How do we get young collectors back?

This is an old man's hobby now. Much like stamp collecting has practically disappeared with the end of a generation, so will cards. I know people will say I'm full of it, but look around. It's guys who collected in the 60s, 70s, 80s , 90s and into the 00s that have continued forward with it and maybe some of them have been able to get their kids in on it. I'm an 80s kid that collected by buying cards at Mac's milk, a 90s teen that bought with the boom, an 00s twenty-something with a full time job and disposable income, and into the 10s now as an adult with children that has slowed down.

How do you get young collectors back? I hate to say it, but you don't. Their world is digital and this digital attempt is a joke because they're offering inanimate objects in a world where kids want movement. I keep saying I'm going to pass my collection on to my kids, but I don't think my kids are going to give a **** about my cards. The eternal cards will remain eternal, but this new junk is going to be looked at by our kids the same way WE look at 1991 Pro Set base.
 
Thinking back to how I got in the hobby... it was basically because most of my classmates were in to it, and I'm sure the ones with older brothers got into it because of their siblings. Back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid, we really didn't have many options at lunch, play sports outside if the weather was nice, but being Vancouver and it rained most of the time, you could either play Duck Duck Goose like Ralph Wiggum, or trade hockey cards while huddled in the school basement.

Reaching that critical mass where it's not just a fad (like Pogs) but a sustained year-in, year-out, ritual where a good percentage of kids in each elementary school are all working on the annual OPC set together, it's just hard to imagine that ever happening again.

I'm not sure though that I'd be comfortable making a conscious effort to get kids into our hobby - because the question is ultimately what is the end goal here? By trying to get kids hooked on cards at a young age (even if I was able to influence them), are we hoping to have kids learn valuable lessons like communication and cooperation when trading cards amongst each other while building their base sets... or are we hoping they grow up addicted to cards and once they're rich can afford to buy the rather insane collections some of us have put together?

If I'm lucky enough to have kids one day, I think there are so many other things I'd hope they get into (staying active and healthy, making friends, going out and doing something positive for the world)... of course if they showed a real curiosity about my little hobby I'd be happy to share it with them.
 
Just watch the kids at a show. Most of them gravitate to the big names just like their dad. So does anyone know how to make collecting Connor McDavid affordable for them? I doubt it.
 
I have just read through all these posts and to me it seems as if this market needs to shift to becoming a mix of digital/physical gaming type product. Everytime i am at my local LCS, there is a steady stream of younger kids coming in to get the latest offerings from Magic. I have no idea how or what this is, and i have asked the LCS many times but still am not sure other than it is a GAME.
I also ask them are these cards valuable, if i was to buy packs can i make money?. To my amazement some of these cards are worth thousands even trns of thousands of dollars!!!. I just about fell on the floor when my LCS owner should me completed sales for some of these...
So here is an idea?, why not create a sports type game simiilar to those fantasy games on itunes. Where the player can either buy packs online or offline and upload them to their roster, have upgrades in the form of limited SP serial numbered cards that can be played with that are desirable and give the player an advantage?
With maybe a top tier where you get a nice patch/auto memorbilia card or something??.
I think if there is a way to incorperate all of these factors, value, collectability, scarcity into a game where their is interaction either through a digital platform or in a physical one where players come together and enjoy said game...i could really see an influx of youth, as well keep the "investors" happy as there will be value and fun.
Just some thoughts...great topic
 
Triple B said:
This is an old man's hobby now. Much like stamp collecting has practically disappeared with the end of a generation, so will cards. I know people will say I'm full of it, but look around. It's guys who collected in the 60s, 70s, 80s , 90s and into the 00s that have continued forward with it and maybe some of them have been able to get their kids in on it. I'm an 80s kid that collected by buying cards at Mac's milk, a 90s teen that bought with the boom, an 00s twenty-something with a full time job and disposable income, and into the 10s now as an adult with children that has slowed down.

