How to Revive Collectible Trading Cards

In the ‘50s, ’60s and ’70s, there were baseball cards. Then the '80s saw Garbage Pail Kids, and the '90s saw the rise of fantasy CCGs, such as Magic and Pokémon. Is the struggling industry prepared for what’s coming in the 21st century? Innovators in the field told  TDmonthly Magazine that they were.

C&I Collectibles Inc. and Sportsline Distributors Inc. have rearranged their sports trading cards businesses to focus instead on sports collectibles and licensed novelties, respectively.

“There are certainly still kids out there collecting stuff,” said C&I Collectibles Inc. president Cliff Dolgins “but cards like Yu-Gi-Oh! have taken some of the business away.” Trading cards comprise only about 50 percent of profits these days, he added.

Similarly, when Marty Faierstain started Sportsline Distributors Inc. 18 years ago, he sold nothing but sports trading cards. Today, cards in general comprise a mere 15 percent of total sales. Faierstain now focuses on a “full, fun area” made up of different kinds of toys related to one specific license.

David Brown, president of Serious U.S.A. Inc., believes sports trading cards can still be profitable; he just thinks manufacturers “need to demand innovation to keep their product relevant.”

After difficulty breaking into the U.S. market with his interactive DVD cards, Brown shifted gears. He purchased worldwide patents for the DVD and CD card concepts in the hopes that competitors such as Topps and UpperDeck (ToyShow) will come to him for the technology.

Distribution problems have been rough on LocaSmarts LLC (ToyDirectory) president Shirley S. James as well. Since starting her tween girl trading card company just over a year ago she’s learned “that distribution is run by the male side of the industry. We’ve met barriers with gender differences.”

This has forced her to handle marketing more regionally and to boost business through direct-to-customer sales online. She has even branched out into designer air fresheners.

However, Allan Caplan, president of Inkworks (Gift Guide), doesn’t think the trading card industry is suffering. He’s hinging his hopes on Naruto trading decks. As an entertainment property, Naruto has been huge in Japan, so when Cartoon Network began producing shows in September, Inkworks followed with trading cards in April. “Everything on mass market has sold out,” he said.

According to Illektron (ToyDirectory) president Jerald Stuart, Naruto cards will have to compete with his Battlez cards for kids’ attention. The collectible card game was a hit with kids when test marketed in 2004 and has since been revamped based on retailer feedback. The game will be re-released this holiday season and ready to roll out in large-scale form in early spring 2007.

“We’ll be working on it for years — adding new characters and cards,” Stuart explained.