In early May I walked into a suburban target, asked a member of staff where they were storing the trading cards, strolled over to this aisle and was presented with two clues – in the Byzantine spirit of a DC parking sign – explaining how many packs could buy (one per customer), when you had to queue for them (Friday at 8 a.m. for reasons not mentioned) and why such restrictions were necessary (these 2.5 x 3.5 inch cardboard pieces are in super high demand). “To ensure the safety of all guests and team members,” one of the messages began – and sparked a mockery.
But the day after my visit, the popularity of trading cards turned into mania when four people allegedly attacked a man using cards in a Wisconsin Target parking lot; At some point a gun was wielded. A week later, the retailer pulled packs off its shelves nationwide and now only offers online purchases. (A Target spokesman said they made the change “out of great caution.”)
Trading cards that were hot in the 1980s and early 90s, before giving way to countless technological advances, have once again become particularly sought-after, and somewhat surprisingly. Sure, trends are cyclical – out: skinny jeans; in: Mom jeans – but card collecting seemed like a hobby that most of society had moved away from forever. Sports fans could instead control their favorite players in video games or discuss the merits of their teams on Twitter. Dynamic technology defeats static paper. It was a bang.
However, people are collectors at heart. And ironically, technology has helped rebirth the hobby. Much of the buying and selling today takes place on eBay, StockX, and Amazon (whose founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post). In February, eBay released its first State of Trading Cards report, announcing a 142% increase in domestic sales – 4 million more cards sold on its website in 2020 than in 2019. That includes the major sports, as well as Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering, both of which were originally released in the 1990s.
The good times have also leaked to small businesses. Business is booming at the House of Cards in Silver Spring, Md. – where sports cards from seven decades are neatly displayed along with bobble heads, pennants and other memorabilia. When asked if sales were up, Bill Huggins, President of the House of Cards, replied, “Is a duck’s ass waterproof?”
The store opened in 1979 (at a different, smaller location) and has endured the whims of an industry that in the recent past has lived on a core group of regulars.
“Now I see new customers every week, and I also see a much younger group of people coming here,” says Bryan Theis, who runs the store on a daily basis. “Even high school students, teenagers … they buy all of these retail boxes and turn them over. You make really good money. “
Several high profile card purchases have inspired average collectors. In January, a 1952 card by New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle sold for $ 5.2 million – a record for sports cards. In February, a signed rookie card was received from Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic for $ 4.6 million. You won’t find these in a $ 9.99 pack from a big store, but dreamers read the headlines of seven-figure sales and come up with ideas.
To explain the industry’s growth, eBay cited an emerging class of investors – millionaires who diversify their portfolios with rare memorabilia – as well as “people who stay home and find new ways to spend their time.” In fact, the pandemic has almost certainly contributed to the trading card renaissance. “An element of collecting has to do with the ability to gain and exercise control, especially in uncontrollable circumstances – which the pandemic epitomized,” Holly Schiff, a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, told me via E-mail. Sigmund Freud, a prolific art collector, believed that collecting serves to order the world.
But the trading card resurgence had been bubbling before the pandemic. Topps, the standard baseball card carrier since the 1950s when they were sold with chewing gum, had “been growing steadily for the past decade” prior to the pandemic, according to Emily Kless, the company’s communications manager. . She attributed the boom to rekindled interest from people who collected as children (like me) and the internet, which made products more accessible – particularly with case breaks that became increasingly popular.
Here’s how a case break works: A host buys an expensive box or boxes and gathers a group of buyers together to split the cost. The buyers are then assigned teams (Person A gets all Yankees, Person B all Orioles, etc.) and they are sent all appropriate cards drawn by the host. The whole thing is streamed live so that buyers and rubber necks can watch as one lucky collector takes home a valuable “tracking card” that may contain a player’s autograph or even a small piece of their jersey.
Case studies are just one example of how technology now offers a collaborative aspect that keeps the hobby fresh. On Reddit forums, collectors brag about their bounties. The popular Ringer Podcast Network has a show where presenters discuss cards like stocks. YouTube and Instagram streamers reveal their loot for hundreds.
“With the Internet, it is quite possible for people to find connections and connections with others who may share very obscure or isolated interests,” says Andrew Dillon, a professor of information at the University of Texas who specializes in collecting in general. “And it turns out that there is a community of people who share those interests, and now you can actually talk to them. Now you can discuss, share and finally act with them. “
While technology has helped making card collecting cool again, the next frontier is where the cards are the technology. Topps went public in April on a deal that valued the company at $ 1.3 billion; a week later it launched its first series of digital NFTs and marketed it as “a new era in baseball card collecting”. NFTs, which stand for non-fungible tokens, are digital assets – in this case photos or GIFs of baseball stars.
Dapper Labs – a Canadian company with the slogan “Fun and games on the blockchain” – is the early market leader in the sports card meets NFT movement, made its debut on the NBA Top Shot online marketplace in October 2020 and achieved sales of $ 500 million in the first five months, including the purchase of a $ 210,000 Dunk from LeBron James. Top Shot refers to its products as “moments” rather than cards, and it has gamified the hobby and created challenges for collectors.
But unlike in the past, these digital developments could be an addition to America’s cardboard pastime, and many don’t see the physical maps going away anytime soon. “There’s really no stopping the trading card industry right now,” says Kless, “and technological advances are a big part of that growth.”
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