Mint Condition - final review

So I finished "Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession" -

This is a good read, but not quite perfect.

I simply loved the beginning, where the author focused on his own experiences and how his epic search for the life cycle of the hobby had materialized.

I do think, though, that at times he got bogged down in the minutia of his search. Perhaps too much time describing unsavory characters who I found myself not liking, and therefore not enjoying the time I was spending on them.

His incredile attention to details at times wound up hindering his narrative when I became less interested in that particular phase of his journey.

In the end, his proposed solutions for the hobby seem rushed and less significant than I think they should be, especially considering the breadth of his research.

I wanted MORE time spent on the collecting of the 80's and 90's, but these sections were short - perhaps due the fact that this era of card production probably set the seeds for the destruction of the hobby.

In the end, the book does make me consider EXACTLY why I felt compelled to shell out $66 on a hobby box of Topps Series I Baseball cards in ebay last week.

Perhaps the goal of this blog will be to formulate an answer to that question.