Bob Hunter column on the ruination of my old hobby:
Unfortunately, the days when kids collected cards for fun seem to be over. There are kids out there who still collect cards, but they’re more like the adults. They want the specials, the valuable ones, the ones they might be able to sell on eBay for a hefty profit.
"Oh, no, it’s not for the fun of it anymore," Reeder said. "The days when kids just collected them because they liked the cards and wanted to trade them and play with them are over, and that’s a shame."
OK, this probably isn’t near the top of the list when we talk about the decline of Western civilization; it’s still too bad to stumble across another one of those simple pleasures that we adults have gradually stolen from our kids...We’ve taught our children that the fun is in the value of the cards, so a lot of them lost interest. Those who haven’t are attracted by the same things that the adults are — cards with autographs or those with tiny swatches of that player’s game-used jersey, which make some of them worth $50 or $100.
Last year, Donruss purchased a 1925-era Babe Ruth jersey, one of three known to exist, for $264,911, then cut it into 2,100 1-inch-by-1-inch swatches to include in one of its card sets. Happy as I am for the lucky 2,100 who have one of these babies in their homes, you have to wonder whether Donruss wouldn’t dice up the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address if it could increase card sales.
Call me old-fashioned, but if it means keeping Ruth’s uniform away from the shredder, I’d rather have that bad Jose Canseco.
If I ever buy a bike, I can always put it in my spokes.
No comments:
Post a Comment