― Kris, Thursday, 18 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 18 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― marcus keeno, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 23:53 (twenty years ago) link
― jergïns, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 13:50 (sixteen years ago) link
― Lingbert, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:15 (sixteen years ago) link
― the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:16 (sixteen years ago) link
― sanskrit, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:17 (sixteen years ago) link
― sanskrit, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:19 (sixteen years ago) link
― David R., Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:23 (sixteen years ago) link
― Brent, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:29 (sixteen years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:59 (sixteen years ago) link
― Leee, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:45 (sixteen years ago) link
― Lingbert, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 17:18 (sixteen years ago) link
― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 17:39 (sixteen years ago) link
― deeznuts, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 17:46 (sixteen years ago) link
― David R., Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:02 (sixteen years ago) link
― Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:08 (sixteen years ago) link
The oversaturation was also spiked with mania for special ("special") and rare cards called "inserts" that could be found in only a small percentage of packs, which was supposed to justify their double-digit Beckett valuations.
So oversaturation + artificial scarcity = a lot of kids getting ripped off and eventually giving up on the whole deal as a sunk cost of adolescence = my story.
This nails it.
The last thing I remember about collecting cards was buying four or five packs of super ultra ltd edition rare upper deck baseball cards, I think they were 5 dollars a pack for 3 cards, and one out of every 1000 or something would have a card with a REAL BASEBALL JERSEY sewn into the card!!!!! Of course, I probably got nothing but Pedro Guererro and Chris Sabo cards, and gave up the hobby for good.
I still have around 12,000 or so cards in my parent's basement, neatly organized by team. So many people have the same situation that I doubt they'll ever substantially increase in value.
Just before the big bust in prices, I tried to convince my parents to let me sell all my cards, but they wouldn't let me. Their reasoning was that since the value of cards increased so much from the pre-1970s to now, they would continue to increase at a similar pace during the next few decades (RONG). Also, they thought that I'd just blow all of the money I made from selling the cards on videogames (RITE).
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 16:58 (sixteen years ago) link
oh man my best card was a 1960 Topps Nellie Fox and i bought one of the thick plastic holder things with bolts in the corners
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:00 (sixteen years ago) link
it's pretty amazing how much cards devalued. i have a shitload of griffey rookie cards which were worth $10 a pop in the early 90s and now they're worth a nickel.
my best card was some 1971 nolan ryan topps card. i think it's in my closet back at my parents' house.
― omar little, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:02 (sixteen years ago) link
know what was cool was that 1992 Score (i think) Bo Jackson card where he had the shoulder pads AND the bat
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:04 (sixteen years ago) link
It's not the most valuable I have by any means, but aesthetically this was always my favorite:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a193/ironsij0287/osmith.jpg
Man, I remember writing an essay in 4th grade about how my hero in life was Ozzie Smith. Then it turned out that my best friend at the time had written about how his best friend was me, and things got really awkward when I said I had chosen Ozzie Smith.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:04 (sixteen years ago) link
how uncomfortable for Ozzie, too
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:05 (sixteen years ago) link
hahahahahaha I think I'm going to start an Ozzie Smith thread.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:07 (sixteen years ago) link
who else had a Beckett subscription? god that was a thrill checking to see if the little arrows went up or down on your top 10
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:08 (sixteen years ago) link
^^^^yes
― Jordan Sargent, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:10 (sixteen years ago) link
^^^^
― omar little, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:15 (sixteen years ago) link
My very first pack of baseball cards were Donruss 88's, I opened it up and this was the first card:
http://www.baseballcardproject.com/Donruss/R/1988/443.jpg
It was at this point that I decided that the Mets were my favorite team and Strawberry was my favorite player. I really enjoyed collecting the cards and never really card about value. Good thing about that.
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:17 (sixteen years ago) link
it's pretty awesome to think about the players everyone was creaming over during the baseball card collecting peak! omg gregg jeffries! steve avery!! jose canseco!! doc gooooden!! future hall of famers WILL CLARK and DON MATTINGLY!!! DAVID JUSTICE and KEVIN MAAS!!!
