Baseball Card

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:10 pm

Anyone collect baseball cards?

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:11 pm

Once upon a time... back in the late 1990s.

Sportscards are now worth about 1/10th what they used to be worth.

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:12 pm

Yeah most of them are. I collect some vintage T206s and such. They hold their value pretty well.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:21 pm

JustCallMeAric wrote:Yeah most of them are. I collect some vintage T206s and such. They hold their value pretty well.

Yes, T206s are a little better option.
Most people who ask "anyone collect baseball cards" have a stack of 1987 Topps.

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:24 pm

Oh I've got those too. When you're a kid what else can you afford? I've just been trying to decide if I should sell some of them or not.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:27 pm

JustCallMeAric wrote:Oh I've got those too. When you're a kid what else can you afford? I've just been trying to decide if I should sell some of them or not.

It's probably the worst time to be selling sportscards.
The market "crashed" a few years ago and it's still down.
If you don't need the money, you'll never regret having a stack of T206s.

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:31 pm

True and the economy is crap. I guess I'll just hold on to them for now.

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:39 pm

Most people who ask "anyone collect baseball cards" have a stack of 1987 Topps.

Gasp. I prefer 1988 Donruss myself!!

I used to collect heavily. Card companies chased me away when they all started producing 50 different sets each, and got crazier than Malibu with variants, inserts etc.

The market for cards is--whats hot in 2008 is completely dormant in 2009.

They produce so much crap, that everyone just moves on to the next year, and the cards before then get forgotton. They produce "omg 1/1!!!" or "/50!!!", but what people fail to realize, is that even though a certain jersey card of someone is serial numbered out of 50, there are 100 other serial numbered jersey card sets of the same player out there!!

Its just madness. Packs of cards are so outrageously expensive. You can spend over $100 on a pack on cards, and not get crap except mayby a auto or jersey of an unknown player, that will sell for 5 bucks on ebay.

I remember when i was a kid. I could grab a beckett, look through it, and every set from every year had price changes denoted by the up or down arrow. Now if you grab a beckett, every set isnt even included because there are just too damn many printed in the last decade. And there are no price changes!!! The only cards changing prices are the current year. Everything else is completely dormant.

2 examples. This patch card is serial numbered 3/3. Only two others exist. I bet if i put it up on ebay it wouldnt bring more than $50, if that. How much would a serial numbered 3/3 X-O go for?

T-mac/Kevin Garnet Ultimate collection dual jersey, serial numbered out of 10. Same thing, bet it wouldnt even bring $50. I would rather keep it. But on the other hand, every year that goes by, less and less interest will happen. Unless maybe if they retire and join the hall of fame. Then I might have a small window to cash in. With packs being so ridiculously priced, I cant see profiting much unless you happen to get low serial numbers of this years current #1 rookie. But...you better sell it before the next years #1 rookie comes.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:53 pm

Unfortunately, we'll eventually see the same situation in comics.

10:1 variants become 100:1 variants...
those become 1000:1 variants...
which become x/99 limited editions...
which become x/50, x/20, and x/3 editions.
At some point you get "one of one" comics,
and then there's nowhere else to go.

As each of these "more limited" situations become normal,
the prices plummet... eventually reaching the point that
almost no one cares at all.
50:1 variant? So... this one's 500:1.
"1/1 unique"? So's this. So's that.

Ultimately, I hope it will mean that a comic variant isn't considered important
unless the COMIC ITSELF is important. That's always been my hope.

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:00 pm

Thing we got goin with us on comics is you walk into a store and buy the new issue. With cards, you take a gamble with what you are purchasing and its actually become more like a lottery. I remember a guy on ebay pulled a 1/1 jersey autograph lebron james/michael jordan. It actually got media coverage and sold on ebay for around 100k.

I dont think comics could stir up the same commotion. Sure, they can make as many variants as they want. But they can only make so many because they are distributed based on how many of a certain copy a retailer purchases.

It would be different if you walked into a comic shop, and every new issue was sealed in a black bag with the issue name on the front. And you have a chance of pulling a variant out of the bag randomly. Without them doing it that way, I dont see them getting "too" crazy with it.

Then again, buying them that way might be fun lol, at first. Then it would just be annoying with increased print runs, due to people buying 100 of each issue with the hopes they will get that 1/1 variant that has a piece of the artists pen embedded in the cover. With all of the excess flow going onto ebay for pennies on the dollar.

IMJ · Post by **IMJ** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:32 pm

I wouldn't even know what to buy if I wanted to collect a certain set of cards. The mid to late 80s had it made for cards:
You had a few different choices, some fun subsets, and most sets represented the current rosters pretty well. The end.

Some sets that have special places in my heart:
1933 Goudy
1958 Topps
1970 Topps
1987 Topps
1989 Uppderdeck (still one of the sharpest sets made, I think)
1990 Donruss
The first Topps Stadium Club set (which although a beautiful set obviously inspired by what Upper Deck was doing, in my mind was the era and set that rang the death knell for baseball card collecting).

I'd still like a solid Mike Schmidt rookie card to round out my Schmidt collection.

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:44 pm

The first Topps Stadium Club set (which although a beautiful set obviously inspired by what Upper Deck was doing, in my mind was the era and set that rang the death knell for baseball card collecting).

