Another post in our new series Hobby Topics. This is not so much a post for us to comment about or give our opinions on, this is your chance to let your voice be heard on a variety of topics in the hobby. We are leaving the floor open to you! So comment away! But please no language and keep your answer clean as we do have a younger following as well.
Today's Topic will be about Vintage
What do you consider Vintage in terms of cards? Do you think 80's and 90's cards are vintage? And do you collect vintage and prefer it over today's products?
Let's hear your thoughts!
Vintage is a relative term. Vintage, meaning a photo taken at the time of some great sporting event or of some great sports star of over 50 yrs ago or more is one thing but the actual cards the photos were used for could be considered vintage depending on the age group of collectors. It's like music or phones but the kids call it antique just to be funny. My flip up phone is an antique the teenagers will say. I think with everything changing so fast and everyone wanting more at a furious pace. Yes, the 80's cards at the very least could be considered vintage to any demographic not just the younger generation. As more and more players from the 80's now become eligible for the Hall Of Fame ballet, the idea of their cards becoming more and more vintage starts to come into play. It's always been that way. How many years was it after most of the players started their career then were elected to the HOF 20-30 years later? A lot. Most dealers and collectors would say that they have a vintage Babe Ruth even back in the 50's. I read some articles, advertisements and even books from the 40's and 50's referring to players from 1910-1940 as superstars of their time as mentioned in the foreword. That helps as well. I think the idea of the HOF and good marketing can be helpful in promoting these cars from the 80's and 90's as vintage, but it seems that Marketing has taken a huge turn in promoting what's the next best thing coming out. Topps is the forerunner. Although overproduced I do believe eventually with proper oversight and a concentration on appreciation of the past with the help of some good marketing, the 80-90's cards will be thought of as vintage to the avid collector but right now I think their are few that see these cards as vintage. As of right now all marketing is based on who and what is the next best thing. Which is causing card companies especially Topps to produce rookie cards at an overwhelming pace. Their could be 50 variations of a rookie card in one year for Pete Sake. Not good for the idea of vintage. Anyway true vintage as most collectors see it is anything before 1980. A lot of collectors will always see true vintage before 1960 at this point in time. I know these card companies and their agenda is to make a good bit of money and concentrate on the newest thing and likewise for the collector and dealer but eventually it will catch up with them as they overproduce variations of the same player over and over. I still have not made up my mind whether or not I like the idea of patch cards or not. Would Rather see an original Gwynn or Bonds in a pack than a patch card. We could go on and on about this but I have to work so now it's someone else's turn. Hope I didn't confuse anyone and I could go on all day about this. I may have even threw in some contradiction here. There are a lot of things that can make something vintage. Time and especially marketing are a couple.
ReplyDeleteChad D
Vintage in the flea marketing, picking or say toy collecting is anything 20 years old or older. I am an avid 80's toy collector/dealer so these terms are important in that respect. With cards tho, I never really gave it that much thought. I always associated cards by being year specific since really helps determine the players tenure in the league. Especially when talking about a rookie card. Of course this is very imoortant. By my personal standards 1993 would be considered vintage but that really feels too recent for cards. Perhaps with cards we need to come up with another term or rule set to describe time periods. Just like comics have the gold, silver and bronze age then maybe cards should be reconsidered with their own time period language. The word Vintage in of itself is being thrown around alot in the current market for a variety of items. Vintage seems to be pointing at or around my age group of 38. With my folks the key word was antique and still is. I really like old football cards and have alot of them. I would love to be able to afford unopened wax from all years pryor to 1975 or so. There is a nostalgia factor when you start talking about older stock. Its like having a piece of the beginning. Many times my friends and talk about what we would do if we had a time machine! I have always said that i would definitely bring back old football and baseball wax packs to bust when I got back to the future. So in summation I think vintage in regards to cards would be what was old when a person started collecting. This means it would vary from collector to collector. Vintage for me would be around 1975 and for my son about 1993. Then there is always the term "old baseball/football cards" like the ones you find in grandmas attic. I got to have this experience back in 1988 or so and it was great! Thank you for the thought provoking question, it really brought back some memories!
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