January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
Whether you lived to see him in action or if you've only heard his story through movies, speeches, or books... if you're an American, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made an impact on you and your family's lives.
His leadership and hard work during the Civil Rights Movement has made the country I live in a better place for me, my family, and my friends. And for that... I am thankful.
In honor of King, I figured I'd "Pay It Forward" and share with all of you my "Cardboard Dream"...
I have a dream that one day more of our country's youth will discover the entertainment and knowledge found on tiny pieces of cardboard... so that our hobby will bounce back to the popularity it once was... and local card shops and card shows will flourish with fellow collectors.
I have a dream that card manufacturers will come together, make collectors their priority, give up their monopolies, be rid of redemption cards, sticker autographs, & vague memorabilia card COA's (thanks Chris P), and produce high quality products, instead of overproducing garbage.
I have a dream that Beckett, the so called Holy Grail of Cardboard Price Guides, will use the money their subscribers spend on their guides to hire the manpower required to track sales... in order to give collectors more up to date & accurate values... instead of the unrealistic, comical prices they feed us right now. (thanks G_Moses)
I have a dream that collectors will embrace the community and live together in peace... instead of using cardboard as a motivator to rip each other off in hopes of making a quick dollar... Yes that includes you too... Mr. Pack Searcher. Just because it isn't illegal, doesn't make it right.
I have a dream that these pieces of cardboard will continue to bring joy and happiness throughout my life... that it will give me the desire to continue writing this blog... and finally I hope that this hobby will continue to add new friendships and strengthen the camaraderie we have in this community.
This is my hope... and this is the faith that I go back to my stack of cardboard on my office desk with.
What about you?
What is your "Cardboard Dream"?
I hope all of you have a great week and have the opportunity to see your "Cardboard Dreams" come true. Sayonara!
7 comments:
My "Cardboard Dream" is no more vague COA's on game used cards. Back when game used cards first came out, they said exactly what the memorabilia was, whether it be a jersey, pants, warm up etc (some of em even had photos!). I don't understand how hard it is for card companies to take the effort to provide some kind of peace of mind for us collectors. I also wish we could go back when game used were rare and insert cards ruled the day. I think I saw UD was coming back with a Fleer Metal set that had popular inserts from across fleer products but I don't think they'll make them hard to find like their 90's counterparts. I'd take a Kevin Durant Big Men on the Court over a Kevin Durant white swatch jersey (or is it??? lol) any day of the week.
"My dream is to not judge a product on it's color or appearance but on the content of it's box, I have seen the glory!"
"I have a dream, that one day every worthless graded card will bust out of its plastic case and say 'Free at Last! Free at Last!"
My dream is the end of exclusivity contracts and the death of book value. Let the market decide. This is America. Book value just isn't good enough anymore.
chris - before the night is over... i'll definitely make an amendment to my speech and include the coa issue. i wrote it while laying in bed this morning and obviously missed a key part. don't worry... i'll make sure you get the credit
martyn - awesome... prejudice will not be tolerated on this blog!
josh - i'm a huge fan of setting cards free! let it free... oh let it free... let it free... oh let it free. whisper words of wisdom... let it free.
gmoses - yeah... exclusive contracts suck. and although i believe that book value has a certain place, i wholeheartedly agree that we should let the market decide the values. in other words... beckett needs to use the money it gets from their subscribers to track sales on a more regular basis and update their obsolete/inaccurate values.
My dream is for topps to use different photos for there 10000 paralles
I think Marks been listening to the Beatles!
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