cards and memorizing them despite collecting all the Big 4 sports. Baseball has always leaned on the stats: As a kid you learn very early on the importance of a .300 BA or 3000 Hits & 500 HR in a career.

For the NBA, it's hard to get excited over the stats unless it's 50 Points or 10,000? career points. The triple-double has risen in importance but that's kind of lost its luster when you're seeing players do that for an entire season. There's a reason players chasing 100 points in a game is the equivalent of a player chasing the HR mark of 61/73.

In the NFL, you have barometers (3,000 yards vs. 1,000 yards vs. 10 Sacks vs. 10+ TD or 25+ TD for QBs) but they still feel 2nd tier to the sport of baseball. Even from a historical perspective, the NFL is constantly changing so those career numbers also get changed in terms of the benchmark to hit career wise.

Hockey may be the closest (50 Goals, 100 Points) but like the NBA, its career numbers never feel like there's an easy benchmark for a casual fan to watch for outside of say 10,000 points.

Baseball is relatively simple and has had the same benchmarks for its duration (for the most part): .300 BA. 200 & 3000 Hits. 50 & 500 HR. 300 Wins. 20 Wins. 50 Saves & 500 Saves. 100 Stolen Bases & 100 Runs.

What other sports?

[QUOTE=Jolten Joe;18788165]simple nobody want's to collect Hockey/Basketball because they can't pronounce 95% of the players names. And the only players in Football that are collectible are QB's meaning 99% of the box is complete trash.[/QUOTE]

95% huh? Newbie coming from the top rope with xenophobia. Canadian xenophobia at that. Jesus.

[QUOTE=DawnBTVS;18788508]One other thing that kind of goes under the radar is just how [i]numbers inclined[/i] baseball is compared to most other sports. As a kid I spent days looking at the stats on the back of baseball player cards and memorizing them despite collecting all the Big 4 sports. Baseball has always leaned on the stats: As a kid you learn very early on the importance of a .300 BA or 3000 Hits & 500 HR in a career.

For the NBA, it's hard to get excited over the stats unless it's 50 Points or 10,000? career points. The triple-double has risen in importance but that's kind of lost its luster when you're seeing players do that for an entire season. There's a reason players chasing 100 points in a game is the equivalent of a player chasing the HR mark of 61/73.

In the NFL, you have barometers (3,000 yards vs. 1,000 yards vs. 10 Sacks vs. 10+ TD or 25+ TD for QBs) but they still feel 2nd tier to the sport of baseball. Even from a historical perspective, the NFL is constantly changing so those career numbers also get changed in terms of the benchmark to hit career wise.

Hockey may be the closest (50 Goals, 100 Points) but like the NBA, its career numbers never feel like there's an easy benchmark for a casual fan to watch for outside of say 10,000 points.

Baseball is relatively simple and has had the same benchmarks for its duration (for the most part): .300 BA. 200 & 3000 Hits. 50 & 500 HR. 300 Wins. 20 Wins. 50 Saves & 500 Saves. 100 Stolen Bases & 100 Runs.[/QUOTE]

For someone with a hockey pic in the avatar, where does 10k points in NHL come from? Who came close to that? Casual benchmark? I realize discerning the top scorers in hockey history is just tiers from the best ever in the top 5 to each descending set of 100 pt increments is tough for novices, but hockey has had those same stat marks for quite awhile. Hard to break scoring records when goals were down for awhile.

For NFL, other than the top QB stat milestones being eclipsed every few years in the last decade, the top stats for WRs and RBs have not changed much.

Regarding NBA, being the No. 1 or 2 on the Finals winner seems to be much more important than any stat. 10k pts in basketball is not enough career wise either. 20k starts a conversation just scanning the list but even the names at the bottom of that list are HOVG by most opinions. Compilers in other words.

Which brings it back to baseball. Stats drove the MLB player worthy conversation so much that many HOFers are highly revered despite never winning a WS. But the sentiment may change in the future. I see tons of criticism in sports talk articles and comment sections complaining Mike Trout is highly overrated just because his lack of team playoff history/success. Ken Griffey Jr. had some playoff success but still no title. If that's more important now in spite of career milestones that are borderline mandatory, then watch out. I remember the Moneyball line about "Nobody cares if you don't win the last game." Lots of MLB greats will be moved out of the display case in Cooperstown if that's the new acceptance discussion imho.

