A Collector, An Investor, and A Flipper Walk Into A Bar…

Is it possible to draw lines in the sand between various consumer types in the sports card industry?

The Journey

In the halcyon days of card collecting, one could easily draw parallels to that of the illegal drug trade. You had the roles of Producer, Distributor, and Dealer pretty well defined. Topps, Donruss, and Fleer were the card cartels. A network of distributors were regionally located across the US to make sure that the dealers were well stocked with supply to keep their street level addicts, AKA Collectors, satiated. As a frame of reference, this didn’t happen overnight, but the building blocks for the current “supply chain” took root in the early 80’s and spawned from there.

Enter the consumer. First it was the tobacco consumer, then after WWII the popularity of chewing gum burst onto the scene and it was used as a vehicle to move gum. Over time we have seen everything from puzzles, cookies, stickers, and cereal benefitting from the addition of a sports card to the packaging. A shift came in the 80’s when the target product became the cards themselves. The collector concept began to take shape in the 70’s and cards started taking on monetary value of some consequence in the 80’s. Seen in a similar light to a coin or stamp, which dominated the collectibles market up to this point, “vintage” sports cards were now being carried alongside other treasures of yesteryear. The true concept of the local card shop started springing up in the early 80’s. These were truly the golden days of collecting referred to in the first sentence of this post.

The price of a pack in 1981 was 30 cents and it sprung all the way up to 45 cents by the end of the decade. If you were collecting, with no intent to resell, these price points weren’t putting a dent in most pockets. I took my weekly allowance, which I obtained by taking out the trash and mowing the lawn, and once bought 13 packs of 1981 topps at the local Rite Aid. It was the power move of a seven year old in that time period. My neighbor friends looked at me like some oil tycoon with my unopened packs spread out on the floor for all to see. This was the first time I had bought more than a pack or two at one time. The pure trading leverage I would now carry was off the charts!

No matter how many packs I bought, I didn’t have a 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie Card. I had started my journey a year to late. That very card started my education and turned me from a collector trading with friends, to the Bud Fox of sports cards in the halls of my second grade class. Who was Gordon Gekko you may ask? That would be my neighbor across the street, two years my senior, and sporting not one, but two, mint 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie Cards. He also carried with him a copy of The Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide. All I needed to see was the fact that single cards carried monetary value. I didn’t know where this market existed. I didn’t know what bazaar I would need to travel too in order to sell my goods. I just knew there may be a play here for a kid with a pension for wheeling and dealing.

That marketplace, as I soon learned, was a card show spread across the halls of our local mall. Talk about a mind blowing concept for a kid that had only read about vintage cards and taken a casual look at what was referred to as a “price guide”. Side story if I may, a friend went to Amsterdam when he was 18. He came back with a distant gaze in his eyes and newfound understanding of what was capable when various guardrails were removed and people were left to their devices. He described the moment he walked upon the red light district and said it must have taken a minute to straighten his expression out. I think that first card show was very similar for me. This was no Rite Aid candy aisle! This was the Washington Square Park of the sports card scene. Sports Card junkies huddled in mass wheeling and dealing. Grown men, shirts coated in various stains from the meats and cheeses they scarfed down while hovering over their wares, hustling small children, because who else was gonna show them how harsh the world could be!?!? It was beautiful, and a show or two later, at the ripe age of 7, I had officially moved from collector to investor.

Defining The Consumer

Let’s do some definitions…(from Oxford Language….also known as, the first thing that pops up when you google)

Collector – a person who collects things of a specified type, professionally or as a hobby.

Investor – a person who puts money into something in order to make a profit or get an advantage.

Flipper –

noun

1. a broad flat limb without fingers, used for swimming by various sea animals such as seals, whales, and turtles.

2. a person who buys and sells something, especially shares or property, quickly in order to make a profit.

*For Flipper and our purposes, we are going with definition two, in case you didn’t pick that up. However, some may have limbs without fingers, very possible I suppose.

