Old Baseball Cards

[Bo Jackson's Hip]

We just recently moved and I found my old baseball cards (early to mid 80s era). Is it just me, or was there more information on the old cards? A lot of the cards even had the minor league statistics on them back then. Do the cards today have those? I haven't bought a pack of cards in 15+ years. The good news is my 5 year old was fascinated by them and now wants to start collecting them too.

[gottimd]

We just recently moved and I found my old baseball cards (early to mid 80s era). Is it just me, or was there more information on the old cards? A lot of the cards even had the minor league statistics on them back then. Do the cards today have those? I haven't bought a pack of cards in 15+ years. The good news is my 5 year old was fascinated by them and now wants to start collecting them too.

The sad thing is, is that in the 80's they mass produced many cards and their value hasn't increased a lot. These days there seems to be 1,000,000 different subsets of 1,000,000 different brands, all hard to get. Plus, packs back in the 80's were like a $1 and you got 10-15 cards I believe. Nowadays, they go for $10-$20/pack and have like 4 cards in them. Have you seen a Beckett Price Guide lately? I hadn't even thought or looked at my cards in about 15 years, then I unearthed them from my parents basement, and went to get a Beckett. The years 1950-1990 in the price guide, although 40 years worth of info, is about 3-4 pages, and 1990-2005 is about 500 pages.

[bosshogg23]

This reminded me of a time about 10 years ago. My brother bought a pack of 85 Topps trying to get a Roger Clemens RC or some such thing. In 85 they still had the gum in the pack.......well wouldnt ya know he chewed it. His stomach hurt for hours he claimed. Idiot.

[Chubby]

This reminded me of a time about 10 years ago. My brother bought a pack of 85 Topps trying to get a Roger Clemens RC or some such thing. In 85 they still had the gum in the pack.......well wouldnt ya know he chewed it. His stomach hurt for hours he claimed. Idiot.
I've done that, that gum lasts forever :D

[gottimd]

That gum wasn't meant to be chewed. You had to take little bites out of it, being careful that the shards of gum wouldn't lacerate your insides.

[chinaski]

i really need to find something to price all my cards. I have every box set for fleer, donruss & topps from 1984-1995. Theres got to be some gems in there somewhere, anyone know if there are up to date price guides online for free?

[gottimd]

Just go to a bookstore and buy a Beckett Monthly. They are like $6 I think. Those years, I wouldn't expect too much return on your investment.

[Bee]

i really need to find something to price all my cards. I have every box set for fleer, donruss & topps from 1984-1995. Theres got to be some gems in there somewhere, anyone know if there are up to date price guides online for free?

You can also check out ebay and see what's going for sale there. That's probably the best place to unload cards.

[cartman]

My brother bought a pack of 85 Topps trying to get a Roger Clemens RC or some such thing.

I've got that card... :D

His minor league stats take up most of the card.

[Desnudo]

I have a signed Ken Griffey, Jr. Donruss Rated Rookie card. I think it was worth more the year the card came out than it is now. If only the guy would stop getting hurt. Maybe in another 20-30 years.

[Franklinnoble]

I used to have a Jose Canseco Topps Gold Cup Rookie card.

[Hammer755]

My parents recently brought a couple of boxes of cards that were in their attic. My peak collecting years were from 86-89. I collected the entire 1988 Topps set by hand, which certainly cost far more than actually buying it as a set. I can't speak for whether the new cards contain minor league stats or not, but when I took a look at the cards from back then I find them almost impossible to read without OBP & SLG.

[Bo Jackson's Hip]

I was looking through my cards as I mentioned above and found a card from 1963 with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente on it. Too bad the bottom left corner was ripped off :(

[Bo Jackson's Hip]

My parents recently brought a couple of boxes of cards that were in their attic. My peak collecting years were from 86-89. I collected the entire 1988 Topps set by hand, which certainly cost far more than actually buying it as a set. I can't speak for whether the new cards contain minor league stats or not, but when I took a look at the cards from back then I find them almost impossible to read without OBP & SLG.

I noticed that some of the pitchers cards back then didn't have hits allowed just IP, R, ER, BB, K. No WHIP, OBA,OOBA, OSA, etc. :)

[ShaqFu]

I love card collecting, but dislike what they've done to the hobby. I've decided to stick with the Topps Factory Sets every year. Period. I'll buy an occasional pack of low-end cards every so often, but I can't stand the idea of paying $20/pack.

[gottimd]

but I can't stand the idea of paying $20/pack.
Don't you only get about 3-5 cards in a pack for that price too? Thats insanity.

[Bo Jackson's Hip]

I love card collecting, but dislike what they've done to the hobby. I've decided to stick with the Topps Factory Sets every year. Period. I'll buy an occasional pack of low-end cards every so often, but I can't stand the idea of paying $20/pack.


