Quote:
Originally Posted by Jin
Maybe, hobby was really fun at the time. But I remember 09-10 Panini products being better then they are now though.
|
It was fun because you came into the hobby curing its highest point. Even higher than the post lockout VC era. There have only been a few high points in basketball card history. They all follow a player hype ..
1992 with Shaq
1998 with VC (more like 99)
2003 with Lebron
Other than that there was no real pre draft excitement. Lebron was by far the biggest one. The mid 00s was probably the biggest draft hype in history for most sports. Lebron in 03, Crosby/Ovechkin in 05 for UD that was prime time in the 2 sports they excelled in. Ironically UD came out with exquisite in time for the Lebron hype. The Cup just in time for Crosby. Perfect timing as no other draft year would have been able to carry a $500/pack so easily with the attention of these rookies.
Like NJnets stated... when you come into the market at its prime, you basically have nowhere to go but down once it sustaining is over. It sustained for a few years and boom...drop. Weak rookie crops, a lockout and financial trouble for UD with the economy going into a recession and a couple of wars in-between. WHat did you expect? The cycle happend. The only thing that didnt change was the mind set of basketball card flippers. The time of profitting from new collectors in the hobby due to Lebron/Crosby died down. THe marketplaced slowed its pace while foreclosures and job losses took place. But the flippers still needed their high risk high reward product to turn a buck.