Anyone into football card collecting?

[GoldenEagle]

I collected some cards back in high school and I am now trying back into it. The last cards I collected were back in 99/00. Have things changed much since then? What is the best place to get the value of the cards?

By the way, I have always wondered about something. If you notice on some cards there will be a number that says XX out of 1000. Does that mean that there was only one thousand of those cards made?

[Cringer]

Man, I have a ton from my early high school and before days. When packs of cards starting getting insane though I had to back off.....

I never had any great cards though. My best were non-football. '64 Willie McCovey and a Scottie Pippen rookie. Guess I never had anything good actually. :(

Sorry I am no help, just thought I would chime in.

[ThunderingHERD]

I'm of no help either, but I used to collect basketball cards like crazy when I was young. I have no idea what happened to them, which makes me sad because I know I had like dozens of Fleer Ultra Shaq rookie cards.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I collected some cards back in high school and I am now trying back into it. The last cards I collected were back in 99/00. Have things changed much since then? What is the best place to get the value of the cards?

By the way, I have always wondered about something. If you notice on some cards there will be a number that says XX out of 1000. Does that mean that there was only one thousand of those cards made?
The last time I seriously collected was around that same time. I can answer all of those questions. Things have changed a lot since then. Back then, the focus was really just turning to "insert" cards in packs. People were looking for limited- edition cards. They may be die-cut or have some type of foil covering or a swatch of clothing/equipment on them, for instance. If you pulled a rookie card out of a standard Topps pack, sorry, it really wasn't going to be worth very much. That situation is much more pronounced now. The only cards that generate big interest are the inserts. For people who are looking to make money off of sports cards, if you buy a pack and are not lucky enough to get an insert, you might as well throw the pack away. Personally, I was never into it for the money, so I didn't care if I bought cheap packs (I was a poor college student back then) and didn't get any of the "cool" cards. I just liked collecting them.

As for the value of the cards, eBay is really the place to look. Beckett's monthly price guides can list a value, but if you want to know what a card would really sell for, just check eBay and see a real-life example of a selling price.

As for your last question, yes, if it says XX/1000, only 1000 of those cards were made.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Off the Suntimes website.

Really sad to see how far the whole industry has fallen and how much they have screwed up.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/baseball/cst-spt-bbplug04.html

Card industry battles recent sinkers

September 4, 2005

BY GREG RISLING




LOS ANGELES -- The shelves are crammed with boxes of baseball cards at Mike Mittrick's store. It gives his customers lots of choices -- but also illustrates how the hobby's landscape has become cluttered and confusing for collectors.

Faced with declining revenue over the last decade, the baseball card industry -- once comprised of four major manufacturers -- has been halved in a matter of months.

One company closed its doors. Another saw its license to make products in 2006 dropped, and the oldest, most recognizable brand was rumored to be up for sale.

Insiders hope the shakeup will bring the struggling industry out of its slump and help reclaim its main demographic -- boys who are spending their money on other diversions such as video games and the popular Yu-Gi-Oh game cards.

"We felt the best way to position it for growth was to have fewer manufacturers producing cards,'' said Evan Kaplan, director of trading cards and collectibles for the Major League Baseball Players Association, which along with MLB charges manufacturers licensing fees to produce cards.

"We don't expect it to get back to the way it was like in the 1950s or 1960s, but this new model will be better than we have now,'' Kaplan said.

The downsizing is a mixed bag for retailers such as Mittrick, who runs 52 Mantle Card Co. in the Orange County city of Brea. He opened his store in the early 1990s when the sports-card industry posted revenue of more than $1 billion as speculators scooped up cards hoping for a big return.

Baseball cards then comprised 80 percent of the industry's revenue but now account for less than half -- an estimated $120 million.

The rising cost of cards has played a major role in the decline. Collectors spent between 89 cents and $3 on a pack of cards in the mid-1990s. Today, the average price is about $5 as companies include goodies such as autographs, small pieces of jerseys or even bat slivers in a small number of packs.

Some packs -- guaranteed to have the extras -- can command up to $150.

The changes have driven away some collectors and, in turn, forced many card-shop owners out of business. A decade ago, there were about 4,500 card stores across the country. Now that number is about 1,200.

"People just do not have enough disposable income nowadays to be able to spend a ton on cards,'' said Jeff Beals, 19, of Nashua, N.H., who estimates he spends about $200 a month on his hobby.

"If the companies place quality over quantity ... it will help the hobby a lot,'' he said.

Dwindling interest in the hobby coupled with exorbitant costs to put memorabilia into packs of cards helped sink New Jersey-based Fleer. Saddled with more than $30million in debt, the company went out of business in May, and rival Upper Deck of Carlsbad, Calif., bought its name and toy-car business for $6.1 million at auction.

In July, collectors were stunned when MLBPA opted not to renew its contract for 2006 with Donruss/Playoff of Arlington, Texas. MLBPA's decision only leaves Upper Deck and the publicly traded Topps, which has been around since the 1950s but recently announced a 20 percent drop in first-quarter sales for its cards, collectibles and other entertainment products.

