Organizing childhood baseball card collection

[RU Rah Rah]

I collected a colossal number of baseball cards from 1975-1982. I then basically set them aside in my parents' basement for 30 years. When my folks moved into a retirement home, they made me reassume custody -- a long-overdue step!

 

I'm in the process of sorting/organizing these cards. It's actually quite a lot of fun: my kids are helping, and it's sparking my son's interest in baseball and cards. I'm organizing numerically by year, and then seeing what kind of gaps I have (about 6-7 cards in my best years, 20-40 in some others). I'll look online and buy individual cards to complete the sets. Everything is going into acid-free sleeves, etc.

 

The real problem? My doubles. And triples. And quintuples. In 1978 and 1979 especially, I have up to 8 (!) of some guys. Seeing the face of Rangers SS Jim Mason again and again is giving me horrible flashbacks.

 

I don't have any interest in selling my core collection. But I'm wondering about these superfluous cards. Is there a market for them? I can't imagine that there are many people who want to buy the 1978 Bill Fahey card (of which I have 6). And, if there is, how do you going about entering it? It almost seems like it would take a lot of effort and I'd probably not make very much money.

 

I figure that some of my BF.net brethren have had similar experiences. Any advice would be welcome.

[Invader3K]

There was a similar thread in the collecting forum not long ago. The consensus was that these cards are probably pretty much worthless. Your best bet would probably just be giving them to someone, or selling them as a big lot (but you won't get much for them at all).

[RockCoCougars]

I faced a similar issue a few years back with cards from the same era (personally, I decided to keep mine, much to my wife's chagrin). I wouldn't necessarily say that these are worthless. You definitely won't get rich on these, but depending on condition and whether you have some stars among your duplicates, there is probably some value in the 75-79 cards. Probably not so much in the 80's stuff except for Rickey Henderson and Cal Ripken rookies.

[craigharmann]

Mine were from 1986-1995 or so. I threw them out, because they were overproduced and really, pretty much worthless. Now, looking back at it, I'm glad I did. Those McGwire, Canseco, Sosa, Clemens and Bonds cards really aren't worth anything.

[gypcasino]

It's not worth the effort. Check out completed listings on eBay and you'll get a decent idea. You can get 10,000 card lots for 50 bucks or cheaper.

[PrestigeWorldwide]

That's awesome, some of my favorite childhood memories are of me and my Dad going through his collection. The only thing he saved from growing up was his card collection, which spanned mostly from 1960-1966, with a couple nice ones from the mid-to-late 1950s mixed in. We had a lot of fun going to card shows completing his sets for 1960, 1961 and 1963, and used a lot of his doubles to trade for newer sets or cards we both really wanted (e.g. Yount rookie, Molitor rookie). Our only regret was trading a 1958 Ted Williams (his only one) for the 1987 Fleer set. Was close to even value then, not even close now

 

I hope you have a blast going through them with your kids!

[RockCoCougars]

It's not worth the effort. Check out completed listings on eBay and you'll get a decent idea. You can get 10,000 card lots for 50 bucks or cheaper.

 

That's for post '85 junk. You can get decent prices for big 70's lots, especially if they include stars and HOF. 1975 Topps cards are definitely worth something if in passable condition.