― Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:08 (6 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
It's not the most valuable I have by any means, but aesthetically this was always my favorite:
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
how uncomfortable for Ozzie, too
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:05 (5 years ago) Permalink
hahahahahaha I think I'm going to start an Ozzie Smith thread.
― Z S, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:07 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
^^^^yes
― Jordan Sargent, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:10 (5 years ago) Permalink
^^^^
― omar little, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:15 (5 years ago) Permalink
My very first pack of baseball cards were Donruss 88's, I opened it up and this was the first card:
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
Results 1 - 10 of about 278 for "jim abbott" "def leppard". (0.35 seconds)
― iiiijjjj, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:22 (5 years ago) Permalink
Remember the Score Dream Team cards? Those were hot:
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:27 (5 years ago) Permalink
Full bleeds ruined baseball cards. I really liked the wood grain borders of the 87 Topps:
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:31 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
This one kills me, stick figure Barry:
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:33 (5 years ago) Permalink
Awesome:
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:35 (5 years ago) Permalink
I had this exact same binder:
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:39 (5 years ago) Permalink
Oh the lols:
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:45 (5 years ago) Permalink
― dan m, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:46 (5 years ago) Permalink
All these baseball card auctions on ebay with no bids are depressing.
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:49 (5 years ago) Permalink
http://tigerwoodsfistpump.blogspot.com/2007/08/when-baseball-cards-mattered_19.html
― the sir weeze, Saturday, 13 October 2007 17:53 (5 years ago) Permalink
Holy shit, remember Brien Taylor?!
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
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 (5 years ago) Permalink
The card worth anything these days is a Bonds card with a signed confession on it.
― Jeff, Saturday, 13 October 2007 19:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
here's a dumb question, but where do you buy baseball cards these days? i was looking to get some for my son because he's just at that age where he would probably dig them, and i couldn't find them. looked mainly in supermarkets and the big chain drugstores.
― gershy, Saturday, 13 October 2007 22:36 (5 years ago) Permalink
this was at the start of the season, wouldn't expect to find them now
― gershy, Saturday, 13 October 2007 22:46 (5 years ago) Permalink
I'm pretty sure Target sells baseball cards -- packets or boxes (no more wax boxes these days I reckon)
― van smack, Saturday, 13 October 2007 22:59 (5 years ago) Permalink
x-post . yea Target sells them. 7 11 did years ago.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 13 October 2007 23:07 (5 years ago) Permalink
Sports Authority and Toys R Us sometimes sell 'em
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 13 October 2007 23:08 (5 years ago) Permalink
thanx!
― gershy, Sunday, 14 October 2007 01:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
asshole card dealers took the fun out of card collecting.
"hey i've got a mint bonds card here, man!"
"ah but is it gem mint?"
"..."
― omar little, Sunday, 14 October 2007 01:32 (5 years ago) Permalink
― Mr. Snrub, Sunday, 14 October 2007 03:06 (5 years ago) Permalink
http://tigerwoodsfistpump.blogspot.com/2008/01/dealing-with-agony-of-once-valuable.html
― the sir weeze, Tuesday, 8 January 2008 13:52 (5 years ago) Permalink
Kent Hrbek!
Andy Van Slyke!
Glenallen Hill!
I'm gonna be RICH!!
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 8 January 2008 14:31 (5 years ago) Permalink
I never got into this kind of collecting, cert not as an investment.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 8 January 2008 14:35 (5 years ago) Permalink
yeah i think the monthly price guides starting getting popular around the mid-80s, it was like the jr. stock market
by the way, the actual baseball card link for sir weeze's article is this: http://tigerwoodsfistpump.blogspot.com/2007/08/when-baseball-cards-mattered_19.html
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 8 January 2008 14:41 (5 years ago) Permalink
come with us to 1971...
http://thebaseballchronicle.com/personal_stories/1971_topps_baseball
― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 August 2009 17:34 (3 years ago) Permalink
my dad's collection is at about 40,000. i used to catalog them for him!
― Julie & Julius Rosenberg (donna rouge), Wednesday, 26 August 2009 17:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
i have a mark mcgwire rookie card that he gave me...somewhere...
yr grandma didn't throw them out? xp
― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 August 2009 17:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
Oooh I loved the '87 Topps set when I was a kid.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
do they do a couple different sets? i remember when i bought cards in high school there were all kinds of different sets. ones with real bats, ones with pieces of jersey, ones that are all rookies, etc.
― Mordy, Friday, 18 May 2012 18:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
iirc they have a 2nd 2012 collectors set, but i cannot recall what its deal was.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
also: how do you fit a baseball bat inside a pack of cards?!
