[baseballPAP]

I have long decided that the death of baseball cards came along in 1990 or so, when it became a reality that the cards that compose the regular set meant nothing. The only cards that held any value were the so-called "inserts". Now then, that was bad, but not the worst. The worst was when I continually watched guys go 4-5 on SportsCenter, and sure enough, the Guides had them going up. But, as some sort of perverted balance, cards of stars long retired would go down, mostly due to lack of interest I would assume. What have you done for me lately Willie McCovey?

Then, as I held on to my beloved hobby, I started to realize the same things mentioned...I kept running into guys at shows that were buying up a ton of stuff, but couldn't even tell me what position the guys played. Much the same thing happened in my other hobby (comic books...anyone else pull that rare double hobby?) as people started to pile tons of money into the reported value of these pieces of cardboard and paper originally meant for kids.

Then there was the final straw. GRADING! Now it was a crime to look at your cards or comics...you had to have them sealed in plastic and put away in a dark cool place.

I could scream.