In May, the company responded to rumors that it might be looking for a buyer by noting it hired Lehman Bros. to review its books and make recommendations about its future.

AP

[Joe]

$150 for a pack of cards? WTF?

[Philliesfan980]

What we need in general is card companies not producing 8 billion cards a year. It would really be nice to see card collecting worth something again.

[GoldenEagle]

Alright, thanks for the info Pumpy. I am going to do a scan of this card I have. It is a Brett Favre and it says only 250 were made. I pulled it out of a Topps Finest Pack. I also just enjoy the general card collecting. My friends and I would always make trades. We each had our own players that we liked. I bought a Chris Redman signed rookie card. We all see how that one panned out.

[Bearcat729]

Didn't I hear that the MLB is now limiting how many companies can make cards. I think there will only be 2 or 3 companies making Baseball cards next year.

But I may also be wrong

[GoldenEagle]

I am bumping this thread from the dead.

I am thinking about selling my exclusive Brett Favre card that I mentioned earlier in this thread. The problem is, I am having a hard time finding out how much I would get for it. If anyone has a copy of a recent Beckett and can look up how much it is worth, I would appreciate it. Here are the details:

1999 Tops Team Finest, Gold Refractor Brett Favre - #18 of 250

Thanks.

[Buccaneer]

Don't go by the guides, they're worthless. Do a Completed Listings search on eBay. Also, if it's a high dollar or demand card that's in superb condition, get it graded by PSA.

[Ironhead]

This was the best card I ever pulled out of a pack. This was back when "special cards" were first coming out:

http://www.thrill22.com/Albums/1993/album/slides/93DonrussEliteAutoWillClark.jpg

At it's peak I think the card was valued by Beckett for over $400. I doubt I could get more than $5 for it on eBay now.

[Buccaneer]

I am bumping this thread from the dead.

I am thinking about selling my exclusive Brett Favre card that I mentioned earlier in this thread. The problem is, I am having a hard time finding out how much I would get for it. If anyone has a copy of a recent Beckett and can look up how much it is worth, I would appreciate it. Here are the details:

1999 Tops Team Finest, Gold Refractor Brett Favre - #18 of 250

Thanks.

I'm having trouble finding the card on eBay or through google. And my Beckett Football doesn't list this set. Are you sure of the year and make?

[GoldenEagle]

Here is a similar Randy Moss card:

http://www.beckett.com/item/3754251/

[Toddzilla]

LOL - this weekend during college football (on ABC I think) they showed a football card of Bob Griese who was calling the game from 1970. I remarked to my wife that I had that card. She didn't believe me so I went to the closet in the guest room and found I had about 20 of them...sigh...

[Senator]

I collected football cards the old fashioned way, one pack at a time, starting when I was 6 years old until around 1986. I would get paid for my paper route, and then go to 7-eleven and buy 3-4 packs of 12, with the hard gum inside. I still have them all, including my 1976 rookie Walter Payton card. I would never sell them, even though Payton's seems to be getting more and more in value.

If my 1 year old ever gets into football, I will shock him one day and bring out the giant box full of Staubach, Montana, and Sanders.

[JimmyWint]

I collected like crazy when I was a kid, then about the time I was 18 I completely lost interest. Then in 2002 I started buying again and have accumulated over 1 million cards. A lot of the cards are commons, but I like to help set-builders complete their sets. Anyway, if anyone wants to sell their collection let me know.

I would say the Finest Favre card you have would be worth in the $50-$100 range. I will check when I get home tonight. But, as others have stated your card is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

The industry is basically in shambles. You can buy a box of cards for anywhere from $30 for the lower end stuff to $500 for the higher end cards. MOST of the time you get anywhere from 40%-80% of the value that you paid. Unless you move a card as it is hot i.e. Matt Holliday in Baseball or Adrain Peterson in football you stand a chance of really losing out.

I have a Cadallic Williams rookie Auto from topps. When he was a rookie it was valued at $450...Now I would be lucky to get $20 for it...

[oliegirl]

I collected like crazy when I was a kid, then about the time I was 18 I completely lost interest. Then in 2002 I started buying again and have accumulated over 1 million cards. A lot of the cards are commons, but I like to help set-builders complete their sets. Anyway, if anyone wants to sell their collection let me know.

I would say the Finest Favre card you have would be worth in the $50-$100 range. I will check when I get home tonight. But, as others have stated your card is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

The industry is basically in shambles. You can buy a box of cards for anywhere from $30 for the lower end stuff to $500 for the higher end cards. MOST of the time you get anywhere from 40%-80% of the value that you paid. Unless you move a card as it is hot i.e. Matt Holliday in Baseball or Adrain Peterson in football you stand a chance of really losing out.

I have a Cadallic Williams rookie Auto from topps. When he was a rookie it was valued at $450...Now I would be lucky to get $20 for it...

I almost fell off the couch when I read that you had a million cards...until I asked the guy I'm seeing, who also collects them and has 6 or 7 large boxes of them at his apartment, and he said he is sure he has "at least" a million, if not more. He brought a box of them over for my son to look at and go through...we'll see if it sparks interest.