Since my awakening at that first card show, and for a while after that, I considered myself an investor of sports cards, with a very targeted and calculated collection. I still collect very little with the intent to hold and never sell. Everything I own has a price tag with exception of one card, a 1954 Topps Al Kaline rookie card, that my grandmother slyly inserted into the pocket of a pair of Jordache jeans she gave me as an 11 year old for Christmas. Yup, a ’54 Kaline clothed in only a small envelope, tucked in the back pocket. I swear, the only reason I noticed it was this small piece of paper sticking out of the pocket thinking it may be a gift receipt for the jeans. Damn thing could have made it to the next wash cycle if I didn’t catch that slice of envelope peaking out. Not a bad pickup for a kid who was a rabid Tiger fan!

So back to the definitions stuff for a bit. Maybe for the sports card market we can define by general intent? How about this…

Card Collector – A person who collects cards for no other reason than to have them and appreciate them.

Investor – A person who collects cards with the intent to eventually/possibly sell taking into effect market factors and other analysis.

Flipper – A person who buys cards, sealed or otherwise, with the sole intent of selling as fast as possible thus taking advantage of a market inequity or volatility due to supply.

Why Do We Hate Each Other?

Everyone wants to discuss the evils of the hobby. Flippers are evil, they make the price of sealed product rise. Investors are idiots, because the time it takes to make a buck isn’t worth the cash on hand. Collectors are nose pickers and so on. Not sure we can fall into definitions that easily. It’s reasonable to say that someone can be a Collector and an Investor. It is also reasonable to say that someone can be an Investor and a Flipper. One needs to do some mental gymnastics to say they are a collector and a flipper. That said, one can collect something and do the occasional flip. Right? So maybe not so hard?

The reality is probably more to the fact that each consumer plays a role in the ecosystem. Subsequently, each one can benefit the other. As an investor, in a perfect world I am selling to a collector. They pay the highest price, complain less about micro-condition issues, and typically are just happy to have the card. Sometimes they are the only buyer, which of course means they are likely to get a deal, but at least I move my card.

As a collector, I can typically buy singles from an investor or flipper, far cheaper than it costs me to buy whole boxes/packs. Collectors are typically more focused on a player or team, which means buying singles, which can be found on the open market at cheaper prices than trying to pull from sealed product.

The Flipper, while possibly always lurking in the shadows of the hobby, truly came into prominence during the pandemic years. Born possibly out of the shoe flipping craze and looking for alternative sources of income, the Flipper has been the target of various vitriol spewed by many across the hobby. Often blamed for sapping the local big box shelves and botting their way into drops on various websites for highly desired product. The Flipper is now, and probably will be for some time, a part of the ecosystem. That said, many got left “holding the bag” as the kids say, and have flipped off into other venues.

This all leads us to another animal…

The Gambler

If you are the type of person who enjoys opening sealed product for the thrill of obtaining a hit, this is where the lines get blurred. Sealed product is sort of the equalizer. It’s an exciting way to possibly obtain high value product for lower prices. You can also end up with a stack of low to no value product for a high price. If this fits your “consumer profile” congrats, you are a gambling addict with a pension for sports cards!

The Gambler is two parts Investor, one part Flipper and maybe a pinch of Collector. The gambler has less savvy then an Investor, more interest in the product than a flipper, and less emotion attached than a collector. The Gambler is often hurt by the flipper, as the price and lack of product soars the odds of success and “wins” tend to drop. The investor is no friend to the gambler as they eat into the margin of the prizes sold. The collector has a need for the gambler as they provide the cheap singles they can obtain, which the gambler uses to offset gambling losses.

In this present day and age, I feel I am more Gambler than any of the above. I care a little more about cards than the Flipper. I analyze and strategize but not as much as the investor, and I open more sealed product and break more than the Collector.

I am just one more ring in the ecosystem. Please don’t hate me.

Be Comfortable, And Try not To Judge

Everybody has their thing. Maybe defining the consumers of the card industry is a futile project. Maybe as consumers of the same product, yet for different reasons, we can all accept our needs vary. For one, collecting may be tied to an emotional bond. For another, it may be an outlet to have some thrill. Others might use it for therapy. Remember, whatever your need or want, try to find common ground in the fact that people who don’t know squat about cards, think we are all absolutely nuts, childish, and immature.