How do you get young collectors back? I hate to say it, but you don't. Their world is digital and this digital attempt is a joke because they're offering inanimate objects in a world where kids want movement. I keep saying I'm going to pass my collection on to my kids, but I don't think my kids are going to give a **** about my cards. The eternal cards will remain eternal, but this new junk is going to be looked at by our kids the same way WE look at 1991 Pro Set base.
Click to expand...

Bang on.
 
So i don't know how they will be able to keep kids in to the hobby of collecting. But for me i will try to encourage kids to collect. My daughter is 5 years old and in kindergarten and also played ringette here in Fort Mcmurrray. I have being doing up team bags of upper deck series 1 base cards and giving them to the kids. They love it and really enjoy opening and trying to find players of their favourite teams.
I have one kid in my daughters class and every day he is asking me for more cards. his mom has gotten him a binder and sheets and he is trying to make a full set. it great for him learning his numbers and how to skip spaces to put the missing cards in. as long as he keeps asking ill be giving him more. time to time i add in inserts and jersey cards and he gets so excited for the next day to tell me about it.

I also got montreal base cards for my for my kid and I also have young gun series 1 sets put away for her until she gets old enough to understand how to take of them.

keep the kids in it and make it fun
 
For a few years in Halloween I gave out team bags of cards and comics along with the usual candy and chips. It seem to go over well. A few years ago Esso sent out some cards for our local minor hockey kids it went over really over well. We gave them out at the year end banquet and right away the kids were trading cards for their favorite players.

Back maybe 5 or more years ago I started a young collectors club. A few members here sent me piles of base cards and I did them all up in lots of 100 cards and let the kids randomly pick the bags. I also did up bags with cards from certain teams for the ones who collected certain teams and did a random number draw to let the kids pick from a pile of single cards that I donated mostly rookies, gu, auto's and such things. We had trading, played knockdowns with base which went over great. It went over really well for around 6 months but it died off. The problem we faced was the availability to buy cards, packs and supplies. At first I tried bringing in a few boxes and some becket magazines to sell at my cost but it got hard to do working on a budget and getting stuck with stuff that I didn't want. I approached some local stores but I couldn't get any that was interested in trying. It was too bad that it failed as the kids did enjoy it.
 
There are a lot of other entertainment options nowadays, but don't completely dismiss the fact that there are other information options out there as well.

What I mean is, growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, if I wanted to know something about a player, the best way to find out was to grab one of his cards. When the Devils traded for a player like Shawn Chambers, the first thing I'd do is run and find his hockey card to look up his stats. When playing a baseball video game that had generic player names, I'd use my cards to fill in the real names. When watching a football game, I'd have each team's set next to me to learn more about the player. Unless I had a yearly almanac available, that was the fastest way for me to get player information.

Not long after that, there were simply faster, more up-to-date methods. I could go to his espn/tsn player page. I could go to hockey-reference.com. I could read any number of advanced statistics blogs. I could go on NHL.com and watch video highlights. Or I could just go on Center Ice or their TV package and watch just about any game I want to. Heck, you could do all those things on a phone or tablet and always have it with you. And even though I'm still a collector, the cards are now one of the last places I look to for information. That connection to them has been lost because it is no longer needed, and that could be a factor as well.
 
I agree way too many other options for kids today, most don't even care about NHL hockey. Like TADontask just mentioned growing up we used cards for stats and info, now they have the Internet and 24/7 sports and NHL networks. Growing up we had 2 stations all our hockey was on CBC HNIC. We might get a small sports update on the evening news or the radio but other wise we didn't know much about the players. I would sit every Saturday night and watch HNIC with my cards out and ready of the 2 teams that would face off. Such great memories of that. Now the kids are hid in their room playing GTA or Blackops online bs their friends. Times have changed and IMO not for the better.
 
foley2k said:
2 things.

Fun, and Affordable.
Click to expand...

Actually, it is one thing.... FUN!

Easy answer... Although many just know me as a store owner, I actually do work for a living and I get paid to study people's behaviour... Wait, react to people's behaviour...

