Convention compared to those of 2005?

After reading todays threads of the attendence of this years Palms show it got me thinking. Whether you agree with the thought of Mr Grush or not, some of the points he makes I believe are valid concerns.

Is the hobby losing interest? Sure chip prices are up more than they have ever been. Sure Ebay Chip listings are growing weekly, Sure membership keeps growing. But is there a trend of shrinking membership in local clubs or attendance at meetings or shows?

Honestly I wish I could have made the Palms show this year. Gene and the Palms have always been huge supportors of our club and the hobby as a whole. I can say the reason I could not make it is that with the date being so close to the Holidays, I just couldnt find the time away fom work to make it. Unfortunately many people like myself take off time from work this time of year to be with family during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I have to think that is a reason the show was poorly attended.

However what about the Annual Club Convention? Did we see the same results? I honestly dont want to stir up a fuss, I am really interested in knowing as I am concerned.

On the subject of attracting investors, I must disagree with some of what I saw posted today. I think it is far more important to attract new collectors than it is to attract investors.

Sure everyone loves to open the new Chiprack and see thier collection grow in value... who doesn't? However I can tell you from first hand experience, appealing to investors is not the answer.

I spent a large portion of my collecting addiction in sportscards. First as just a collector and then as a collector/dealer. At one time Card collecting for me was just as big of a passion as Chips are now. I couldnt wait to read the hobby periodicals, go to every show I could and anxiously awaited every one of them. I couldn't imagine ever selling my collection or losing interest........

But as the hobby grew, so did the greed. Once word got out that you could make money in Cards, the investors moved in. Unfortunately I believe that Slabbing was one of the reasons for this. I cant blame slabbing 100% of the fall of the hobby, but I can say that once slabbing became common, people who had no interest in cards before, started ivesting and speculating in them much like stocks.

Prices began to skyrocket and at first everyone was happy. Once the cardmakers saw that they could also make money they started producing more sets every year. The companies started flooding the market with so many cards that collectors like myself stopped collecting everything as we had done in the past and started specializing. As the investors bought up the better cards, the prices continued to climb and it became financially unreasonable for me to fill holes in my collection. Before long the real collectors started selling off thier own cards.

At one time I told everyone I knew I "WOULD NEVER SELL MY UNOPENED PACKS COLLECTION" Unfortunately, when it got to a point that the only way to fill the holes in my collection was to mortgage my house I started to lose interest. The investors and the "Big Boys" had driven the prices up so high that it just wasnt fun for me anymore. I am sure that a lot of people felt the same way I did and also stopped collecting.

So...... I am not saying that Slabbing ruined the hobby. I am also not saying that Investors ruined the hobby. I am also not blaming high prices for ruining the hobby. However I feel all were contributors in making the great and at one time powerfull hobby of card collecting into the shell of what it used to be.

I guess what I am trying to say is what I think we need to do to keep this hobby strong is to attract more "Collectors" and not "Investors".

Do we need new ideas? Sure we do, new ideas and improvement are the keys to sucess at anything.

I love this hobby and to my friends and family I once again say "I WILL NEVER SELL MY PERSONAL COLLECTION". I cant see myself ever losing interest in this hobby as I sincerely love it.

I love this hobby, I love the people who I have met in this hobby, I love being a Chipper. I promise all that I will do everything within my power to continue moving this hobby in what I feel is the right direction.

I know there is a lot of bickering on this board and that is not all bad. It shows that there are people who are passionate about this hobby which is a good thing. I would love to hear some real ideas on how to promote our hobby and encourage eveyone to contribute.

Well, the latest dose of cold medicine is kicking in and my glass of scotch is empty so that means time for bed. I sincerely hope people will think about what I have said and give some real thought to the future of our organization as I for one plan on being a chipper for a long, long time.......

Take care my friends and happy Thanksgiving,
Doug LM-3209-147