― omar little, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Results 1 - 10 of about 278 for "jim abbott" "def leppard". (0.35 seconds)
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Remember the Score Dream Team cards? Those were hot:
http://www.stonekitty.net/%7Elucyscloset/061607/Image001.jpg
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Full bleeds ruined baseball cards. I really liked the wood grain borders of the 87 Topps:
http://www.flapa.com/baseball/cards/KevinMitchell1987_653.jpg
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:31 (sixteen years ago) link
The 1987 Topps set is one of the few that I own all of, and of course there were no noteworthy cards, rookie cards or anything from that series.
Somewhere I have an uncut sheet of 1994 Score cards.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:33 (sixteen years ago) link
This one kills me, stick figure Barry:
http://www.homeruncards.com/imagesrc/bondstp.jpg
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:33 (sixteen years ago) link
Awesome:
http://www.johnstoncrew.com/GregMadduxRC.jpg
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:35 (sixteen years ago) link
I had this exact same binder:
http://i11.ebayimg.com/03/i/000/b8/ag/a7b7_1.JPG
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh the lols:
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/4/8/5/6/9/8/webimg/69023815_tp.jpg
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:45 (sixteen years ago) link
http://images.collectors.com/Articles/b&bhull2.jpg
― dan m, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:46 (sixteen years ago) link
All these baseball card auctions on ebay with no bids are depressing.
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:49 (sixteen years ago) link
http://tigerwoodsfistpump.blogspot.com/2007/08/when-baseball-cards-mattered_19.html
― the sir weeze, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:53 (sixteen years ago) link
Holy shit, remember Brien Taylor?! http://www.checkoutmycards.com/CardImages/Original/008/989/04F.jpg
I remember reading the entire cover story on the guy, who was basically some high school kid who could throw really, really fast. Never even made it to the majors, but in my mind he was a legend.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Never even made it to the majors,
injured himself in a bar brawl while in the minors and his career was over.
― chicago kevin, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:03 (sixteen years ago) link
How much do you think 12,000 cards would be worth now? Discounting the "good" cards in them, how much would that many common cards be worth? $300?
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:06 (sixteen years ago) link
I have Orel Hershiser's RC somewhere. I also have a signed Mike Richter (G, NYR) RC at home in CA.
― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:06 (sixteen years ago) link
good luck selling that to anyone, Z S
i think most people are too attached to their own collections, and that buying someone else's would kinda be like using their toothbrush
― the sir weeze, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Ha, you're probably right. I guess I was thinking more of selling all of them to some small card shop. I'm sure people in that business get sick of clueless people walking in everyday trying to unload thousands of worthless cards.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:14 (sixteen years ago) link
this seems like a good place to mention this:
i have a ton of jeff bagwell cards that im irrationally inexplicably attached to there's a good chance he's going to the hall of fame, at which time his cards would be at peak value (around induction time, if it happens) i gotta sell all of them at that time, but im anticipating being all.. 'man, i CANT sell ALL of them...' or something has anyone else dealt with this before?
― the sir weeze, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:18 (sixteen years ago) link
Yep, with McGwire's cards during the season that he and Sosa were chasing 70. In retrospect, I made the completely wrong decision.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:20 (sixteen years ago) link
dude, you're only going to get like 25¢ more for it anyways.
― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Saturday, 13 October 2007 18:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Is the Seabold a rookie card as well
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 09:38 (two months ago) link
lol it is. Let's hope he gets the chance to lower his career ERA to something under 8.
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 09:45 (two months ago) link
Probably not in Colorado
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 09:47 (two months ago) link
Sends baseball cards very much in character...Thank you to gyac for some cool cards, including these two, which I think are both from heritage sets:
https://i.postimg.cc/sXVkq4zF/buster.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/C596hj3x/tim.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 02:42 (two months ago) link
Those were supposed to be smaller and side by side...
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 02:43 (two months ago) link
(they're side-by-side if you have a big enough screen!)
