State of the forums

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bruinsman

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Hello everyone, i have taken a hiatus for a few years and recently have been lurking on the forums. I have bought the occasional box here and there the past 3 years, but i have not been active on the forums as i have been in the past.
I have noticed a big drop off in activity on these forums, as well as the others which we are all aware of. I remember not long ago (5 years or so) where you had at least 2 pages worth of posts from the same day, this is not the case anymore...and it being playoffs time is even more alarming.

Is this due to the increased popularity of e-cards? Are people not trading anymore?

This isn't meant to be a negativity post about the falling state of the hobby, on the contrary, i think sports cards popularity is on the upswing.

Thoughts and opinion are appreciated :)
 
It's probably not just one thing.

As just mentioned, there is a lot of trading done on Facebook groups. Other than the HI page, I'm not in any trading forums. My personal opinion is that it seems there are a lot of deals that go bad on there, so I'd rather stick to options I consider to be safer like eBay and COMC.

Don't underestimate the impact that rising shipping costs has on trading. For me to send a bubble mailer to Canada, my local post office charges $16. And tracking is another $16. Since I don't have a lot of high end stuff, that basically kills the appeal of trading before I even begin.
 
Lots of people have left the hobby due to the fake patch and trimmed card epidemics. I see many more following.

Also it’s a pain to post pictures on HI since photobucket barfed on itself. I did post a tutorial on posting pics hosted on Facebook. Just on a plane and can’t link to it at the moment.

Link: http://www.hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=421204
 
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2 main things have been mentioned:

Social media has 8 million trading groups, but I prefer trading on the forums.

Shipping - It's near impossible to complete trades to Canada these days from the US because like mentioned above, most Post Offices charge $10+ for a bubble mailer, so unless it's a real high-end deal it's not even worth it.
 
also you have places like epack and comc that are also more prevalent then ever before. Lots of trading happens on epack as UD releases more products on there, and low end sales on comc as it's cheaper then ebay and it's inventory continues to grow.
 
It’s a lot of things for sure.

Social Media is a big one, and the ease of posting while you’re already catching up with friends/family on there anyway kind of kills 2 birds with one stone, not to mention forums seem to be the “old school” way of doing things and the younger generation (weird saying that, as I’m only in my mid-twenties) can access and feel social media can be their go-to platform for anything, which includes their hobbies. So there’s that.

However, I like fostering relationships via trading forums and keeping up to date with everyone’s collections. It’s very hard to do that on Facebook unless you know the person who is posting or it’s a smaller group, it’s hard to keep tabs on everyone and have that true “community” feel, you know?

I’m on a few trading groups on Facebook, and I’ve also set up a hobby-related Instagram account, and joined Reddit r/hockeycards sub for myself as well. While all these new social platforms have helped me pickup new pieces for the collection, I still love the forums and will never stop using them until they become totally obsolete or inactive. In my opinion it’s a heck of a lot safer and I can browse a forum or two and get all the information I need in one place. I like the simplicity of that a lot more than a bunch of random Facebook groups.
 
I still visit the forum multiple times a day to see what is going on here. The reason I think the site and others are seeing less traffic is the fact that collectors are trading much less than they used to. For me the cost of shipping not only internationally, but in the States has become a bit insane. I used to ship out 8-15 trades a week. I just looked it up. The last time I made a trade was February of 2014. Sorry to say if it isn't for a trade for at least $100 worth of cards going each way, in my mind it isn't worth it.

I have seen the collecting forums on Facebook. I belong to a few. I see there is quite a bit of product getting busted out there. Unfortunately they make it a lot easier to post what you have available. Just post a picture and your done. On here you have to go through so many steps to post a picture ( I.e. Post to Flickr or photobucket first). The other sites are smartphone savvy sites and forums are aren't.

I just think the hobby is evolving from collecting to a for profit industry. I think people are less likely to build sets, or look for certain players and teams. It seems like people are just busting to sell.

But ultimately I will always collect. I have been collecting since I was 12 years old in 1985. So I will go where the hobby goes. So if I have to follow the trends I will.
 
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kamper23 said:
There is a huge trading community on twitter that could also result in what you are seeing.
Click to expand...

when you or any one else has time can you give me a quick tutorial on how to find cards on twitter ?

for me I come here mostly for the hobby talk, to make sure I am keeping informed with the happenings of the hobby. While I can access so much more product on facebook, I will never find the veteran knowledge there that I can find here. I am probably here 3-4 times a day, every day, but am more of a reader then a poster
 
iheartjacquie said:
when you or any one else has time can you give me a quick tutorial on how to find cards on twitter ?

for me I come here mostly for the hobby talk, to make sure I am keeping informed with the happenings of the hobby. While I can access so much more product on facebook, I will never find the veteran knowledge there that I can find here. I am probably here 3-4 times a day, every day, but am more of a reader then a poster
Click to expand...

you can find my alt twitter account @myhockeycards and look at who I'm following. Most of them will be on there, as well as lots of people from these boards.
 
I really miss the days when you'd post a thread for a break or a WTT/WTB thread and it would be buried 2 pages down the next day. I don't mean to be all sympathetic but all of YOU here on HI are basically my hockey card buddies. I only know one person personally that collects hockey cards remotely close to me. This has always been where i show off breaks and hits and whatnot. I miss posting a break and getting piles of replies and such. I wish we could get this forum humming again like it used to.
 
creasecollector said:
the younger generation
Click to expand...