Definately lol. That set inspired a new era for "premium" cards.

80's was great. Thats when i collected as a kid searching for those Jose Canseco rookies. Too bad everything from the 80's is worthless. It was fun though. When you took pride in completing a donruss diamond kings subset.

Now there isnt really any way to actually complete anything. Cant even hardly put together the actual base set because they include auto rookies etc that are rare.

I ended up leaving baseball in the early 90's and started with basketball. That was the most fun i ever had. I still have like 20 hand collated sets of worthless 90/91 fleer lol. But I still have the memories of buying boxes and boxes of them cheap with my cousin at shows, and sitting on his living room floor opening them all, and trading them around. "OMG you got a Shawn Kemp rookie!!!"

Those days are over. Too bad my kid will never have the fun of it.

IMJ · Post by **IMJ** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:27 pm

Well said on all points, Smash...

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:52 pm

I think what ruins everything is that it gets too commercial

maraxusofkeld · Post by **maraxusofkeld** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:26 pm

Anyone ever collect or play magic the gathering? I played for about ten years and right after I was done older cards from Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited just exploded back in 03 and still do pretty well now.

tssgery · Post by **tssgery** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:37 pm

I have a few sportscards, but know nothing about them. I have a:

Julius Erving rookie card. For those of you youngsters, he was also known as Dr J. He was the Jordan before Jordan.

A complete set of Upper Deck from Shaq's rookie season, including Shaq's rookie card that you had to send away for.

I think the Dr J may be worth something, but I have no idea about the others.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:40 pm

I had a friend tha thad like 5 Jordan rookie cards, they were like $700 each at the time.

He sold all of them (I think) to pay for school.

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:57 pm

I think the Dr J may be worth something, but I have no idea about the others.

Depends on the condition. If its pretty chewed not much. High grade obviously, would be some decent cash. There were two cards during his rookie year though. His actual RC and an all star card. All star is worth considerably less. Just check out the number. If its 195, great card. If its 255, good card.

tssgery · Post by **tssgery** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:59 pm

Smashey wrote:
I think the Dr J may be worth something, but I have no idea about the others.
Depends on the condition. If its pretty chewed not much. High grade obviously, would be some decent cash. There were two cards during his rookie year though. His actual RC and an all star card. All star is worth considerably less. Just check out the number. If its 195, great card. If its 255, good card.

I'm fairly certain it's the 195, Senators card. As far as grade... looks good to me. A little soft on the corners but nice otherwise.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:05 pm

Smashey wrote:It would be different if you walked into a comic shop, and every new issue was sealed in a black bag with the issue name on the front. And you have a chance of pulling a variant out of the bag randomly. Without them doing it that way, I dont see them getting "too" crazy with it.

Don't give them any ideas...

I think the variant craze with cards does match the one with comics to some degree,
primarily the secondary market. There's already a valid comparison between
100:1 variant comics on eBay and 100:1 "rare" cards on eBay.

The difference is that the "limited card craze" never stopped,
while the "limited comic craze" seems to have paused for a while,
only to start back up in the past couple years.
(DC's RRP books being the most obvious example.)

Like cards, comics are now being slabbed... and like cards, slabbed comics are losing their "newness".

I still think limited comics will get "more limited", but it will be the same story,
something exclusive (special cover) wrapped around the same worthless interiors,
hot for about six months (if you're lucky) and 90% cheaper in two years.

With most collectibles, "instant success" eventually means "success that lasted an instant".

For cards, comics, coins, or any other collectible...
I recommend at least 5 years before deciding it's "worth anything".

Dr. Solar · Post by **Dr. Solar** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:11 pm

Baseball things were my thing in elementary school, before I moved on to comics in junior high.

I still have a box or two of 88-89 topps, donrus, etc.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:14 pm

Dr. Solar wrote:Baseball things were my thing in elementary school, before I moved on to comics in junior high.

I still have a box or two of 88-89 topps, donrus, etc.

Ahhh... 1988 Topps. Contains the rookie of... uh.... and uh...
was the 4th rarest regular set behind Fleer, Donruss, and Score.

With qualities like that, it's no wonder 1988 Topps will always be regarded as... uhhh...

Well, at least they're 20 years old this year.

Dr. Solar · Post by **Dr. Solar** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:15 pm

greg wrote:
Dr. Solar wrote:Baseball things were my thing in elementary school, before I moved on to comics in junior high.

I still have a box or two of 88-89 topps, donrus, etc.
Ahhh... 1988 Topps. Contains the rookie of... uh.... and uh...
was the 4th rarest regular set behind Fleer, Donruss, and Score.

With qualities like that, it's no wonder 1988 Topps will always be regarded as... uhhh...

Well, at least they're 20 years old this year.

Uhhh...

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:16 pm

First box of cards I ever had was 1988 Topps.

Man, I wish I could get that money back.

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:32 pm

First box of cards I ever had was 1988 Topps.
Man, I wish I could get that money back.

No kidding. Every set in 1988 sucked lol.

I actually have like 15 unopened boxes of 88 donruss!!!!

OMG hoard pic coming!!!!!!!