Are you serious that cards are 20.00 a pack now? What were they back in the early-mid 80s when a lot of us were buying them? I don't remember.

[gottimd]

Are you serious that cards are 20.00 a pack now? What were they back in the early-mid 80s when a lot of us were buying them? I don't remember.

Yup. Back in the 80's, maybe $1/Pack or so. Until upperdeck came out and made it like $3-$5 a pack.

[Hammer755]

I love card collecting, but dislike what they've done to the hobby. I've decided to stick with the Topps Factory Sets every year. Period. I'll buy an occasional pack of low-end cards every so often, but I can't stand the idea of paying $20/pack.
Yeah, I got the nostalgic itch to start collecting a couple of springs ago. Even the basic Topps packs were ridiculously priced, plus splitting the set into 2 series was a killer for me.

[gottimd]

Yeah, I got the nostalgic itch to start collecting a couple of springs ago. Even the basic Topps packs were ridiculously priced, plus splitting the set into 2 series was a killer for me.

I got the similar itch. I alos tried to sell my cards to some places, and had books and books of stuff when I was older. The offers I received were so damn low. I have trunks full of Baseball Cards ranging from the 1980-1992.

My brother on the other hand had collected Hockey Cards for a few years in the Mid 80's. Lucky bastard has Lemieux, Roy, etc rookies.

[ShaqFu]

Topps are still about $2 a pack even at places like Wal-Mart and Target. You need to buy a lot of boxes to complete a set too. It's a lot of fun. Topps still puts out a factory set and that's what I usually buy.

There are some packs that are $20 and include only one card. There was one product a few years ago that was something like $150 a pack. :eek: And, than there have been a few with prices in between.

Besides Topps, I've also purchased the Upper Deck MVP, Upper Deck Vintage (I believe that's what it's called), Fleer Tradition and Fleer Platinum. They basically use the old-style card design. Fleer Platinum actually is cool. They have a box that has wax packs, rack packs, and cello packs, with the stickers too.

I used to love going to the old dime store when I was a kid and buying up Donruss rack packs.

[rlfreeze]

Now card manufacturers produce two types of boxes for their cards. You can buy packs of cards at Walmart and such for cheaper, but the probability of getting the good "inserts" is very low. In order to get more value for your buck, you have to spend a lot more of those bucks at a true card shop. It really sucks

On a side note, I won't let my son buy cards. Just a waste in my opinion. Too bad.

[Buccaneer]

Hip, it's funny that you talked about these as "old" baseball cards.

Here's a thread where we talked about the same thing.
http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=28716

[ShaqFu]

Now card manufacturers produce two types of boxes for their cards. You can buy packs of cards at Walmart and such for cheaper, but the probability of getting the good "inserts" is very low. In order to get more value for your buck, you have to spend a lot more of those bucks at a true card shop. It really sucks

On a side note, I won't let my son buy cards. Just a waste in my opinion. Too bad.

At least let him buy good, old-fashioned Topps at Wal-Mart.

[Buccaneer]

As far as current cards, the only ones that us vintage collectors (re: those collecting cards from 1972 or before) are interested in are Topps Heritage. The copy the design of the set 50 years ago so right now, the 2005 Heritage looks like the 1956 Topps. The run about $70-80/box and really are nice cards - except the ones that everyone looks for are the shiny shit cards, as well as patches and autos. I did pull a Bob Feller auto and sold it on eBay for $36.

But I stick with true vintage cards and have been working diligently on my 1957 set. 1980s cards really are for fun only, they are not worth anything. There have been an effort from a friend of mine to get collectors to donate cards from the last 20 years to children's charities (I forget the specifics). I wish I had knew that before I dumped out 60,000 cards from the 1980s.

[ShaqFu]

I really like Topps Heritage too, expect they SP too many of the rookies and stars.

As far as current cards, the only ones that us vintage collectors (re: those collecting cards from 1972 or before) are interested in are Topps Heritage. The copy the design of the set 50 years ago so right now, the 2005 Heritage looks like the 1956 Topps. The run about $70-80/box and really are nice cards - except the ones that everyone looks for are the shiny shit cards, as well as patches and autos. I did pull a Bob Feller auto and sold it on eBay for $36.

But I stick with true vintage cards and have been working diligently on my 1957 set. 1980s cards really are for fun only, they are not worth anything. There have been an effort from a friend of mine to get collectors to donate cards from the last 20 years to children's charities (I forget the specifics). I wish I had knew that before I dumped out 60,000 cards from the 1980s.

[Karlifornia]

I have a Willie Mays rookie that I got from my grandfather but I'm not sure if it's a legit rookie card or just some kind of re-issue.....how do I find out?

