what to do with 90's baseball cards

[Bikeage77]

My dad used to buy me boxes of packs at Sam's club when I was a kid...I'd open em and put em in binders by teams and whatever...but I really don't want them, or need them

 

I know they aren't worth really anything (sealed complete sets go for 15 if your lucky)... how do I find someone to take em off my hands easily?

 

i have sealed boxes of sealed upper deck hockey packs too for some reason

[jjkoestler]

Honestly I'd just hang on to them unless you are willing to give them away.

[TURBO]

The 80's and 90's killed the hobby imo.

 

Too many sets, too many people saving them. They just aren't going to be worth anything.....ever.

[gypcasino]

I ended up giving away a box of about 3,000 a few years ago. A dealer might give you $1 per 1,000. You generally won't get any interest on eBay either. Nobody wants to even cover the shipping cost.

[pepsimax23]

at one point i noticed folks were giving these away on craigslist. theres a book called "mint condition" which kinda documented whats happened to baseball card collecting.

 

i think everyone knows its become all about the "insert" cards which is basically legalized gambling.

[Invader3K]

Maybe find a young fan that would enjoy them and give them as a gift? I have to imagine some kid would love to have them.

[TURBO]

The problem with kids these days and collecting baseball cards, is that they are all about the "valuable" ones, not completing collections like we did as kids.

 

They want the high value cards and don't care much about the others. It is sad that kids can't appreciate the hobby for what it was originally meant for, but like society, they have become greedy.

 

I'm sure there are some kids out there that would love to get your cards, but most would scoff at them because they don't contain refractors, autos, or whatever high value cards they are pumping out today.

[gypcasino]

theres a book called "mint condition" which kinda documented whats happened to baseball card collecting.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I just ordered it. It's $6.38 new on Amazon if anyone's interested.

[Bikeage77]

I'm gonna have to check that book out too. Sounds interesting. I have some friends with kids that I could basically give them too, except none of them are really into baseball.

 

I was thinking of just taking out the cards of my favorite players as a kid and giving the rest away. I wonder if I gave them to Goodwill I could use it as some sort of tax write off.

 

Bobbleheads are basically going the same route now, so I'm losing interest.

 

My new thing is collecting all the Milwaukee Braves cards. I've got about 50 of the 415 needed. The best part is that number will never change, and they'll fit in about 6 shoe boxes when it's all said and done.

[Brew City Baseball Fan]

Not sure if your into autographs but sending those cards in to get signed by former players would be an option. Always fun to get mail imo.

[rwa12]

I've got thousands too. Hard to give them to the neighbor kids, because they haven't heard of any of the players. I've seen people make art out of them...mosaic type. Otherwise, they may work well for kindling.

[Bikeage77]

Otherwise, they may work well for kindling.

 

Funny you mention that. A few years ago my friends and I took a handful of Gary Sheffield cards and burned them.

 

I don't think I could bring myself to destroy my favorite childhood hobby though.

 

Maybe I'll look into autographs through the mail. That's not a bad idea.

[JimH5]

If you're doing any home projects, they might be good as insulation. Load up some cardboard boxes and stick them between the studs. Future generations might get a kick out of their find.

 

Every once in awhile, you hear about some T206s showing up in an attic or stuffed away in a secret compartment.

 

Other than that, I don't think you're going to find any interest at all in them.

 

And word to the wise, bobbleboys, things that are hot collectibles one day are sometimes deemed worthless junk in the future. Collect what you like, but don't get carried away with "investment potential".

[pretendastronaut]

My mom had me take all of my baseball cards from her place a few years back. I flipped through some of the books and thought I should just get rid of them. My wife somehow decided that we should save them to share with our sons. They're only 4 now, so they certainly don't care, but I'm not sure if they ever really will. I remember looking at my dad's old cards when I was a kid, and it was kinda cool, but I had not attachment to those players, so they really didn't mean anything. So, they're just taking up space in the basement now, for who knows how long.

 

Slight segway, I also used to collect Pez dispensers when I was in my teens, into college. I still had all of those and my sons do love those, so that's a win!

 

And word to the wise, bobbleboys, things that are hot collectibles one day are sometimes deemed worthless junk in the future. Collect what you like, but don't get carried away with "investment potential".

 

In high school, I worked at Wal-Mart, and one time we had this giant shipment of bundled comics, that were mostly crappy comics. It was like, buy 3 in this pack, for $1 type stuff. Somehow a lot of them had Spawn #1 in them, right as Spawn was getting big. I bought all of them, because at the time Spawn #1 was going for like $50. Of course I held onto them thinking they'd be worth even more later ... oops.

[Bikeage77]

hahaha, pretend...my friend worked at a comic shop for many years, and i was like "i'm thinking of getting rid of these, i got Spawn #1, Spiderman #1, XMen #1, etc...and he was like "yah, and so does everyone else"

[JimH5]

I have 2 retail sets of 1988 Fleer baseball that I bought new for $20 each--AND I have moved them from Delavan to New Jersey to Florida back to New Jersey then to Brookfield.

 

24 years later they are available on Ebay for $8 a box.

 

I mostly avoided the great rookie card chase of the late 80s, but the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco rookie card was going for around $75 (if memory serves), and now its about $2.

 

Beanie babies, Hummel figures, Collectible plates, Frozen Tundra... sometimes it takes awhile for the junkiness to show itself.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I have 2 retail sets of 1988 Fleer baseball that I bought new for $20 each--AND I have moved them from Delavan to New Jersey to Florida back to New Jersey then to Brookfield.

 

24 years later they are available on Ebay for $8 a box.

 

I mostly avoided the great rookie card chase of the late 80s, but the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco rookie card was going for around $75 (if memory serves), and now its about $2.