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
xposts ah how funny
yeah, i've never been savvy enough to convert my trash into cash as it were
like i know i have some books and records lying around that would fetch a decent price, but for whatever reason it's never been in my makeup to suss that out. i would rather give those things to someone who would appreciate it. otherwise i would just spend that money on dinner or a v-necked sweater
not a "humblebrag", prob more of an enduring character flaw and illustrative of my attempts to evade full-fledged adulthood
― dell (del), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
baseball bat splinters!
― Mordy, Friday, 18 May 2012 18:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, that was a huge trend among all sports card companies at one point, really thin slices of backetballs, footballs, jersy pieces, bat splinters, even tiny pieces of basketball floors iirc.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
i have tiny basketball floor cards! also bat splinters, jerseys...
― Mordy, Friday, 18 May 2012 18:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
Man this thread is taking me back. Remember when the '89 Upper Deck set dropped and it was like the most exciting, revolutionary thing that had ever happened to baseball card?
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
wait what you are fucking kidding me
― dell (del), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Another thing that hurt the card industry (as alluded to by clem) was the strike, which conveniently lined up with when Comic Books becoming ultra-hot collectibles (the heyday of Image, Valient, X-Men cartoon show etc.).
― Leslie Mann: Boner Machine (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
(xpost)
They even did Nascar cards that had parts of race-used TIRES.
Speaking of '89 Upper Deck, this card was such hot shit in my neck of the woods back in the day:
― Leslie Mann: Boner Machine (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
At least all you guys had the excuse of being in grade school and high school when you got hooked; I was 33.
Always figured one of the companies would start sticking bits of Ted Williams' brain into chase packs, but I guess they had to draw the line somewhere.
― clemenza, Friday, 18 May 2012 18:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
well, we could split hairs about "ethics" all day, but is that really so beyond the pale? i think not
― dell (del), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh god!a friend bequeathed a buncha books to me and this was amongst them:
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
I had the Ripken "future stars" triple rookie, which seems to go for around $25 on ebay but was once "worth" a lot more.
― this guy's a gangsta? his real name's mittens. (Hurting 2), Friday, 18 May 2012 18:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
i don't think i gave any sort break down of the classic cards i have, but i feel compelled to share now for some reason, so here a few of my favs that i own:'61 Whitey Ford & Duke Snider'65 Koufax'66 Ernie banks'67 Ed Mathews'72 Mays, Orlando Cepeda'73 Clemente, Brooks Robinson & Aparicio'75 Aaron, Frank Robinson & Killbrew
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 18 May 2012 19:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
speaking of the memorabilia stuff, an interesting section from the Upper Deck wiki page:
Memorabilia & Relic Cards Upper Deck has changed its practice of using materials certified as "Worn" by the player depicted on the front of the card. The changed wording on the backs of Upper Deck insert cards makes it less clear as to how the materials were used or what player wore the item. EXAMPLE: Steve Nash card 2004... (Back of card) On the front of this card is an authentic piece of a jersey WORN by Steve Nash as a member of the Dallas Mavericks in an NBA game. EXAMPLE: Jermaine O'Neal card 2006 Exquisite...(Back of card) On the front of this is a piece of memorabilia that has been certified to us as having been USED in an NBA game. Upper Deck has also stopped adding the word "Jersey" to the fronts of game-used insert cards. The company no longer acknowledges exactly what kind of material was inserted into the cards or how the item was used, and it has eliminated statements claiming the player pictured on the card front actually wore the inserted material. Upper Deck's authenticity has been questioned in regards to players' jersey and uniform materials. The cards state the inserted items are known to Upper Deck to have been used or worn, but since most of the gear is acquired through third parties, the actual use is unknown. Most of Upper Deck's jersey materials are harvested at events like rookie photo shoots, etc.. During such events, players often change shirts dozens of times to generate event-worn uniform material that never sees the field of play. Collectors still debate and question the authenticity of such 'memorabilia", which often includes items manufactured specifically for insert cards, patches, and other desirable content.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 18 May 2012 19:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
Which brings me back to Ted Williams' brain--with all the advancements in DNA science, a tiny little scraping from Ted's noggin would be so much easier to authenticate.
― clemenza, Friday, 18 May 2012 20:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 4 June 2012 18:19 (11 months ago) Permalink
ha haah a haha
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 4 June 2012 18:22 (11 months ago) Permalink
There's still a part of my brain left over from highschool that could get back into collecting baseball cards tomorrow if I let it. That obsessive collect the whole set, find my favorite players, etc gland. Dangerous, dangerous stuff. I dare not let it out.
― Mordy, Monday, August 16, 2010 2:01 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Annyong.
http://leftfieldcards.com/index.html
― Grimy Little Pimp (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 1 September 2012 20:44 (8 months ago) Permalink