Does Anyone Still Collect Baseball Cards

[d4347]

I recently found my old baseball card sets from the 1980's and 90's and had them shipped from my parents house because I couldn't find it in my heart to get rid of them. Not sure what the current value of these sets are but I have many of them and feel like they were too big a part of my childhood to just give them away.

I'm curious what you think of baseball cards? It doesn't seem to have the same appeal that it did when I was a kid but, looking at these cards, I remember why my interest in them was so great. They are Americana.

[Dolphins23]

baseball cards got replaced by pokemon cards a while ago. Kids collect animation cards like pokemon and yugioh stuff like that. Sports cards are long gone in current childrens lives. Such a shame : (

[Number13]

I collected a lot as a teen in the mid 80s and enjoyed it at the time. I lost interest in the early 90s when inserts started to pop up and it was more about money than collecting. JMO I've sold most of the stuff from the 80s, but held on to a lot of singles prior 1980. I started to try and collect cards again before I picked up GU, but it was just not the same. As a person who loves history, GU is much more fun and has more meaning to me.

[MarinersFan34]

I still actively collect them for both the Mariners and Marlins, my 2 favorite teams. I do not get caught up in the game used cards and I laugh at the prices people pay for a shredded piece of jersey that probably wasn't even worn by that player.

I think they are a excellent complimentary resource to the game used hobby. I can easily look for style/photo matches. Look for various types of uniforms or manufacturers, what style of cleats a player wore in a certain season, etc. Along with the cards I also collect magazines, books, team yearbooks, team calendars, 8x10 photos, etc.

The cards and other photo resources still hold some value in that sense but for an investment, cards wouldn't be my top choice.

[Tedw9]

The hobby of collecting baseball cards is alive and well. But, it has been overtaken by $$$ and people putting them into plastic tombs (aka grading). But there are a TON of folks who still buy and sell.

Over the past month I have purchased about $2000 worth of baseball cards from a local collector and have turned around and sold most of them for a very nice profit. This is how I am affording to go to the National next year. Yes, there are folks out there who still buy.

One piece of advice though.....DO NOT sell or give away your collection, you'll only regret it later. When I was a kid, I lost interest one summer and traded all my cards away for an electric race car track and I've kicked myself since. Out of this collection I've just purchased, I did decide to keep the 1979 set, just because I remember it so well from when I was a kid.

Put them in 9 pocket pages, slap them in a binder, take a walk down memory lane every once in a while and ENJOY THEM!!

[short84]

I don't collect baseball or football cards anymore, but I do have a complete set of 1969 topps football cards. I put the set together while in the 5th grade buying packs for 5 cents to 10 cents each and then trading cards with my friends in order to compete the set. They bring back some wonderful memories and are very special to me. I still enjoy getting them out and looking at them when ever I get the chance.

[Klattsy]

I'm still collecting Star Autos (as I can't afford star GU items) and Aussie Players serial number cards. I'm actually trying to sell my Autos to make money for GU but the buying side seems to have tried up lately (maybe close to the end of the season). I'll probably try again next March.

I also have a small PC of Yankees base cards going, trying to get 1 base card of every Yankee MLB player.

Before I discovered GU I was well into it...

Mark.

[OaklandAsFan]

I collect Bowmans and only Bowmans for the most part. Having Arizona Fall League and Spring Training locally it's nice to have the rookies cards to get signed.

[RRexpressfan94]

I still collect cards and such. being 16, it is a lot more affordable to get a card on ebay versus a jersey or a bat. I use the base cards to get signed when i go graphing, so i mean they are still a huge part of my collection.

[BU54CB]

I used to collect game used football cards, but got turned onto game used and sold all my cards except older rookie cards.

[both-teams-played-hard]

I don't collect baseball or football cards anymore, but I do have a complete set of 1969 topps football cards.

My favorite all-time football set.

[sox83cubs84]

My favorite all-time football set.

I like the set, also....it's the only regular issue Topps football set with a card of Brian Piccolo.

Dave Miedema

[d4347]

Not that i have any intention of selling, but I'm curious what the best resource is to find out the value of these card sets?

[rdeversole]

I collect cards. I have a pretty big collection now but they are all graded by PSA. Raw cards seem to have lost their value with the advent of the internet and the value has shifted towards graded cards.

I collect star cards from 1952-present and Cincinnati Reds cards from the early 1900's-present.

And as far as raw cards on ebay - I wouldn't trust how ANYBODY grades their cards. I've had "mint" cards show up as mint but with anything vintage and in the 5-8 grade scale - they seem to be overgraded most of the time.

[gnishiyama]

A buddy of mine, who is the same age I am (31), sold off all his
80's and early 90's cards on Ebay by the weight. He told me that's
how they're doing it nowadays. I had to laugh at that.

[lcstate collector]

I still collect cards of the players listed in my signature. They aren't big stars so they are pretty easy to come across on ebay. I dont buy packs or sets like I did in the past.

[godwulf]

Not that i have any intention of selling, but I'm curious what the best resource is to find out the value of these card sets?