 

Beanie babies, Hummel figures, Collectible plates, Frozen Tundra... sometimes it takes awhile for the junkiness to show itself.

 

Gregg Jefferies Rookie Cards. He was as hyped as Bryce harper is now.

[JimH5]

Indeed on the Jefferies cards. By then, it was just assumed that there would be a new guy every year, and Jefferies had the pedigree.

 

I wonder if there is anything now being made for retail sale that will have great collector appeal in the future. I would imagine so, but can't really think what it could be. I guess some wines might, but even then, it would have to be something that's rare right now.

 

Right after I graduated from college in 1985, Patrick Nagel art prints were a fad. Now they just seem laughably hideous to me.

[Bikeage77]

Greg Jefferies. I have about 25 of his cards in my "good" binder of cards from a kid. Him and Flash Gordon. I think now everything is a short term fad like Beanie Babies.

[YEP]

The big one when I was a kid was the Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck. The 84 Marino rookie card was big deal too. I of course, spent all of my money on both when I was a kid and still have them.

[pitchleague]

I have probably about 10-15 thousand cards sitting in boxes in one of my closets. Most of them are from the 80s and 90s but I have several hundred from the 60's & 70's as well. Plus another footlocker full of cards I bought in the last 10 years.

 

Yeah, most of them are virtually worthless but that's debatable. To me, the monetary value is not even worth calculating because it is one of the few childhood memories that I still have and can still experience (Intellivision and the Milwaukee Brewers being the others.) Looking through them every now and then when I "clean out the closets" is still fun now as it was back then as a kid.

 

Refractors? I think I got one once in a pack. Autograph cards? One--for a Ben Sheets card (I sent in the redemption card or whatever and got a letter saying that it was unavailable so they sent me a Bob Uecker autograph card instead.) Relics? Not one.

 

But I do have several very valuable cards. Which is nice. But would I sell them? Never. Of course, I just keep them in the closet, too, with all the common cards. I think the valuable ones are all in plastic sheets, though.

 

Baseball cards still rock. Too bad that the hobby went down the toilet once the moneygrabbers got into the game.

[JimH5]

Too bad that the hobby went down the toilet once the moneygrabbers got into the game.

 

Ahhhh. . .but who were the moneygrabbers?

 

I blame the card companies themselves for turning out so much product at such high prices that set building became impossible.

 

To me, the joy of collecting was in buying $5 worth of packs and trying to fill in the gaps. Maybe I'd trade with my buds so that we could each get closer to having a complete set. Walking around with a big wad of cards and a big wad of gum was really fun. That was when cards were 25 cents to 75 cents a pack.

 

And if you got a guy, that was it, you got him for the year.

 

But then they started releasing so many different products that you didn't know what to buy--and whether or not your store would keep getting that product all summer. And then when pack prices exceeded $1.00 per pack, I was out. You can't get to 800 cards without spending $100, and that became the breaking point for me. And the whole chase aspect of refractor/chrome/1 of 1 stuff was lost on me. The base cards became the filler to get you to buy the chase--and I didn't care about the chase stuff. Something isn't 1 of 1 if you're doing it in 25 variations. And the cutting up of jerseys, bats and autographs also torqued me off.

 

I still have cards and get a kick out of some of the older sets. I completed the 1968 & 1969 football and 1969-70 basketball sets that I started from when I was 6 and 7. And I'm in the process of getting the baseball hall of famers from the 1969 set.

 

I like to see the auction catalogs and read Net54baseball.com to see what the big boys are into. But as those older collectors start to die off, I wonder if their treasures will hold their value. Are there enough interested guys in their 40s and 50s with enough money to pour into tobacco cards? Even from the 1950s. . .Mickey Mantle was a god to all those New York kids, but I turn 50 this year, and by the time I knew anything about baseball, he was retired. His aura never reached me, so I never felt he was a must-get. Are Mantles going to mean anything 15 years from now?

 

And are any cards from today going to be sought by people in the future? I would think not, but maybe they'll have some life.

 

#oldguyramblingsaboutcardboard

[Bikeage77]

The big one when I was a kid was the Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck. The 84 Marino rookie card was big deal too. I of course, spent all of my money on both when I was a kid and still have them.

 

My three favorite players as a kid were Jose Canseco, Robin Yount, and Nolan Ryan.

 

I remember when my parents got me a Canseco rookie for Christmas and I was the happiest kid in our zip code. I still have it. I'm thinking about getting it graded, knowing it's basically worthless, just for the sake of keeping it as my biggest card collecting memory.

 

I got the Ken Griffey Jr with the complete set. That set is still in storage, but I put his card in a holder and put it on top of the cards. Being 10 at the time, it wouldn't surprise me for a second if I messed up one of the corners putting it in a holder.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Too bad that the hobby went down the toilet once the moneygrabbers got into the game.

 

Ahhhh. . .but who were the moneygrabbers?

 

I blame the card companies themselves for turning out so much product at such high prices that set building became impossible.

 

 

 

Understandable, but like all publicaly traded companies Topps tried to maximize the almighty stock price. If people bought their cards Topps kept making more.

 

I believe Mantle cards will still be as prized in years to come as they are now. What I see from years past is that the super of superstars are the most collected. People seem to forget about the players that were very good from their time period. These players seem to get lumped into the "common" card category. Players such as the Rocky Colavito, Ted Kluszewski, Tony Oliva, and Frank Howard.

 

 

Even HOF'ers seem to get less and less desired as time goes on. Mize, Kiner, etc.

[jnorman76]

My guy was the 1990 Leaf Kevin Maas, 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas (still have that one) and the 1991 UD Reggie Sanders.