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 03:08 (two months ago) link
The Lincecum is supposed to look like an ‘85 Topps iirc. One of my favorite designs. The set with the legendary Gooden rookie.
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 08:44 (two months ago) link
I sent a few others, as clemenza alludes to, so here’s what I sent and why:Lincecum: duhPosey: the Posey/Lincecum battery of the 2010 postseason is my Roman EmpireBrandon Morrow: obviously he was a Jay but I kept reading about him when I started reading about Lincecum. He was a California kid who was drafted ahead of Lincecum, by the Mariners. Lincecum was a stud at UW and Mariners fans had been watching him carve up the pac12 for three years and Mariners fans, to this day, still bitch about (them drafting) Morrow. So you had a California kid go to Seattle and a Seattle kid go to California. Morrow was basically ruined by the Mariners messing him around but the Jays, I believe, helped him get back to what he started out as. The parallels are intense - their careers started and ended at very similar times.Sergio Romo - my Immaculate Grid stud! And the story about him striking out Miggy with a slow fastball in 2012 remains classic.I also sent a José Bautista by virtue of him being both a Blue Jays stud, baseball brawl and rule 5 legend?
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 09:41 (two months ago) link
This is all really cool
― H.P, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 10:02 (two months ago) link
I was in the MLB flagship store last week and I bought a box of the new cards, some sampleshttps://i.postimg.cc/J7Yf69Sk/IMG-5664.jpgThey very thoughtfully chose photos of the Padres players in their City connect uniforms for the most part which appealed to my aesthetic sensibilities. I gave my husband the Astros fan some Astros players and also Jordan Romano, who he loves “because he always blows the save when we watch him”.The neon look is pretty cool IMO. This pack cost me $20 for 59 cards, when I was looking at the pack this man came up and was cursing about the price increase. (He asked “Do you collect?” and I said “no,” despite having a box of cards in my hand, he then went into a spiel about what cards you can get in which packs and their value which I forgot as I wasn’t interested.) Anyway I may send some of these on!
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Tuesday, 20 February 2024 11:43 (two months ago) link
The era of speculation is back
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 20 February 2024 14:54 (two months ago) link
Hey, you got Strider...I'd give those a 7/10 aesthetically; reasonably subdued by today's standards. And 30 cents a card doesn't seem too bad.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 12:56 (two months ago) link
And old man Acuña just behind him!
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 21 February 2024 13:12 (two months ago) link
Didn't even notice that--those two cards alone justify the cost.
Just for context, two sets I'd give 10/10 for their design: '91 Topps Stadium Club and '93 Upper Deck SP.
https://i.etsystatic.com/16316958/r/il/053774/2227109100/il_570xN.2227109100_qjz7.jpg
https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ud-sp-griffey.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 13:26 (two months ago) link
Yeah I loved '93 Upper Deck.
I always had a soft spot for the wood grain '87 Topps.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71pOBCzaVDL.jpg
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 21 February 2024 15:21 (two months ago) link
Clean af
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 21 February 2024 15:47 (two months ago) link
agreedmid-80s a very good time for ultra-clean designs i.e. ‘85 fleerhttps://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/onesourceauctions/05/667005/H4367-L201361811.jpg
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 22 February 2024 16:33 (two months ago) link
The antichrist of card design, marginally less garish than Las Vegas:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/Topps_1993_refractor_card.jpg/170px-Topps_1993_refractor_card.jpg
― clemenza, Thursday, 22 February 2024 16:47 (two months ago) link
See I love that but I love holographic anything (my nails have holographic glitter right now), spare a thought for those of us who are magpies please
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Thursday, 22 February 2024 16:51 (two months ago) link
They were definitely all the craze for a while--not sure if they've maintained their value.
― clemenza, Thursday, 22 February 2024 17:31 (two months ago) link
my favorite card sets might be the 1971 and 1973 Topps, both vv aesthetically of their specific moment in time and in the case of the '71s, notoriously difficult to find in top condition (the black gets dinged more noticeably.)