Exaggeration sure. But not improbable either.

I agree with a lot of what’s been said already. The history of the game is more appreciated, Topps product lines, and the price points are better.

Plus with 9 hitters and 5 SP every team is going to have a handful of players that you can choose to collect / invest in. I feel like in football, at best you have the QB 1 RB and 1 WR on each team that are worth it for the average collector.

My personal bias also plays a roll where the Yankees are usually featured prominently in checklists and have historic relevancy, while the Jets historically haven’t been as much fun to collect.

The other sports don't have the history, characters, and heroes that baseball has. They have some. But not like baseball.

I live in America. Baseball is the national pastime. I am not a terrorist, so I love baseball.

Some solid reasoning in this thread :cry:

I have recently switched from buying a lot of football product and no baseball to buying very little football product and some baseball (even though football is far and away my favorite sport).

If you want to know the reason why, check out the wax prices in each sport. For example, I decided I would rather get a 2 cases of Stadium Club Chrome than 5 boxes of Prizm football.

I don't mind losing money on case breaks since the leftovers which go into my collection often makes it worth it.... but that is no longer the case with football. Break an $700 box of Prizm and consider yourself lucky if you get $100 in cards.

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230402/307efb8e18055beab77e40724225ee4d.jpg[/IMG]

Scarcity + Rarity + history + GOATs = best sport to collect


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[QUOTE=Jolten Joe;18788165]simple nobody want's to collect Hockey/Basketball because they can't pronounce 95% of the players names. [/QUOTE]

I don't that's the case with basketball (I can't think of a single major player whose name isn't easy to pronounce), but I think it is the case in hockey, where there has always been a market bias towards Canadian/North American players and away from European players. Out of all the Europeans who have played in the NHL, only Jagr and Ovechkin have really become hobby superstars, and guys like Mikita, Lidstrom, and Hasek have always sold for less than similar level Canadian players.

And today's NHL is probably 50% European.....

I did a report on the history of baseball cards for college. It solidified my love for baseball cards in particular. It was interesting to learn about early Allen & Ginter items. So, to me, baseball cards are Americana. As American as apple pie. I can’t say the same about other sports cards. The longevity just isn’t there to cement them, IMO.

Good question, by the way.

I stopped collecting football cold turkey when Topps lost the football license, so that’s a factor. As much as we complain about Topps, it’s the brand I want to collect.

But beyond that, baseball careers are a lot more interesting to follow over the long-term. 3000 hits, 500 home runs, 1.000 OPS seasons, wondering if we’ll see another 400-game winner… These are a lot more captivating than whether a QB will reach 50,000 passing yards. And we’ll never see another Barry Sanders again, so I’ve gotten what I need out of football. (Lamar Jackson sure is fun to watch when he’s on, though…)

Tied to the milestones, the history of baseball—and baseball cards—also gives collecting the sport more meaning. While there are differences between eras (deadball, segregation, steroid, the shift…), we’re to make generational comparisons on more even grounds than football (which didn’t used to have a forward pass) and basketball (which didn’t used to have dunking or the 3-point line).

And, of course, baseball’s history is generally more sacred than that of the other sports.


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For me personally a major differentiator is prospecting. In the other sports you don't really get cards of players until they are in the NFL, NBA, etc. With baseball you have kids being signed years before they will ever see a major league team. I think it is really cool to be able to collect a players cards before they were really known and follow along their careers through the minor leagues.

Used to be about 90% basketball and 10% baseball, now I’m roughly 50% baseball, 40% basketball and 10% football.

Only qbs value hurts football
Panini ruined basketball too, late 90s was the golden era for basketball cards, why you see such insane values on the rarer inserts but for as much as we get on topps, they trump panini and it’s not even close. Baseball is more fun to rip and you see the players for nearly half the year, nearly every day.

Hermano, is this meant to be some kind of informal focus group? Why haven't you answered the questions yourself?

