How much do you think this is worth?

[beastsofboston]

I have arround a 5000 baseball card collection that I will be selling. Most of the cards are from the 80's but how much do you think all this will be worth?

[55]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

A bunch of Topps, Donruss and Fleer baseball cards from the 1980s you say?

You can probably fetch this much for them:

Spoiler

[BurghFan]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

As was said in your identical thread in the Pro Football forums, it all depends on who you've got. You should try to go through them and see if you have any really good cards. I catalogued all of my football and baseball cards a number of years ago and discovered I had a $10.00 Charles Haley error card from 1990 Pro Set.

[jth1331]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

Consider this:
I have a sports card collection that totals over $6,000 of book value in Beckett magazine, including rookie cards of LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, game used cards, autographed cards of great players.
What was I offered?
One guy offered $800, another guy $250.

[soltrain]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

This is sort of off topic - but what killed the baseball card?

[Mr. Franchise]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

This is sort of off topic - but what killed the baseball card?

The internet.

[rsox]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

This is sort of off topic - but what killed the baseball card?

The steroid era. And the fact that most packs are now around $6 bucks and you only get 6-8 cards per pack.

[CMH]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

This is sort of off topic - but what killed the baseball card?

What do you mean?

Do you mean what killed the value of the baseball card?

Or do you mean what killed the hobby of collecting baseball cards?

Both very different answers.

[soltrain]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

What do you mean?

Do you mean what killed the value of the baseball card?

Or do you mean what killed the hobby of collecting baseball cards?

Both very different answers.

I'd like an answer to both.

[CMH]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

Well I think the answers above could have something to do with it, but I have my own opinion.

What killed the value of the baseball card?

The answer is simply mass production. Old cards are only valuable because they are rare. New cards aren't as valuable because the demand isn't as high when so many people own an Albert Pujols rookie card.

So those 1980s cards that beatsofboston talks about are nearly worthless (he can still get something for them) because the 80's was the beginning of baseball card mass production. More companies were out there making cards and Topps began producing their cards at obscene rates.


What killed the hobby of collecting baseball cards?

I don't know if there is a simple answer to this, but I think you can blame the internet, mass production (once cards became valueless, people were less interested in finding those rare cards) and lack of interest among other things.

I remember growing up in the 80s and wanting baseball cards because it was the only way I could read a players stats, see what he looked like if there wasn't a game on and pretty much have access to information that wasn't made available to me as a kid.

Today that's changed dramatically. There are much better ways to research your favorite player and find out who that new rookie might be.

Also, as I've mentioned in the Decline of MLB thread, baseball doesn't generate interest the same way as other sports anymore. Baseball carries more weight at the ballpark. You see ballpark attendance go up, revenues go up, but TV ratings go down. Kids and families today are more interested in attending a game than watching it on television and I think part of that spills into those little hobbies like collecting cards - it's just not enough for them.

[jth1331]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

What killed the value of the cards?
Mass production, not only in regular sets, but today there are 50-100 different brands out there to buy for each sport. Makes it so only the rare cards are worth anything, or cards of one of a kind players.

What killed collecting?
I'll say all the brands, and really, now its no fun buying a box of cards because its worthless. Now, you're lucky to get $15 value for a box you spend $100 on. Say what you want about collecting for fun and completing sets, or whatever, but really, the whole point comes back to value where in 20 years, is it going to be worth anything. In 20 years, my Collector's Choice ARod RC probably won't be worth much of anything because its freakin Collector's Choice.
Due to mass production of certain products, I've seen cards go DOWN in value of HoFers like Mike Piazza, Albert Pujols, Greg Maddux, etc. Guys who show no indication on why they should be going down. Heck, Ken Griffey, Jr.'s RC used to be the hottest thing, booking for like $100-$200 in value. Now? Its like $40 probably. Albert Pujols, his Upper Deck RC was $80 3-4 years ago. Now? $50.
Economic times also come into play, people have less to spend on a side hobby that costs so much as it is.

[Cebby]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

While mass production was certainly a factor, I think the internet killed collecting of just about everything.

Back in even the mid 90s you were still at the mercy of the stock of whatever your 2 or 3 local card stores possessed. Now if you want a card you can just go online and find a lot of 100 of that card.

Basically the internet expanded the market for extremely rare items and increased their value several times. On the other hand, uncommon or slightly rare items heavily decreased in value.

A 1937 rookie card for a HoFer probably increased 10 times in value, but 1980s and 1990s cards are more or less worthless.

[jth1331]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

While mass production was certainly a factor, I think the internet killed collecting of just about everything.

Back in even the mid 90s you were still at the mercy of the stock of whatever your 2 or 3 local card stores possessed. Now if you want a card you can just go online and find a lot of 100 of that card.

Basically the internet expanded the market for extremely rare items and increased their value several times. On the other hand, uncommon or slightly rare items heavily decreased in value.

A 1937 rookie card for a HoFer probably increased 10 times in value, but 1980s and 1990s cards are more or less worthless.

Yeah, this was a factor. eBay was a huge factor, because like you said, if I wanted a Mike Piazza RC in 1995, I had to go to my local card shop or local card shows and pay whatever they were asking.
Now, if I want a Stephen Strasburg RC, pull up eBay and find one in my price range.

[bukktown]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

Are all 80's cards worthless? I haven't checked prices in decades but still keep my Ripken, Gwynn, Clemens, Puckett, etc rookies.

[55]

Re: How much do you think this is worth?

Are all 80's cards worthless? I haven't checked prices in decades but still keep my Ripken, Gwynn, Clemens, Puckett, etc rookies.

Unless they're professionally graded and deemed mint they are pretty much worthless.