This weekend I stopped at a couple of local card shows to see how the weekend warriors were doing. These were not the shows I remembered doing a few years back. Looking down the aisles you could see colorful Beanie Babies all over the place. Stuck between this new breed of bean bag dealers were a few of the usual card dealers I knew, but they didn't look too happy. I decided to start asking some questions.
THE SPORTSCARD DEALER'S STORY
The first sportscard dealer I spoke to has been doing shows for over five years, but was looking at this being one of his last weekends in the show business. He wasn't happy and wasn't interested in going into the Beanie Baby business so he planned on dealing only from the Internet from now on. He was already using the 'net, but enjoyed doing the weekend shows to get out and talk to people about cards. Now the only talk he gets is people asking him if he was going to get any Beanies in stock.
"It's not as if I haven't seen this type of thing before. I remember POGS, but this is different. In my opinion Beanie dealers should have their own shows and card show promoters shouldn't let them in." I brought up the fact that quite a few of the Beanie dealers also had sportscard packs for sale on their tables, but this just made him shake his head and ask me to check the prices and talk to the promoter. I guess I had stumbled onto something.
THE BEANIE BABY DEALER'S STORY
I went a couple tables down to a Beanie dealer who had about 4 boxes of cards on her table. The problem was obvious. She had packs of 98 Finest Baseball for $4 and Ultra 2 Basketball at 4 for $9. For reference, the card dealers were getting $5 for Finest and $2.75 for Ultra 2 packs. No wonder I got the response I did from the last guy. As I bought a pack of Finest I asked her a few questions (it never hurts to buy something when you need a scoop). I told her I was so happy to see Finest so cheap and she said "Well, the promoter wanted everyone to have sportscards on their table since this is a card show, so I went and bought a few boxes wholesale this week. I'm not really making any profit, but it keeps him happy and makes more people come to my table."
THE PROMOTER'S STORY
Finding the show promoter wasn't too hard. He was sitting with his son at his sportscard table. No one else was around so he was happy to talk to me, until I asked him about the Beanie dealers. He started to explain. "When I began this show three years ago I would actually have to turn dealers away because I had no space for them all. Over the years dealer participation had slacked off until I started running the shows only every other month and finally just four times each year. This year I didn't think I'd be able to run it at all until I started getting table requests from Beanie Baby dealers. I'm a card guy. I've been selling cards for over ten years, but this was the only way I could afford to have the show."
I asked him about the fact that the Beanie dealers were undercutting the card dealers on new packs. I also noticed that he only sold older singles and had no wax that came out after 1996. "I think I made a mistake this time," he said. "I thought I would be attracting sportscard dealers who also carried Beanies, but instead I got a bunch of Beanie dealers who used it as a reason to lowball the card guys." I felt bad for the guy. He really seemed sincere about trying to get the show running at any cost.
CARD SHOPS FIGHTING BACK
A local card shop recently started selling Beanie Babies. His customers were asking for them and he found some distributors who could give him a decent price. By buying large quantities he was able to offer most of the unretired Beanies for $4.99. Many local stores have started raising the prices to $5.99 and up in order to take advantage of all the hype. In my opinion he had the perfect idea. Keep his customers happy and provide them with the products they wanted at a price they could afford. Not everyone agreed with me.
Since he started carrying the little bean critters he's had more than his share of complaints. The local stores are complaining that he's undercutting them. The other card shops are complaining that he's "giving in" by selling them. The buyer's group he's in is mad that he's selling them, and even Beanie collectors/investors have come in to express their displeasure that he's hurting the market value of their collectibles. He's not sure that all the complaints are worth it just to sell something unrelated to cards in his store.
IS THIS REALLY A WAR?
Sportscards have been around since the 19th century and while they seem to change and evolve every year, I don't see them going away anytime soon. Beanie Babies are the new kid on the block. I know they have a better chance at a future then POGS did, but as to guess whether they'll survive like Barbie or go the way of Cabbage Patch Kids, only time will tell. In the meantime there's no reason we can't all get along. One dealer I met this weekend was truly a card and Beanie dealer. He has been a card dealer for 9 years and with business slipping he got involved with Beanies. "I don't think I would have made it past 1997 if I didn't start selling Beanies," he said.
BEANIES AT OUR NATIONAL CONVENTION
Due to their tremendous popularity the 19th National Sports Collectors Convention will have a Beanie Baby Pavilion. I've read many objections to this in the newsgroups lately, but I've got one comment on the idea. If dealers were going to bring them anyway, it's a good idea to give them their own pavilion. That way if you're not interested in Beanies you can stay in the sports collectibles section and not have to see them on every other table. Last year at the 18th in Cleveland there were quite a few tables with Beanies and I barely heard a complaint about them.
What do you think about Beanie Babies? I've got a couple on top of my computer that sit here and watch me write my features and answer my email every night. I'm not too concerned about what they're worth or what condition the tags are in, but they're cute and much less work than a pet. Are they hurting our hobby? Post a message on the board and let me know what you think. And make sure you come back in a week for more thoughts about our hobby... sportscards, that is.
CHAT