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/yvcAAOSw0UNjfDml/s-l1600.png
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.iKKAV4Y29GFIv4z7dbJ6eQHaJ2?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain
― omar little, Thursday, 22 February 2024 17:38 (two months ago) link
Love that '71 design (don't have any myself). The '92 Bowman set is nice, with at least one famous rookie card:
https://i.postimg.cc/B6syzNnz/mariano.jpg
― clemenza, Thursday, 22 February 2024 19:07 (two months ago) link
https://sportscardinfo.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/ss88f.jpg
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 5 March 2024 01:47 (one month ago) link
Thanks again to gyac for more great cards. Can't picture them all, but highlights include my first Trout, Betts, and Arreaz cards, and I think my first Acuna too. Also: Adley Rutschman, Corey Seager, J-Rod, Adolis Garcia, Altuve, and Davis Schneider, cornerstone of any serious collection.
https://i.postimg.cc/Bbqc09z4/acuna.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/jd36G14Y/betts.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/q7y86vVp/davis.jpg
― clemenza, Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:33 (one month ago) link
(Should have taken a photograph...postimages is very useful, but they don't always resize in a uniform manner like they say they will.)
― clemenza, Thursday, 21 March 2024 02:34 (one month ago) link
Davis Schneider, cornerstone of any serious collection
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Thursday, 21 March 2024 06:30 (one month ago) link
On a whim yesterday I ordered a 2024 Topps hobby box. I haven't opened a pack of cards since I was in hs (c.1998), and for years I've rued the amount of money I pumped into what had become a form of gambling aimed at 10-year-olds. But I've recently become obsessed with videos of people opening junk wax. It's funny how many of those old cards I immediately recognize...
The modern sets seem pretty confusing (tons of parallels?), but I'm giddy about opening up some packs again.
― Sam Weller, Thursday, 21 March 2024 09:04 (one month ago) link
Yes but what did you get? Show us!
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Thursday, 21 March 2024 10:17 (one month ago) link
Insert culture is kind of a drag (it thwarts my twitchy collectivitis - you literally cant get them all) and many of them are stupid looking! That said when they hit they hit
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 21 March 2024 12:40 (one month ago) link
Are they still tearing off little jersey shards or have they moved on to DNA samples?
― clemenza, Friday, 22 March 2024 13:24 (one month ago) link
Yeah its wack
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 22 March 2024 13:27 (one month ago) link
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Friday, 22 March 2024 13:30 (one month ago) link
Going to buy a magnifying glass so can check that!
― clemenza, Friday, 22 March 2024 13:39 (one month ago) link
No no, it’s a special big card, yours is just a normal one sorry 😭 I’d keep a card with a piece of a base for myself, sorry
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Friday, 22 March 2024 13:41 (one month ago) link
The worst are the ones where there is a “player worn” swatch, not even game used
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 22 March 2024 13:49 (one month ago) link
Not baseball, but I think I'm going to buy my friend's son a basketball box for an upcoming birthday. There are a couple, Panini or Donruss, and both are $40 for 90 cards. I guess that's not bad.
― clemenza, Friday, 22 March 2024 16:05 (one month ago) link
https://www.mlb.com/news/fan-beau-thompson-collects-million-cubs-cards
Really? "ONE MILLION unique Chicago Cubs cards"--even with the glut, that doesn't sound right. For the first 70 years of baseball cards, you've basically got one or two companies producing them. 70 years x 30 cards x 2 companies = 4,200 unique cards. Double that to account for promotional cards locally produced: 8,400. Round that up to 10,000. Which leaves...another 990,000 cards since 1980.