From what I've read and been told, baseball card sets in the late '80s and early '90s were so overproduced that they are practically worthless, market-wise. I frequently see entire sealed factory Topps sets from '88 to '92, at card shops and shows, priced at five bucks.

Yeah, I've got my own sad, "what I used to have" story. When I was about twelve, my mother said, "Why don't you give those two shoeboxes of baseball cards to the boys next door? You never play with them any more", and, like a chump, I did. That would have been around 1966. Unlike most guys who've done something like this, I actually don't "remember" having a Mantle rookie card, etc, but I do occasionally see a card that I know I had in somebody's display case with a triple-digit price tag. Ouch!

I collect all Diamondback sets now, and even an occasional "memorabilia" card, if it's cheap and I like the design. I have a bookcase full of binders of all the non-DBacks players, some going back to the '50s, that I've picked up in big lots for almost nothing. Sorting them by player, finding the best example of each card, and inserting it in the collection is my therapy, you might say.

I also have about a hundred and fifty '65 Topps cards staring down at me right now from the wall above my desk as I type this. Love that set.

[Tedw9]

Not that i have any intention of selling, but I'm curious what the best resource is to find out the value of these card sets?


Ebay completed auctions is the most accurate and FREE market guide.




Godwulf hit the nail on the head, all the late 80's and early 90's stuff is pretty much worthless other than to a collector. Part of the collection I purchased was a huge lot of unopened wax boxes and I gave away most of the later 80's stuff because it would cost more to ship it than the cost of the box itself.

As far as my own personal collection, I've broken the habit of buying newer cards and packs except for the occasional card now and then. Besides game used, this is my new vice.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/Tedw9/ozzie.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/Tedw9/fleer.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/Tedw9/1962packfront.jpg

[Instanton]

It's alive, and well. Things have changed, though.
I actually stopped collecting game-used to fully focus on baseball cards.


check it out: http://s61.photobucket.com/home/Junior-17/index

[both-teams-played-hard]

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/Tedw9/1962packfront.jpg

real nice piece.

[71buc]

Nice Clemente item! I collect all things related to pre 1980 HOF players to include cards. I started buying them in 1973 and have had a few periods of inactivity but I aways seem to return to them. I never really collected the cards of the 80s and 90s as they were in my opinion unattractive and over produced. I don't like the chase cards as don't believe in manufactured rarity. I prefer cards with a some sense of history that I can relate to. I love the 1950s cards and thankfully purchased many star cards from that era before they became too expensive for my budget. Many of those stars were still active in my childhood although at the tail end of their careers. I grew up hearing stories from my father about Mantle, Doby, and Mays so I collected the stars of that era as well. I have a few prewar stars and HOFers but feel little connection to them so I never really developed a passion for them. Nor did I ever develope the budget necessary to acquire very many of them.

[momen55]

i am still working on putting together all of clemente's cards. i sold some years back and am now looking to have the complete run. 55, 56, 57, 58 are all i need. :)

[Rob L]

I've been collecting T201 cards from 1911 for a couple of years. These are the double folders from Mecca Cigarettes. The cards have a full length player on one side, then the card is folded over and another player is shown (sharing the same legs). It also has the stats of both players which I believe is the first year that this was done. I have 39 of the 50 cards and luckily I have all of the HOFers already so the remainders are commons. This reminds me that I need to get back to finishing the set!

[GarkoCollector]

The trading card industry is alive and well, especially prospecting for the next big thing.

[OaklandAsFan]

I've been collecting T201 cards from 1911 for a couple of years. These are the double folders from Mecca Cigarettes. The cards have a full length player on one side, then the card is folded over and another player is shown (sharing the same legs). It also has the stats of both players which I believe is the first year that this was done. I have 39 of the 50 cards and luckily I have all of the HOFers already so the remainders are commons. This reminds me that I need to get back to finishing the set!

now that you mention it I didn't really think about it before because it was my mother who collected them, I just inherited them but would like to continue. I have two complete T206 sets (minus Wagner and Plank) as well as several of your Mecca cards. My mother was obsessed with prewar cards and I haven't had the chance to go through them all. One of my bigger regrets was not sharing time discussing her passion for these cards more before she passed. Came so quickly with stomach cancer we never had the chance....

[BULBUS]

I collected cards in the 80's and early 90's, so I too have a few boxes of worthless cards. I remember trading 2 skateboards for a bunch of late 80's Topps cards. Who would of thought that those skateboards would have been worth something and not the cards :confused:

In the late 90' while collecting autographs, I picked up a few game used insert cards before I realized I should be collecting the whole jersey, bat, ect. instead of a small square. And that is where I am today :D

[commando]

I have a 1980s card website where I give information about oddball sets (people are ALWAYS trying to figure out what they just purchased at a yard sale or thrift shop).

www.1980sportscarddatabase.com (http://www.1980sportscarddatabase.com)

I love cards from this era because I grew up in the 80s, and I just enjoy picking up cards for a fraction of what they would have cost years ago. Believe it or not, some of the oddball sets from back then are surprisingly difficult to find today. The 1980 Tampa Bay Bucs police set with "Paradyne" sponsor backs are quite scarce, as well as the Twins team-issued 1987 World Champions postcard set (the team forgot to get permission from MLB... Oops). Any number of regional soccer sets are very tough.

