For decades, collecting baseball cards have been an interesting hobby for people of all ages. Especially kids and teenagers have been involved in this for years. But now the hobby has turned into a lucrative business yielding profit. No one ever thought that once a hobby can later turn into a golden opportunity to earn massive.
It was the COVID-19 pandemic that took the world by storm. Seriously, by every means! The whole world started shutting down, and everyone was forced to remain inside. Businesses were closed, shops had locks on them, and the streets were empty. Only the chimneys at home were producing smoke. The rest was quiet and controlled.
In such a moment, people had nothing to do while staying at home. Some groups of people started playing 1000-piece puzzles, while others thought to learn cooking, and so on. Sometimes, when there is darkness becomes the place where the light is born! Some investors and collectors started rediscovering their passion for collecting baseball cards.
It was just a matter of a few days when the sports card industry witnessed a sensational boost in the business. People started remembering their love for baseball cards. Some looked in their attic to find oldies while others started searching online to get their hands on exclusive ones.
The sports card industry skyrocketed, and record sales of baseball cards were witnessed. Some of the best baseball cards came into the limelight, making record-breaking sales. It’s true that the baseball card collection already had a market, but it never saw the boost it received during the pandemic.
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The Initial Days of Card Collecting Hobby
If you talk about the beginning of baseball cards, then it’s a humble start. They used to come as a complimentary part to attract people. In the early days of the 1880s, these cards used to be part of cigarette packaging. Tobacco companies used to print leading baseball players’ cards and insert them in the packet.
The cigarette companies used to say they insert the cards to show support and love for the game. However, the majority of the people believe it was to support the cigarettes from bending as the packaging used to be flimsy. But that’s the truth the tobacco businesses used to pay some royalty to the baseball players for using their images in their packs.
Later in the 1930s, a new wave of love for baseball cards was witnessed. Especially kids started buying more of these cards. The reason was not pure passion for baseball sports. Instead, in baseball card boxes, there were bubble gums packed. It was a marketing tactic, which was really paying off.
However, it was the 1980s when things started to change. Instead of luring people to buy such collectables, the fans started purchasing baseball cards themselves. It was the time when the love for baseball was at the top and people felt nostalgic about former exceptional players. To pay their tribute towards those undefeated names, the purchase of baseball cards reached the next level.
But at the current time, the game is totally different! The sports gaming industry is at unbelievable heights, where people are buying, selling, and trading them. People with rare and legendary cards are becoming a millionaire. Yes, just like that!
Bigger Returns Involved in Lost Hobby
Leading analysts of the industry see the COVID-19 pandemic as a fueling agent. It caused the resurgence of lost interest in baseball cards. Parents rediscovered the old hobby and shared it with their kids. At such a surge, the investors saw an open window, a golden opportunity to bring in new sales.
Since it was pandemic, the investors were also stuck at home. Therefore, with a sudden surge in the baseball collectable cards, they too started purchasing them. They found trading cards to be an exceptional alternative to equities. Due to the interest of the investors, the cardboard community automatically witnessed amplified prices.
As per the recent survey, people are waiting in lines for the stores to open. To date, everyone is interested in getting their hands on top baseball cards and completing or expanding their collectables. To add more excitement, the latest baseball cards are now coming with autograph jerseys, memorabilia, in-card autographs, parallels, and exotic inserts.
It has been found out that the worth of cards, particularly the rare ones have magnified to extreme levels. The worth reached from 3 to 10 times in the secondary market with extra hiked prices.
Did you know the Baseball Hall of Fame cards gets sold at incredible prices? The price was always high for such cards. But during the pandemic, investors took an extreme interest in these. It resulted in a whopping amount of $1 million or more for such cards. Before, they used to get sold for a few thousand dollars.
Is The Market Affordable for All?
Baseball collectable cards are still a hobby for many. Especially the kids find fun, excitement, and pleasure in it. The popularity of baseball cards has always been there among the kids. Even way before the pandemic. However, due to the recent resurgence and involvement of tradability and auction, the cards are not for all.
Mainly the kids are not able to get their dream players anymore. That’s the unfortunate part of the pandemic as it took away the fun element of the baseball card collecting hobby. The majority of the people are viewing it as a chance to become the “Richie Rich”. Hence the true essence of baseball cards collection is getting lost somewhere. The kids cannot afford to buy such pricy cards at all.
However, there are some baseball card brands that are making cards at affordable rates. This brings back the opportunity for the kids to enjoy the innocence of purchasing these cards with happiness.
The sports card industry is still booming with an expectation of continuity for a longer time. The demand and love for it don’t seem to get lost any time soon.