Right there, that's a LOT of what has taken a lot out of people out of the hockey hobby game and pushed them towards baseball more as it seems to be an older, more educated, and certainly CLASSIER fan/collector base.

I hate to use the term, but I will, a lot of the millennial crowd I interact with here/there/everywhere are arrogant, rude, classless, and downright entitled and they are a pain to deal with. They aren't well-spoken, and show a lot of disrespect for the hobby vets.

I am sick of dealing with snot-nosed little turd burglars who think Connor McDavid is Michael Jordan and will tell me all about why that is. They aren't very well-versed in the history of hockey and that is a hindrance as well. My tolerance and patience level for the majority of these kids now is zilch.

That all said, that is one reason I LOVE it here, traffic may be slower, but the REAL OG's are here. It's old school and all those ****knobs are on Twitter and Facebook dealing, the exact places I am NOT. :D
 
ChuckNorrisFearsSid said:
I really miss the days when you'd post a thread for a break or a WTT/WTB thread and it would be buried 2 pages down the next day. I don't mean to be all sympathetic but all of YOU here on HI are basically my hockey card buddies. I only know one person personally that collects hockey cards remotely close to me. This has always been where i show off breaks and hits and whatnot. I miss posting a break and getting piles of replies and such. I wish we could get this forum humming again like it used to.
Click to expand...

I feel you on this. Seeing all the activity on here (and other card forums) was really exciting, especially after a new product launch and seeing all the Show & Tell posts.

Also I think we are all in the same boat with forums like these being the place we can truly showoff our new pickups with people who really "get" our passion towards this hobby. Nobody offline in my personal life collect hockey cards, so it probably looks a little strange to some haha. Although I do have a friend who is really into Magic cards, so he is the only person I'm really able to geek out with and we can both sort of understand where we are both coming from in that regard. So I guess that's okay!
 
Great discussion. When I first joined forums well over a decade ago the old Beckett boards were absolutely humming with activity. When they fudged their own success by changing the forums, HI got very active for a while. When a new product hit, it was hard to keep up with all the new posts of breaks. Definitely not the case anymore.
I think a big issue is the number of different ways and websites and even apps you can now use to connect with people. Perhaps is not that there are so many less collectors online, they are just dispersed throughout an array of ways to connect. Back it the day, everyone almost got funnelled to one or two forums, now there are just so many options that there's not one central meeting space.
 
I have always been a lower end collector and always found these forums to be
a place where us people could inter act with the big ticket collectors. There is really no divide there like some other forums. I have been inspired lately by the number of members chasing a retail product, Coast to Coast to be specific. People have really been enjoying this set, low price point and possibility of some really decent pulls. I know I have opened a crap ton of this stuff and find myself enjoying it just like the older days around here. The forums will probably never be as busy as the heyday but to me its still the only place I want to be.
Cheers.
Dan.
 
I'm here for many of the same reasons as covered above. In my daily life, I don't know anybody who would really understand why I do this. You all do, and the support here never fails to inspire and encourage me.

I've joined a few Facebook groups, but there are so many unknown variables there and the sense of community just isn't the same. Here, things are policed so well that any bad apples are promptly dealt with and I can enter any transaction with trust. As Barrie alluded to, there is a wealth of hobby veterans here who cover all aspects and are a tremendous resource if you choose to use them. You don't find that all in one place just anywhere.

HI will always be my first stop. No matter my level of collecting, I always feel welcome here. And I actually prefer the slower traffic. There's no way I can keep up with daily postings on social media. I do wish we'd see more pre-Ebay breaks here in case there were more deals to be made for cards I could use, but for the reasons mentioned, I understand why that probably won't happen.

Joe
 
Thanks for posting this thread.

I've always said it the people and not the hobby that keeps this hobby alive. There are so many great people on this site and yes we are now old school.No more evident that seeing everyone at Jack Astors at Expo....... I'm OK with that.

Many of us have grown here ,had familys and still love the hobby. I'll post and always keep checking here.


The flip side......want to wheel and deal,It's social media all the way. Huge presence of collectors as the new generation comes in.They want everything yesterday and do not mind stirring the pot of drama....100 per cent this leads into more risk. The kids attitudes with that doesn't bother me, it's relying on them to complete deals.


Bottom line......When it comes to the trading and selling in the hobby it's changing, do we?
 
Agree completely

27Leafs27 said:
I have always been a lower end collector and always found these forums to be
a place where us people could inter act with the big ticket collectors. There is really no divide there like some other forums. I have been inspired lately by the number of members chasing a retail product, Coast to Coast to be specific. People have really been enjoying this set, low price point and possibility of some really decent pulls. I know I have opened a crap ton of this stuff and find myself enjoying it just like the older days around here. The forums will probably never be as busy as the heyday but to me its still the only place I want to be.
Cheers.
Dan.
Click to expand...

What he said. I have been back for a few months and have seen the change. I used to be a die hard Hasek collector. Today seem to be picking today's Sharks here and there. Hobby insider still feels like home though. Keith
 

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