Thoughts on Wax, and current state of the "hobby"

yea, i know that ive written about this before and will do so again im sure, so get over it! :)

during my walk today i thought about this...Wax and the history thats wrapped within those little wax tombs.

im not going into a history lesson on wax packs, at least not this time around.

think about it, when you're opening a wax pack, the cards inside have never been seen by (non-employee's) eyes before. that to me is a fantastic thought, peeking at the cardboard beauties for their first time out in the open.

Now, the thing with opening old wax packs is that you cannot go into it thinking that you're going to "make money". There is an old school of thought that cards are worth money. get real, they really are not. there are millions of them out there.

in 2010, the only reason to open, lets say 1985 Topps Baseball for example, is because either you're new to the hobby and want to know what it was like to open packs in 1985, or you've been around for a long time collecting, and want to remember what it was like to open them when you opened them way back when. i fall into the latter, thankfully.

now see, the thing with the '85 topps wax is that you're laying out about $3 a pack (they were 35 cents a pack when they came out) and the "best return" "money" wise would be a McGwire or Clemens rookie, which are about eight bucks a piece. so why would anyone lay out $3 for a slim (15 cards out of a 792 card set) chance at pulling an eight dollar card?

there inlays why this "hobby" has fallen on its ass.

long gone are the days of ENJOYING what you have in EACH pack.

long gone are the days of kids enjoying sports cards because you got gum AND cards came with it.

long gone are the days of yesterday.

how sad is it that in todays day and age, people riffle through their packs looking to see if they got "a hit" (read: money card) and then quickly going on to their next pack, chasing that dragon that they never seem to catch.

how sad is it to be in a hobby shop, watch someone rip through some packs, and then just toss their "commons" on the counter, unloved, unwanted.

i know we "can't go back again", but damn it, wax should be savored, enjoyed, each and every card in the pack!