In the modern era, I think price point is the number one reason to collect baseball cards over the other two big 3 sports. Panini products are ridiculously priced.

I wouldn't recommend investing in baseball cards to anyone.

Everyone who has posted in this thread has missed the biggest reason baseball cards have been a popular form of collecting/investing: nostalgia.

It's the main reason why Topps has so many retro-design releases. Adult baseball card collectors and investors either collected baseball cards as a kid or at least followed MLB.

Baseball cards have the long tradition and generational popularity that basketball and football cards do not. If you are male and grew up in America between 1960 and the mid-90s, you likely bought or collected baseball cards at some point.

Baseball cards were a staple of American culture during the youth of most current adult males. But the youngest generation grew up with Pokémon being their primary card hobby. Times are changing.

[QUOTE=Jolten Joe;18788165]simple nobody want's to collect Hockey[/QUOTE]


I don’t care what anyone says, IMO, 90’s hockey inserts were possibly the best of all the sports for that popular decade. Absolute art.

Baseball is number 1 for me though because of Topps. It’s the only brand in the only sport that has been there every year. When I look at my collection, it seems to tell the story. Non-baseball are represented in eras—hockey-90’s inserts, basketball-the Fleer/UD Jordan years, football was more the Manning Era (Colts fan). With baseball—it’s all years because of Topps…the RC, Topps Gold, Chrome refractors from year to year…it’s all Topps.

[QUOTE=FT35;18789223]I don’t care what anyone says, IMO, 90’s hockey inserts were possibly the best of all the sports for that popular decade. Absolute art.

Baseball is number 1 for me though because of Topps. It’s the only brand in the only sport that has been there every year. When I look at my collection, it seems to tell the story. Non-baseball are represented in eras—hockey-90’s inserts, basketball-the Fleer/UD Jordan years, football was more the Manning Era (Colts fan). With baseball—it’s all years because of Topps…the RC, Topps Gold, Chrome refractors from year to year…it’s all Topps.[/QUOTE]

But the Big Hurt was most synonymous with Leaf in the early-to-mid 90s. How do you reconcile that contradiction?

[QUOTE=fabiani12333;18789198]Baseball cards have the long tradition and generational popularity that basketball and football cards do not. [/QUOTE]

I think this is a very under-rated point.

Topps has produced baseball cards without fail from 1951 to the present day.

No other sport has had a single manufacturer for it's entire modern history.

Heck, there weren't even NBA cards for most of the 60's and a significant part of the 80's.

And because football collecting has been largely focused on QB's and RB's, it hasn't produced enough superstars.

I love baseball. It is cheaper. I have better luck. I like the cards.

[QUOTE=Eric1285;18788691]I live in America. Baseball is the national pastime. I am not a terrorist, so I love baseball.[/QUOTE]

Your newsletter, my subscription, blah blah blah…..

It’s the greatest sport ever devised! Nothing else even comes close.

Many factors already mentioned...the long baseball season, the low entry level to get into and stay in collecting compared to the other sports, the game's history, the ability to buy future stars at low price all make baseball cards a lot more interesting. This hobby and the game of baseball provide an escape from every life as well...that's what the "long" season does (the off season is always a drag!). I don't mind the "long" games :D Watch the first three innings, doze off the middle three and wake up and the game is still on. The long season, the stats generated from the games, gives context to the players I collect. Football plays once a week...and the hoops games nowadays look like Globetrotter exhibition games. The card values of those two sports are too expensive for me to get into also.

Unwritten rules

[youtube]QHH9EYZHoVU[/youtube]

I grew up collecting baseball as my number one sport...

But being a fan of Arod, McGwire... whoever the heck else was big in the 90s, I watched the game get ruined by steroid scandals, player strikes, teams cheating their way to World Series, etc.

As for cards themselves, the lack of continuity in what a rookie card actually was in the 00's soured me even more.

And finally, the uber focus on prospects that rarely pan out and the focus on players advanced metrics rather than actual winning or entertainment ability has done the sport and hobby in for me.

Pre-1994, give me baseball all day. Since then Football and Basketball have been much better to me.