But when in the store, it is behaviours that make it fun. The dialogue, the interactions, the friendships make this thing work.

And so my answer still remains - bring them with you. My kids loved hanging out with the old man and I think that is likely true for all kids.

Sure, they are going to like Pokemon, and video games, and so on... But we all had other interests - remember road hockey??? Baseball???

I see fathers and sons and daughters and moms loving this hobby.

Introduce them to it. It might not kick in right away but the time you spend with your kids is so worth it!!!!
 
It's funny that topic of conversation started when it did. I had a mom who approached me today about getting some more cards. She has being having trouble with her son not wanting to do home work and he really lacked in his counting and numbers and she don't want him to be left behind.
She said that she uses the cards as a reward for completing homework and she uses the back of the cards for his numbers. Her son has become so interested in the cards he is trying to learn where the players are born.
This really made fell good about giving away bass cards to these kids.

I can remember my mom doing the same idea of this when I was a kid. In the 90's you could buy cards anywhere and the St. John's Maple Leafs had there team sets. It did work with me.

Let's keep kids in the cards. Free cheap base cards work great.
 
Kids have pokemon, yugioh and all that other gaming stuff to collect and i don't remember the last time i saw a child come to my lcs to buy sports cards. every once in awhile a father will come in with his young kids but usually it's older people that spend their own money on the hobby. the hobby is simply too expensive for most people let alone children to invest in it and i don't know if this is a bad or good thing because it's not like they don't have something else to collect.
 
Stadium Sports said:
Actually, it is one thing.... FUN!

Easy answer... Although many just know me as a store owner, I actually do work for a living and I get paid to study people's behaviour... Wait, react to people's behaviour...

But when in the store, it is behaviours that make it fun. The dialogue, the interactions, the friendships make this thing work.

And so my answer still remains - bring them with you. My kids loved hanging out with the old man and I think that is likely true for all kids.

Sure, they are going to like Pokemon, and video games, and so on... But we all had other interests - remember road hockey??? Baseball???

I see fathers and sons and daughters and moms loving this hobby.

Introduce them to it. It might not kick in right away but the time you spend with your kids is so worth it!!!!
Click to expand...

I'm 24, and I still get pumped when my dad wants to join me outside to shoot the ball around.
 
I had both my 5 and 9 year old sons with me on the Saturday of the spring expo. We walked the entire show and they were bored by row 2. They did not look at one single card in the show cases. They were attracted to the toys (non sport) and mini sticks. My 5 year old would have played bubble hockey at the UD booth the whole time. We went over and got three tickets for the free upper deck draws and watched all the adults clean up on the prizes that I would bet the majority of them sold before they left the show. When the draws were done we got "maneuvered" to the back of the line by these same adults who had to push their way up to the front to get the free autograph books that were being handed out. Essential a $2 note pad.....we did not get one :( I understand UD needs to make sure they are rewarding their customers but at the same time I think a separate raffle for kids under a certain age would go along way.....when I see the adults winning the hats and key chains etc I can see the disappointment that they didnt win a box....fair enough give it to one of the 100 or so kids who won nothing I stopped at every single hobby related booth and at least took the time to say hi to the folks behind the booth......I would say maybe 15% acknowledged my boys. Some dealers may not see my 2 kids as potential customers but you would be surprised what a father who wants to encourage his kids to join his hobby would be willing to spend on their wants. My boys did end up with some free packs and cards from some of the vendors and were overjoyed with the generosity......but those there that actually took the time to make my kids feel important where few and far between. We ask how we can get kids back in the hobby while at the same time the majority of those selling are just thinking of how much they can flip their big hits for. If one vendor at the show would have asked my kids there favorite player (ryan getzlaf and bobby ryan respectively) and then upon the answer pointed us in the direction of some of those players lower end cards I guarantee they would have had a sale. On top of this the amount of booths we visited and had to listen to "F this and F that" was atrocious..........I will be at the fall expo can anyone give me a reason why I should force my kids to walk around for 6 plus hours with me ?? I am not a dealer and rarely sell cards....I want MY kids in the hobby so it gives us something to do.....from my end they have unlimited resources and access to what they would need to partake in the hobby......from the hobby's end why should they?
 