The hunt is fun!

[xpress34]

Not that i have any intention of selling, but I'm curious what the best resource is to find out the value of these card sets?
beckett.com

It's the Beckett Price Guide and more on-line and you can find pretty much ANY card on there.

For an example, I was able to find a 1989 Best Western / Little League Nolan Ryan card via the on-line guide.

All the best -

Smitty

[xpress34]

As far as myself, my collection includes GU items, AU items, misc ephemera and cards.

The two sets I am most proud of (regardless of condition) are my 1951 and 1952 Berk Ross sets. Both are fairly scarce and the '52 set has found some legs in the past couple of years being as the Mantle card uses the same front as his '52 Bowman and is more scarce than any of the '3 Grails' - '51 Bowman, '52 Bowman, '52 Topps - although it will never have the same value as any of those since it isn't a 'Topps' card.

Here are links to both of those sets:

1951 Berk Ross Set (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/1951%20Berk%20Ross%20Panels/)
This set is ALL 36 Panels + 'Packs' (Series 1-4), ALL Graded

1952 Berk Ross Set (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/1952%20Berk%20Ross/)
This set is ALL 72 Cards (includes both versions of Rizutto) + Wrapper and '77 Laughlin Error Card

I also have other Vintage in my collection:

'53 Bowman Mantle
'53 Topps Jackie Robinson
'50 Bowman Newcombe (AUTO) RC
'50 Bowman Berra
'55 Topps Koufax RC (just acquired!)

I also collect EARLY CERTIFIED AUTO Cards (1990 - 2000) including the following:

1990-1994 UD Heroes (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/1990%20-%201994%20UD%20Heroes/)
Still need the 1994 3 card set - Mantle, Griffey, Griffey/Mantle

1991-1993 Donruss Signature Series (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/1991%20-%201993%20Donruss%20Signatures/)

1992 Score Franchise (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/1992%20Score%20Franchise/)
I still need the 'Triple' AU (Mantle/Musial/Yaz)

1993 Donruss Dominators (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/1993%20Donruss%20Dominators/)

2000 Pacific Crown Royal (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/2000%20Pacific%20Crown%20Royale%20Sweet%20Spot%20A utos/)
Lots of RC AUTOs

2000 Pacific Revolution GU Ball (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/2000%20Pacific%20Revolution%20Game%20Ball%20Autos/)
This entire set are signed on pieces of GU baseballs! I am still looking for card #11 (ERIC MILTON) if anyone out there has it available!

I also collect 2004 Fleer Inscribed 'Names of the Game' - 4 Tiers - AU Gold (#d/25) I have 8 of 18 cards, AU Silver (#'d/99) I have 12 of 15 cards, GU Blue (#d/20) I have 20 of 28 cards and GU Purple (Patch) (#d/33) I have 26 of 28 cards.

My wife's set:

2005 UD Mini Jerseys - Polyesters (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/2005%20UD%20Mini%20Jerseys/Polyesters/)

2005 UD Mini Jerseys - Wool (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/2005%20UD%20Mini%20Jerseys/Wools/)

2005 UD Mini Jerseys - AUTOs (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Cards/SETS/2005%20UD%20Mini%20Jerseys/Autos/)
There are only 50 possible complete sets of these 5 AU jerseys!

Outside of those, I have built the Topps Allen & Ginter set every year since 2006 (Initial Release) but am considering selling those and concentrating more on Vintage.

Looking to build a '48 Bowman set next... and a '51 Bowman Mantle - his REAL RC.

Hope you all enjoy the look...

- Smitty

[MarinersFan34]

Some nice sets you're working on right now, I'm half way through that 2000 Pacific Crown Royal auto set.

I don't have them scanned in yet but I'm slowly working on the 1996 Leaf Signature sets, 1997/1998 Donruss Signature sets. I also pick up alot of the 90's parallels sets like 1st Day issues, Artist's Proofs, Finest Refractors, etc.

My current vintage project is 1955 Topps, not concerned on condition and actually prefer them to not be mint. Still missing the big 2(Koufax,Clemente) but have most of the other big dollar cards, currently a little over the half way mark.

[xpress34]

Some nice sets you're working on right now, I'm half way through that 2000 Pacific Crown Royal auto set.

I don't have them scanned in yet but I'm slowly working on the 1996 Leaf Signature sets, 1997/1998 Donruss Signature sets. I also pick up alot of the 90's parallels sets like 1st Day issues, Artist's Proofs, Finest Refractors, etc.

My current vintage project is 1955 Topps, not concerned on condition and actually prefer them to not be mint. Still missing the big 2(Koufax,Clemente) but have most of the other big dollar cards, currently a little over the half way mark.

Jeremy -

Thanks! I believe Trot Nixon was the last card I needed for the 2000 Crown Royal Set and it took some time to get one. I think him being a Red Sox player during their WS years made his auto stuff harder to obtain.

I would really like to find the Eric Milton for the Revolution Game Ball set so I can finish it out!

All the best -

Smitty