[QUOTE=oddstuff;18789322]Many factors already mentioned...the long baseball season, the low entry level to get into and stay in collecting compared to the other sports, the game's history, the ability to buy future stars at low price all make baseball cards a lot more interesting. This hobby and the game of baseball provide an escape from every life as well...that's what the "long" season does (the off season is always a drag!). I don't mind the "long" games :D Watch the first three innings, doze off the middle three and wake up and the game is still on. The long season, the stats generated from the games, gives context to the players I collect. Football plays once a week...and the hoops games nowadays look like Globetrotter exhibition games. The card values of those two sports are too expensive for me to get into also.[/QUOTE]

Good points. I think what you really meant by length of season is the relatively high number of games in MLB -- double the NBA and 10x the NFL.

All those games create more opportunities for fan engagement. This presumably bolsters engagement with collectibles that are associated with the league.

[QUOTE=tjforce;18789338]I grew up collecting baseball as my number one sport...

But being a fan of Arod, McGwire... whoever the heck else was big in the 90s, I watched the game get ruined by steroid scandals, player strikes, teams cheating their way to World Series, etc.

As for cards themselves, the lack of continuity in what a rookie card actually was in the 00's soured me even more.

And finally, the uber focus on prospects that rarely pan out and the focus on players advanced metrics rather than actual winning or entertainment ability has done the sport and hobby in for me.

Pre-1994, give me baseball all day. Since then Football and Basketball have been much better to me.[/QUOTE]

A lot of truth to what you wrote. The 90s is when basketball and football cards really took off. The 96 NBA draft was a watershed moment for the league and trading cards. I also remember Peyton Manning and Randy Moss being big in the late 90s -- their rookie cards were hot.

Ask 100 random people to name a player, or two, in each of the big 4 sports that hasn't played in 50 years. Betting the vast majority can do it with baseball, probably less than half with football and I'm betting you will be hard pressed to find many that can name a hockey or basketball player that fits in that category.
It's the long history, the folklore, stories past down from generation to generation... father to son, grandfather to grandson.
Now, ask the same question for all 4 sports but make it a player in the last 30 years and those numbers will be drastically different. Heck, some people might not be aware there was basketball before Jordan, Hockey before Gretzky or football before Walter Payton.
Again, just boils down to the history and tradition of the game.

[QUOTE=Promethius88;18789363]Ask 100 random people to name a player, or two, in each of the big 4 sports that hasn't played in 50 years. Betting the vast majority can do it with baseball, probably less than half with football and I'm betting you will be hard pressed to find many that can name a hockey or basketball player that fits in that category.[/quote]

You could also argue that the inverse is happening for more recent players. People are more likely to spout off current football and basketball names than baseball as other sports overtake it in attendance and viewing numbers.

[QUOTE=Promethius88;18789363]It's the long history, the folklore, stories past down from generation to generation... father to son, grandfather to grandson.[/quote]

No sport can thrive as just a man's world. I saw plenty of women in attendance the last time I was at a ballpark enjoying the game for themselves.

[QUOTE=Promethius88;18789363]Now, ask the same question for all 4 sports but make it a player in the last 30 years and those numbers will be drastically different. Heck, some people might not be aware there was basketball before Jordan, Hockey before Gretzky or football before Walter Payton.
Again, just boils down to the history and tradition of the game.[/QUOTE]

I don't know where you would find anyone like that.

I’ve been getting into marvel more and more because the cards look pretty rad and no one gets accused of roids or sexual assault

[QUOTE=actionbryan;18789438]I’ve been getting into marvel more and more because the cards look pretty rad and no one gets accused of roids or sexual assault[/QUOTE]

Let’s talk about Kang....:coffee:

[QUOTE=SupermanBrandon;18788140]I love baseball more than any other sport /thread[/QUOTE]

This^^^

I was a baseball history fan (nerd) as a young kid.

[QUOTE=corndog;18789469]This^^^

I was a baseball history fan (nerd) as a young kid.[/QUOTE]

And now you’re an old baseball history fan (nerd).

Growing up in St Louis, I collected hockey a bit, but for most people I knew, it was only baseball. Didn't know anyone who collected football or basketball cards. Even card shops only had a few Blues cards in the cases.

Why baseball cards versus other sports cards?
 