― clemenza, Saturday, 6 April 2024 18:39 (three weeks ago) link
Best rookie cards I own. I eliminated PED guys (A-Rod, Manny, etc...except one) and Alomar. None are authenticated, but I think they're all near-mint. Drives me up the wall that that matters.
https://i.postimg.cc/W3Ch8k4p/01.jpg
Arenado - 2013 ToppsBagwell - 1991 Stadium ClubBeltre - 1997 ToppsBonds - 1987 Donruss (seems to have retained some value)
https://i.postimg.cc/N00Fw49f/02.jpg
Freeman - 2011 ToppsGriffey - 1989 DonrussJeter - 1993 ToppsJones - 1991 Bowman
https://i.postimg.cc/0yk2pfCd/03.jpg
Johnson - 1989 ToppsKershaw - 2008 ToppsMaddux - 1987 LeafPedro - 1991 Upper Deck
https://i.postimg.cc/fWCPVfJh/04.jpg
Piazza - 1993 ToppsScherzer - 2008 ToppsThomas - 1990 ToppsVerlander - 2006 Topps
Wish I'd bought a dozen Kershaws when I could have--$4 or $5 online.
― clemenza, Sunday, 14 April 2024 04:24 (two weeks ago) link
No Betts or Trout or Pujols or Cabrera, unfortunately.
― clemenza, Sunday, 14 April 2024 04:25 (two weeks ago) link
Card show! Toronto has a big one at the International Centre twice a year--made the drive in today to meet my collector friend for dinner (he helps one of the vendors there) and buy lots of junk. First one I've gone to in a few years.
Should have brought my camera; there really is kind of a Hunter S. Thompson in Las Vegas feeling when you step inside, a universe unto itself. The three most expensive things I saw, all the same vendor: game-worn jerseys from Tim Horton and Rocket Richard, both $150,000 (I'd say half to three-quarters of what's in there was hockey-related), and a Nolan Ryan rookie card for $130,000. I know it would require a miracle for someone to steal this stuff, but why would you even risk that? Are you hoping for a walk-up sale on such items? ("$130,000? Sure--is there an ATM in here?")
Gretzky rookie cards everywhere, graded from 1 ($500) to 9 ($30,000--except I swear it didn't look like it was in that great shape...do people counterfeit grading?). In the scoundrel department, an O.J. rookie card (5.5) for $750, and an issue of Playboy with Trump on the cover for $450. Every booth had its name displayed. Best one: Vandelay Industries.
And then there are people like me who are there to buy cheap stuff no one wants (often found in boxes under the tables with the expensive stuff). Some of these were $5, some 2/$5:
1) Blue Jay sets (30 or 40 cards each) put out by Oh Henry! Bought seven, from 1995 to 2001. Not sure if that's all of them--if not, I know I'll start obsessively looking for the others.
2) A nice Blue Jay set put out in 2002, can't figure out by who. Halladay and Delgado are in there.
3) Minor league sets: 1987 Bakersfield Dodgers (best player: Juan Guzman), 1995 Charleston River Dogs (Fernando Tatis), 1992 Calgary Cannons (Bret Boone, Andy Hawkins, pitching coach Ross Grimsley), 1993 Ottawa Lynx (Matt Stairs, Blue Jay broadcaster Joe Siddall!), 1985 Utica Blue Sox (literally no one...Ken Brett was manager, though), and a 50-card Southern League All-Star set from '91 (three Frank Thomas cards, also Luis Gonzalez).
4) Two K-Mart sets: 1990 Super Stars and 1982 20th Anniversary AL & NL MVPs.
5) Other stuff: two Barry Colla sets, Frank Thomas and the 1992 All-Star Game (Colla's a photographer who used to put out his own specialty sets); 1994 Topps Stadium Club "Members Only" (it's embarrassing to even type that...); a McDonald's/Donruss MVP set from '92.
6) 10 loose Topps Heritage cards, including Cabrera on the Marlins, Maddux on the Padres, Beltre on the Mariners and Red Sox, and Rogers Hornsby and Mel Ott.
7) Two unopened decks of Toronto Maple Leafs playing cards. That one's really mysterious.
Also two books, $10 each: Sayonara Home Run! The Art of the Japanese Baseball Card and The Card (about the Honus Wagner T206).
Somewhere in the building, today or tomorrow: Dennis Rodman, William Shatner, and some wrestler (couldn't tell you who).
Good thing I'm two hours away, else I'd probably be back Saturday.
― clemenza, Saturday, 27 April 2024 03:33 (five days ago) link