iheartjacquie said:
I will be at the fall expo can anyone give me a reason why I should force my kids to walk around for 6 plus hours with me ?? I am not a dealer and rarely sell cards....I want MY kids in the hobby so it gives us something to do.....from my end they have unlimited resources and access to what they would need to partake in the hobby......from the hobby's end why should they?
Click to expand...

Bring'em back in the Fall and please stop by my booth and give me the opportunity to ask them who their favorite player is and I will have something for each of them. That would certainly be a highlight of the show for me. :)
 
gomaz said:
Bring'em back in the Fall and please stop by my booth and give me the opportunity to ask them who their favorite player is and I will have something for each of them. That would certainly be a highlight of the show for me. :)
Click to expand...


I promise you I will do this
 
iheartjacquie said:
I had both my 5 and 9 year old sons with me on the Saturday of the spring expo. We walked the entire show and they were bored by row 2. They did not look at one single card in the show cases. They were attracted to the toys (non sport) and mini sticks. My 5 year old would have played bubble hockey at the UD booth the whole time. We went over and got three tickets for the free upper deck draws and watched all the adults clean up on the prizes that I would bet the majority of them sold before they left the show. When the draws were done we got "maneuvered" to the back of the line by these same adults who had to push their way up to the front to get the free autograph books that were being handed out. Essential a $2 note pad.....we did not get one :( I understand UD needs to make sure they are rewarding their customers but at the same time I think a separate raffle for kids under a certain age would go along way.....when I see the adults winning the hats and key chains etc I can see the disappointment that they didnt win a box....fair enough give it to one of the 100 or so kids who won nothing I stopped at every single hobby related booth and at least took the time to say hi to the folks behind the booth......I would say maybe 15% acknowledged my boys. Some dealers may not see my 2 kids as potential customers but you would be surprised what a father who wants to encourage his kids to join his hobby would be willing to spend on their wants. My boys did end up with some free packs and cards from some of the vendors and were overjoyed with the generosity......but those there that actually took the time to make my kids feel important where few and far between. We ask how we can get kids back in the hobby while at the same time the majority of those selling are just thinking of how much they can flip their big hits for. If one vendor at the show would have asked my kids there favorite player (ryan getzlaf and bobby ryan respectively) and then upon the answer pointed us in the direction of some of those players lower end cards I guarantee they would have had a sale. On top of this the amount of booths we visited and had to listen to "F this and F that" was atrocious..........I will be at the fall expo can anyone give me a reason why I should force my kids to walk around for 6 plus hours with me ?? I am not a dealer and rarely sell cards....I want MY kids in the hobby so it gives us something to do.....from my end they have unlimited resources and access to what they would need to partake in the hobby......from the hobby's end why should they?
Click to expand...


That's awful... I'm sorry your guys had to go through that. I've been taking my daughter with me to the Expo since she was 4 or 5 (13 now). Her interest has definitely changed, and I do tailor the visits more to the fact we won't be there for long and are going in to say hello to the folks we know, as opposed to doing any hard core shopping. Many of the dealers have been fair and kind to her, but none blatantly oafish which I am grateful for.

My daughter was actually wearing some of her Owen Sound Ice Hawks gear this time around (under her Nashville Preds jersey) and it led to a few folks starting conversations with her about her hockey playing.



As far as the original idea behind the post and getting kids interested... a big thing is sharing your passion for the sport and hobby with your kid... don't expect them to jump in the same way, but they'll remember it and consider taking it up for themselves, in the way that THEY will enjoy it. Let's face it - most of us on here don't have a clue what kids these days want. We need to give them the opportunity to let us know and make their own decisions.

Cory
 

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