[QUOTE=fabiani12333;18789234]But the Big Hurt was most synonymous with Leaf in the early-to-mid 90s. How do you reconcile that contradiction?[/QUOTE]


I have a lot of Leaf FT’s! I bought a lot of Leaf when I was a kid too. I was going after anything Frank and goalie cards for hockey.
But as far as baseball cards went, certain brands would come and go but there was always Topps at every store. Most sports were seasonal—but they made enough baseball to be an option at every store.

Speaking specifically about the 4 big sports and why.

1) The game really hasn't changed much for 100 years. Some rules have changed but you can compare eras in baseball but not in any other sport. There is such a rich history too.

2) The stadiums/fields are all different. In football, hockey and basketball, the dimensions of each playing field are the same. Venues are also very similar. Baseball fields and stadiums are all unique which gives the game a very unique feel.

As others have said, it is what I started collecting as a kid. As for getting others into it, the long history and absurdly good young talent pool both are things to highlight currently.

[QUOTE=corndog;18789469]This^^^

I was a baseball history fan (nerd) as a young kid.[/QUOTE]

Amen to that...I remember going to the nearby library in middle school to check out baseball books to read about Duke Snider and the rest of the Dodgers...forever blue.

[QUOTE=fabiani12333;18789362]A lot of truth to what you wrote. The 90s is when basketball and football cards really took off. The 96 NBA draft was a watershed moment for the league and trading cards. I also remember Peyton Manning and Randy Moss being big in the late 90s -- their rookie cards were hot.[/QUOTE]

Not to mention that both football and basketball have actually had a player who's transcended the sport in the past 25 years. Multiple, in fact: LeBron, Curry, Brady, and now Mahomes....all becoming household names. Meanwhile, baseball hasn't really had someone crossover since Griffey, unless you are talking about the guys in the news for different scandals.

[QUOTE=tjforce;18789672]Not to mention that both football and basketball have actually had a player who's transcended the sport in the past 25 years. Multiple, in fact: LeBron, Curry, Brady, and now Mahomes....all becoming household names. Meanwhile, baseball hasn't really had someone crossover since Griffey, unless you are talking about the guys in the news for different scandals.[/QUOTE]

What about Trout and Ohtani? Or even Judge?

[QUOTE=mfw13;18789833]What about Trout and Ohtani? Or even Judge?[/QUOTE]

Or Jeter for that matter.

I love baseball, I like other sports

Baseball is king. After starting off collecting a little of all sports simultaneously, as sets grew more bountiful I found the $ troubling. So I stuck with baseball (yeah, $ still troubling) as I completely loved it, football and basketball became obnoxious, and hockey was cool but no real tie to it to make me want to collect.

Figured rather than a mile wide and inch deep, I'd go an inch wide and mile deep. That's what she said.

[QUOTE=mfw13;18789833]What about Trout and Ohtani? Or even Judge?[/QUOTE]

I will give you Jeter. He was in the news.

Trout and Judge are not transcendent stars the way Brady or LeBron or Curry or even Mahomes are. They aren't selling millions of shoes, it's not news who they are dating/married to, they aren't getting press for stuff they do outside of baseball. Half the problem is that the MLB has marketed Mike Trout like crap, the other have is that he has 1 post season hit and doesn't have a signature moment the way LeBron has "the Block", MJ has "the Shot", Brady has "28-3", or Mahomes has "the 13 second drive". Trout's big in baseball circles, but that's it.

Ohtani is the guy who has a chance. But I'm not sure MLB capitalizes on it. It's just stupid that he can be opening day pitcher and batting 3rd and it not be a nationally televised event. For that matter, it's dumb that MLB scheduled them to be playing vs the pitiful A's on opening night. Do you think the NFL would put the Chiefs vs the Texans on the Thursday night opening game? Or NBA would have it's tipoff game be Lakers vs Rockets?

[QUOTE=MiamiMarlinsFan;18789902]Or Jeter for that matter.[/QUOTE]

Your right on Jeter. Jeter was a 90s guy who made a big enough name for himself that he transcended the sport until the 00's. Maybe not to the same degree as the other guys I mentioned, but he was a celebrity.