[Buzzbee]

I bought a few packs when I was growing up in the '70s. Had maybe a thousand or so. Then in the mid '80's a buddy who collected cards heavily was at the house and I showed them to him. He found several that he liked, and since I hadn't looked at them in years I told him to take whatever he wanted (except for Yaz and a Dale Murphy RC).

Then in the early '90s I got back into it for a year or two. I finally got fed up with it when the card companies started to really focus on the premium cards and the inserts. It took all the fun out of it when getting a 'regular' card of a star was no big deal. All the inserts and different lines of cards sapped the entertainment from it. The strike didn't help either.

[Buccaneer]

I have a Willie Mays rookie that I got from my grandfather but I'm not sure if it's a legit rookie card or just some kind of re-issue.....how do I find out?
I assume you are talking about a 1951 Bowman. Here's a picture of a real one 51 Mays (http://home.adelphia.net/~ouray2/images/5184.jpeg). A search on eBay shows only a couple of real, a bunch of fake ones (reprints) and a few scams. Look the card over, esp on back. Also the borders should be off-white (not bright white).

[timmyw3]

To be able to afford to collect these days you either have to have a huge bankroll or become a dealer of sorts. Card collecting is a different game than it was in the 80s. There's definitely more of a gambling mentality to it.

It's still a worthwhile hobby to me. I love opening boxes and in some instances cases but I have to narrow my focus. I keep all the Orioles and Ravens for my personal collection as well as certain players (Mark Teixeira, Gavin Floyd from my HS and Shawne Merriman in this year's football releases). I'll take the "big hit" cards and put them on eBay. There's also another site called Naxcom where I've sold a great number of cards that you wouldn't otherwise be able to move through eBay. Then I just take the money and buy more product. I haven't spent a dime of my own money on cards in 2 years.

I'm definitely not in it to make money and I really don't know if it's possible in the market today. I really just enjoy the fun of reliving some childhood memories

[Buccaneer]

It truly has become a gamble, or perhaps more accurately, a lottery these days. Except for the 2 boxes of Heritage that I opened up last month, the last time I bought a new issue was 1990. It's a sad state of affairs when for the past 10 years, you see young kids at Target or Walmart going through the packs feeling for an insert. They get a pull and then throw the rest away. Rinse. Repeat.

eBay has completely changed the market for it had forced 90% of the dealers in this country to close shop. The ones that are left just sell boxes of shiny shit cards. That and grading has opened up a new surgence in vintage collectors like myself, not only in availability but in realizing true supply and demand prices (instead of overinflated prices of the 1980s dealers).

[gottimd]

How do you go about getting cards graded? I saw in the Beckett Monthly you can send them cards, but it is very expensive to do for a small amount of cards.

Can I grade my own? I give them an A+!

[ShaqFu]

eBay has completely changed the market for it had forced 90% of the dealers in this country to close shop. The ones that are left just sell boxes of shiny shit cards. That and grading has opened up a new surgence in vintage collectors like myself, not only in availability but in realizing true supply and demand prices (instead of overinflated prices of the 1980s dealers).

The card shop I used to frequent did this. The owner had established his accounts with the trading card companies and already had arranged to have product delivered to his home. At first he was taking portions of his shipments and putting them on eBay. Than he realized he could offer a better price on eBay and still make a nice profit, without the overhead of a storefront. Only bad part is that I don't know his eBay ID, so I can't buy off him.

I would go to his shop all the time and even when all the new stuff was coming out he at least made it fun. He would always open a box to pull singles, inserts, etc. for the store and would let me open a few packs and on some occasions would let me keep whatever was in the pack. I got a few quality inserts that way.

Another thing he did was go H2H with me in pack wars. Whoever had the most value in their pack would get the other guys pack. I would always get the best packs and was able to complete a tough set this way.

[Buccaneer]

How do you go about getting cards graded? I saw in the Beckett Monthly you can send them cards, but it is very expensive to do for a small amount of cards.

Can I grade my own? I give them an A+!
gottimd, about 90% of all of the graded cards on the market (including all of the high value ones) are PSA. Only two other companies are reputable, GAI (mostly for unopened packs) and SCG (mostly for early tobacco and gum cards). Beckett's services are not reputable, as well as the many, many scam grading companies (PRO, AAA, etc.).

Grading with PSA is expensive, esp. if you are building a graded set. What many do instead is buy cards for the set already graded. This is the only way to buy vintage star cards safely for most of the ungraded star cards on eBay are reprints, altered, trimmed and way overgraded. For non-star cards, you can still buy raw (as I do) - but only from reputable dealers. Here are the details on joining the Collectors Club at PSA http://www.psacard.com/join/index.chtml and their fees http://www.psacard.com/submission_news.chtml

It pays to have cards graded (for value and for resale) if they are star cards, very vintage (like pre-WW2) or if they are high grades (PSA 8 for 50s and 60s, PSA 9 for 70s and some 80s, PSA 10 for anything the past 20 years).