Is the Sports Card Craze Settling Down?

After the Target ordeal, there appears to have been some semblance of sanity restored.

I previously wrote about the sports card craze and how it led to an altercation between people who were waiting at a Target in Wisconsin to buy cards.

More details have been revealed about what happened, as Milwaukee's Fox affiliate filed an open records request for video footage, after the district attorney didn't file any charges.

The video footage reveals that it wasn't simply a case of one person buying cards and others attempting to take them from him. Rather, it was apparently a dispute over who was supposed to be next in line to purchase cards.

While the video footage gives us more answers as to how things transpired, it still raises the issue about how the craze has gone too far. To this point, Target hasn't put NFL, NBA or MLB trading cards back on the shelves, though it has put Pokemon cards back and is limiting people to two items per customer per day.

Walmart, meanwhile, appears to differ by location regarding how it handles trading card sales. There's one Walmart I visited at keeps the cards behind the register at which cigarettes are sold. Another Walmart appears to be randomly setting times when cards are stocked, because I went by the trading cards and saw barely anything, then when I went back 10 minutes later, there were more packs stocked.

I did experience one day of going to Walmart when its doors opened in the morning. Long story short, I was on my way to cover an early-morning event and decided I'd stop by to see if I could make any purchases.

Turned out there were four others who had shown up for the same person, though I'm pleased to report that they were orderly, patient, and one man was even willing to hand over a product to somebody who asked about it. I grabbed a few items with the intent of opening them all (and I did later that day).

Who knows -- perhaps when more people heard about the reports of what happened at Target, they figured it was time for a little perspective.

I've already discussed the issues surrounding the current craze and offered suggestions. If Walmart is varying its approaches to how sports cards will be stocked, that's a good thing.

I don't know when Target will return to putting MLB, NFL and NBA trading cards on the shelves, but from my own observations, it looks like flippers aren't raiding those stores like they used to. Pokemon cards have been on the shelves in the stores I've visted.

Of course, the Walmarts and Targets I visit are all in Wichita, Kan., so what I experience may be different than what one experiences elsewhere. At the very least, though, it appears things are settling down a bit.

How much longer will it last? I've said it before and will say it again: I don't expect the NFL craze to fade given the quarterback draft class of 2021 and excitement over those cards. However, the MLB craze has subsided and interest in NBA is fading with the playoffs nearing their conclusion.

I will say that a positive about the craze is that it got me to search for hobby shops, in which I found two in Wichita. I wish I had found both sooner, because they're both wonderful places to visit and ran by friendly people -- plus it's a great way to support a local business.

I do expect, at some point, that the craze will reach the point in which it will be easier to obtain products in the retail stores at the suggested retail price. Not everyone may be prepared to return to in-person shopping, but they will be ready for in-person events such as sports, concerts, vacations and other venues in which people will spend money -- and that will mean less money for sports cards.

But as I said before and will say again: We have to be careful about being obsessed over a product, lest greed and envy take over our better selves.