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Henry Itzi sits behind the counter at Lou’s Baseball Card Dugout Store, explaining why he has become less passionate about his job.
"The business is nowhere like it was six years ago," he noted. "Too much product is out there and the cost of the product is astronomical."
Itzi, 44, has actually worked in the business for 14 years at Lou’s, once located in the basement of its current spot at 2506 S. Broad St.
Most sports-card stores in the city are in the Northeast; Lou’s is one of three in South Philly. The others are All Sports Collectibles at 1620 E. Passyunk Ave. and Consolidated Sports and Celebrities at 2654 S. Juniper St.
Itzi said business has been off about 60 percent since the mid-1990s. The prices no longer make card collecting kid-friendly. Some sports collectors have moved on to hotter items like bobblehead dolls and autographs.
Victor Capo, owner of All Sports, has moved on, too.
"I don’t do much in cards," he said. "I got out of it because sales slowed so much."
Capo, who said he does his best business selling autographs over the Internet, believes the problem might be a flooded market of sports collectibles that forces buyers to make choices.
"The manufacturer makes so many products for each sport, it’s impossible for people to collect them all," he said.
Capo also cited the high prices.
At Lou’s and other stores that still feature cards, adults will seek out specific ones for their expected value, such as LeBron James rookie cards, which will be released next month.
But Itzi said these cards are often overvalued because the athlete hasn’t yet proven himself.
"It doesn’t make sense that [Florida Marlins rookie pitcher] Dontrelle Willis, who hasn’t played a full season, has his rookie [card] skyrocketing so high. It’s just hype, as with LeBron James," Itzi said of the Cleveland Cavaliers forward.
Consolidated Sports’ Glen Sarni agrees, and said collectors shopping in his store tend to be skeptical of newcomer athletes.
"We don’t have too many people purchasing individual rookie cards because we don’t know how well the athlete is going to do," he said. "It’s like people buying 100 comic books of each Marvel and they didn’t know that Robin was going to die and the comics weren’t worth much."
The average card purchase at Lou’s is $10-$12, good enough for only two packs.
"For kids, it’s like the lottery," Itzi said. "They want to sell most of them. It’s impossible to complete a set because of the prices. Corporations and wholesalers got greedy and the companies just want you to buy a pack."
He added that most people come in his store hoping to sell their cards, but the only ones that draw interest are pre-1975.
Basketball cards became popular with the unmatched success and popularity of Michael Jordan, who also was the most expensive commodity in all sports.
Baseball cards gained a brief resurgence with rookie cards such as Ken Griffey Jr.’s, but skidded after the 1994 major-league strike. By the time basketball cards’ appeal plunged in 1999 due to the NBA lockout and Jordan’s retirement, the price of packs had skyrocketed.
Intriguing designs and enticing surprise inserts such as game jerseys (an actual piece of a player’s jersey attached to a card) have doubled the price of packs in the last several years. The inserts are serially numbered and can be found by opening 100 or so packs of a brand.
Bonuses used to be easier to come across, and more rewarding for fans.
In the past, rookie cards could be found by opening a pack or purchasing the individual card before its value surged — a thrill for the collector, especially kids.
Since 1999, many of the top stars’ rookie cards have been numbered and sometimes released in editions of less than 5,000, making them more unattainable.
The cards can start in the $100 range, and prices can rapidly increase. As in the case of Toronto Raptor Vince Carter’s 1999 rookie card, they can rapidly decrease, too.
Autographed cards are another goal for fans, but the rare finds, also serially numbered and combined with special relics (balls, jerseys, etc.), are out of the average collector’s grasp.
Aside from rising prices, card dealers also have been hurt by people selling their goods on Ebay, although the Web site is not considered a mecca of card collecting either.
Sarni said only two types of collectors exist today — casual card-seekers who buy a few packs a year, and the few hardcore fans who pick up 100 packs in a single purchase.
Itzi said the only thing keeping his business alive is fads, mainly from comics and Pok�mon. Pok�mon cards are collected to gain points, which inspires kids to compete with friends to get highly desirable selections.
Capo, of All Sports, said sports cards might make a comeback, as they are vulnerable to trends, just like other collectibles.
"I guess cards are in a cycle," he said. "They are not as sought out as they were in the ’90s."
