I went down the rabbit hole of Burbank Sportscards Instagram Reels recently and there Rob Veres, the owner of who calls himself “The Cardfather,” has been speaking lately about the hobby lacking collectors and the notion that cards need “forever homes.”
Rob is absolutely correct.
For decades this hobby has been built on the idea that people buy these cards or trade for them because they enjoy the actual cards. The process by which they make those transactions can of course be part of the enjoyment, but ultimately a person’s long-term involvement in this space comes down to the cards.
Now before you click off this piece and call this gate keeping, know that I realize that being involved in this hobby today is different than it was two decades ago, and two decades before that and so on. I’m not suggesting that the way folks decide to participate is wrong.
What I’m saying is that if there is no one to ultimately collect the cards and own them regardless of value – and this is key – and be their “Forever Home” as Rob said, then the future of this hobby is not sustainable.
This is an exciting time for our hobby. There are more eyes on these cards, and more money flowing here than ever before. But if that is only occurring to continuously flip one card for the next, someone ends up getting stuck holding the cards that no one wants anymore. And that’s when it has a trickle-down effect that drives people out of the market because of lost money and “worthless” cards, and ultimately this hobby becomes a joke again.
One of the ways we can combat this is to evaluate our own involvement. Determine the thing or things that really have our attention in this hobby. And when others around us express and interest in cards, we should help them determine what it is that they want to achieve or collect in the hobby before they jump in head-first and max-out a credit card buying into breaks or playing a different version of the lottery.
So, what’s my history in cards? Here’s a short version of how I’ve collected over the years.
I started collecting in 1987 (Age 7) and at the time my goal was just to acquire and own cards. And with the price of packs in those days this was a simple task. Through my early teenage years I chased chase (insert) cards as everyone else did, but also collected the Boston Red Sox and Roger Clemens. In my mid- to late-teen years I made a switch from inserts and turned them all into rookie cards as I set off to collect every rookie card of all stars listed in Beckett. In my mid 20s I expanded the rookie collection and began adding Hall of Famers dating back to the 1940s. And in my early 30s I expanded again to include Hall of Famers back to tobacco era and then started to piece together a collection of Clayton Kershaw cards. Additionally, I decided to go back and build/acquire a run of Stadium Club baseball sets.
And now in my early 40s I am pivoting again. I’ve actually started to sell off some of the Hall of Fame rookies/tobacco cards — note I said some, not all — and narrow my collection to some player PCs, and various items I enjoy collecting with my son.
I got my son involved in the hobby about five years ago – he was also about age 7 – and since then we have enjoyed this hobby together, albeit in different ways. He collects Oakland A’s, Matt Chapman, some Matt Olson, Stephen Curry and other current Golden State Warriors. My Player PCs consist of Clayton Kershaw and Roger Clemens, as well as Carney Lansford, Nolan Arenado, Madison Bumgarner and others. These collections are now on their “Forever Home.”
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“Forever Homes” are necessary for our hobby
Posted in Commentary with tags baseball, baseball cards, Burbank Sports Cards, collecting, Forever Homes, Rob Veres on November 19, 2022 by Cardboard IconsI went down the rabbit hole of Burbank Sportscards Instagram Reels recently and there Rob Veres, the owner of who calls himself “The Cardfather,” has been speaking lately about the hobby lacking collectors and the notion that cards need “forever homes.”
Rob is absolutely correct.
For decades this hobby has been built on the idea that people buy these cards or trade for them because they enjoy the actual cards. The process by which they make those transactions can of course be part of the enjoyment, but ultimately a person’s long-term involvement in this space comes down to the cards.
Now before you click off this piece and call this gate keeping, know that I realize that being involved in this hobby today is different than it was two decades ago, and two decades before that and so on. I’m not suggesting that the way folks decide to participate is wrong.
What I’m saying is that if there is no one to ultimately collect the cards and own them regardless of value – and this is key – and be their “Forever Home” as Rob said, then the future of this hobby is not sustainable.
This is an exciting time for our hobby. There are more eyes on these cards, and more money flowing here than ever before. But if that is only occurring to continuously flip one card for the next, someone ends up getting stuck holding the cards that no one wants anymore. And that’s when it has a trickle-down effect that drives people out of the market because of lost money and “worthless” cards, and ultimately this hobby becomes a joke again.
One of the ways we can combat this is to evaluate our own involvement. Determine the thing or things that really have our attention in this hobby. And when others around us express and interest in cards, we should help them determine what it is that they want to achieve or collect in the hobby before they jump in head-first and max-out a credit card buying into breaks or playing a different version of the lottery.
So, what’s my history in cards? Here’s a short version of how I’ve collected over the years.
I started collecting in 1987 (Age 7) and at the time my goal was just to acquire and own cards. And with the price of packs in those days this was a simple task. Through my early teenage years I chased chase (insert) cards as everyone else did, but also collected the Boston Red Sox and Roger Clemens. In my mid- to late-teen years I made a switch from inserts and turned them all into rookie cards as I set off to collect every rookie card of all stars listed in Beckett. In my mid 20s I expanded the rookie collection and began adding Hall of Famers dating back to the 1940s. And in my early 30s I expanded again to include Hall of Famers back to tobacco era and then started to piece together a collection of Clayton Kershaw cards. Additionally, I decided to go back and build/acquire a run of Stadium Club baseball sets.
And now in my early 40s I am pivoting again. I’ve actually started to sell off some of the Hall of Fame rookies/tobacco cards — note I said some, not all — and narrow my collection to some player PCs, and various items I enjoy collecting with my son.
I got my son involved in the hobby about five years ago – he was also about age 7 – and since then we have enjoyed this hobby together, albeit in different ways. He collects Oakland A’s, Matt Chapman, some Matt Olson, Stephen Curry and other current Golden State Warriors. My Player PCs consist of Clayton Kershaw and Roger Clemens, as well as Carney Lansford, Nolan Arenado, Madison Bumgarner and others. These collections are now on their “Forever Home.”
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