Baseball Cards

apologies if this has already been posted in this thread, but this is my favorite blog entry ever!

http://cardboardgods.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/2008_422_0001_steve_carlton_81_360.jpg?w=252&h=360

Aw man, I used to love Albert Belle.

clemenza, do u buy new baseball cards? i so enjoy opening packs of cards that i was thinking about buying a box of something new, but i don't know what to get

A truly fascinating player; I just meant he's not going into the HOF, which for a baseball card = worthless. I liked him too.

I was badly hooked in the mid-'90s (just after the strike; like investing all your money in Studebaker stock...), but I haven't bought anything for a few years.

Mordy: I think the boxes that tend to be cheap and easily available are, in terms of rookie cards, whatever falls into the steroids window--from about '87 to '93 or so. All those sets with rookies for Sosa, Palmeiro, Bagwell, I-Rod, etc., or burnouts like Belle and Gonzalez.

I collected from about '84-'92, so I got to watch my collection go way up in value and then crash down to earth, becoming nearly worthless. Really wish I'd gotten rid of them sooner.

that makes me feel a little better, jon. i collected in the early eighties and my brother at one point sold the lot on ebay w/o asking me for permission. i mean, i don't necessarily begrudge him for doing so, i owe him a lot in some respects, but axing someone never hurts

Yeah, my mom kept hinting around '90 that I should sell my collection to get $$$ for college, but at the time I was madly flipping through Beckett's, watching the prices climb and climb, and was all, "no way mom, this is going to be worth SO MUCH MONEY if I wait ten more years!". Stupid me.

My parents sold off all of my comic books and Star Wars toys at a garage sale without telling me, still hold a grudge to this day over that one.

oh shit, haha

why did the card prices end up going down? i don't know anything about that world

From what I understand it was just the inevitable collapse of artificially high prices. Like there was a period 2 years into his career when Gary Sheffield's rookie card was worth like $75 or something. It was like all of the sudden card values were based on hype and buzz instead of a HOF career or storied past (see also the ridiculous craze for Todd Van Poppel rookie cards). I'm sure someone else could explain it in more detail or with better back-up though.

it was pretty much a bubble. too many cards at inflated prices.

xpost

Mordy: a coworker and i buy a few packs every year when a new set comes out (ostensibly for graphic design reasons)... Topps now has an exclusive deal with MLB, so for now they're the only game in town. i like what they've done this year tho - they're applying an occasional classic card design to current players, so I got a 1987-style Andrew Mccutchen card in my last pack!

Oooh I loved the '87 Topps set when I was a kid.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dawson-87-topps.jpg

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.

iirc they have a 2nd 2012 collectors set, but i cannot recall what its deal was.

also: how do you fit a baseball bat inside a pack of cards?!

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

baseball bat splinters!

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.

i have tiny basketball floor cards! also bat splinters, jerseys...

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?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0wSWUUEE2sE/TelpLmlCiMI/AAAAAAAAHJo/YQQBGzfjVuI/s1600/1989%2BUpper%2BDeck%2BF.jpg

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.

wait what you are fucking kidding me

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.).

(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:

http://www.vintagecardprices.com/pics/1988/109494.jpg

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.

well, we could split hairs about "ethics" all day, but is that really so beyond the pale? i think not

oh god!
a friend bequeathed a buncha books to me and this was amongst them:
http://books.gigaimg.com/avaxhome/a8/be/0013bea8_medium.jpeg

I had the Ripken "future stars" triple rookie, which seems to go for around $25 on ebay but was once "worth" a lot more.

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

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.

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.

http://www.fangraphs.com/not/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/medium_RandyJohnsonIsAPrettyGirl-225x300.jpg

ha haah a haha

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

Dangerous, dangerous stuff. I dare not let it out.

I looked up Jose Fernandez out of curiosity, ended up buying some rookie cards online:

Madison Bumgarner -- 2010 Topps
Jose Fernandez -- 2013 Topps
Freddie Freeman -- 2011 Topps
Clayton Kershaw -- 2008 Topps Update
Andrew McCutchen -- 2005 Bowman Draft Picks
Adam Wainwright -- 2000 Bowman Draft Picks

They were all between $3-5. The Trouts, Cabreras, and Harpers, forget it.

I need to get back to work and save myself from such idle pursuits.

Jerry: "Clemenza let it out?"
Elaine: "Let. It. Out."

Ugliest card ever?

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2013/08/bob_hamelin_worst_baseball_card_ever_the_case_of_1996_pinnacle_foil_no_289.html

I always thought those Topps Finest cards were hideous.

http://cconnect.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/1993-Topps-Finest-Baseball-Jumbo-All-Stars-Barry-Bonds1.jpg

(The 26-year-old Hamelin beat out Manny Ramirez and Jim Edmonds for ROY in 1994. Based only on what they did that year, and not taking into consideration age and projected future value, it's hard to argue with the vote.)

http://www.chicagonow.com/lists-that-actually-matter/files/2011/06/bob_walk.jpg

Congratulations, you're five dollars richer.

i remember those upper deck cards. man, they seemed so expensive at the time. i had that griffey at one point but sold it. i think i sold all my valuable cards. the most valuable ones were the '89 upper decks and the '90 leafs. unfortunately i didn't sell them at peak value, but fortunately i sold them before i lost money. i got some dece drinking money out of david justice and big hurt rookie cards. like i said upthread, it's high comedy to see how much people were willing to pay for certain cards. i'm pretty sure the kevin maas rookie cards peaked at $25. i know the doc gooden fleer rookie was $500 at one point.

impressive that the card is even worth more than it was (the Leaf FT) considering you can now get Upper Deck FT rookies for like $2. I think they were valued at $30 or $40 back in the day, which to me seemed like a shitload of money.

i think the OG upper deck series is regarded as the legit collector's choice one, i remember the 1990 set being really sought after initially but quickly declining. maybe it was just more common and the novelty had worn off a bit. i think it also has to do with the leaf set being more sought after. and after that, everyone was putting out premium cards and the market got flooded and basically destroyed. i know cards are still worth money but i feel like literally every kid i knew back in '88-'90 was into baseball cards, it was a huge peak era, basically as long as the card wasn't dented or creased you were cool. then it turned into shit you'd frame and grade out with a pitchfork score and if it was a millimeter off center, fuck you get out of my store.

Yeah, that $75 seems a little far-fetched.

I've got a whole bunch of rookie cards dating back to that time that I collected for a short time in the mid-'90s, after the bottom dropped out: Griffey, Thomas, Bonds, Bagwell, I-Rod, Maddux, Alomar, Piazza, Jeter, etc. Never the key rookie card, though, always the secondary ones.

every kid of my generation grew up hearing stories about how their dads' moms threw away all their baseball cards, which would now be worth so much money, so they never threw away theirs, and hence they're worth nothing.

I still have all mine!!! I'd sell them all for $5.

yeah got mine too, just got them out the other day. 88-94

I think mine are still under my childhood bed. I had a few notables. It looks from eBay like even my 1940 Lefty Gomez is not worth what it once was, and I would think that one is not super common.

yeah mine are in my room at my moms place, i wonder how much i could get for them (and my pokemon) cards