At first glance, card collecting appears to be a well established hobby that isn't going away any time soon. However after peeling back the surface and taking a closer look at things, there are causes for concern.
The art of trading baseball cards in school yards is sadly a thing of the past. This art was taking place in the 70's and 80's, but not so much in recent years as technology has become more prevalent for younger and younger kids. Kids just aren't as interested in sports cards as they would be in their iPhone for example.
The hobby has always been based on supply and demand and more specifically item scarcity. Topps and other companies like them are now producing cards at record rates, meaning as the years pass by the cards from recent years aren't gaining value like they have in the past. In fact, they are often losing value as time goes on because the supply is go great. If supply continues to produce at the current rate, I predict that less and less people will be inclined to get into the hobby.
My final reason is simply the decline in sports cards being pushed by people. When I was a child, I got into the hobby because my family seemed to have an interest in it. As the older generations start to pass or move on in life, the hobby continues to lose life. It's unlikely that today's kids would pick on the hobby by themselves because the marketing is as far as I can tell nonexistent.
All of this to say, that you had better enjoy the hobby while it lasts because the art of card collecting could be changing rapidly in the near future.
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